Rod's Saturday Morning Sports Blog

The Pierre Governor wrestling team went 1 and 2 yesterday at the first day of "The Clash" Wrestling tournament in Rochester, Minnesota. The Governors dropped a 31-24 decision in their first match of the day against Kasson-Manterville, Minnesota. The Governors then defeated Prior Lake, Minnesota 43-24 before losing to Marist, Illinois 44-27 in their final match of the day. The Governors are facing Hastings, Minnesota in their first match of the day today. They will then dual Owatonna, Minnesota and Lewiston, Montana in their final match of the tournament. The Governors are wrestlling in the Sixth Bracket today. There are a total of 8 brackets in the tournament.

The Pierre Governor basketball team won both games against the Rapid City schools over the weekend. The Governors defeated Rapid City Central 61-47 on Thursday and then recorded a 59-36 win over Rapid City Stevens yesterday. Pierre scored the games first 20 points only to see Stevens cut the lead to 6 at 32-26 midway through the third quarter, But the Governors then went on a 10 point unanswered run to put the game away. Lane Severyn scored 16 points to pace the Governors. Zach Hanson had 15 to lead the Governor scoring in the win over Rapid City Central.

The Rapid City Stevens Raiders beat the Pierre Lady Governors 50-36 in girls basketball yesterday in Rapid City. Stevie Claussen and Kaitlin Severyn each had 9 points and 9 rebounds for the Lady Govs. On Thursday night, Rapid City Central handed the Lady Govs a 53-45 setback. Severyn had 12 points and 14 rebounds to lead Pierre.

Have a Safe and Happy New Year from all of us at Dakota Radio Group Sports.

Rods Wednesday Sports Blog

Former Pierre Governor two time all state basketball standout Michael Tveidt had a team high 24 points for the Iowa Energy as they defeated the Sioux Falls Skyforce 121-103 in NBA D-League play last night in Sioux Falls. Tveidt scored 10 of his 24 points in the second quarter. The win extends the Energy's lead in the Eastern Conference to 1.5 games over Springfield with a 9-4 record.

The Stanley County Buffalos boys basketball team overcame a 15 points first half deficit to rally and defeat Gregory 53-44 last night at Parkview Gym. Latrell LaRoche led the Buffalos with 20 points while Tucker Fischbach added 11 points. Nolyn Mikkelson had 21 points to lead Gregory. Stanley County is 2 and 3 on the season as they host Crow Creek tomorrow night at Parkview Gym.

Bennett County won their first game of the season as they downed Stanley County 69-36 in a non conference girls basketball matchup last night in Martin. Bennett County led 22-9 after the first quarter and 30-17 at the half. Madison Hand led the Lady Buffalos with 14 points while Tory Deal added 8 as the Lady Buffalos fell to 1 and 4 on the season. Stanley County travels to McLaughlin for their next game a week from tomorrow night.

The Stanley County Buffalo wrestling team dropped it's first dual of the season yesterday as Gregory handed the Buffalos a 43-27 setback at Parkview Gym. The Buffalos got 2 pins in the dual from Cody LaCompte and Thomas Tolton. Herman Fennell III, Casey Henninger, Wyatt Harowa and Cade Larson also won their matches for the Buffalos which is 7-1 on the season in duals. The Buffalos travel to Webster on Friday to compete in the Webster Invitational.

The Pierre Lady Governor gymnastics team scored 129.15 in a gymnastics triangular yesterday in Rapid City. The host Rapid City Central scored 146.70 to win the triangular. Rapid City Stevens scored 34.40. The Cobblers had 4 girls sweep the top four All Around spots with Collette Christenson scored 37.05 to win the competion. Cheyna Lodge scored 33.30 to finish in a tie for 7th place in the All Around for the Lady Govs. Sydney Gutenkauf was 9th, Shelbie Gerber 10th and Melissa Bobby11th. The Lady Govs return to action a week from tomorrow night when they host Aberdeen Central and Stanley County in a triangular at the gymnastics gym in the Pierre School Administration building.

Rods Tuesday Sports Blog

Good Morning and Happy Holidays. There is holiday sports today with the Stanley County Buffalos hosting Gregory at Parkview Gym beginning at 2 pm. Then the Buffalo basketball team hosts Gregory tonight with the varsity game time scheduled for a 7 pm start time. Stanley County's girls basketball team is in Martin this evening to face Bennett County in a girls basketball matchup and the Pierre Lady Governor gymnastics team travels to Rapid City to face Rapid City Central and Stevens in a trianguar. And Thursday night at halftime of the Pierre and Rapid City Central boys basketball gamee, 3 new members will be inducted into the Pierre High School Athletic Hall of Fame. The 3 are James Feeney, track standout and class of 1949. Track and Field and football standout Matt Blumer, class of 1990 and the former Beth Wahl, track and field standoug from the class of 93.

Rod's Christmas Blog

On this day of the year when the problems of the world seem to de-intensify, there is not much sports to report. Nothing locally actually. That changes on Tuesday with the Stanley County Wrestling, boys basketball and girls basketball teams all return to the court. And the Pierre Lady Gov gymnastics teams returns to action in Rapid City and the Capitals boys varsity hockey team begins a 3 day tournament in Hazen, North Dakota. We wish all of the teams the best of luck as they bring an end to the old year and look ahead to the new year ahead. Since I seem to be the only one who blogs anymore on this site, I would like to take this time for Brian, Darren and myself to wish all of you A MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Rod's Wednesday Morning Sports Blog

The Pierre Lady Governors ended something lik a 34 game losing skid dating back to the 2009-10 season last night as they defeated Huron 43-40 in a ESD Conference girls basketball game played at Riggs High Gym. Kaitlin Severyn led the Lady Govs with 11 points. Sydney Palmer added 10 and Kristi Livermont chipped in with 8 points for Pierre which won for the first time this season against 3 losses. Brittney Steffan and Taylor Rotert each scored 11 points to pace Huron which is winless in 5 games this season. The Lady Govs out-rebounded the Tigers 42-25 for the game with Severyn hauled down a game-leading 14 boards and freshman Sydney Palmer grabbed nine. The Lady Govs are off until a week from tomorrow when they travel to Rapid City Central.

The Pierre Governor boys basketball team won their 3rd straight last night downed Huron 61-54 in an ESD Conference game in Huron. Pierre trailed 18-15 at the end of the first quarter but outscored the Tigers 20-8 in the second to take a 9 point lead into the locker room. Pierre led by as many as 13 in the second half but had to hold off a Huron rally that cut the deficit to 2 at 52-50 with over 3 minutes remaining. But Pierre scored the next 7 points and was not challanged the ret of the way. Lane Severyn scored 17 of his game high 26 points in the first half. Zach Hanson added 22 for the Governors who are 3-1 on the season. Hanson added a team high 9 rebounds. Luke Carr and Adam Zwanziger each scored 14 points to pace Huron which had a 3 game winning streak snapped. The Governors host Rapid City Central for their next game a week from tomorrow.

Stanley County went cold from the field and dropped a 55-29 verdict to Jones County in a boys non conference basketball game last night in Murdo. Gus Vollmer led all scorers with 18 points and 5 rebounds for Jones County. The Buffalos host Gregory next Tuesday.

Jones County rallied from a 4 point third quarter deficit to record a 45-37 victory over the Stanley County Lady Buffalos in a non conference girls basketball game last night in Murdo. Tory Deal led all scorers with a game high 18 points for the Lady Buffalos but did not get enough help from her teammates as Stanley County falls to 1 and 3 on the season. Trait Thorne had a double double with 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Lady Buffalos. Stanley County travels to Bennett County on Tuesday for their next action.

Sam Ostarello’s 16 points and 10 rebounds in 21 minutes sparked 20th-ranked Purdue to a 66-47 win over Oakland (Mich.) on Tuesday. The 6-2 junior Fort Pierre native has started all 12 games for the 9-3 Boilermakers and is averaging 7.8 points and a team-leading 7.2 rebounds a game.

The Pierre Governor Junior Varsity wrestling team won all 3 duals it wresteled in a quadrangular in Faulkton last night. The Gov JV's defeated Groton 43-31, Gettysburg 52-21 and Faulkton 43-23. Alec Williams won all 3 matches he wrestled while Quinn Reimers and Dustin Junk each won all 3 matches they wrestled winning two by pin and one by forfiet. Nate Garry won 3 matches, two by forfet and one by pin for Pierre as well.

Rods Friday Night Sports Blog

The Pierre Governor wrestling team recorded 8 pins enroute to a 63 to 9 thrashing of Brandon Valley Friday night in an ESD Conference wrestling dual in Pierre. Jebbin Keyes at 106, Tanner Monfore at 126, Caleb Stoltenberg at 132, Aaron O'Day at 138, Seth Scott at 160, Kyle Sarringer at 170, Chase Lettau at 182 and Lane Lettau at 220 lbs. all recorded pins for the Governors. Dawson Monfore won at 152 lbs. by decision. Trey Maier at 195 and Dustin Junk at 285 won by forfeit for the Governors. Pierre lost only 3 matches on the dual. The Governors also won the JV match 43-24.

Rod's Friday Sports Blog

The Stanley County Lady Buffalo girls basketball team won their first game of the season edging Philip 54-51 last night at Parkview Gym. Phillip erased an 11 point halftime deficit to tie the game in the 4th quarter but the Lady Buffalos prevailed hitting key free throws down the stretch. Tory Deal and Kelley Sweetman scored 15 points apiece to pace the Lady Buffs. Madison Hand finished with 12.

The Stanley County Buffalo boys basketball team picked up their first win of the season dowing Philip 63-57 last night at Parkview Gym. Latrell LaRoche scored 21 to pace the Buffalos. The score was tied at the half but Stanley County came out as Tucker Fishbach scored 12 points in the third period to give Stanley County a 6 point lead they would not relinquish.

The Pierre Governor and Lady Governor basketball teams have tonight off but are back on the court tomorrow. The 5th ranked Governors host Sioux Falls Roosevelt at Riggs High Gym in their first non-conference game of the season. Pierre goes into the game after knocking off number 1 rated Mitchell at Mitchell on Tuesday. The Lady Govs go on the road looking for their first win of the season tomorrow night as well when they travel to Sioux Falls to face Roosevelt. Pierre comes into the game after getting beat by number 2 Mitchell on Tuesday. Tip off of both varsity games are scheduled for 7:30 pm.

Stanley County won all 3 duals it wrestled last night at quadrangular in Redfield. The Buffalos downed Redfield/Doland 49-24, Britton-Hecla/Langford Area 51-11 and Faulkton 37-33. Stanley County's effort featured 3-0 nights from Herman Fennell and Casey Hettinger while Cody LaCompte, Daniel Slama and Wyatt Harrowa went 2-1 for the Buffaloes. Stanley County is now off until December 27th when they host Gregory in a 2 pm dual at Parkview Gym.

The Pierre Governor wrestling team, the pre-season pick by ESD coaches to win the ESD Conference wrestling title this year opens up its ESD dual schedule tonight when they host Brandon Valley at Riggs High Gym. Head coach Ryan Noyes says there are several good wrestlers in the Lynx lineup and his squad needs to be ready. The JV match begins at 6:00 pm with the varsity match scheduled for a 7:30 pm start time. Tomorrow, the Governors travel to Valentine to take part in the Valentine Invitational wrestling tournament, a tournament the Governors have dominated in recent years.

The Pierre Lady Governor gymnastics team will travel to Mitchell tomorrow to compete in the Mitchell Invitational Gymnastics meet that will use a Capital Cup format where teams will warm up before they compete in an event. Lady Gov head coach Nicki Abels says that she will be interested to see Rapid City Central for the first time this season as well as Yankton and Madison. The meet will be held at the Mitchell High School Gym and is scheduled to begin at 11:00 am.

The Stanley County Lady Buffalo gymnastics team will host the Stanley County Central meet tomorrow at Parkview Gym. Lady Buffalo head coach Hilary Hanson is hoping that senior Shelby Gienger will be able to perform. The top all around performer for the Lady Buffalos was injured during warm-ups last weekend at Wagner and did not compete in the meet. Chamberlain, Hot Springs and Wall-Kadoka will join the Lady Buffalos in the 4 team meet.

The Pierre-Ft. Pierre Capitals varsity boys hockey team returns to action this weekend as they head to North Dakota. The Capitals will travel to Dickinson to face the Dickinson High School team tonight at 8 pm central time before heading to Mandan to face the Mandan High School squad tomorrow at 3 pm central time. The JV's will play tomorrow as well at 1 pm. It will be the first time that Pierre-Ft. Pierre will play actual high school teams from another state.

The Pierre-Ft. Pierre Lady Capitals varsity and JV hockey teams play tonight and the varsity squad has games tomorrow and Sunday. The Lady Capitals will host Mitchell at the EXPO Center in Ft. Pierre. The JV game begins at 6 pm with the varsity contest at 8 pm. Although it will be the first league contest between the two it will be the second time the teams have played each other. They played an exhibition match at the beginning of the season with Mitchell winning the game in overtime. Tomorrow and Sunday the Lady Caps will travel to Huron to face Huron in varsity only games. They play tomorrow at 3:30 pm and Sunday morning at 10:30 am. The Lady Capitals went 1 and 2 last weekend in league play.

Rod's Thursday Sports Blog

The Pierre Area Coaches Association has named their latest Riggs High Athlete of the Week for the week ending December 10th. Tanner Monfore of the Governor wrestling team has earned the honor from the Coaches. Monfore was nominated by his head coach Ryan Noyes. Monfore won the Rapid City Invitational this past weekend. 30 teams from 4 different states including #1 Gillette, Wyo, #1 Bismarck, N.D. , and #1 Windsor, Co. were at the tournament. Noyes says it is more difficult to place at this tournament than our own state meet. Tanner did not give up a takedown the entire weekend. His efforts along with his teammates helped the Govs place 2nd place. This was the best finish by the Govs since 1996.

Rod's Sunday Morning Sports Blog

Former Pierre basketball standout Katie Lingle had 10 points and 9 rebounds in Saturday nights SDSU 63-46 loss to Kansas State. The other Pierre native on the SDSU squad, Steph Paluch was held to 3 points on 0 for 5 shooting and 3 of 4 from the free throw line.

Pierre native and former All State basketball star Michael Tveidt scored 13 points in the Iowa Energy 103-89 win over the Sioux Falls Skyforce in NBA D-League play Saturday night in Iowa. Tveidt was 5 of 9 from the field and 2 of 4 from 3 point range while pulling down 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal.

The Pierre Governor wrestling team wrapped up two days of wrestling at the Rapid City Invitational tournament last night by finishing second in the team standings that was won by Campbell County (Gillette) Wyoming. The Governors scored 178.50to finish 5.5 points behind the team champion Camels. Tanner Monfore won a championship for the Governors at 126 lbs defeating Keenan Ternes of Mandan, N.D. in the championship match. Chase Lettau, wrestling at 182 lbs. was the other Governor to make the championship match. He lost to Burke Burgess of St. Thomas More and brought home runner up honors in the division. Caleb Stoletenberg had a 3rd place finish at 132 lbs. Trey Meier brought home third place at 195 lbs. Lane Lettau also brought home 3rd place honors at 220 lbs for the Governors top place winners in the tournament. Jebben Keyes finished 7th at 103 lbs. Dawson Monfore placed 5th at 152 lbs. Kyle Sarringer was 6th at 170 lbs and Dylan Bennett placed 7th at Heavyweight for the other place winners. In all, the Governors had 9 place winners on the weekend.

The Pierre Lady Governor gymnastics team scored 132.450 to finish 5th in the team standings of Saturday’s Aberdeen Invitational meet won by Watertown with a 143.525 team score. Sydney Gutenkauf and Shelby Spelbring tied for 6th in the Floor Exercise with a 9.050 score. Cheyna Lodge scored a 9.225 to finish 4th on the Balance Beam for the Lady Governors only place winners on the day.

Rod's Saturday Morning Sports Blog

Former Pierre Governor All State basketball standout Micheal Tveidt scored 7 points and pulled down 6 rebounds while having 3 assist in the Iowa Energy's 115-92 win over the Sioux Falls Skyforce last night in an NBA D-League game played in Iowa. Tveidt played just under 30 minutes in the game.

The Pierre Governor basketball team trailed almost from start to finish last night as they dropped a 58-51 season opening ESD Conference basketball contest to Watertown in Pierre. Watertown led by as many as 17 points in the contest before the Governors cut the lead to 2 at 38-36 but they could never even the score as the Govs fall to 0-1 on the season. Zach Hanson had 21 points and 10 rebounds while Lane Severyn and Conner Berg each had 9 points apeice in the loss.

The Pierre Lady Governor basketball team dropped a 52-33 season opening ESD girls basketball contest at Watertown last night. Pierre has their home opener Tuesday night against Mitchell.

Pierre has 96 points and sits in third place going into the second day of the Rapid City Invitational Wrestling tournament. The Governors trail Sturgis and Rapid City Central by 7 points or less after scoring 96 points yesterday. Dawson Monfore is unbeaten and in the semi finals of 152 lbs. Chase Lettau is unbeaten and in the semi finals at 182 lbs. Trey Meier is the semi finals at 195 lbs. Lane Lettau is still unbeaten and in the semi finals of 220 lbs. The tournament will decide it's champions later today.

Rod's Tuesday Sports Blog

The South Dakota Community Foundation (SDCF) is pleased to announce that the family of Godfrey Roberts, who passed away in 2010, has established the Godfrey Roberts Hockey Support Fund. The earnings from this endowment will be used by the Oahe Hockey Association (OHA) for providing financial assistance to players interested in the sport. The initial memorials will be used to assist Oahe Hockey players this and next season, with the earnings from the new endowment made available in the 2013-14 season. Roberts was a longtime Pierre businessman, joining State Publishing Company, now PryntComm, as its third generation president in 1950 til he retired in 1991. He learned to skate and play hockey on a pond in Pierre as a boy and while he never played organized hockey, his passion for the game was evident as a fan. HIs grandsons have all played in the Capitals organization over recent years. Contributions to the Godfrey Roberts Hockey Support Fund can be mailed to the South Dakota Community Foundation, PO Box 296, Pierre, SD 57501.

Rod's Sunday Morning Sports Blog

It was a successful Saturday and opening day of the High School Wrestlilng season as the Pierre Governor varsity and junior varsity wrestling teams won the 8 team Watertown Dual Invitational tournament. The Governors defeated Milbank 65-12, Watertown 44-20 and Yankton 56-16 in the varsity portion of the tournament. The Governors then won their 4th match of the day defeating Huron for the title by a 49-18 score. In the JV portion of the tournament, Pierre won their first 3 matches over Mitchell, Watertown and Huron before dowing Aberdeen Central 34-18 in the title match. The Govenor varsity will travel to Rapid City for the two day Rapid City Invitational on Friday and Saturday.


Spearfish-Lead-Deadwood scored 230 points to capture the team title of the Stanley County Invitational wrestling tournament Saturday in Ft. Pierre. Burke-Gregory was second with 155 and Stanley County finished third with 118 points. 11 schools took part in the tournament. Lyman finished 6th, Gettysburg was 7th and Sully Buttes finished 9th in the team portion of the tournament. Cody LaCompte was the only individual champion for Stanley County winning the 182 lb. division. He went 5-0 in the tournament defeating Luke McFarland of Spearfish-Lead-Deadwood by a pin in :34 of the championship match. 3rd place finishers for the Buffalos included Daniel Slama at 106 lbs. Michael Scott at 132 lbs. Herman Fennell at 145 lbs. and Chantry Norman at 160 lbs. Cade Larson finished 4th at 285 lbs. Riley Thelen placed 5th at 120 lbs. and Cooper Carter at 138 lbs. and Wade Wieczorek at 152 lbs. finished 6th for the Buffalo place winners.


And congraulations to Sioux Falls baseball people. After years of looking at Rapid City and questioning former Post 22 head coach Dave Ploofs motives for never scheduling Post 320 for regular season games and his fight with Post 320 for over a decade before he retired from the coaching scene, Sioux Falls is doing the same with the formation of Post 307 based out of Renner. It will be the third varsity Legion baseball team in the state's largest city. Post 15 has had two teams in the past. Sioux Falls West and Sioux Falls East. Both were run by the Sioux Empire Baseball Association. The SEBA is against the formation of the third team and complaining that they are recruiting players away from the Post 15 teams to play for the newly formed Post 307. Perhaps coach Ploof can give some advice to the Sioux Falls people on how to handle this situation. And eventually, how to live with it.

Rod's Saturday Sports Blog

Stanley County senior Shelby Geinger was named to the All Big Dakota Conference Volleyball team. Geinger was the only member of the Lady Buffs to earn the honor on the All BDC team or honorable mention team.

Pierre junior katie Lingle of the South Dakota State womens basketball team scored a season high 12 points and was one of 4 double figure scorers in the Jackrabbits 74-63 win at IUPUI last night. Lingle also had 4 rebounds and 3 steals in the game. Steph Paluch, the other former Lady Gov on the SDSU team scored 7 points and had a career high 5 steals in the game.

Rod's Friday Sports Blog

The Pierre Governor wrestling team will open their season tomorrow when they travel to Watertown to compete in the 8 team Watertown Invitational Dual tournament. The Governor grapplers have 6 state place winners back from last year's squad and are the pick by the league coaches to win the ESD Conference title this year. The Governors will dual Milbank, Watertown and Yankton and then have a 4th match with either Aberdeen Central, Huron, Mitchell or Canby, Minnesota. The JV and Varsity dual tournament is scheduled to begin at 10:00 am.

12 teams are scheduled to wrestle in Ft. Pierre tomorrow as the Stanley County Invitational wrestling tournament will be held at Parkview Gym. Stanley County head wrestling coach John Latham says there should be some good wrestling during the day with teams from as far south as Gregory-Burke, as far north as Mobridge-Pollock and as far west as Spearfish are expected to compete. The tournament, moved to just one day this year, is scheduled to begin at 9 am.


The Pierre-Ft. Pierre Capitals boys hockey team opens up South Dakota High School League play tomorrow night in Brookings before moving to Sioux Falls for a contest Sunday. The Capitals are 3 and 1 on the season after last weekend's season opening Rooster Cup tournament in Huron. Capitals head coach Rob Kittay says Brookings is improved from last year and will be a tough test on their home ice. He says Sioux Falls has dropped sending a team to play in a league in Iowa so the Cap's will face Sioux Falls top players. Tomorrow night’s matches in Brookings are scheduled for 5:30 pm for the JV contest and 8 pm for the varsity game. Sunday in Sioux Falls the JV game will be at 11:30 am and the Varsity contest is scheduled for 1:30 pm. The Pierre-Ft. Pierre Lady Capitals are off this weekend after winning their first game of the season last week. The Lady Capitals travel to Sioux Falls and Brookings next week for their next league matchups.


A perfect game was bowled last night at the Lariat Lanes in Pierre. Terry Keller rolled his very first 300 game in his very first league bowling appearance of the season. Keller joins AJ Wald, Jeff Holden and Shauna Cunningham as the only bowlers to register perfect games so far this season at the Lariat Lanes.

Rod's Thursday Sports Blog

South Dakota State put together a strong effort on both ends of the court, opening Summit League play with an 82-56 victory over Western Illinois in women's basketball action Wednesday night. Pierre native Steph Paluch contributed nine points. The Jackrabbits ended the night with a 46-22 advantage in the rebounding department, with Pierre native Katie Lingle pulling down seven in a winning effort. The Jackrabbits, who ended a two-game losing streak, improved to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in league play. WIU dropped to 2-4 on the season, 0-1 in The Summit League. The Jacks play IUPUI Friday night in Indianapolis, Indiana.


The Pierre Governor and Lady Governor basketball teams will have a boys and girls intersquad scrimmages Saturday morning that are open to the public. The scrimmages will start with the Varsity/JV boys at 9:30 am in the main gym followed by the Varsity/JV girls. The 9/10th grade girls will scrimmage at 9:30 am in the auxillary gym followed by the Boys. The scrimmages will be alternating boys/girls on a rolling schedule. There will be a free will donation and fans who come to the scrimmage are asked to bring a canned food donation for local resources for the price of admission.


The season begins tonight for both the Pierre Lady Governor and Stanley County Lady Buffalo gymnastics teams. The two squads travel to Huron for a season opening trianuglar hosted by the Tigers. The Lady Govs have almost everybody back from last year's squad led by senior Cheyna Lodge. Stanley County has a total of 12 girls out led by returners Shelby Gienger and Hailey Norman.


The Pierre Athletic Booster Club will meet on Monday, December 5th at 5:30pm for it's regular December meeting. The group will be meeting at a new location---Dakota Spirits & Distillery, located at 3601 Airport Rd. The business is owned and operated by PABC member Tom Rounds. Anyone interested in Governor and Lady Governor athletics at Riggs High School in encouraged and invited to attend the meeting.


The first off season All You Can Eat Pancake and Sausage Feed to help benefit the Pierre Post 8 American Legion and Teener baseball programs for the coming season will be held Saturday morning at the Pierre Post 8 American Legion Cabins. Serving will be from 7 am to 11:00 am for just $3 per person. All proceeds will go to help fund the Post 8 American Legion and Teener baseball programs this summer.

Rod's Sunday Morning Sports Blog

Former Pierre Governor Basketball 2 time All State standout Michael Tveidt was back in South Dakota playing basketball for the defending NBA D-League champion Iowa Energy last night. The Energy took on the Sioux Falls Skyforce in Sioux Falls. Tveidt scored 10 points in his second professional gaem of his career. He was one of 4 double figure scorers for the Energy in a 117-105 loss.

Rod's Saturday Afternoon Sports Blog

The Pierre Ft. Pierre Capitals boys hockey team won twice yesterday in the Rooster Cup in Huron. In their first game, Pierre won 6=1 oveer Vincent Massey of Brandon Manitoba. In the second game last evening, Pierre defeated Deloraine Manitoba 3-1. Pierre played a Grand Forks North Dakota team earlier this afternoon and no score is available.

And congratulation to Kyle Rickets and Austin Lopour of the Stanley County football team. Kyle was named to the Class 9AA All State Football team by the state's high school football coaches association. Austin earned honorable mention honors.

Rod's Thursday Morning Sports Blog

The Pierre Governor Football team had two seniors earn Academic All State honors while Stanley County had one. The South Dakota Football Coaches Association announced the award winners yesterday. Seniors Joe Tetzlaff and Joe Snyder from Pierre are on the Class 11AA squad while Stanley County's Thomas Tolton made the 9AA squad. To be eligible for the award the recipients must have played or managed football for 3 years, maintain a 3.5 grade point average and be a senior

The Pierre Lady Capitals Varsity Hockey team has a new head coach this season. Christine Hockett takes over for Tom Smith who moved to an assistant coaching position in the boys program. Hockett coached previously in the Brookings Rangers program and played for the Lady Rangers during her career. She takes over a squad that finished 3rd last year at the State tournament and lost only a handful of seniors to graduation. The Lady Capitals dropped their opening game of the season last weekend losing 3-2 to Mitchell. This weekend is the Senior Showcase in Brookings and Liz Knutson, the only senior on this year's Lady Capitals team is taking part.

A Pierre soccer player will sign his letter of intent to attend college to continue his soccer career today. Micheal Hardwick, a senior at Riggs High School and a member of this fall's Pierre Governor soccer team will be attending Dakota Wesleyan next year and take part in the DWU men's soccer program.

4 former soccer standouts for Pierre Riggs High School were named to the All Great Plains Athletic Conference squad from Dakota Wesleyan earlier this week. Senior midfielder Eric Christensen of Pierre was named to the GPAC First Team All Conference squad while senior Dane Hagen of Pierre earned Honorable Mention honors from the GPAC. Christensen and Hagen were two of just 3 seniors on the Dakota Wesleyan squad. Two former Pierre Lady Gov players also earned GPAC All Conference honors. Sophomore's Yutzil Rodreguez and Linsey Petersen earned GPAC All Conference First Team Honors. It was the second year that both players earned post season All Conference honors.

Mark Saturday December 3rd down on your schedule for the first Pierre Post 8 American Legion All You Can Eat Pancake and Sausage Feed of the off season. The All You Can Eat Breakfast will be served from 7 am to 11 am for just $3 per person. All proceeds raised from the benefit breakfast will go to help fund the Pierre Post 8 American Legion and Teener baseball teams.

Rod's Monday Sports Blog

Pierre sophomore Kaitlin Severyn is the only member of the Lady Gov volleyball team to earn All ESD honors by a vote of the coaches of the ESD Volleyball teams. Severyn led the Lady Govs offensivly this year in kills. Severyn is also the youngest player on the team as she is the only sophmore voted on the squad by coaches.

The South Dakota State University women's swimming and diving team defeated Northern Iowa, 189-105, on Saturday afternoon. The Jackrabbits won 12 of the 16 events. Pierre native Morgan McLain was a part of three wins. McLain won the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:26.96 and the 400-yard individual medley in 4:36.17. McLain was also part of the winning 400-yard medley relay in a time of 4:36.17.

Ashley Eide scored a career-high 27 points and Pierre native Steph Paluch matched a career high with 13 to help lead the South Dakota State University women's basketball team to an 84-73 victory over Utah State in a foul-filled contest Sunday afternoon at Frost Arena. Eide's 27 points came on 11-of-16 shooting from the field. She also paced the Jackrabbits' 38-28 advantage in rebounds with a team-high eight boards. Another Pierre native and Jackrabbit starter, Katie Lingle added 11 points and seven rebounds. Eide's mother is the former Audra Lindbloom of Pierre.

Rod's Sunday Morning Sports Blog

Sioux Falls will field 3 American Legion baseball teams beginning next year. Renner Post 307 will be the Post home for the new team that will have Sioux Falls O'Gorman as it's base school. The program will not be run by the Sioux Empire Baseball Association which currently is in charge of the Sioux Falls Post 15 East and West teams. THe new Legion squad will be coached by Josh Merrigan, who guided Sioux Falls Post 15 West for the last 1/2 decade. The Post 307 squad is stiell searching for a home field although the team is currently in negotiations to play games at the Harmonden Complex as well as playing some games possibly at Sioux Falls Stadium which currently is the home field of the Sioux Falls Canaries of the American Association of Independent Baseball Leage.

Rapid City Stevens is the top seed for the State Class AA Volleyball tournament that begins Thursday in Siioux Falls. Stevens, the District 4AA champion will open the tournament on Thursday at 1 pm against 8th seed Huron, the District 3AA champion. 5th seed Sioux Falls Washington faces 4th seed Sioux Falls Roosevelt in the 1:45 pm game. Thursday night at 6 pm it will number 3 seed Aberdeen Central taking on 6th seed Mitchell and the final game of the first day will pit 7th seed Sioux Falls O'Gorman taking on number 2 Sioux Falls Lincoln.

The Pierre Lady Governor Competitive Cheer squad scored 207 points to win the Class AA Small Group Stunting/Non Tumbling competiton Saturday at the State Competitive Cheer meet held in Brandon. The Lady Govs beat out Douglas for the title. In the Stunting/Tumbling competiton, the Lady Govs scored 204 points to finish third, 13 points behind first place finisher Rapid City Stevens. In the Competitive Dance competition, the Lady Govs scored 216 points to finish 4th in the AA Large Group Pom Division won by Sioux Falls Washington. The Lady Govs finished 3rd in the AA Large Group Kick division. They scored 233.5. The Lady Govs best finish of the day was first, all alone to win the AA Large Group Hip Hop Division with a score of 228 points.

Carol McKee of Rapid City and formerly of Pierre was inducted into the South Dakota Soccer Hall of Fame over the weekend. She served on the Capital Area Soccer Organization's board as well as coaching severl teams in Pierre in the 1990's. She also became the first and only woman to referee in a state tournament in 1996. Another Pierre individual honored by the South Dakota Soccer Association over the weekend was Vickie Samuelson who was named the Administrator of the Year for the State Organization.

Rod's Sports Blog for Wednesday Morning

The Pierre Lady Governor volleyball team saw their season come to an end with a 3-1 loss to Mitchell in the 3rd place game of the District 3AA Volleyball tournament last night in Mitchell. The Kernals won the match 25-15, 25-16, 19-25, 25-17 in a competitive match. Pierre was led by sopomore Kaitlin Severyn who had 9 kills. Senior Ashley Polak added 21 set assists as the Lady Govs end their season with a 4-18 record and lost all 3 matches to the Kernals this season. Diana Misiaszek set a Mitchell school record for Kills in a career with 19 last night while Lexie Weier added 13. Mitchell will host Rapid City Central in a Region 2AA Playoff game Friday night.

The Pierre Athletic Booster Club will have their monthly November meeting on Tuesday of next week. The group will meet at the Riggs High School Cafeteria at 5:45 pm. Anyone interested in Pierre Governor and Lady Governor athletics is invited and encouraged to attend.

Rod's Sunday Morning Sports Blog

Oahe Speedway honored its 2011 Coca Cola Points Series champions last Saturday evening during the speedway's annual awards banquet. Four classes awarded Oahe Speedway's highest honors to new champions, and the remaining four went to repeat champion or former champions. Signature "Rock " trophies were awarded to the champions. Jonathan Huse, of Onida, took his second consecutive Oahe Speedway Coca Cola Junior Minor Championship. Carly Jo Ellingson, of Rapid City, won the 2011 Coca Cola BankWest Junior Major class title. Stephanie Holm, of Pierre, adjusting to a new car, lost in the first round of the first two Coca Cola Snap On High School class races but would go on to win her first Oahe Speedway championship. Duane Soper, of Gettysburg secured his first Coca Cola Street Trophy championship. Travis Falcon of Pierre won his third Sportsman Class championship while Chris Boom also captured his third Bike Series Championship. Randy Hirsch of Pierre won his first Pro Series season championship and Rick Meier of Rapid City took the Super Pro series season title.

Rod's Saturday Morning Sports Blog

Results from last night's ESD Conference Competitive Cheer and Competitive Dance competition held in Mitchell at the Corn Palace
Cheer
Overall Cheer: 1. Brookings 242.5; 2. Watertown 239.5; 3. Huron 206.5; 4. Yankton 189.5; 5. Aberdeen Central 177.5; 6. Brandon Valley 174.5; 7. Pierre (T) 156.5; 8. Mitchell 150.5; 9. Pierre (NT) 147.5.
Stunting/Tumbling: 1. Brookings 242.5; 2. Watertown 239.5; 3. Brandon Valley 174.5; 4. Pierre 156.5.
Stunting/Non-tumbling: 1. Huron 206.5; 2. Yankton 189.5; 3. Aberdeen Central 177.5; 4. Mitchell 150.5; 5. Pierre 147.5.
Dance
Overall: 1. Yankton 237.33; 2. Brandon Valley 231.67; 3. Watertown 229.33; 4. Huron 211.17; 5. Pierre 200.33; 6. Aberdeen Central 192.17; 7. Brookings 130.67; 8. Mitchell 63.00.
Large Pom: 1. Yankton 242.5.
Small Pom: 1. Watertown 227; 2. Brandon Valley 224.5; 3. Huron 201; 4. Pierre 156.5; 5. Aberdeen Central 153; 6. Brookings 50.5.
Large Jazz: 1. Yankton 224.
Small Jazz: 1. Brandon Valley 243; 2. Watertown 224.5; 3. Aberdeen Central 220; 4. Huron 218.5; 4. Brookings 167.
Large Kick: 1. Yankton 245.5.
Small Kick: 1. Watertown 236.5; 2. Pierre 230.5; 3. Brandon Valley 227.5.
Large Hip-Hop: 1. Mitchell 189.
Small Hip-Hop: T1. Huron, Pierre 214; 3. Aberdeen Central 203.5; 4. Brookings 174.5.

There will be a Winter Sports Meeting on Tuesday November 8th @ 6:30 pm for Stanley County athletes in Parkview Gym. This is for all Student Athletes and their parents grades 6-12 who are interested to participate in athletics this winter sports season. We will cover physical information, Medical Consent Forms, Concussion Symptoms and Prevention, and proper communication between athletes, coaches, and parents. If there are any questions regarding this meeting, please contact Stanley County Athletic Director Matthew Jensen @ 605-223-7743 or by email at matt.jensen@k12.sd.us

Rod's Thursday Sports Blog

Aberdeen Central defeated Pierre 3-0 in a semi final round game of the District 3AA Volleyball tournament last night in Aberdeen. The Golden Eagles, ranked 3rd in the final Class AA Volleyball Poll, won the match 25-7, 25-13, 25-13 sending Pierre to the third place game of the tournament on Tuesday at Mitchell. Aberdeen Central will host Huron in the District 3AA championship match Tuesday night. Whitney King had 6 kills and Kaitlin Severyn 5 for the Lady Govs who struggled to get their offense set up all night. Ashley Polak had 9 assists while Severyn and Taylor Hyde each had 7 kills for the Lady Govs. Stephanie Knecht had a game high 16 kills for Aberdeen Central and Amanda Tobin added 10. The Lady Govs are now 4 and 17 on the season while Aberdeen Central improved to 17-3.

Stanley County ended it's high school volleyball season getting swept by Mobridge-Pollock in the opening round of the District 11A volleyball tournament last night in Ft. Pierre. The Tigers won the match 25-10, 25-5, 25-9 and advanced to the championshp game of the tournament, a game they defeated Cheyenne Eagle Butte to earn a berth in the Region 6A title game Tuesday night. Senior Shelby Gienger ended her career at Stanley County with three aces; Hailey Norman had three kills and three blocks to lead the Lady Buffalos who's season ended with a 2 and 23 record. Mobridge Pollock defeated Cheyenne Eagle Butte in the championship match 25-17, 25-13, 25-20 and will play Miller Tuesday night in Gettysburg for the Region 6A title match.

The defending state high school champion boys hockey team from Pierre-Ft. Pierre will open their season tomorrow at the EXPO Center in Ft. Pierre. Head Coach Rob Kittay's Pierre-Ft. Pierre Capitals varsity squad will play a couple of exhibition games vs. the South Dakota Under 16 All Star squad. Game times are at 11:00 am and 5:00 pm. The South Dakota Under 16 squad had Alex Meagher of Pierre on it's roster. The Capitals graduated a large part of last year's State Championship team and the games will be used by Coach Kittay to start to figure out a starting lineup for this season. The games are open to the public. Season Tickets will be sold and the concession stand will be open at the EXPO Center.

The Black Hills State University women's basketball team will travel to Highmore to participate in the Dennis Bauer Memorial Scholarship Scrimmage this Sunday. The Yellow Jackets will square off against a team comprised of former collegiate basketball athletes with Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m. at the Highmore auditorium in Highmore. Black Hills State will compete against a team comprised of former Black Hills State athletes such as Katelynn Lamb, Mandy Brumfield, Brittany Fuhrman and Jenna Bolstad. Other athletes include Kristin Rotert and Maria Boever from South Dakota State University and former Dakota State University standout Katie Bourk. Admission to the game will be free-will donations to benefit the Dennis Bauer Scholarship Fund. If you cannot attend the game but would still like to donate contact Jordan Bauer at Jordan.Bauer@BHSU.edu or 605-280-6666.

The Pierre Governor and Lady Governor Competitive Cheer and Competitive Dance squads will travel to Mitchell for the ESD Conference meet tonight. Pierre will have two squads in the small group division of stunting-non tumbling in the Competitive Cheer division. Pierre will be the only school with two squads in the small group division. The Competitive Dance squad continues to look to improve coming off a overall 5th place finish last Saturday at the Aberdeen Invitational. Tonights ESD meet at the Corn Palace in Mitchell is scheduled to begin at 6:30 pm.

Rod's Friday Sports Blog

The South Dakota High School Activities Association Board of Directors will meet Wednesday in Pierre. The board will be determining their sports classification proposal for alignments for 2013-14 and 2014-15. They also will be deciding several sports cooperatives including the creation of a wrestling coop between Burke, Gregory and South Central for next year and the creation of a coop for soccer between Aberdeen Central and Aberdeen Roncalli for next year. Rapid City Christian, Douglas and New Underwood in wrestling. Also, several schools have filed for dissolution of sports coops including Hoven and Edmunds Central in volleyball, boys and girls basketball and boys and girls track for next year. Leola and Frederick in boys and girls golf. and Rapid City Christian and St.Thomas More in boys and girls tennis. Wednesday's meeting will begin at 9 am and be held in the SDHSAA headquarters on North Euclid in Pierre.

The Pierre Lady Governor volleyball team had 3rd ranked Aberdeen Central on the ropes in last night's ESD Conference volleyball match in Pierre. But Kelsey Hannigan stepped forward for the Golden Eagles in the 5th and deciding game serving 7 straight points to give the Golden Eagles a 9-1 lead and they went on to win the 5th game 15-4 and the match 3 games to 2. Aberdeen Central won 25-18, 25-12, 21-25, 23-25, 15-4 in teh regular season finale at Riggs High Gym. Caitlin Rassmusson had 13 kills to lead the Golden Eagles while Lauren McCafferty had 13 digs. The Lady Govs were led by Kaitlin Severyn's game high 14 kills and Taylor Hyde had a game high 25 digs. The Lady Govs end their regular season with a 4-16 mark and 1-13 in the ESD. The Golden Eagle won the ESD Conference regular season title with a 13-1 record and finish the regular season with a 16-3 overall record. The two teams will meet again next Thursday in Aberdeen in the opening round of the District 3AA volleyball tournament.

Rod's Late Tuesday Sports Blog

YANKTON, S.D. - The Pierre Governor football team saw their season come to an end last night as they dropped a 27-13 verdict to Yankton in the opening round of the Class 11AA football playoffs. The Governors scored first when Jared Nielan scored on a 2 yard run to cap an 18 play 83 yard drive that took over 8 minutes. But Yankton's Connor Fitzsimmons scored the first of his four touchdowns in the final minute of the first half to tie the game at 6 at the break. Yankton then came out and scored 21 unanswered points to build a 27-6 lead before Alex Gray scored on a 1 yard run in the closing minute for the Governors second touchdown. Pierre ends their season with a 3 and 7 record. Yankton advances to the second round of the playoffs and a matchup against Sioux Falls O'Gorman on Monday.


PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - The South Dakota High School Activities Association is considering adding a top-tier 11-man football class that would include the state's largest schools. Class 11AAA would feature nine 11AA schools that have more than 650 students enrolled in grades 9 through 11: Sioux Falls Washington, Sioux Falls Roosevelt, Rapid City Central, Sioux FallsLincoln, Rapid City Stevens, Aberdeen Central, Watertown, Brandon Valley, and Yankton. Wayne Carney, the association's executive director, said the class split proposal came out of discussions held by current 11AA schools. Hearings will be scheduled, and the association's board plans to formally propose the new class at its Nov. 2 meeting with adoption possible on Jan. 12. Class 11AA for football would then feature schools with between 275 and 650 students enrolled in grades 9 through 11, and 11A would include schools with between 150 and 275 students enrolled in those grades. Alignments would go into effect for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years if adopted.

Rod's Sunday Morning Sports Blog

The Pierre Lady Governor Cross Country team finished 4th on Saturday in the team standings of the State Class AA Cross Country meet. The Lady Govs scored 135 points, 1 point behind third place finisher Aberdeen Central and 60 points behind team champion Yankton. Rachel Propst had the best finish for the Lady Govs coming in 12th in a time of 15:03.30, Aspen Iverson was next in 18th place with a time of 15:14.90. Both girls earned All State honors for their finishes. Hannah Shaffer and Allison Mientsma finished tied for 25th for Pierre other top 40 finishes. Alex Hess of Sioux Falls Roosevelt won the girls individual title. The 4th place finish is the highest finish for a Lady Governor Cross Country team at the State meet since records have been kept dating back to the mid 1970's.

In the boys race, Pierre scored 143 to tie Sioux Falls Washington for 3rd place in the team standings. Sioux Falls Roosevelt scored 98 points to win the team title. Matt Monfore had the best finish for the Governors with a 18 place finish in a time of 16:45.34. Steven Gordon finished 23rd in a time of 16:53.24 as he and Monfore both earned all state honors. Tyler Propst finished 27th, Jebben Keyes had a 35th place finish and Brayden Espland finished 4oth. Tony Smoragiewicz of Rapid City Central won the boys individual title.

The Pierre Lady Governor Competitive Cheer and Competitive Dance squads competed in the Aberdeen Invitational, the final regular season competition of the year on Saturday. In the Competitive Cheer division, the Lady Govs scored 222 points to finish third in the small group non Non Tumbling division. Aberdeen Central won it with 248. In the Competitive Dance competition, Pierre scored 185 to finish 5th in the overall competition out of 7 teams. Sioux Falls Lincoln scored 249.17 to win the overall compeititon. Pierre finished 4th in the Hip Hop competition with 175 points. They were 6th with 167 points in the Pom Division and 213 to finish second in the Kick Division. Next up for the Competitive Cheer and Dance squads is the ESD Conference meet, November 4th in Mitchell.

The Pierre Lady Governor Volleyball team played well enough, but not good enough Saturday to claim a ESD victory over Yankton. In the end, Yankton swept the Lady Govs in 3 games winning 25-16, 25-15, 25-22. Sophomore Whitney DeMoss had another strong game for the Lady Govs leading Pierre in Kills with 10. Pierre wraps up the regular season Thursday hosting Aberdeen Central.

Rod's Friday Sports Blog

There will be a girls and boys youth basketball coaching clinic Saturday, October 29th for anyone interesting in coaching youth basketball teams. The clinic starts at 10:00am and runs to 11:30 am at Riggs High School. For more information, contact Pierre Lady Governor head basketball coach Lisa Kannegeiter-Bahe or Pierre Governor head coach Terry Becker.


The Pierre Governor football team will travel to Yankton for the first round of the Class 11AA High School Football Playoffs on Tuesday night. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 pm. Pierre qualified for the playoffs with a 16-14 win over Watertown last night. That win doubled with Huron’s loss to Mitchell vaulted the Governors past Aberdeen Central and into the number 11 seed. Yankton, a 49-7 loser to Brandon Valley last night is the 6th seed. The winner of Tuesday night’s game will take on 3rd seed Sioux Falls O’Gorman in Sioux Falls on Monday night, October 31st.


The Pierre Lady Governor volleyball team travels to Yankton tomorrow night to take on the 4th ranked Gazelles who have lost their last two matches they have played getting swept in both of them. Yankton beat Pierre in 4 games their first meeting of the season in August. Tomorrow’s varsity start time is scheduled for 5 pm.


The Stanley County Lady Buffalo volleyball team host Highmore-Harrold in the final home match of the season tonight at Parkview Gym. Tomorrow night, the Lady Buffalos will wrap up their regular season with a match against Lyman in Presho. Stanley County is 2 and 19 on the season.


The 36th Annual Girls and 66th Annual Boys’ State Cross Country Meet will be held at the Yankton Trail Park, Sioux Falls on Saturday. Admission will be charged at this year’s event. Admission price will be $5.00 per person including adults and students grades 1-12. Fans are asked to use the 57th Street entrance to Yankton Trail Park.


Pierre Governor and Lady Governor head Cross Country coach Keith Christensen is excited for his teams heading into tomorrow's Class AA State Cross Country meet in Sioux Falls. Christensen feels that both his boys and girls can be a top 4 finisher at the meet have a chance at winning the combined team award at the meet. He also likes the fact that the AA girls run at 3:00 pm and AA boys races is scheduled for 4:15 pm. He says those are the normal times that his squad practices.

Rod's Tuesday Sports Blog

The Pierre Governor football team still sits 13th in the latest South Dakota Power Point ratings in the Class 11AA ranks. But the Governors have closed the gap on 12th place Huron. Pierre has 41.250 points to Huron's 42.125. With the format change for the playoffs in the big school class, only 12 teams make the playoffs making Thursday night's final regular season game hosting Watertown a must win situation for the Governors. Huron host Mitchell. The four Sioux Falls schools sit 1 through 4 in the power points this week with Yankton and Mitchell 5th and 6th. The top four teams in the power points at season's end earn first round byes in next week's playoffs. Stanley County meanwhile needs a win over Sully Buttes Thursday night to earn a playoff spot for themselves in the 9AA playoff chase. And then, making the playoffs is not a sure thing. The Buffalos sit 4th in Region 4 but at least two other teams that are in 5th place in their regions have more power points than the Buffalos. To view this week's power points for all 6 classes of football, go to the South Dakota High School Activities Association website at www.sdhsaa.com.

The Pierre Lady Governor volleyball team goes on the road tonight as they travel to Huron for an ESD Conference contest against the Tigers. The Lady Govs dropped a 3 game match to Huron last month in their first meeting of the season. Pierre is 1-11 in ESD contests so far this season and 4 and 13 overall after a weekend split of games with Brandon Valley and Watertown. Huron is 8 and 8 on the season coming off a win over Rapid City Central on Saturday. Preliminary matches are scheduled to start at 4:30 pm with the varsity match scheduled for 7 pm.

Stanley County begins the final week of the regular season with a road match tonight against Crow Creek in Stephan. The Lady Buffalos are 2 and 17 on the season but have lost 2-5 game matches against Todd County and Cheyenne Eagle Butte and a 4 game match to Sully Buttes last week. Stanley County has 3 matches remaining in the regular season.

Rod's Saturday Sports Blog

The Pierre Lady Governor volleyball team won thier first ESD match of the season last night defeating Brandon Valley 25-17, 25-10, 29-31, 25-13 at Riggs High Gym. The Lady Govs were in control of the match except for the third game that BV won. Whitney King led the offense with 9 kills on the night. Kaitlin Severyn added 7. Taylor Hyde had a team high 11 digs on the night. Pierre hosts Watertown tonight with the varsity match scheduled to begin at 7 pm.

The Pierre Governor football team scored the first and last touchdowns of their game at Brandon Valley last night. Unfortunatly, Brandon Valley scored 5 touchdowns in between to claim a 35-14 win over the Governors last night. Pierre turned the ball over 3 times and BV took it in the score all 3 times. Jarred Nielan scored both of Pierre's touchdowns on short runs. Nielan also intercepted 2 passes. Pierre will wrap up their regular season on Thursday when they host Watertown at 7:30 pm.

Stanley County could not stop Gettysburg-Hoven's offense last night as the Battler rolled to a 50=12 win over the Buffalos. Gettysburg-Hoven led 36-12 at the half and added a pair of touchdowns in the second half. Stanley County is 2-5 on the season as they host Sully Buttes Thursday night. The Chargers lost their first game of the season last night 46-42 to Herreid-Selby Area.

Rod's Friday Sports Blog

The Pierre Governor boys won the Huron 5 Star Invitational Cross Country meet yesterday while the Lady Govs finished second in the team standings. The Governors scored 24 points to finish 18 points ahead of runnter up Aberdeen Central. Tyler Propst led a 2-3-4 finish by Governors runners. Propst finished runner up to Adam Kastigar of Aberdeen Central finishing the course in a time of 17:31. Matt Monfore finished third in a time of 17:39 and Steven Gordon was 4th in 17:47. Weston Christensen finished 6th in a time of 18:03 and two other Governor runners Roman Spaid and Brayden Espeland finished 9th and 10th individually. The Lady Govs were second with a 45 point team score, 3 points behind team champion Aberdeen Central. Rachel Propst was the top finisher for the Lady Govs coming in runnter up to Hannah Kastigar of the Golden Eagles. Propst was two seconds behind Kastigar in a time of 15:39. Aspen Iverson finished 4th in a time of 16:22 and Allison Mientsma was 5th with a 16:23 time. They were the 3 top 10 place winners for the Lady Govs. Next up for the Governor and Lady Governor Cross County teams is the State Meet a week from tomorrow in Sioux Falls.

The Pierre Lady Governor volleyball team entertains a pair of ESD Conference opponents this weekend beginning tonight when they host Brandon Valley. The Lynx have only two wins on the season and one of those is over Pierre, a 5 game match two weeks ago in Brandon. The Lady Govs are still winless in ESD matches on the season and have dropped 6 straight as they sport a 3 and 11 overall record going into tonight's contest. Tomorrow night, the Lady Govs entertain Watertown who brings a 5-11 record into Riggs High Gym. Prelimnary matches are scheduled to begin at 4:30 pm both days with the varsity match scheduled for 7:00 pm both nights.

The Pierre Governor football team travels for the final time during the regular season tonight when they head to Brandon to face Brandon Valley in an ESD Conference contest. The Governors are coming off a victory over Rapid City Stevens last week and are 2 and 5 on the season. Brandon Valley's win over Aberdeen Central was their second straight win and improved the Lynx to 4-3. Kickoff in Brandon tonight is scheduled for 7:30 pm.

The Stanley County Buffalo football team travels to Gettysburg tonight for a matchup against Gettysburg-Hoven. Both teams are coming off losses last week, Stanley County to Eureka-Bowdle and Gettysburg-Hoven to Sully Buttes. Kickoff tonight is scheduled for 7:00 pm.

The third annual Oahe YMCA Tackle Football Tail Gate Party will be held next Friday, October 21st from 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm at Phil Trautner Stadium at Hollister Field. The games are scheduled at 6:00pm for the 3rd-5th grade teams and 7:15pm for the 6th and 7th grade games. The Oahe YMCA, along with the help of the Lion’s Club, will be serving a hot dog combo. Combo includes: hotdog, chips, pop and a cookie for $4.00. This event is sponsored by Sutley’s Markets, Old Dutch, Coca Cola and private individuals. All proceeds will go into the Oahe YMCA Tackle football fund. This fund is only used to purchase player equipment for the league. The 2010 total according to officials was $1,200!

Anyone interested in joining the Pierre Area Winter Cornhole League should attend an organizational meeting scheduled for Monday. The meeting will begin at 6:00 p.m. at the Pierre Area Chamber of Commerce Community Room. The Winter League will is scheduled to begin on Monday, November 7th and will finish with the playoffs on Monday, January 23rd. Cost is $60 per team with a team consisting of 2 players. Call Tony Jockheck at 224-7361 for more information.

Rod's Wednesday Sports Blog

The Pierre Lady Governor volleyball team remained winless in ESD matches this season as they were swept in 3 games by Brookings last night in Brookings. The Bobcats won the match 25-17, 15-19, 25-19. The Lady Govs are 3-11 overall and 0 and 9 in ESD matches. They return home to host Brandon Valley on Friday and Watertown Saturday night.

The improving Stanley County Lady Buffalo volleyball team still is stuck on two wins as it lost a match to Sully Buttes in 4 games last night at Parkview Gym. The Chargers won 21-25, 25-10, 25-18, 25-14 to improve to 10-7 on the season and stretch their winning streak to 6 straight. The Lady Buffalos are 2 and 16 on the season.


The Pierre Governors 20-14 win over Rapid City Stevens did not move Pierre up in the Power Point standings with two weeks remaining in the regular season. The Governors are 2 and 5 on the season and have a power point rating of 42.286 putting Pierre 13th in the 16 team Class AA. With a change in the playoff format, only the top 12 teams advance to the playoffs with the top 4 teams recieving a first round bye. The Governors will need to win one of their final two games against Brandon Valley or Watertown to gain a spot in the playoffs and that is not a "for sure". The Governors travel to Brandon to face Brandon Valley on Friday night. You can view the power point ratings on the South Dakota High School Activities Association website www.sdhsaa.com.


Three members of the Pierre Governor and Lady Governor soccer teams were named yesterday to the Class AA All State First Team soccer teams. Garrett Pochop of the Governors was the lone player named to the AA Boys First Team. Anna Bondy and Maranda Ehrenfreid of the Lady Governor squad was named to the girls Class AA All State First Team. Named to the second team All State squad from Pierre were Chaz Williams and Paige Erickson. Ethan Case of the Governors and Allison Blow of the Lady Govs were Honorable Mention All-State selections.


The Pierre Lady Governor Competitive Cheer and Dance teams competed in the Watertown Invitational last night. In the Competitive Cheer Division, Pierre fielded two squads. The Lady Govs scored 155.5 and 151.5 to finish 4th and 5th in the Small Squad division. In the Competitive Dance, Pierre scored a 168.3 overall score to finish 5th in the 5 team Small Squad division won by Brandon Valley with a 216.7 score. Pierre scored 165.5 to finish third in the Hip Hop. A 180.5 to finish 4th in the Pom and 160.5 to finish 4th in the Kick.

Rod's Tuesday Sports Blog

Three members of the Pierre Governor and Lady Governor soccer teams have been named to the first team All State squad named today by the State Soccer Association. The lone member of the Governors making the All State squad is Garrett Pochop. Two members of the Lady Governors were named to the Class AA First team All State team. They are Anna Bondy and Maranda Ehrenfreid. It is the first All State selections for the three players.

The Pierre Lady Governor volleyball team is still looking for their first ESD Conference victory of the season. The Lady Govs travel to Brookings tonight to face the Bobcats. Brookings beat Pierre in 3 games the first time the two met in Pierre but the Lady Govs have improved but still don't have any more than 3 wins to show for it. Pierre is coming off losses to Rapid City Stevens and Rapid City Central over the weekend. The varsity match tonight is scheduled for a 6:30 pm start time.

The Stanley County Lady Buffalo volleyball team hosts Sully Buttes tonight at Parkview Gym. The Chargers are on a 5 match winning streak after sweeping past Wakpala last Thursday. The Lady Buffalos, with only two wins so far this year, are coming off triangular losses to Cheyenne Eagle Butte and a 5 game match to Todd County on Saturday.

The Pierre Lady Governor Competitive Cheer and Competitive Dance squads return to the competition mat tonight as they travel to Watertown to compete in the Watertown Invitational. The Competitive Cheer squad is coming off a second place finish to Yankton at the Brandon Valley Invitational last Thursday. The Competitive Dance squad slipped a big at Brandon and is looking to improve tonight.

The Pierre Middle School athletic squads are all in action today. The Middle School Cross Country squad has a dual with the Pierre Indian Learning Center at 4 pm. The Middle School Volleyball team hosts Miller in matches beginning at 4:15 pm. And the Middle School football team is hosting Mitchell in a 4:15 pm kickoff at Phil Trautner Stadium and Hollister Field.

Teams are being formed for the Pierre Independent City League Basketball season. Games will be played on Wednesday evenings and Sunday Afternoon's at Riggs High Gym. The league is scheduled to begin right after Thanksgiving and run through March. If you are interested in putting a team together for the league or want more information, contact Jim Edman in Pierre at 224-2725.

The final day of racing at Oahe Speedway on Sunday was rained out but they did get in the racing on Saturday. Jeff Korol of West Fargo, N.D. was the Box Shootout winner. The No Box Shootout winner was Chris Boom of Pierre. Van Huse of Onida won the Trophy Shootout races. Carly Ellingson of Rapid City won the Junior Dragster Shootout and Travis Falcon of Pierre won the final race of the season as he captured the title in the Papa Murphy's 100 MPH Club Challenge.

Rod's Sunday Sports Blog

Sioux Falls O'Gorman downed the Pierre Lady Governors 3-2 in the 5th place game of the South Dakota State High School Soccer tournament on Saturday. The Lady Govs went 1 and 2 in the tournament.

The Pierre Lady Governor volleyball team dropped a 3-1 verdict to Rapid City Central in a match yesterday in Pierre. Pierre lost the match 25-15, 27-25, 31-33, 25-21. Kaitlin Severyn led the Lady Gov offensive attack with 18 kills. Taylor Hyde had 13 digs. The Lady Govs travel to Brookings Tuesday night.

The Pierre Lady Governor tennis team scored 204 to finish 10th at the State High School Girls Tennis tournament that wrapped up Saturday in Sioux Falls. Sioux Falls O'Gorman won the team title. The Lady Govs top finish came from Emily Wald and Emily Dix at number 3 doubles. Wald and Dix finished runner up losing to the Aberdeen Central doubles team 7-5, 6-4, Wald also had the top singles finish for the Lady Govs at the tournament finishing 4th.

Both the Pierre Governor and Lady Governor Cross Country teams finished 4th at the ESD Conference Cross Country meet Saturday in Brandon. The Governors scored 71 points. Matt Monfor had the top finish for the Govs coming in 7th in a time of 17:37.43. Tyler Propst finished 10th while Weston Christensen finished 13th and Steven Gordon 19th to earn All ESD honors. Brandon Valley won the Boys Division. The Lady Govs scored 105 points as Rachel Propst had a 3rd place finish for Pierre's top finish of the meet in a time of 15:40.83. Aspen Iverson finished 10th and Allison Mientsma had a 18th place finish to earn All ESD honors. Aberdeen Central won the girls division.

Rods' Saturday Sports Blog

Pierre won it's second football game of the season last night defeating Rapid City Stevens 20-14. Alex Gray threw 3 touchdown passes in the game with the game winner a 40 yard strike to Joey Tetzlaff on the first play of the 4th quarter. Pierre led 14-7 at the half. Pierre is 2 and 5 on the season and travels to Brandon to face Brandon Valley on Friday.

The Pierre Lady Governor volleyball team lost a 3 game match to Rapid City Stevens last night. Pierre lost first game 25-11 the second game 25-23 could not hold off the Raiders in the third game losing 25-18. Kaitlin Severyn led the Lady Govs with 7kills. Ashley Polak had 10 assists and Taylor Hyde had 15 digs. Pierre host Rapid City Central this afternoon.

Rod's Friday Sports Blog

The Pierre Lady Governor Competitive Dance and Competitive Cheer teams competed at the Brandon Invitational last night. The Lady Gov Competitive Cheer teams had a second place finish. Head Coach Jill Caauwe said the Lady Govs scored148.5 to finish 2nd behind Yankton who scored a 163.5. In the Competitive Dance competion, co-head coach Sarah Hyde said that Pierre finished 9th in the 11 team field and they were looking to improve their performance Tuesday when they travel to Watertown to compete in the Arrows Invitational meet. The Competitive Dance squad will be performing their "Pom" routine tonight at halftime of the Governor football game.

The Pierre Lady Governor soccer team won their consolation round match this morning at the State Class AA Girls Soccer tournament by defeating Yankton 4-1. The win moves the Lady Govs into the consolation championship game tomorrow morning at 11:30 am against the winner of the Sioux Falls O'Gorman and Rapid City Central match.

Junior running back Austin Wagner of the Pierre Governor football team will not start and is not expected to play tonight when the Governors face the Rapid City Stevens Raiders. Wagner was injured last week being tackled out of bounds during the third quarter of the Pierre and Sioux Falls Washington game. Alex Gray will start in Wagner's place at Free Safety on defense and Kyle Jacobsen will start in Wagner's wingback spot on offense.

Rod's Sunday Sports Blog

The Pierre Governor boys cross country team scored 62 points to finish second and the Lady Govs scored 74 to finish third in the Nike Heartland regional meet in Sioux Falls yesterday. Tyler Probst had the best finish for the Governors placing 6th in a time of 17:14.93. Steven Gordon was 11th in a time of 17:35.31. Jebben Keyes finished 13th with a time of 17:44.09. Weston Christensen was 15th with a 17:55.07 time and Braydon Espland finished 17th in a time of 17:57.94. For the Lady Govs, Rachel Propst had a third place finish with a time of 15:15.38. Aspen Iverson finished 7th in 15:39.72. Allison Mientsma 9th in 15:43.81.

The Pierre Lady Governor volleyball team remained winless in ESD Conference play as they lost a 5 game match at Brandon Valley on Saturday. The Lady Govs lost the first game 25-21 but came back in games two and three to win 25-18 and 25-19. In a controversial 4th game, Brandon Valley won 25-23 as Pierre had two points overturned by the game officials which gave Brandon Valley momentum to go into the 5th game and win 15-12. Pierre is now 3 and 9 on the season and 0 and 8 in the Conference as they host top ranked Rapid City Stevens on Friday and then Rapid City Central on Saturday afternoon.

On Friday, the Pierre Governor football team lost their 5th straight game by a 42-15 score to two time defending state champion and 5th ranked Sioux Falls Washington. Washington built a 28-0 first half lead but Pierre outscored them 15-14 in the second half. Austin Wagner scored Pierre's first touchdown early in the third quarter on a 35 yard run and Alex Gray added a 24 yard run late in the quarter. Gray then hit Lane Severyn with a 2 point conversion pass. Pierre is 1 and 5 on the season and returns home Friday to host Rapid City Stevens.

Pierre native Curry Kuehl, a freshman golfer for Northern State University fired a 77yesterday in the first round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference fall championship tournament yesterday. Kuehl is tied for 9th.

The Pierre Governor soccer team's season ended yesterday with a 2-1 loss to Sioux Falls O'Gorman in a playoff matchup in the South Dakota State High School Soccer league. The Governors had just 1 win this season. The Pierre Lady Governor soccer teams did advance to next week's state tournament in Mitchell with a 7-1 win over Brandon Valley on Friday. The Lady Govs will face Sioux Falls Lincoln in the first round of the state tournament on Thursday morning at 9 am in Mitchell.

Rod's Friday Sports Blog

High School Football takes center stage tonight around the state and the area. The Pierre Governor football team will look to bounce back from a 61-6 homecoming bashing they recieved at the hands of the Mitchell Kernals last week when they travel to Sioux Falls to face 5th ranked Sioux Falls Washington. Governor head football coach Joe Kramer has talked to his team all this week about picking themselves up and putting their best effort they can against the 2 time defending State Class 11AA Champions. Kickoff tonight in Sioux Falls is scheduled for 5 pm.

The Stanley County Buffalo football team renews a longtime rivalry tonight when they travel to Philip to take on the Scotties. Stanley County has not played Philip for nearly a decade. Philip is winless in it's first four games but improving with each game. Stanley County is 1 and 3 but Philip head coach Kevin Morehart says the Buffalos may be the best 1 and 3 team in this area. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 pm central time in Philip.

Aubrey Wald of the Pierre Lady Governor tennis team won the 6th flight singles title yesterday for the Lady Governors highest finish at the ESD Conference tennis tournament in Brandon. Wald defeated Erica Hanson of Aberdeen Central 10-4 in the title match. Kate Wollman had a fourth place finish in number 2 singles and Eileen Leong finished 6th in the number 1 singles for the Lady Govs next highest finishes. Wald and Emily Dix had a third place finish in the number 3 doubles flight for the Lady Govs lone place winner in doubles. The Lady Govs scored 136 points to finish 5th in the team standings. Aberdeen Central won the ESD title scoring 292 points, 13 points better than runner up Watertown. Next up for the Lady Govs tennis team is the state tournament that begins Thursday in Sioux Falls.

The Pierre Lady Governors scored 76 points and the Governor boys had 83 as both squads place third in the Watertown Invitational Cross Country meet run yesterday. Aberdeen Central scored 35 points to win the girls division and Sioux Falls Washington had 44 t capture the boys crown. The Lady Govs got a 2nd place finish from Rachel Propst with a time of 15:19.0, 14 seconds behind champion Hannah Kastigar of Aberdeen Central. Aspen Iverson finished 9th with a time of 15:52 and Allison Mientsma placed 13th in a time of 16:04. For the Governor boys, Tyler Propst had the best finish in 9th place in a time of 17:10 and Steve Gordon placed 14th in a time of 17:29. Alex Waddell of Sioux Falls Washington won the individual title.

The Pierre Governor and Lady Governor Cross Country squads will compete in the Nike Heartland Regional Cross Country meet tomorrow in Sioux Falls. The varsity only meet will be run on the same course that the State High School Cross Country meet will be run on in several weeks. Head Coach Keith Christensen says that 5 or 6 other teams will compete in tomorrow's meet along with the Govs and Lady Govs.

After playing a pair of strong opponents in Sioux Falls Washington, Mitchell and Watertown in their last 3 matches, the Pierre Lady Governor volleyball team looks to pick up their first ESD Conference win of the season tomorrow when they travel to Brandon to face Brandon Valley. The Lady Govs are 3 and 8 on the season but winless in the ESD Conference so far. Brandon Valley brings a 1-9 record and one ESD Conference win into tomorrow's match. The day begins at 12 noon with JV and Freshman games while the varsity contest is scheduled for a 2:30 pm start.

The Stanley County Lady Buffalo volleyball team travels to Redfield tomorrow to compete in the Redfield tournament. The Lady Buffalos are 1 and 11 on the season as they face Eureka-Bowdle and Miller in pool play. Depending on how Stanley County does they would play a third match in a tournament setting.

Pierre native Curry Kuehl, a sophomore golfer for the Northern State Wolves was named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Golfer of the Week Award. Kuehl was the top NSIC finisher at the NSIC/RMAC Crossover meet, finishing in a three-way tie for fifth. His three-round score of 217 was just five strokes back of the medalist Jim Knous of Colorado Mines. Kuehl carded rounds of 74, 71 and 72 to finish 1-over on the par-72 Wild Horse Golf Course.

The high school state soccer playoffs begin this weekend. The Pierre Lady Governors are the 4th seed after the regular and they will host Brandon Valley in a match later this afternoon at 4 pm at the Hilgers Gulch Soccer Fields. The Governors are the 12th seed and will travel to Sioux Falls to face O'Gorman tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. The State High School Soccer tournament is scheduled for next Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Mitchell.

The Pierre Post 8 American Legion Baseball organization will be holding a Rummage & Bake Sale Fund Raiser on Saturday, October 8th from 8:00am to 4:00pm at 339 South Pierre Street in the empty Coast to Coast/Ace Hardware building in downtown Pierre.. Many families have donated an enormous selection of appliances, clothing of All gender and size, coats, large selection of furniture, televisions, Post 8 shirts and baseball equipment, golf clubs, bikes, movies, upright freezer, and lots of baked goodies with more items and donations coming in daily! All proceeds from the sale will go to the Post 8 Baseball organization. The public's support is Greatly Appreciated and the teams hope to see you at the sale!

Brian: Baseball is Awesome!!

Wednesday night, Sept. 28, 2011 -- a day that baseball historians fifty-plus years from now won't soon forget. A couple of weeks ago, it looked like the teams that would make the postseason were pretty much set, but who knew so much drama would enfold and essentially all come to a head on one night?

For me personally, I took a little break from paying real close attention to baseball this season, which is different from how I have always approached the game. I decided not to participate in a fantasy baseball league for the first time in over ten years. I didn't go out of my way to make sure I watched the Twins game each night - not even when they were still in the playoff hunt (in April). And I didn't watch the highlight shows every night, near as much as I have always done. I'd catch up on a few things each week, but I wasn't on top of everything that was going on all season long.

Whatever the case, if I lost any interest in baseball at all this season, ALL interest came back simply by watching the drama that the season's final day held in store. As mentioned, two weeks ago, it seemed like the end of the regular season would be pretty anti-climactic. Well, the presumed division champions at the time actually held: Phillies, Brewers, Diamondbacks (who were a great story this season) in the National League; and the Yankees, Tigers and Rangers (despite a good effort by the Angels) in the American. But whoever came up with the idea of re-aligning divisions and adding a wildcard team to the playoff mix should certainly receive a pat on the back after this night. The Braves and Red Sox had the final spots all but sewn up, but then both teams looked like the 2011 Twins in the final month of the season, for whatever reason, and the Cardinals and Rays were able to take advantage. Someone could write a pretty good Country song about the heartbreak the Braves and Sox really brought on themselves.

It really was amazing how it all happened on this final night. The Cardinals actually had it easy, getting a shutout from a stud pitcher against the worst team in the Majors. But aside from that, a long rain delay in a tight game perhaps hurt the Red Sox. The Rays came from 7-0 down against the Yankees, scoring 6 in the 8th, then getting a tying home run in the bottom of the ninth from a guy hitting about .100 on the season. Then Evan Longoria hits his second homer of the game to win it -- a screamer down the left field line that could go over the outfield fence in ONLY that very location on the field. The Rays got home runs when they needed them, but I was kind of hoping the Braves would have, too. How cool would it have been if Chipper Jones could have hit one in the bottom of the ninth in their game? But that just wasn't meant to be, and they ended up losing the game on a broken-bat base hit by Hunter Pence that went all of about 100 feet. It couldn't have been much more of a tough-luck way to lose than that.

It would be fun to go on and on about one night, but I think the postseason is going to be fun to watch, especially once the Tigers eliminate the Yankees. I really like the Tigers' chances to go all the way, in fact. I expect the Rays to reverse last year's ALDS result and beat the Rangers this time around, but I do think the Tigers beat the Rays to advance to the World Series. In the National League, I would love to see the Brewers go all the way, and while I think they will beat Arizona in the NLDS, I just can't imagine anyone beating the Phillies, who in my opinion have been the best team in baseball all season long. However, I will pick the Tigers to beat the Phillies in 7 games, with Justin Verlander beating Roy Halladay in what will be a classic 7th game.

A couple of other observations -- Mets SS Jose Reyes won the NL batting title with a .337 average, a few points ahead of Milwaukee's Ryan Braun. But Reyes asked to be pulled from the team's final game after a bunt single in his first at-bat so that he wouldn't lose his hold on the league's high average. BOO you, Jose!

And as far as the Twins' season goes, well, I guess we'll just take a lesson from the Cubs this time. It's true what they (Cubs fans) say: "There's always next year." Hopefully next year brings good health and good cheer (not to mention good health) -- and for crying out loud, some good pitching and better defense that people usually associate with the Twins. However, it will sure be different without hearing John Gordon's voice on the radio. Coincidentally, just about every year we've had Twins games on KGFX, the Twins have had John Gordon calling games. I met Mr. Gordon during the Twins Caravan trip to Pierre before the 2005 season and had a nice conversation with him that night. If I had the chance this time, I think all I'd really need to say is, thanks for the memories, and Touch 'em All, Gordo!

Rod's Monday Morning Sports Blog

Pierre Post 8 Baseball is seeking American Legion and Teener coaches for 2012 summer season. Send resume, references, and letter explaining approach to coaching players ages 13-18 to Bob Mercer, Pierre Post 8 Baseball, c/o 1810 Camden Ct., Pierre, SD 57501. Applications for American Legion head coach must be postmarked no later than this Wednesday. Please indicate if also interested in assistant Legion and Teener positions. Applications solely for Teener positions must be postmarked no later than Dec. 1. Please reflect experience if any scheduling, budgeting and/or stadium improvement, and availability for preseason work-outs or date of availability otherwise.

Both the Pierre Governor and Lady Governor soccer teams move to post season playoff next weekends. The 4th seeded Lady Govs will host 13th seed Brandon Valley on Friday at the Hilgers Gulch Soccer Fields at 4 pm. The Governors will travel to Sioux Falls on Saturday. The 12th seeded Govs will face 5th seeded Sioux Falls O'Gorman at 3 pm.

The Pierre Middle School and Freshman football team's are both in action later today on the road. The teams travel to Winner to face the Warrior Middle School and Freshman teams. The Middle School kickoff is scheduled for 4 pm while the Freshman will kickoff at 6 pm. Also today, the Pierre Middle School and Junior Varsity tennis teams travel to Rapid City to compete in a Invitational hosted by Rapid City Stevens.

Families interested in registering any children up for hockey with the Oahe Hockey Association this coming season have until Sept. 30. This year, to better encourage new players, the OHA Board has established a policy that there will be no league registration fee for Mites/MiniMites and first-year Squirts and Girls until January, giving them a couple of months to try the sport before they make a final decision. Those players only have to pay the $30 USA Hockey registration fee until January. Scholarships are also available, upon request. Interested players can register either online at www.oahehockey.org or by calling Amy at 945-0725. Rental equipment, at affordable prices, is also available. Call Dave at 224-0049.

Rod's Sunday Sports Blog

Rapid City Stevens won the Pierre Invitational Girls Dual Tennis Tournament on Saturday defeating St. Thomas More 8-1 in the championship match. Aberdeen Central finished third with a 8-1 win over Watertown. Pierre finished 5th with a 5-4 win over Brandon Valley and Rapid City Central landed in 7th position with a win over Spearfish. For the weekend Stevens ended with a 5-0 record. Pierre defeated Rapid City Central 9-0 before downing Brandon Valley in the 5th place match. Pierre got wins from Eileen Leong at number 1 singles. Abby Burke at number 3 singles and Aubrey Wald at number 6 singles flight. They also got two doulbes win from Leong and Kate Wollman at number 1doubles and Kristin Inman and Karlie Warne at number 2 doubles.

The Pierre Governor golf team fired a 316 round to finish third at the ESD Conference Golf tournament Saturday at the Cattail Crossing Golf Course in Watertown. The Governors finished 11 shots behind tournament champion Brandon Valley. Watertown was next at 310. Zach Smalley fired a 74 to tie for third. Hans Leong also placed for the Governors with a round of 79 and Willie Welch also earned All ESD Conference honors for the Governors with an 81.

The Pierre Lady Governor volleyball team played well Saturday but lost in 4 games to Sioux Falls Washington last night. The Lady Govs won the first game 26-24 but dropped the next 3 games to Washington by scores of 11-25, 14-25 and 20-25. Kaitlin Severyn led the Lady Govs offense with 14 kills and four blocks. Taylor Hyde had 14 digs and 3 service aces and Ashley Polak finished with a team high 16 assists. The Lady Govs are now 3 and 7 on the season. Last night was the first non conference loss of the season for the Lady Govs.

Today is the final day of the season for racing at Oahe Speedway north of Pierre. Yesterday's winners inclluded Doug Engels of Watertown in the Stock-Super Stock Combo Division. Jeff Crooks of Brandon, Manitoba won the Super Group Shootout. In the Dragging for Pink finals, Jay Tjeerdsma of Springfield won the title. Jeri Vines of Eagle Butte, South Dakota won the No Box Shootout races while Roger Hopf of Madson took the Box Shootout. Doug Percy of Winner was the winner in the Trophy Shootout races. Austin Mohr of Mitchell captured the Junior Major Division and Jonathin Huse of Onida won the Junior Minor races.

The Pierre Governor soccer team lost their regular season finale to Watertown yesterday in the Governors homecoming match. The Governors dropped a 2-1 verdict to Watertown. The Governors finished the season 1-4 and 5 and in 12th place in the 13 team state high school league. The Lady Govs meanwhile, finished the regular season with an offensive explosion shutting out Watertown 8-0 to improve their record to 6-2-2 and 4th place in the league standings.

Rod's Saturday Sports Blog

The Pierre Governors were beaten by Mitchell 61-6 in their homecoming game last night. Mitchell led 34-6 at the half. Mitchell had 496 yards of total offense to the Governors 204. Pierre's lone touchdown came in the final 90 seconds of the first half when Alex Gray hit Joe Snyder on a 7 yard touchdown pass. Pierre travels to Sioux Falls Washington for their next game on Friday.

The Pierre Lady Governor tennis team lost 3 matches yesterday in the opening round of the Pierre Invitational tennis tournament. The Lady Govs were shutout 9-0 by Rapid City Stevens and were beaten 8-1 by St. Thomas More. Aubrey Wald won the only match at the number 6 singles spot. Pierre was also beaten by Brandon Valley 5-4. Eileen Leong won at number 1 singles in that match as did Kristin Inman at number 4 singles and Karlie Warne at number 5 singles. Leong and Kate Wallman won at number 1 doubles and Wald and Emily Dix won at number 3 doubles. The 2 day tournament wraps up today at the Griffin Park Courts.

Rod's Thursday Sports Blog

The Claremont Honkers 6 man high school football team of the 1940's and 1950's has had 6 new records recognized by the National Federation of High Schools and the National High School Coaches Association. The records occured between 1947 and 1953and were certified on Monday of this week. The Honkers have long held the national record of 61 consecutive 6 man football wins. The 6 records that were recognized and certified this week were the 6 consecutive State Championships the Honkers won from 1947 to 1952. Claremont is second in the nation with the 6 consecutive state championships and second points scored in a season. The Honkers scored 606 in 1948. The 65 points scored in a single game in 1950 is the most points per game in a season by a 6 man high school team in the nation and the 94 points they scored against Frederick in 1951 is a national record. And head coach Bill Welch's 62-1 record is the best all time winning percentage in the nation by a 6 man head coach.

The Pierre Governor football team continues preperation for tomorrow night's homecoming football game against the Mitchell Kernals. The Kernals are 3 and 1 on the season coming off a loss to Brandon Valley last week. Mitchell head coach Kent VanOverchelde knows that Pierre will be fired up and ready for the Kernals. The Kernals were the pre season pick to win the ESD Conference football race. Pierre, last year's co-champion in the conference is 1 and 3 on the season coming off a 20 point setback to Brookings last Friday. Kickoff of tomorrow night's game is scheduled for 7:00 pm.

The Pierre Lady Governor volleyball team looks to build on the two victories it picked up last Saturday tonight when they host Mitchell at Riggs High Gym. The Lady Govs will be playing the Kernals for the second time in 7 days after having lost to them in 3 games last week in Mitchell. Head Coach Kacy Kienholz thinks that since the girls just played Mitchell, the match should still be fresh in their minds and will help them know what to expect. Match time for the homecoming volleyball match will be 7 pm tonight at Riggs High Gym.

The Stanley County Lady Buffalo volleyball team goes on the road tonight to face Gettysburg. Both teams are coming off losses Tuesday. The Lady Buffs were beaten in 3 games by Miller while the Battlers lost a 5 game match to Ipswich.

The Central South Dakota Conference volleyball tournament will be played Saturday in Chamberlain. Warner is the top seed and will play 8th seeded Sully Buttes in a first round match that is scheduled to begin at 11am. Mobridge-Pollock is the second seed and will face number 7 Highmore-Harrold in the opening round. Number 3 seed Miller matches up against Faulkton in the first round and Chamberlain entertains Gettysburg in the 4 vs. 5 seed match in the first round. All 8 places will be played out on Saturday.

It is Thursday of homecoming week at Riggs High School. Tonight, along with the Lady Govs hosting Mitchell in the annual homecoming volleyball match, both the middle school and freshman football teams will be in action. The middle school squad will play Huron in a game to be played on the lower practice field at Riggs High School beginning at 4:00 pm. The freshman football team will play as well as they host Mobridge-Pollock in a 5 pm kickoff at Phil Trautner Stadium at Hollister Field. The freshman are looking for their first win of the season as they have lost the two games they have played so far.

Saturday is a going to be a big day for soccer and we are asking for your help to make this a huge success. Saturday is our Homecoming Game which will be the last game of the regular soccer season with the JV teams taking on Watertown at 11:00 AM and the Varsity teams taking the field at 1:30. The Soccer Booster Club will be hosting a free-will donation lunch of grilled hot dogs, chips, desserts and pop from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. And during half time of the Varsity games, Wegner Auto is sponsoring "Kick It To Win It"! Tickets will be sold up to 1:00 on Saturday the 24th. During half time a lucky ticket will be drawn and the lucky ticket winner will have an opportunity to kick a soccer ball into the back of a pickup 35 yards away, and if successful, win a brand new vehicle worth $25,000. You must be present to win.

The Pierre Athletic Booster Club will be having a new fundraiser that will begin this week at a couple of Governor and Lady Governor varsity contest. It is called "Lay It On the (Yard) Line. The Booster Club will sell each yard line for $20, with a chance to win $50 (twice at each game, a total of 6 chances this season). The Booster Club's plans are to sell the yard lines at the Lady Gov volleyball game tonight, and at the Wegner Auto Whopper Feed tomorrow night prior to the game and at the game. The Whopper Feed will run from 5 to 7 pm. Winners need not be present to win. All monies raised will benefit the Pierre Athletic Booster Club and Governor and Lady Governor Athletes.

The Pierre Men's Volleyball League will have an organizational meeting on Wednesday at 7:30 pm at the newly reopened Pierre Post 8 American Legion Cabin. All teams must have a representative present at the meeting and their are openings available for new teams. Any new team must send a representative to the meeting as well. And any individuals 18 years of age or older that is interested in playing is encouraged to attend the meeting and get signed up with a team. For more information on the meeting, contact John Whaley at 223-2014 or Ron Catlin at 224-7815.

Rod's Monday Sports Blog

The Pierre Athletic Booster Club will be having a new fundraiser that will begin this week at a couple of Governor and Lady Governor varsity contest. It is called "Lay It On the (Yard) Line. The Booster Club will sell each yard line for $20, with a chance to win $50 (twice at each game, a total of 6 chances this season). The Booster Club's plans are to sell the yard lines at the Lady Gov volleyball game Thursday night, and at the Wegner Auto Whopper Feed, on Friday prior to the game and at the game. The Whopper Feed will run from 5 to 7 pm.

The Pierre Lady Governor competitive cheer and dance teams turned in another pair of strong performances at the Brookings Invitational on Saturday. The cheer team finished in fourth place in the stunting/non-tumbling division, while the dance team took ninth place. In dance, the Lady Governors finished with an average score of 166.5 to finish in ninth. The Lady Gov’s highest finish came in kick, where the Lady Governors claimed third place with a score of 183.5. Sioux Falls Washington won the team title with a score of 262.83. In the cheer portion, the Lady Governors finished with a score of 146 to claim fourth place. Pierre was a half point behind Sturgis for third place. Yankton took the stunting/non-tumbling title with a score of 175. The Lady Gov’s return to action a week from tomorrow when they compete in the Sioux Falls O'Gorman Invitational.

The Pierre Governor soccer team went 1 and 1 over the weekend as the Governors defeated Brandon Valley 3-1 on Friday but dropped a 3-2 verdict to Spearfish on Saturday to leave the Governors 12th in the 13 team state high school league. The Lady Governors are fifth in the girls league standings after they won two games over the weekend. The Governors defeated Brandon Valley 5-3 and then scored as time expired on Saturday to record a 2-1 win over Spearfish. The Governors and Lady Governors host Watertown in their final regular season games of the season on Saturday.

2nd ranked Mobridge-Pollock prevailed as the Big Dakota Conference Champions in the annual volleyball tournament played Saturday in Ft. Pierre. Mobridge-Pollock swept Chamberlain 2 games to non in the title game. Stanley County finished 7th in the tournament as the Lady Buffalos wrapped up the day with a 26-24, 25-18 win over McLaughlin in the 7th place match. The Lady Buffs were beaten by Mobridge-Pollock in their first game 25-4, 25-9 and then were beaten by Cheyenne Eagle Butte in the consolation semi final round 25-21, 25-19. The Lady Buffalos travel to Miller tomorrow night.

Rod's Sunday Morning Sports Blog

On Friday night, the Pierre Governor football team dropped a 34-14 contest at Brookings. The Bobcats scored the games first 14 points only to see the Governors come back with 14 points to tie the game at the half. Austin Wagner scampered 67 yards for the Governors first touchdown and sophomore quarterback Alex Gray, filling in for the injured Jarred Nielan who did not play due to a injury suffered in the Huron game, hit Lane Severyn on an 11 yard touchdown pass. But the second half became an offensive nightmare for the Governors who turned the ball over 5 times including a fumble and an interception on the Govs first two plays of the second half. Brookings turned both turnovers into points and scored 20 unanswered points in the second half. The Governors are 1 and 3 and host Mitchell for the Govs homecoming contest Friday night.

The Pierre Lady Governor volleyball team broke a 5 match losing streak by winning two matches on Saturday. The Lady Govs defeated Sturgis 3-1 by scores of 25-22, 19-25, 25-20, 25-9. Then the Lady Govs defeated Spearfish in a 3 game sweep by scores of 25-21, 25-19, 25-7. The Lady Govs are now 3 and 6 on the season as they host Mitchell Thursday night at Riggs High Gym.

The Pierre Lady Governor tennis team did not have a good day on the courts in Aberdeen losing all 3 duals at the Aberdeen Invitational. The Lady Govs were beaten 8-1 by Aberdeen Roncalli and then were shutout 9-0 by Aberdeen Central. Aubrey Wald won the only match for the Lady Govs against Aberdeen Central at the number 6 singles spot.

Rachel Probst finsihed 8th individually for the Pierre Lady Governor Cross Country team for Pierre's best finish in the girls division of the Clyde Cotton Invitational Cross Country meet hosted by Huron on Saturday. Probst finished the race in a time of 15:53. Rapid City Stevens won the girls division. Sioux Falls Roosevelt won the boys. Pierre did not have a runner finish in the top 10. Tyler Propst had a 15th place finish for the Govs lone place winner.

Rod's Friday Morning Sports Blog

The Pierre Governor football team puts a 1 and 2 record up against the Brookings Bobcast tonight in ESD Conference High School Football in Brookings. The Bobcats are 2-1 coming off a win over Brandon Valley last week. The Governors are coming off a loss at Huron. Pierre will also be playing the game without quarterback Jarred Nielan who will not play due to injured ribs. Sophmore Alex Gray will get the start at QB. The game is Brookings Homecoming contest and will kickoff at 7 pm.

The Stanley County Buffalo football team looks to build on it's 50-0 win over McLaughlin last week when the Buffalos host Herreid-Selby Area tonight at Ole Williamson Field. The Buffalos are 1-1 on the season with the kickoff scheduled for 7 pm tonight in Ft. Pierre.

Jaylen Uthe rushed for 104 yards on two carries and scored a 54-yard run in the second quarter to lead the Lyman High School football team to a 58-8 win over Lower Brule on Thursday night. Charlie LaRoche added 94 yards on two carries and scored two touchdowns for Lyman (2-1).

Other high school football games around the area tonight have Gettysburg-Hoven hosting Miller in the Battlers homecoming contest in Gettysburg. Sully Buttes is also at home tonight at the 4th rated Chargers of Class 9B host the Eureka-Bowdle Trojans. Highmore-Harrold looks to get back into the win column when they Pirates entertain Woonsocket-Wessington Springs-Sanborn Central in Highmore tonight. Jones County puts it's 2-0 record up against White River on the Tigers home field tonight and Philip, 0 and 2 and still looking for it's first points of the season, travels to New Underwood.

The Mitchell Kernals defeated the Pierre Lady Governors 3-0 last night in an ESD Conference volleyball matchup at Mitchell. The Kernals won 25-21, 25-16, 25-19 to improve to 6-1 on the season while the Lady Govs lost their 5th straight match and fell to 1 and 6. Taylin Alm led Mitchell with 12 kills and two blocks and Dana Misiaszek had 10 kills, seven digs and four blocks. Morgan added 30 set assists and three aces. For Pierre, Kaitlyn Severyn had seven kills and three blocks, Ashley Polak had 19 set assists and Taylor Hyde had 10 digs.

The Pierre Lady Governor volleyball team returns to the court tomorrow to play a pair of matches as it host a triangular. The Lady Gov JV's and Varsity will host Spearfish and Sturgis at Riggs High Gym. Pierre is 1 and 5 on the season after losing at Mitchell last night.

The Stanley County Lady Buffalo volleyball team finally saw persistence pay off as it won it's first match of the season last night. The Lady Buffalos defeated Jones County in four games, 25-9, 17-25, 26-24, 26-24 at Parkview Gym. Shelby Gienger led the Lady Buffs with 42 digs, eight aces and seven kills. Shantel Norman also had 42 digs and Sara Sweetman had eight aces to lead the Lady Buffalos.

Mobridge-Pollock is the top seed and will face Stanley County in a first round match of the Big Dakota Conference volleyball tournament that will be played tomorrow in Ft. Pierre at Parkview Gym. Miller and Cheyenne Eagle Butte are also in the tournament field as are 4 other teams. The 8 team tournament will play out all 8 places.

The Pierre Governor and Lady Governor Cross Country teams will return to action tomorrow when they travel to Huron to compete in the 51st annual Clyde Cotton Invitational meet being run at the Broadland Creek Golf Course. The Lady Govs are coming off a win in their own Invitational last week while the Governors are coming off a second place finish. The meet begins at 8:30 am withe the JV Girls run. The two varsity meets are scheduled for 9:20 am and 9:50 am. Most of the Class AA squads in the state will be running at the meet.

The Pierre Lady Governor tennis team is in action tomorrow when they travel to Aberdeen to compete in the Burt Elliot Extravaganza tennis tournament. Pierre will dual Aberdeen Central for the first time this year as well as Aberdeen Roncalli for a second time and Rapid City Stevens. Lady Gov head coach Jeff Bloomberg says the Aberdeen Central match is an important one for the Lady Govs to pick up seeding points for the ESD meet in a couple of weeks.

The Pierre Lady Governor tennis team is in action tomorrow when they travel to Aberdeen to compete in the Burt Elliot Extravaganza tennis tournament. Pierre will dual Aberdeen Central for the first time this year as well as Aberdeen Roncalli for a second time and Rapid City Stevens. Lady Gov head coach Jeff Bloomberg says the Aberdeen Central match is an important one for the Lady Govs to pick up seeding points for the ESD meet in a couple of weeks.