Category Archives: Sports

Kaden Keiser, a senior on the Winner High School wrestling team, has officially made plans to  further his wrestling career at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C.

Keiser has officially signed his letter of intent.

The Winner wrestler is a three time state champion.

Earlier this month 21 Tripp County 4-H members attended the 84th Annual Western Jr Livestock Show in Rapid City.  Those attending were: Coy Assman, Ryann Assman, Avery Antelope, Evan Littau, Allie Littau, Kylee VanZandanbergen, Amanda Blare, Austin Blare, Jed Blare, Kade Fenenga, Brindy Bolander, Roper Moore, Abe Kaiser, Ash Kaiser, Madison Graber, Lena DeMers, Maggie DeMers, Jesse Larson, Rylee Schroeder, Rustin Schroeder and Bailey Fairbanks. 

They brought home 48 purple ribbons in the cattle shows, 5 blue ribbons in the goat shows, along with the following:

Maggie DeMers – Reserve Champion Charolais Steer

Lena DeMers – Reserve Champion Foundation Simental Bull

Rustin Schroeder – Reserve Champion Shorthorn Plus Feeder Steer, Recipient of the Marlow Jurisch Memorial Beef Award.

Rylee Schroeder – Overall Grand Champion Futurity Beef, Grand Champion Futurity Carcass, Reserve Champion Red Angus Feeder Steer.

Kade Fenenga – 5th Overall Beginner Showmanship, Grand Champion Shorthorn Bull, Grand Champion Shorthorn Market Heifer,

Evan Littau – Grand Champion Angus Market Heifer

Kylee VanZandenbergen – Grand Champion Main Bull

Jesse Larson – Reserve Champion Charolais Jr Bull, Reserve Champion Charolais Composite Market Heifer

Madison Graber – Reserve Champion Simmental Bull

Avery Antelope – 4th Overall Beginner Showmanship

Ryann Assman – Reserve Champion English Cross Steer

Coy Assman – Grand Champion English Cross Steer

Pen of 3 Breeding Beef – Tripp County 5th Place (Rylee, Jesse, Roper, Abe & Rustin)

Pen of 3 Feeder Calves – Tripp County 5th Place (Jesse, Maggie, Brindy, Evan, Kade)

Beginning Livestock Judging Team – Tripp County 1st Place

Junior Livestock Judging Team – Tripp County 3rd Place

Herdsmanship – Tripp County 2nd Place

A couple of girls on the Winner fall softball team have been named to the all-state team.

Brindy Bolander and Bridget Bartling were named first team.Teammates Aleya Miller and Hailey Hollenbeck each were picked for the second team.

No one could have asked for better weather for the opening weekend of pheasant season.

This Saturday and Sunday in state and out of state hunters enjoyed the sun and the chance to shoot some birds.

Warm weather, clear blue skies and some strong cover after recent moisture helped to make the opening day spectacularly beautiful and great for hunting.

Hunters who ate breakfast Sunday at the Tripp  County 4-H Center were divided on the success of the opening day.

Many said it was great and they really appreciated the nice weather Tripp County dialed up for them.

There were some who said it was a difficult day. They love the outdoors but the birds were not easy to find.

That may be in part to the drought that killed off many chicks.

 A television story on KELO  talked about planes and pheasants in Winner.

Pheasant hunting season is a busy time at the airport.

“The majority is jets or turbo props,” said Tessa Howard of the airport traffic. She and her husband, Dave, have been the operators at the airport since 2014.

The Howards handle the airport operations including landing and department aircraft. They are also mechanics and can fix aircraft as needed.

“It can be challenging,” said Tessa. “It keeps you on your toes.”

Hunters fly all over the state but the area around Winner usually ranks fourth or fifth in pheasants harvested each season which makes it a consistently top place to hunt.

Tripp County had 3,598 nonresident pheasant hunters in 2020 according to the S.D. Department of Game, Fish and Parks. Those hunters harvested 32,361 pheasants.

Tripp County also had 989 resident hunters that harvested 11,294 birds in 2020.

Examples of those who benefit from pheasant hunting include landowners who may lease hunting land, hunting lodges, restaurants, motels and local businesses.

“Anytime hunting comes around there is an economic impact to the area,” said Chandra Phillips, city of Winner finance officer.

Wide open spaces, hospitality and friendly people keep these hunters coming back to this area year after year.

Winner football team will play Clark/Willow Lake in the first round of the football playoffs on Thursday, Oct. 21 in Winner. The game will start at 7 p.m.

Winner enters the game undefeated with an 8-0 record this season. The Warriors are the No. 1 seed in Class 11B.

Winner football coach Trent Olson says Clark/Willow Lake is a battle tested team.  They have beaten the No. 4 and No. 6 teams in Class 11B this season. “They create a lot of big plays on offense. They run a lot of perimeter plays and misdirection plays. They love to throw the ball down the field looking for the home run,” said Olson. “Defensively, they are super aggressive up front. We will have to prevent penetration,” said Olson.