Category Archives: Sports

Two members of the Winner High School football team have been named to the class 11B All-State team.  Named to the team are Levi McClanahan and Riley Calhoon.

The All-State team consists of 20 seniors, five juniors and three sophomores.

McClanahan is a linebacker on the all state team. “A true run stopper with a real nose for football,” said Winner coach Dan Aaker.   McClanahan had 89 tackles and five for a loss and was the Warriors defensive MVP. The 5-9 190 pound linebacker made 159 tackles and four sacks in his career while serving as the defensive captain as a senior.

Calhoon is a defensive back on the all state team. The 5-8 145 pounder was not deterred by his smaller size playing as Winner’s best cover and run support defensive back. He had 35 tackles and an interception for the Warriors while adding big play threat on offense.  “He is small in stature but makes up for it with his natural athletic ability and physical play,” said Aaker.

Six seniors at Winner High School have been named to the football academic all state team.

Winner High School students honored are Riley Calhoon, Levi McClanahan, Zach Lapsley, Nick Lantz, Dalton Baker and Madyson Morehart.

Requirements for academic all state are to be a senior, have a grade point average of 3.5 or above, have played high school football for at least three years or been a student helper for at least three years.

The Winner Area wrestling team won the Kimball/White Lake tournament Saturday in Kimball. The Warriors racked up 232 points.

Trevor Peters was named the outstanding wrestler of the tournament.

The Warriors had five champions: Kaden Keiser (106), Atlas Willuweit (120), Wyatt Turnquist (126), Trevor Peters (138) and Sam Kruger (145).

In the championship match, Keiser won 12-3 over Riley Whitley of Redfield/Doland.  Willuweit won 4-3 over Lance Soukup in the championship match.  Turnquist won the championship 5-0 over Jackson Nockels of Kimball/White Lake.  Peters won 3-0 over Carsten McNeil of Redfield/Doland in the title match.  Kruger pinned Dylan Whitley in 1:42 to win the 145 pound match.

“We wrestled well for the first tournament,” said coach Spencer Novotny.  “We saw some things that we need to work on. We need to get better from the bottom position. We wrestled well on our feet and on top.”

Several other Winner wrestlers placed at the opening tournament of the season.
Jack Kruger (113) placed third; Riley Orel (113) placed fifth; Aaron Gilchrist 132) placed third, Joey Cole (152) placed fifth, Preston Norrid (170) placed fifth, Landon Dubus (182) placed sixth, Achilles Willuweit (195) placed fourth, Elijah Blare (220) placed fourth and Jamin Dougherty (285) placed third.

Novotny said some of the things Winner needs to work on going into a triangular with Wagner and Burke/Gregory are staying in good position and working on the edge of the mat. Bonus points are going to be huge in these duals. It was nice to see plethora of Winner area fans at this tournament this weekend,” said Novotny

Winner Area team will compete in a triangular Dec. 7 in Wagner. At 5:30 Winner will wrestle Wagner followed by Winner vs. Burke/Gregory and then Wagner vs. Burke/Gregory.

Winner will compete in the Gregory tournament on Saturday, Dec. 9. Wrestling will start at 9 a.m.

Winner High School boys basketball team will open the season on Dec. 8 at home when they host Wagner.

The five returning lettermen are Justus Gregg, Joren Bruun, Shea Connot, Brandon Volmer and Phillip Jorgensen.
There are 34 athletes out for basketball. The only senior on the team is Gregg.  The rest of the team is made up of 8 juniors, 13 sophomores and 12 freshmen.

The Warriors lost seven seniors who saw a lot of playing time in their career at WHS. The seniors who graduated are Drew DeMers, Cameron Kuil, Trevor Bertram, Isaac Naasz, Chase Kingsbury, Wyatt Ewing and Luke Engel.

Winner’s record last year was 12-10 and they made it to the Regional Semifinal, falling to Little Wound.

Coach Brett Gardner says this will be a different year due to the team’s youth. There are no returning starters. 
“We have a lot of depth and a lot of basketball athleticism. We have a bunch of young guys who are competing with each other for a spot on the team,” said Gardner.  “This year is totally different which is an exciting thing. We are hard works, play the right way, the Warrior way and get after it,” said Gardner.

The Warriors will have to defend against teams that are bigger than they are. “We will have to use our quickness and basketball athleticism to help us defend and the offense will take care of itself,” said the coach.  “We will pride ourselves for the fourth straight year of taking care of the defensive end.” The goal of the Warriors is to hold teams under 50 points.

The Warriors have nice guards who can shoot and competitive posts.

Gardner says practice has been competitive with players getting after it.  In practice, the coaching staff has put in the defense. For Winner, the defense comes first and the the coaches slowly work in the offense.

The team has been working on skill sets, fundamentals and footwork—finishing a layup with the correct feet.

What Gardner likes about this year’s team is that they are competitive but they also like each other and hang out together.
“Once players develop their role and buy into that role we can get better and play our best basketball,” explained the coach.
The team’s goal every year is to be playing the best basketball by region and make it to the Sweet 16.

This is the second year for the Sweet 16 in Class A. “I like the Sweet 16,” says Gardner. “I was kind of torn on it but the more I thought about it and watched games it brought the best out of everyone. It does take away from the regionals but it will get the best eight teams to the state tournament.”

The WHS coach says the top teams in Class A will be Tea, returning state champ; Madison Sioux Valley, Red Cloud and Pine Ridge.

The Warriors play in the Big Dakota and SESD Conference.

This is Gardner’s fourth year as head coach in Winner and sixth overall.

Trent Olson will be the assistant coach and is starting his 14th year as the assistant coach.

The 2017-2018 schedule includes:
Dec. 8—Wagner, home
Dec. 15—Miller, home
Dec. 16—at Sully Buttes
Dec. 21—Bon Homme, home
Dec. 22—at Parkston
Dec. 28—Snowball Classic in Winner
Jan. 2—at Chamberlain
Jan. 5—at Bennett County
Jan. 6—at Gregory
Jan. 9—Valentine, home
Jan. 13—At Garretson
Jan. 18—Pine Ridge, home
Jan. 23—at Todd Co
Jan. 26—at Mt. Vernon/Plankinton
Feb. 3—CEB, home
Feb. 6—at St. Francis
Feb. 9—McLaughlin, home
Feb. 13—at Platte/Geddes
Feb. 16—at Mobridge/Pollock
Feb. 19—Crow Creek, home
Feb. 27—Region
March 2—Region
March 6—Sweet 16
March 15-17—State A in Rapid City

Five lettermen will lead the Colome boys basketball team as they get ready to open the season.  The lettermen are: Jackson Kinzer, Beau Bertram, Kolton Salonen, Layton Thieman and Wyatt Cahoy.

Colome opens the season at home on Dec. 14 against Gregory.

The two seniors on the team are Andrew Laprath and Salonen.  Juniors are Kinzer, Thieman, Chase Dufek, Wyatt Cahoy, Calvin Ringing Shield, Dawson Varilek and Gregg Seitz.  Sophomores are Adam Cole and Jacob Beckers.  Freshmen are Linkyn Petersek, Rhett Bertram, Nathaniel Hansen and Mike Supik. Eighth graders are Caden Munroe and Brayden Seegers.

The Cowboys finished last season with a 16-5 record.

Among the major losses from a year ago are Holden Thieman, Kelly O’Bryan, Will Cahoy, Isaac Kortan, and Garrett Salonen.

Coach Drew Weber says the Cowboys should have a balanced team with the biggest keys being defense and rebounding.
The coach says the team has a lot of good athletes.

Kolton Salonen and Kinzer are returning starters and Beau Bertram, Cahoy and Thieman were the first three off the bench.
Weber says it really helps having Dufek, Varilek and Ringing Shield out his season.

“I expect those three along with Laprath to give us more depth this year,” said Weber.  In practice, the Cowboys have been working on fundamentals.  “This group is willing to work hard but they know they have a long ways to go,” said the coach.

The Cowboys will play in two conferences—South Central and a new one to basketball—Great Plains.

There will be some changes in Class B basketball this season. Class B will implement the shot clock and the Sweet 16 format.
Weber says he is in favor of both. “The Sweet 16 some years will benefit us and some years will hurt us but as a whole it is good.”

Weber says the shot clock will not change Colome’s style of play. He says fans will see a quicker game.

As far as the top teams in boys basketball in Class B, Weber says Bridgewater-Emery-Ethan will be tough along with Sully Buttes and in Colome’s region Corsica-Stickney, Gregory and the Cowboys will be tough.

The assistant coach for the Cowboys will be Derek Graesser.

The 2017-2018 Colome basketball schedule includes:
Dec. 14—Gregory, home
Dec. 16—Cody-Kilgore, home
Dec. 21—at Avon
Dec. 22—Freeman-Marion
Dec. 30—at Wessington Springs
Jan. 5—Lyman, home
Jan. 11-13—Jones County Tournament
Jan. 16—Jones County, home
Jan. 19—at Gayville-Volin
Jan. 23—at Kimball/White Lake
Jan. 26—Platte, home
Feb. 2—at AC/DC
Feb. 3—Highmore classic
Feb. 6—North Central, home
Feb. 10—Menno, home
Feb. 13—Burke/South Central, home
Feb. 15—at Marty
Feb. 23—at Tripp/Delmont/Armour
Feb. 26-27—Region
March 2—Region
March 6—Sweet 16
March 15-17—state B in Aberdeen

Winner High School girls basketball team will open the season on Dec. 8 at home when Wagner comes to town. This will be a Winner boys and girls doubleheader.

There are nine returning letterwinners. They include: Madyson Frazier, Gabby Kocer, Abby Marts, Gracie Littau, Alexis Richey, Madison Thieman, Morgan Hammerbeck, Maggie LaCompte and Bella Swedlund.

There is only one senior on the team, Madison Frazier.

Joining the Lady Warriors is a transfer student from Rapid City Stevens, Madi Kerner who is a junior.  The two foreign exchange students attending Winner High School are also playing for Winner. Alina Weiler is from Germany and Yvonne Morana is from Italy.

There are a total of 25 girls out for basketball this season. There is a large junior class with 11 girls out with four sophomores, 8 freshman and an 8th grader.

The Lady Warriors finished last season with a 15-7 record. Graduated from that team are Sam Schuyler, Rachel Sherman, Chloe Bartels, Kyran Meek, Sydney Hollenbeck and Sidney Bohnet.

Coach Larry Aaker says the team is young with only one senior. However, the team has some experience. The only returning starter is Frazier but a lot of girls had significant playing time a year ago.

Aaker noted the eight other letterwinners had a lot of playing time. “So, we have some experience coming back. But it will be an adjustment moving into a starting role,” said the coach.

He noted the Lady Warriors will be competitive.

The main thing the team will work on is defense. The girls put in a lot of time over the summer working on their offensive skills.

“To be competitive, we have to defend and we need to do a better job than we have in the past,” noted the coach.

Looking at the top teams in Class A, Aaker says you have to look at St. Thomas More, three times state champions. He added that Winner’s region is loaded with teams like Little Wound, Pine Ridge and Todd County.

Sam Olson will be the assistant coach with Rob Cox as the volunteer coach.

The 2017-2018 girls basketball schedule includes:
Dec. 8-Wagner, home
Dec. 14—at South Central
Dec. 16—at Sully Buttes
Dec. 21—Bon Homme, home
Dec. 22—at Parkston
Dec. 28—Snowball Classic in Winner
Jan. 2—At Chamberlain
Jan. 4—Todd County
Jan. 6—At Gregory
Jan. 9—Valentine, home
Jan. 13—At Garretson Classic
Jan. 16—at Bennett County
Jan. 18—at Pine Ridge
Jan. 22—Miller, home
Jan. 26—at Mt. Vernon-Plankinton
Feb. 1—at Crow Creek
Feb. 3—CEB, home
Feb. 8—Platte-Geddes, home
Feb.9—McLaughlin, home
Feb. 16—at Mobridge-Pollock
Feb. 20—Regions
Feb. 22—Regions
March 1—Sweet 16
March 8-10—State meet in Watertown

A new coach is guiding the Colome Cowgirls basketball team. Kory Foss is the head coach for the Cowgirls who open the season Dec. 11 at Corsica-Stickney.

The returning letterwinners are Kaydee Heath, Rayne Hermsen, Jaclyn Laprath, Matrix Noteboom, Makayla Shippy, Baylie Hoffine, Abby Kortan and Saydee Heath.

Others on the team are Clarissa Ringing Shield, Jordyn Seegers, Cheyenne Dougherty, Lanie Bolton, Carleen Burger and Sara O’Bryan.

There are no seniors on the team so the team will be young.

However, Foss says the team was young last year so many of the girls got significant playing time. “We have room to grow. This is a good group of girls who are working hard,” explained Foss.

The coach says he wants to the team to be improve each day. “If that happens it will take us to where we want to go,” he said.
Foss grew up in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota graduating from high school in Northfield, Minn.

He went to Augustana College in Sioux Falls for two years where he played baseball. The last two years he attended Valley City State University in North Dakota where he graduated in 2007 with a degree in history.

His first job was in Philip where he was a teacher and coach for four years. He coached the boys basketball team the first two years and was head boys and assistant girls the last two years.  Foss then spent a year at Hitchcock-Tulare as the head girls basketball coach.  The last two years he was at New Rockford-Cheyenne in North Dakota as head girls basketball coach.

In Colome, Foss teaches history and government.  His wife, Danielle, is the fourth grade teacher in Colome. They have two children: Evelyn, a third grader and Sawyer who is in pre-school.

Laura Windspurger is the assistant coach at Colome.

The Colome girls basketball schedule includes:
Dec. 11—at Corsica-Stickney
Dec. 16—Cody-Kilgore, home
Dec.21—At Avon
Dec. 30—at Wessington Springs
Jan. 4—Kimball/White Lake, home
Jan. 6—AC/DC at home
Jan. 9—Jones County, home
Jan. 11—at Burke/South Central
Jan. 18-20—Southern Plains Conference tournament
Jan. 25—at White River
Jan. 26—Platte, home
Jan. 29—at Lyman
Feb. 3—at Highmore Classic
Feb. 6—at North Central
Feb. 9—at Kadoka
Feb. 10—Menno, home
Feb. 12—Gregory, home
Feb. 15—at Marty
Feb. 19, 20, 22—Regions
March 1—Sweet 16
March 8-10—State B

The Winner Area wrestling team will combine youth with a lot of wrestlers who have state meet experience.

Spencer Novotny is starting his second year as the head coach of the Warriors.

The Warriors will open the season at the Kimball tournament on Dec. 2. The meet will start at 10 a.m. and will feature 12 teams.

There are 11 lettermen on the team. The lettermen include: Kaden Keiser, Achilles Willuweit, Joey Cole, Aaron Gilchrist, Owen Duffy, Trevor Peters, Landon Debus, Cailob Week, Wyatt Turnquist, Riggin Shippy, Atlas Willuweit.
The two seniors on the team are: Atlas Willuweit and Jamin Dougherty.

Others on the team are: Bosten Morehart, Preston Norrid, Sam Kruger, Dylan Ernster, Asher Kraft, Elijah Blare, Kaleb Osborn, Riley Shippy, Charles Pravecek, Enrique Guzman, Jack Kruger and Riley Orel.

The Warriors lost six seniors—Kayleb Brozik, Tre Doren, Avery Gilchrist, Jayden Schroeder, Nick Blare and Tristan Watzel.

Last year at state, Doren won first place at 285 pounds.

Five wrestlers will return who placed at state last year. Kaden Keiser was 6th at 106, Wyatt Turnquist, 5th at 113; Atlas Willuweit, 4th at 120; Trevor Peters, 6th at 126 and Sam Kruger who wrestled for Kimball last year placed third at 138 pounds.

“We are a young team but we return a lot of experience,” said Novotny.

“We have a lot of kids who were a match away from qualifying for state a year ago,” said Novotny.

The Warriors have a lot of depth in three different spots. There are a several wrestlers in the lighter weights, 138 pounds and 160-170 pounds.

Novotny says in practice the team has been working on a lot of techniques. He says there is a lot of high intensity in practice and as the season progresses there will be more intensity.

“We will be tough and a scrappy team,” said the coach. “There are a lot of kids on this team who did not get everything accomplished last year. They realized that and had great summer workouts along with acceleration camp, taking part in open gyms and going to camps.”

The Warriors have a tough schedule. It has been several years since the team has competed in the Gregory tournament and this year will return to Gregory on Dec. 9. In the past, Winner has wrestled at the Rapid City meet which was same day as the Gregory meet. “We will find great competition in Gregory,” said Novotny.

A new tournament for Winner will at Tri Valley on Jan. 13. This will allow the wrestlers to see some competition they have not seen prior to the state tournament.

The regional will be in Miller and the state tournament will be in Sioux Falls.
In Class B, Novotny says the top teams to beat are Canton, Mobridge/Pollock and Philip. He added Parkston is also a strong team.

Novotny’s assistant coaches are Jayd Schuyler and Daryl LaDeaux.

The 2017-2018 schedule includes:
Dec. 2—at Kimball tournament
Dec. 7—Wagner/Gregory Triangular
De. 9—Gregory tournament
Dec. 15-16—at Valentine, Neb.
Dec. 30—at McCook Central
Jan. 2—Stanley County, home
Jan. 5-6—at Lyman tournament
Jan. 13—at Tri Valley tournament
Jan. 16—O’Neill/Valentine Triangular
Jan. 19—Kimball/Philip, home
Jan. 20—Winner Invitational tournament
Jan. 27—Aberdeen Central tournament
Jan. 30—at Chamberlain
Feb. 3—Big Dakota at Stanley Co.
Feb. 10—at Huron
Feb. 17—Regional at Miller
Feb. 23-24—State tournament in Sioux Falls

Jackson Kinzer of the Colome football team has been named to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader Elite 45 football team.
Kinzer logged 80 carries for 950 yards and 14 touchdowns and caught 12 passes for 350 yards for the Colome Cowboys this season.

On defense, Kinzer played safety, corner and linebacker, tallying 40 tackles, three interceptions and a score.

“We relied on Jackson heavily on offense,” said coach Ben Connot. “Every team we played knew about Jackson and he was their main priority to stop.”

The Colome Cowboys had a big season and have four members of the team on the Class 9B all-state team.

Cowboy senior Kolton Salonen was joined by Jackson Kinzer, Beau Bertram and Layton Thieman.

Salonen was one of the leaders of the Cowboy defense finishing with 65 tackles including 10 sacks and coming up with a fumble recovery. On the other side of the ball, he averaged 20 yards and 11 catches and scored five times.

“Kolton was the guy we knew would do everything correctly,” said Colome coach Ben Connot. “He was always on time and worked hard. He’s a very tough kid that always tried his best.”

Junior Jackson Kinzer was named to the Class 9B offensive team.

Kinzer finished with 1,400 all-purpose yards. He ran 80 times for 950 yards an 11.9 average—an 14 touchdowns while picking up 340 yards on 13 receptions with a 26.2 average with four scores. On defense, Kinzer picked off three passes and made 35 tackles.

“He was our leader on both sides of the ball,” said Connot. “He was our go to guy when we needed yards.”

Bertram finished with 60 tackles, including three sacks. On offense, he had 240 yards on just 19 rushes and 110 yards on three receptions while totaling four touchdowns.

“He is the hardest worker,” Connot said. “He’s a very tough kid who will do anything you ask of him. He’s a great athlete that could play multiple positions.”

Thieman, a ball hawking defender, came up with seven interceptions while adding a fumble recovery to go with 65 tackles. On offense, he went 35 of 70 for 737 yards with 12 TDs.

“Layton is a leader on the field,” Connot said. “He is consistent game in and game out. He made sure everyone is in the right place.”

Calvin Ringing Shield was named to the honorable mention list.