Category Archives: Sports

There are three golfers on Winner Area boys golf team this season.  The three sophomores are Gage Watson, Jayd Whitley and Nathan Monk.

New boys coach this year is Larry Aaker.  The coach says the team will be young.

The first meet of the season was Aug. 21 when the Warriors traveled to Rapid City Central.

The golf schedule includes:
Aug. 31—at Chamberlain
Sept. 7—at Pierre, Big Dakota Conference tournament
Sept. 12—Winner Invitational
Sept. 19—pre-regional in Pierre
Sept. 25—Regional in Pierre
Oct. 2-3—State meet at Dakota Dunes Country Club

It was so close, and for the second consecutive year, Winner/Colome amateur baseball team saw their season end at the hands of Garretson.

In the quarterfinals of the State B tournament in Mitchell, Garretson nipped Winner/Colome 6-5 Thursday afternoon.

Trailing 6-2 at the start of the 9th inning, the first five Pheasants found a way to get on base. Reed Harter came around to score on a Austin Richey RBI single while Derek Graesser scored on an error and Richey scored on a Zach Harter fielder’s choice to make it a one run game.

Jared Donahue took the loss for Winner/Colome allowing six runs on eight hits with 12 strikeouts and eight walks in seven innings.

Tarrell Bauld pitched in the bottom of the 8th inning.

Winner/Colome out-hit Garretson 13-8.

The Pheasants scored its first run in the top of the fifth inning when Geno Katz scored on an RBI single by Reed Harter.

The Pheasants had the bases loaded with one out but failed to add another run until the top of the seventh inning. Lakin Neugebauer scored on a Richey RBI single in the seventh.

Neugebauer went 3-5 while Richey, Austin Calhoon and Derek Graesser had two hits.

Austin Richey of the Winner/Colome baseball team won the batting championship at the State B tournament in Mitchell.
Richey batted .600 for the tournament.

It is hard to believe that high school football is here and we are playing a game this Friday.

The Winner Warriors open the season on Aug. 18 when they host Sioux Falls Christian, one of several new teams on the schedule this season. The game will be at Warrior field at 7 p.m.

The Warriors are coming off back to back state champions and are the defending Class 11B champions.

However, the Warriors lost 17 seniors who saw a lot of action in the four-year career at WHS.

This year there are 42 players on the team. This includes 10 seniors, 11 juniors, 10 sophomores and 11 freshmen.

Coach Dan Aaker says of the 22 starters Winner has lost 21 of them. The only returning starter on defense is Ty Bolton. There are no returning starters on offense.

Aaker says the two positives that come from this are that the current players got a fair amount of varsity action. But Aaker notes that most importantly, these athletes, who were the underclassmen, had to practice against that award winning team for two years. “This just makes the current players better.”

Returning lettermen on the team are Joren Bruun, Levi McClanahan, Oscar Pravecek, Nate Smither, Ty Bolton, Zach Lapsley, Trevor Peters, Phillip Jorgensen, Brandon Volmer, Carter Brickman, Matt Smither, Riley Calhoon, Nick Lantz, Loren Moeller, Ryder Mortenson, Ethan Velely, Kamerom Meiners, Trey Welch, Tyson Westendorf, Casey Stickland, Dalton Baker, Elijah Blare, Colton Schroeder, Justus Gregg, A. J. Roubideaux, Shea Connot, Logan Tunnissen, Jerry Long Crow, Jacob Clay and Nolan Sachtjen.

The coaching staff is trying to replace a lot of pieces on the team. “This is no surprise. We knew that at the end of last year. In the off season I was looking where our leadership will be,” said Aaker.

He has named captains Levi McClanahan, Riley Calhoon, Carter Brickman and Justus Gregg.

The coach noted this group of football players are excited as they want to show what they can do.

Brickman will be the starting quarterback for the Warriors. Backing up Brickman will be Volmer and freshman Brady Fritz can fit into this mix.

Bolton and Calhoon will return as running backs. Matt Smither and Phillip Jorgensen will fit into the running back rotation.

Up front on the offensive line, the Warriors will not be as big as they have been in the past two years. Serving on the line will be Gregg, McClanahan, Roubideaux, Connot, Blare, Schroeder and Oscar Pravecek.

Tight ends and wide receivers will be Nick Lantz and Nate Smither. Into this rotation will be Jerry Long Crow.

On the defensive side of the ball will be McClanahan who played a lot at linebacker last season. There are some returners in the secondary including Bolton, Calhoon, Brickman and Volmer.

Aaker added Jorgensen and Connot may also play linebacker.

Defensive tackles will be Gregg, Roubideaux along with Oscar Pravecek.

Defensive ends will be Nick Lantz, Elijah Blare and Jerry Long Crow.

Bolton, Roubideaux will be the kickers with help from Welch. Punters will be Jorgensen and Bolton.

As far as expectations, Aaker said the Warriors will be competitive. “But we have to be realistic. It is going to be a dog fight in some games and we are going to have to paly really well to compete at a higher level.”

A big change for the Warriors will be the schedule as Winner has several new teams and three of the them Warriors have never seen before.

Also, the Warriors will play in the SESD Conference which will be made up of Stanley County, Mt. Vernon/Plankinton, Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central, Winner, Chamberlain and Wagner.

“I wish we could have had this schedule the past two years,” said Aaker. “It is a really competitive schedule.”

The coach feels Class 11B will be balanced and he sees Bridgewater/Emery-Ethan as the pre-season favorite.

Assistant coaches will be Trent Olson, Kevin Keiser, Sam Olson and Glenn Carlson. Larry Aaker, who had been a full time assistant coach, is now the WHS boys golf coach. Aaker says Larry will help on some Fridays.

The Winner football schedule includes:
Aug. 18—Sioux Falls Christian, home
Aug. 25—Stanley County, there
Sept. 1—West Central, there
Sept. 15—Valentine, Neb., home
Sept. 22—Mt. Vernon/Plankinton, there
Sept. 29—Chamberlain, here, homecoming
Oct. 6—Wagner, home
Oct. 13—Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central in Wessington Springs
Oct. 19—First round of the playoffs
Oct. 26—Second round of the playoffs
Nov. 3—Semifinals
Nov. 10—Championship in the Dome in Vermillion

Colome High School football team has a new head coach who is working hard to prepare the team for the season opener which is just two days away on Aug. 18.

The Cowboys, the defending Class 9B state champions, will open on the road Friday at Centerville. The game will be at 7 p.m.
Ben Connot is at the helm of the Colome Football team this year. He is a 2013 graduate of Winner High School where he was a standout on the Warrior football team. He is two time all state defensive back.

Connot played football at South Dakota School of Mines and then transferred to Black Hills State University where he is currently a senior majoring in special education.

Connot will be a paraprofessional in the Colome district this year and will do his student teaching in Colome the second semester.
“I knew Colome’s coach had resigned and they also had an opening is special education,” said Connot. He called Supt. Ryan Orrock and told him he was interested in both the football coaching job and the special education position.

Connot said everything fell in line and he was approved by the Colome School Board.  “I am excited, I am looking forward to the season,” he said.

The Cowboys graduated a good class form the state championship team but have 12 returning lettermen. The returning lettermen are Nash Atteberry, Jamin Dougherty, Zane Rohde, Kolton Salomen, Beau Bertram, Wyatt Cahoy, Chase Dufek, Jackson Kinzer, Calvin Ringing Shield, Layton Thieman, Dawson Varilek and Jaikob Week.

Other members of the team are: Cody Assman, Kaylub Hansen, Evan Cole, Greg Seitz, Jacob Beckers, Adam Cole, Cailob Week, Casey Assman, Rhet Bertram, Luke Bolton, Nathaniel Hansen, Allen McKenzie, Linkyn Petersek and Michael Supik.

In practice, the Cowboys have been working on a new offense and new defense. “We play a week earlier this year and there is not a lot of time to prepare so there is a sense of urgency to make every rep count,” said Connot.

The Cowboys have some of their key positions back from last year.

Layton Thieman will be the quarterback and last year was named the Joe Robbie MVP in the state championship game.  Kinzer, who played a big role for the Cowboys last year, will return as a running back and defensive back.  On line will be Kolton Salonen, Beau Bertram and Nash Atteberry.

Calvin Ringing Shield has been working as the kicker and Salonen will be the punter.

The Cowboys offense will be able to run the ball and also pass. Connot says they want to establish the run first.

The defense will be strong with experience in the secondary coming from Thieman and Kinzer.  Chase Dufek played some last year but thecoach says he will be asked to play a bigger role this year.

When asked what kind of coach he will be, Connot said he likes effort. “I am not going to get mad at a lack of results but I will get mad at a lack of effort. I want my kids to be going 100 percent every time,” he said.

Gene Bertram is the assistant coach and defensive coordinator. Other assistant coaches are: Charles Hosford, Kory Foss, Colton Seegers and Terrance Kinzer who will be helping with the defensive backs and special teams.

Expectations are high for the Cowboys. “We have a good opportunity in front of us,” he said. “We have experienced players in key positions. What I expect is for everyone to embrace that opportunity. We cannot get complacent. We need to realize what kind of opportunity we have and take a hold of that and stay focused and execute.”

Connot added: “I can’t wait for the opening game of the season.”

The Colome football schedule includes:
Aug. 18—at Centerville
Aug. 25—Tripp-Delmont-Armour/Andes Central/Dakota Christian, home
Sept. 1—Burke/South Central, home
Sept. 15—Gayville,-Volin, away
Sept. 22—Alcester-Hudson, away
Sept. 29—Scotland, Colome, homecoming
Oct. 6—Corsica-Stickney, home
Oct. 13—Avon, away
Oct. 19—First round of the playoffs
Oct. 26—Second round of the playoffs
Nov. 3—Semifinals
Nov. 9 – Championship in the Dome in Vermillion

Winner/Colome Legion baseball team has made it to the final four of the State B Legion tournament at Leahy Bowl in Winner.  The Royals played Vermillion Monday night for the right to advance to the state championship.  On their way to the final four, Winner/Colome defeated McCook/Miner and Platte-Geddes and lost to Spearfish.

In the Royal’s first game on Friday night, they defeated McCook/Miner 5-3.  A three run first inning set the Royals up for the victory.

The team had seven hits with Riley Calhoon having two singles and Carter Brickman had two RBIs.   Pitching for Winner/Colome were Carter Brickman who threw 4 1/3 innings to earn the win, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits, 2 walks and no strikeouts. Kelly O’Bryan earned the save in relief pitching 2 2/3 innings giving up no run, o hits 1 walk and 1 strikeout.

Saturday Spearfish shut out Winner/Colome 10-0.

Winner/Colome had 5 hits and O’Bryan had 2 singles.

Ty Bolton threw 2 1/3 innings and gave up five runs on 7 hits, 8 walks and 1strikeout. Drew DeMers threw 1 1/3 inning and gave up 3 runs on 3 hits, 1 walk and 1 strikeout. Levi McClanahan threw a third of an inning. Cale Meiners threw two innings giving up 2 uns on 3 hits.

The Royals bounced back on Sunday as they defeated Platte-Geddes 10-5. The Royals got a nice cushion as they scored several runs in the opening inning.

Winner/Colome had 10 hits. Calhoon, McClanahan and DeMers all had 2 hits and nick Lantz had 2 RBIs.  In pitching, O’Bryan threw one inning, Calhoon threw 6 innings in relief to get the win and give up five runs on 5 hits, 2 walks and 2 strikeouts.

“It’s been a great three days so far for our guys and feels special to still be alive in the final four with so many great teams here,” said coach Drew Weber.  “We beat McCook/Miner in a thrilling game on Friday night with some great pitching by Carter and Kelly and we got some timely hits from our entire order,” said the coach.

“The Spearfish game didn’t go as planned but we bounded back with a hard-fought victory over Platte on Sunday. So far, I’ve been very impressed with our pitching and defense but our offense has come through with some clutch hits too. We’re not sure how it’s going to end up but we have already proven we are one of the best teams in the state and I’m very proud of our kids,” said Weber.

On Monday, Spearfish played McCook/Miner in the 5 p.m. game and at 7:30 p.m. Winner/Colome took on Vermillion.

The championship was played at Leahy Bowl on Tuesday, July 25. Be sure to follow the Winner Advocate for all the pictures and the latest scores from the Winner/Colome Royals.

Winner/Colome amateur baseball team won two games in the Sunshine League tournament in Parkston.

The Pheasants defeated Dimock/Emery 16-1 in 6 innings on Sunday.  The Pheasants advanced to the District 5B championship.

Derek Graesser didn’t allow a hit in the game.  Zach Harter had a three run home run to highlight the scoring. Graesser and Dillon Lambley each had two doubles while Lakin Neugebauer had three hits and Reed Harter added a two hits.

The Pheasants had eight runs in the sixth inning to end the game early.

Winner/Colome will face Alexandria at 7:30 p.m. Friday for the district title.

Winner/Colome picked up an 11-1 victory over Platte in the first round of the district tournament on Thursday in Parkston.

The Pheasants Jared Donahue was the winning pitcher. He pitched all eight innings, struck out 15 batters and gave up three hits.

Offensively, Austin Richey had a three run home run, drove in four runs and added a single. Austin Calhoon, Derek Graesser and Geno Katz all had two singles. Calhoon had an RBI and Katz dove in two runs. Winner/Colome collected 11 hits.

The Winner Junior Legion baseball team lost to Tabor 9-8 and beat Gregory 5-1.

Leading hitters in the Tabor game were Dalton Baker with 2 hits, Phillip Jorgensn with 2 hits, Kameron Meiners with 3 hits.

Against Gregory, leading the hitters were Oscar Praveck with 2 hits, Meiners with 2 hits, Brady Fritz with 2 hits and Nathan Monk with 2 hits.
Pitching a complete game was Meiners with six strikeouts.

Winner will play in the region tournament on Saturday in Winner and will play Mission at 10 a.m. Lennox plays Wessington Springs after the first game. Then the two losers will play followed by the two winners.

The Winner 12U Baseball team finished in fourth place at the State VFW 12U Class A Tournament in Humboldt on July 14, 15, and 16.

In the first game of pool play, the boys defeated Baltic 9-5. Silas Chasing Hawk and Ethan Bartels combined for the pitching in this game. Aiden Barfuss hit two home runs in this game.

In the second game of pool play, the Winner team defeated Dell Rapids by a score of 19-7. Blake Volmer, Aiden Barfuss, and Karson Keiser combined to do the pitching in this game. The Winner boys had 15 hits including two more home runs by Aiden Barfuss.

In the final game of pool play, the Winner team defeated Milbank by a score of 13-2. Silas Chasing Hawk and Ethan Bartels combined to do the pitching in this game. Silas Chasing Hawk had 4 hits with 4 runs scored and Karson Keiser had 4 walks with 4 runs scored as well.

As the Winner team won their pool, they played 2 games in Sunday’s medal round.

The semifinal game was with West Central 12’s team. The Winner youth lost by a score of 6-1, while stranding 9 runners on base over 6 innings.

“We just couldn’t seem to come up with a hit at several key times in this game,” said coach Mike Calhoon.  The West Central team had defeated every pool play opponent by the 10 run rule and only gave up 6 runs over all 5 of their games on the way to the State Championship.

In the third place game, the Winner boys were defeated by the West Central 11’s by a score of 6-2.

“We led this game going into the bottom of the fourth inning but West Central erupted for 5 runs in the home half of the fourth and we were unable to mount much of a scoring threat in our final two innings,” said Calhoon.

Throughout the tournament, Winner utilized five different pitchers. All players performed very well with every player getting at least one hit. The Winner defense also played error free ball for the 3 pool play games and had numerous outfield assists for put outs in this tournament.

This team was a combination of Winner Gold, Winner Purple, and Clearfield Majors. The coaches from each of those teams selected the players for this squad. This team was coached by Mike Calhoon, Kevin Keiser, and Keven Morehart. “The coaches appreciate the players and their parents for committing to this tournament at late notice as we weren’t accepted until about a week prior to this tournament,” explained Calhoon. He said the Winner Youth Baseball program was a big help in purchasing jerseys for the players to use during the tournament. Also, to T-Bones Treehouse sponsored Winner’s page in the program.

“ Hopefully, the players had fun and learned that they are able to compete at a high level within the state,” said Calhoon.

The Winner 12U Girls Softball team competed in the South Dakota State Girls Fastpitch Tournament in Sioux Falls at Harmodon Park on July 14-15.

The first round Winner Lightning played Madison Thunderstruck and came out on top 10-8.

The next game featured Winner Lightning against the Rapid City Punishers. This was an exciting game where Winner came out on top 15-12 after 2 sudden death extra innings!

Immediately after this emotional win, Winner Lightning played Dakota Valley and lost 12-0. (Dakota Valley ended up winning the Championship game in the 12U-C division.) Winner Lightning then faced Elk Point-Jefferson and came up short 11-3 to end the season.

Winner Lightning 12U team finished their season with a 14-11 record. Girls participating in the state tournament were Mali Beehler, Karlee Brozik, Melanie Brozik, Shayne Day, Miranda Fisher, Ainsley Henderson, Joselin Kludt, Tessa Mann, Aleya Miller, Rylee Root, Emily Sachtjen, Cassidy Seeking Land, and Cici Watson.

The 12U team was coached at the state tournament by Karla Brozik and Kristen Hausmann.

By Dan Bechtold, Editor

There is a lot of excitement among members of the Winner/Colome Legion baseball team as the state B tournament comes to Winner.  Winner will be the host for five days as iconic Leahy Bowl will be site for the state meet.  The state tournament starts Friday, July 21 and runs through Tuesday, July 25.

The grounds crew plus parent volunteers have been working hard to get the field ready. It has been hard since it has been so dry.

“Hosting the state tournament is a cool experience,” said coach Drew Weber.  “It is a good opportunity to showcase our baseball community which is one of the top ones in South Dakota,” he said.

The last time Winner hosted the state tournament was in 2011 and 2006. It was in 2006 when Tresh Swedlund was the coach of the Legion team that Winner won the state meet. Jared Donahue was Winner’s leading pitcher in that game. Donahue, who now lives in Hartford, plays for the Winner/Colome amateur baseball team.

As the host team, Winner/Colome has an automatic berth in the state meet. It does not have to go through the region play to earn a spot.  Winner/Colome has drawn a team from Region 5B to play in the last game of the day on July 21 at around 7:30 p.m.  Region 5 is made up teams from Humboldt, Colton, McCook/Montrose, Tea, Baltic and Aurora.

Last year Winner/Colome played in the state tournament in Webster and Weber says that state experience should help the team.
Milbank is the defending state champion.  There are 12 players on the current Winner/Colome roster with 11 Legion members and Dalton Baker was called up from the Junior Legion team.

Weber says the state meet will be a tough tournament. “There are some really good teams in it this year,” he said.  Milbank returns their best pitcher and Dell Rapids, who won the high school club ball tournament, is loaded with good players.  Even though teams were still playing regional games and the final eight teams were not known at the time of this interview, Weber talked about some of the top teams who could punch their ticket to Winner. Humboldt and McCook are both in the same region and the coach says they both are really good.  Weber noted if Vermillion comes out of their region they will be good.  Tabor, Parkston and Platte are all in one region.

Weber thinks the three teams making it to state will be whoever comes out of the McCook/Humboldt region, Dell Rapids and Milbank.  The coach noted the Royals will have their work cut out for them.

The coach noted pitching will be very important. “You need to have five to six pitches and that is something we feel we have. We feel we have the pitchers to make a run at it.” Weber is quick to point out that Winner/Colome also has to hit the ball and play good defense to win games.  Weber says Winner/Colome has played so many tough teams and a lot of Class A teams. “We are hitting the ball better. I feel comfortable with all nine guys batting.”

The coach explained pitching has been up and down. “I trust we will make good pitches and will not walk a lot of players.”

To keep fresh, the Winner/Colome team played in Miller on Friday and Sunday played a double header in Ainsworth, Neb.

The week of the state meet there will be several days of practice. Weber says the team will be ready to go.
“The team is excited. I can’t wait to get going,” added Weber.