Dakota Radio Group Sports

Rods Friday Sports Blog

2012-01-27T09:58:00.001-08:00

Stanley County senior Austin Lopour signed a letter of intent yesterday to attend Dakota Wesleyan University and continue is football playing career collegiatly yesterday. Lopour was an All Conference running back for the Buffalos this season and also led the team in tackles defensively.

The Pierre Governor wrestling team recoreded 4 pins and won 9 of 14 maches last night in a 42-19 ESD dual win over Huron. Jebben Keyes at 106 lbs., Tanner Monfore at 126 lbs., Kyle Sarringer at 170 lbs. and Chase Lettau at 182 lbs. recorded Pins for the Governors who remain undefeated on the season dual matches and is 5-0 in the ESD. The Governors go to the Brookings Invitational tomorrow.

Stanley County Buffalo wrestlers will travel to Onida tomorrow to compete in the Charger Invitational Dual tournament. The Pierre JV’s will also be one of the 6 team field at that tournaement.

Winner rolled to a 68-33 girls non conference basketball victory over Stanley County last night in Ft. Pierre. Tori Deal of Stanley County led all scorers on the night with 18 but did not get any help as the Lady Buffalos fall to 2-10 on the season. Stanley County host Cheyenne Eagle Butte in a girls boys doubleheader tomorrow in Ft. Pierre.

The Pierre Governor basketball team heads west for a pair of non conference games tonight and tomorrow. The 2nd ranked Governors travel to Spearfish tonight against a Spartan team that is 8-3 on the season coming off a 9 points loss to St.Thomas More on Tuesday. Tip off of the varsity contest is scheduled for 8:30 pm Central Time. Then tomorrow the Governors travel to Sturgis to face the Scoopers in a 4:30 pm Central Time tipoff.

The Pierre Lady Governor basketball team is looking to make a winning streak this weekend. After winning their second game of the season at Huron on Tuesday night, the Lady Govs host Spearfish tonight and Sturgis tomorrow. Spearfish is coming off their first loss of the season against St.Thomas More on Tuesday. Tip off of the varsity contest is scheduled for 7:30 pm. Sturgis, who plays at Aberdeen Central tonight, is 4 and 7 on the season. Tip off of the varsity contest is scheduled for 3:30 pm tomorrow.

The Pierre Lady Governor gymnastics squad will have one last home meet of the season this weekend. Lady Gov head coach Nicki Abels says that they have scheduled a dual with Rapid City Central tomorrow beginning at noon at the gymnastics gym at the Pierre Administration building. This evening, the Dazzlers Gymnastics Club will dual the Pierre Middle School at the gymnastics gym. The Lady Govs will have a fund raising Walking Taco feed both this evening and Saturday afternoon.

The Pierre-Ft. Pierre Capitals and Lady Capitals JV and Varsity squads are in action this weekend. The Lady Capitals have a 3 game series with Rushmore beginning tonight at the EXPO Center in Ft. Pierre. They will play again tomorrow afternoon and Sunday morning as well. The Capitals will travel to Mitchell to face the Marlins tomorrow night before returning home for an afternoon contest against Watertown on Sunday.

Rod's Sunday Morning Sports Blog

2012-01-22T06:52:00.000-08:00

The Pierre Lady Governor gymnastics team finished in 6th place in the 8 team Rapid City Gym O Rama yesterday. The Lady Govs scored 128,450. Rapid City Central won the meet with a 148.575 team score. The Lady Govs did not have a participant finish in the top 5 of any of the events or the All Around.

The Pierre Governor wrestling team won all 3 matches it wrestled Saturday at the East-West duals that it hosted at Riggs High Gym. The Governors defeated Rapid City Central 40-22. Rapid City Stevens 48-22 and Sturgis 38-26. In the Sturgis meet, Pierre came from behind, pinning their opponents in the last 5 matches. With the 3 wins, Pierre remains undefeated in dual matches so far this season.

The Pierre-Ft. Pierre Capitals varsity girls hockey team lost to Mitchell 5-3 last night in Mitchell. Liz Knutson scored two of Pierre-Ft. Pierre's goals and MacKenzie Grode added the third on a power play.

Rod's Sunday Sports Blog

2012-01-15T17:17:00.001-08:00

Stanley County captured 5th place at the Jones County Invitational Basketball tournament Saturday night with a 58-44 win over Colome. White River won the tournament title for a 7th straight year with a 79-49 win over Jones County. Stanley County had two players named to the all tournament team. They were post player Latrell LaRouche and guard Austin Lopour named to the second team. White River had 3 players named to the first team. Nic Waln, Wyatt Krogman and Matt Gillen. Hunter Schindler of Lyman and Gus Volmer of Jones County also made the first team all tournament squad.

The Pierre Governor wrestling team captured the team title of the Mitchell Invitational Saturday scoring 157.5 points. Mitchell was next at 130.5 followed by Sturgis and then Rapid City Stevens. The Governors got 6 wrestlers to the championship match but only Lane Lettau at 220 lbs. won as he pinned Joe Schiler of Totino-Grace, Minnesota in 1:21. Tanner Monfore at 126, Caleb Stoltenberg at 132 and Chase Lettau at 182 lbs. were pinned by their opponents in the championship and Trey Maier was decisioned at 195 lbs.

Stanley County scored 158,5 to finish 3rd in the team standings at the Philip Invitational on Saturday. Rapid City Central won the team title with a 214.5 score. Philip was second. Casey Henninger lost in the championship match of 126 lbs. but Thomas Tolton won the 152 lb title for the Buffalos. Cody LeCompte was the third Buffalo grappler to make it the championship match before losing.

Sully Buttes scored 78 points and Gettyburg tallied 68 to finish 6th and 7th at Saturday's Gettysburg Battler Invitational wrestling tournament. The tournament was won by Webster with 225 points. Faulkton was a distant second. Sully Buttes CJ Gilland got to the championship match of the 195 lb. division before losing. Cole Geditz of Gettysburg won the 138 lb. division. Cheyenne Eagle Butte scored 26 points to finish 10th in the 11 team field.

The Pierre-Ft. Pierre Capitals girls varsity hockey team won twice over the weekend as they defeated Sioux Falls 6-2 on Saturday night and then recorded a 4-2 win on Sunday. Liz Knutson scored 4 goals in the win on Saturday for the Lady Capitals. Traci Corcoran scored a pair of goals for the Lady Capitals on Sunday and Gabby Vizcarra and Megan Johnson added goals yesterday as Pierre-Ft.Pierre sweeps the season series from Sioux Falls.

The Pierre-Ft. Pierre Capitals varsity boys hockey team dropped a 4-0 verdict to the Huron All Stars Saturday night in South Dakoea league play. On Friday, Sioux Falls recorded a 6-2 win over the Capitals. Elliot Shoup-Owens and James Gilkerson scored the two Pierre-Ft. Pierre goals, both on the power play.

The Pierre Lady Governor gymnastics team scored 132.5 to finish 5th in the 6 team Pierre Invitatioanl gymanstics meet over the weekend in Pierre. Rapid City Central edge Watertown for the team title.

Rod's Thursday Blog

2012-01-12T08:15:00.001-08:00

The South Dakota High School Activities Association Board of Directors voted 6-2 in favor of adding an 11AAA class, for the state's largest schools football schools at their regular January meeting yesterday in Pierre. The decision to add another class of football is due to huge enrollement diparities in the current 16 schools in 11AA. Class 11AAA will consist of Sioux Falls schools Washington, Roosevelt and Lincoln. Rapid City Central and Stevens, Aberdeen Central, Watertown, and Brandon Valley. The next 9 largest would make up Class 11AA. That would include Yankton, Pierre, Mitchell, Brookings, Sioux Falls O'Gorman, Huron, Sturgis, Douglas and Spearfish with only 8 of the teams making the playoffs.. O'Gorman says they will petition up to play in 11AAA which would allow, Brandon Valley, the option to go down to 11AA. If the Lynx opt not to, then Watertown could. If the Arrows don't, then Aberdeen Central would have the option. Class 11A and Class 11B would be split between the two and the three 9 man classes are unaffected by any decision to be made. Wednesday's vote isn't final, as yesterday was only the first reading. The second reading and final vote on it is on February 29th. If adopted, the seven-class playoff system would go in effect in the fall of 2013.

The pairings for the Southern Plains Conference Girls Basketball tournament scheduled for next week have been released. In games in Murdo on Thursday and Friday, January 19th and 20th on Thursday at 6:30 pm it will be White River going up against Kadoka Area followed at 8 pm by Stanley County and Jones County. In Colome, the first round matchups have Lyman facing Gregory at 6:30 pm followed by Colome and South Central at 8 pm. The semi finals will be played on Friday with the finals moving to Ft. Pierre and Parkview Gym on Saturday. The 7th place game will play at 1:30 pm. The 5th place game is scheduled for 3 pm. The third place game will be at 4:30 pm and the championship game is scheduled for 6 pm.

The Pierre Area Coaches Association (PACA) has named their latest Riggs High School Athlete of the Week award winners. Senior's Conner Berg of the Governor basketball team and Cheyna Lodge of the Lady Governor Gymnastics team were named. Berg was nominated by Assistant Coach Quintin Cermak who said that Connor scored 10 points on 5-9 shooting from the field during Friday's win at Brandon Valley, but his biggest contribution was his defensive effort against BV's best shooter, holding him to 6 points. Lodge was nominated by her head coach Nicki Abels who said that Cheyna placed 2nd at the Brookings Invitational on floor last weekend, this meet was against all the teams in the state except Rapid. In addition, Cheyna placed 5th on beam and stuck her routine at a Rapid City triangular over the Christmas break,she also placed 5th at the weekend priors invitational at Mitchell with 12 of the top teams in the state, she was also 9th on the floor exercise, she competed all around and was 14th overall.

All girls and boys ages 10 to 14 are invited to participate in the Fort Pierre Knights of Columbus free throw shooting competition, which will be held this Saturday at Parkview Auditorium. Registration begins at 8:30 CST and competition begins at 9:00 CST. Contestants must provide proof of age and written parental consent. All shooters will receive a participation certificate and the winners of each age group will receive a brand new basketball. For entry forms or additional information contact Rob Coverdale at 280-0372 or John Duffy at 280-2559.

Rod's Sunday Morning Sports Blog

2012-01-08T08:16:00.001-08:00

Pierre scored a 135.300 to finish 5th in the 10 team Patty Jorgenson Invitational Gymnastics meet at Brookings on Saturday. Watertown won the meet scoring 144.025. The Lady Govs host their own Invitational meet Saturday beginning at noon in Pierre.

The Pierre Governor basketball team won twice over the weekend to improve their record to 7 and 1 on the season. On Friday, the Govs scored a 61-48 win over Brandon Valley and then Saturday held off Yankton 66-55. The Governors take their 7 game winning streak to Watertown on Friday for their only game of the week.

The Pierre Lady Governor basketball team had trouble scoring as they lost both games this past weekend. The Lady Govs dropped a 51-25 verdict to Brandon Valley on Friday and then lost 52-21 to Yankton on Saturday. Pierre has dropped 4 straight and have a 1 and 7 record as they host Watertown on Friday night in their only game of the week.

Langford handed the Stanley County Lady Buffalo basketball team a 55-24 setback yesterday at the Redfield-Doland Classic basketball claissic in Redfield.

The Pierre-Ft. Pierre Capitals varsity boys hockey teams split a pair of league contest over the weekend as they traveled to Rapid City to face Rushmore. On Friday, the Capitals posted a 3-2 win over Rushmore scoring two goals in the second period and making it stand up. Saturday, a more offensive game broke out as Rushmore prevailed 8-5. James Gilkerson had the hat trick for Pierre-Ft. Pierre.

Rods Sunday Morning Sports Blog

2012-01-01T07:22:00.000-08:00

The Pierre Governor wrestling team dropped a 42-26 dual to Lewiston, Montana to finish second to Lewiston is bracket 6 of “The Clash” Wrestling tournament that wrapped up yesterday in Rochester, Minnesota. The Governors went 2 and 1during day 2 of the tournament to finish with a 3 and 3 overall record at the top high school wrestling tournament in the nation. The Governors beat Hastings, Minnesota 34-28 in their first match of the day yesterday and then defeated Owatonna, Minnesota 37-27 before dropping their match to Lewiston. The Governors return to the mat Tuesday night when they dual Yankton at 5 pm and Chamberlain around 8 pm in a triangular in Pierre. KGFX-AM will have live coverage of the Pierre and Yankton dual on Tuesday.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Rod's Saturday Morning Sports Blog

2011-12-31T07:21:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-28T07:33:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-27T06:36:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-25T08:18:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-21T08:58:00.001-08:00

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

2011-12-16T20:25:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-16T08:26:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-15T10:36:00.001-08:00

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

2011-12-11T07:11:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-10T07:36:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-06T12:59:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-04T06:39:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-03T06:53:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-02T08:47:00.001-08:00

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

2011-12-01T08:44:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-27T07:03:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-26T14:00:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-17T04:57:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-14T08:05:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-13T07:10:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-09T07:51:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-06T08:55:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-05T07:08:00.000-07:00

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

2011-11-04T07:50:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-25T21:22:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-23T07:44:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-21T12:34:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-18T07:35:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-15T05:58:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-14T08:51:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-12T08:36:00.001-07:00

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

2011-10-11T08:49:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-09T06:57:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-08T07:51:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-07T09:44:00.001-07:00

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

2011-10-02T07:10:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-30T04:47:00.000-07:00

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!!

2011-09-28T22:36:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-26T07:56:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-25T10:55:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-24T08:34:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-22T09:30:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-18T07:21:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-16T08:17:00.000-07:00

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.

Rods Thursday Sports Blog

2011-09-15T06:52:00.000-07:00

There is a rare Thursday night early season high school football game in the area tonight. The game will be in Presho where the 1-1 Lyman Raiders host Lower Brule in a 7 pm kickoff. Head Coach Michael Kieffer liked the way he saw his team bounce back last week with their win over Kadoka after being beaten the first week by White River where the Raiders allowed 82 points to be scored. Last week against Kadoka, the Kougars mustered only 6.

A new billboard along I-29 near Brookings is causing a stir. The ad was placed by the University of South Dakota marketing deparment. It features the USD mascot – a coyote – chasing the South Dakota State mascot – a jackrabbit – with the heading “Have an Old Friend for Dinner”. The board also notes the date of next year’s USD-SDSU football game in Brookings. USD athletic director David Sayler says the board’s one of four placed around the state. He says no smack is intended – it’s to stir discussion of the State-U rivalry. Sayler says the talk, and fan support, will help the schools develop their new Division I programs. USD joins SDSU in the Summit League next year.

The Pierre Lady Governor volleyball team returns to the court tonight looking to end a 4 match losing skid as they travel to Mitchell to face the once beaten Kernals. The Lady Govs are coming off a 3 game sweep at the hands of Brookings on Saturday while Mitchell is coming off a 5 game win over Brandon Valley on Tuesday night. Tonight's match will be played at the Mitchell High School Gym and the varsity match is set for a 7 pm start time.

The Stanley County Lady Buffalo volleyball has lost 4 straight matches in 5 games. They are looking to take that step forward tonight when they entertain Jones County at Parkview Gym. Jones County is winless in 11 matches this season and they are coming off a 5 game setback at White River on Tuesday. Stanley County will be looking at tonight's match as a step forward heading into this weekend's Big Dakota Conference tournament that they will host on Saturday. Tonight's match is scheduled for a 7:30 pm starting time.

The Pierre Middle School Volleyball teams will travel to Aberdeen for matches today scheduled to begin at 4 pm. Meanwhile, the freshman football team will have a home game today when they host Mitchell in a 4:15 pm kickoff at Phil Trautner Stadium at Hollister Field.

This year, to better encourage new players, the Oahe Hockey Association board of directors has established a policy that there will be no league registration fee for skaters at the Mite and MiniMite levels, 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. Interested players can register until Sept. 30, either online at www.oahehockey.org or by calling Amy McTighe at 945-0725.

The Pierre Area Running Club will be hosting it's annual Honker 5K and 10K Road RAce on Saturday September 24th. Registration will be held from 8 am to 8:45 am at the Hillsview Golf Course parking lot with both races scheduled to begin at 9 am. The race will be a loop run on the bike path along highway 34. There is a $20 entry fee with particpants recieving a Honker self-wicking, dri-fit T-Shirt. You can find a registration form and obtain more information on the race by going the running clubs website at www.pierrerunningclub.org.

Rod's Sunday Morning Sports Blog

2011-09-11T09:01:00.001-07:00

The Pierre Governor golf team fired a 334, cutting 7 strokes off of their score at Yankton but still finished in the second half of the team standings of the Brookings Invitational golf tournament golfed Saturday at the Brookings Country Club. The Governors finished 10th in the team standings and did not have a golfer place in the top 10. Sioux Falls O'Gorman won the team title with a 297 team score.

The Pierre Lady Governor volleyball team lost their 4th match of the season getting shut out by Brookings Saturday night at Riggs High Gym. The Lady Govs lost the match in 3 straight games. Pierre returns to action Thursday night when they travel to Mitchell.

The Pierre Lady Governor tennis team went 2 and 1 duals yesterday at Huron. The Lady Governors dropped a 5-4 verdict to Watertown but won 2 matches by beating Brookings 7-2 and shutting out Huron 9-0. Aubrey Wald for Pierre went 6-0 winning three singles at flight 6 and 3 doubles wins with partner Emily Dix at flight 3 doubles for the Lady Govs best performance of the day.

Rod's Saturday Morning Sports Blog

2011-09-10T05:49:00.000-07:00

The Pierre Governor football team was beaten 17-12 last night by the Huron Tigers at Huron. Adam Zwanziger scored on 1-yard run and Michael Johnson caught a 25-yard touchdown pass to give the Tigers their first win of the season. Zack Cranston added a 34-yard field goal and 18 tackles for Huron. For Pierre Jared Neilan rushed for 147 yards and touchdown runs of one and 36 yards as the Governors fall to 1 and 2 on the season. Pierre travels to Brookings next week. The Bobcats downed Brandon Valley 42-28 last night. Mitchell beat Aberdeen Central 32-13 and Watertown lost to Yankton 48-18.

The Pierre Governor golf team fired a 341 team score to leave them in 13th place in the 18 team Yankton Invitational yesterday at the Hillcrest Country Club. Sioux Falls Lincoln fired a 304 team score to win the tournament. The Governors did not have a single golfer finish in the top 10 individually. Willie Welch fired an 81 for Pierre's best score on the day. Hans Leong had an 85. Mark Costello a 86. Cash Anderson and Joe Bech each had 89's. Drew Leif came in with a 92. The Governors are competing in the Brookings Invitational today.

The Pierre Lady Governor volleyball team is hosting Brookings today at Riggs High Gym with the varsity match scheduled for a 6 pm start time and will be broadcast on River 92.7 FM. The Lady Governor Tennis team is in Huron today in a quadrangular as they take on Brookings, Watertown and Huron.

Rod's Thursday Afternoon Sports Blog

2011-09-08T14:03:00.001-07:00

Freshman Cross Country runner Rachel Probst was selected as this week's Pierre Riggs High Athlete of the Week by the Pierre Area Coaches Association. Propst placed third last week in the varsity competition of the Brandon Invitational. Her head coach, Keith Christensen, nominated Propst for the award and say that it was an outstanding peformance for such a young runner.

Rod's Thursday Afternoon Sports Blog

2011-09-08T14:03:00.000-07:00

Rod's Sunday Morning Sports Blog

2011-09-04T06:50:00.000-07:00

The Pierre Lady Governor tennis team dropped a 9-0 dual to Sioux Falls O'Gorman. The Lady Govs did not have a close score in any of the singles or doubles matches. 6-2 was as close as Pierre got. The Lady Govs return to the court Tuesday when they host Aberdeen Roncalli and Rapid City Central in their home opening duals.

Rod's Saturday Morning Sports Blog

2011-09-03T07:31:00.000-07:00

The Pierre Lady Govenor tennis team dropped a 6-3 dual to Mitchell yesterday. Abby Burke and Emily Dix won singles matches at the numer 3 and 5 flights and Dix and Kate Wald won the number 3 doubles match. Against Yankton, Pierre fell 5-4. Abby Burke won her second match of the day at number 3 singles and Audrey Wald took the number 6 singles match. Kayla Inman and Karlie Warne won the number 2 doubles match and Dix and Wald won their second match of the day at number 3 doubles. The Lady Govs dual Sioux Falls O'Gorman today in Sioux Falls.

The Pierre Governor golf team fired a 335 to finish in a tie for 4th with Spearfish at the Black Hills Invitational Golf Tournament played at the Boulder Canyon Country Club in Sturgis yesterday. Willie Welch fired a 77 to finish in a tie for fifth for the top individual score of the day for the Governors. Cash Anderson had the next best score for Pierre with an 83. Hans Leong came in with an 86, Drew Lief had an 89, Joey Beck a 92 and Mark Costello a 97 for the Governor scores on the day. Rapid City Stevens fired a 304 to win the tournament. Clay Kopplin of Sturgis had a 67 to win medalist honors.

The Pierre Governor football scored a touchdown in the final 1:48 to come from behind and defeat Aberdeen Central 13-12 last night for the Govs first win of the season. Quarterback Jerrid Nielan scored both of Pierre's touchdowns in the win as he rushed for over 120 yards. Nielans winning score was a 5 yard run to cap a 80 yard 10 play drive. Nielan also threw for 100 yards in the win. Pierre is 1-1 on the season and in the ESD Conference as they travel to Huron next Friday for their next game. Huron was beaten by Yankton 26-0 last night while Mitchell beat Brookings 44-20 and Brandon Valley downed Watertown 35-13.

Friday's Sports Blog

2011-09-02T09:27:00.000-07:00

The Pierre Governor football team has their home opener tonight as they host Aberdeen Central at Phil Trautner Stadium at Hollister Field. Both teams lost their season openers last week. Pierre was beaten 40-23 by Yankton while the Golden Eagles were upended 42-0 by Sioux Falls Roosevelt. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 pm.

The nine man era of high school football takes the field tonight in Ft. Pierre. The Stanley County Buffalos will play their first 9 man football game in over 20 years when they meet Miller in the season opener for both squads. Tonight will also be Miller's first 9 man game since playing 11 man football since at least the 1920's. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 pm at Ole Williamson Field in Ft. Pierre. Other games around the area tonight have Sully Buttes traveling to Highmore to face Highmore-Harrold. Both teams won their season openers last weekend. Jones County, coming off a season opening win travels to Philip to take on the Scotties in their season and home opener. Lyman is at home tonight as they face White River and Gettysburg opens their season at home as the Battlers host Faulkton.

The Pierre Lady Governor volleyball team dropped their third game of the season last night when they were swept by Huron 25-12, 25-21, 25-21 at Riggs High Gym. After a lackluster first game that saw Huron run off 9 unanswered points mainly on Lady Gov mistakes, the second and third games were much better but Huron always had an answer for a Lady Gov run. Kaitlin Allerdings led Huron with 13 kills while Crystal Merriam and Eliza Smith combined for 29 assists and Alix Katz had 10 digs to lead Huron. Kaitlin Severyn, playing for the first time since sitting out two games with an ankle injury, led the Lady Govs with 8 kills. Taylor Hyde had a game high 15 digs and Ashley Polak had 2 Service Aces. The Lady Govs are 1 and 3 on the season and 0 and 3 in ESD play. They are off until a week from tomorrow night when they host Brookings.

The Stanley County Lady Buffalo volleyball team is 0 and 3 on the season following a 3 game setback to Gregory last night at Parkview Gym in Ft. Pierre. Gregory won the match by scores of 25-7, 25-11, 25-9. Inconsistent serving all match long hampered the Lady Buffs who was led by Hailey Norman who had 8 kills. Shelby Geinger had 14 digs for Stanley County returns to the floor Tuesday when they host White River and Timber Lake in a triangular.

Coleman Cadwell and Lane Shroyer led a 1-2 Chamberlain finish at the Chamberlain Invitational boys golf tournament yesterday at Chamberlian. Cadwell fired a 72 and Shroyer came in with a 73. Winner won the team title with a 338 score, 1 stroke better than Chamberlain. Mobridge-Pollock was third with a 352. Pierre had two JV teams play in the tournament and they finished 4th and 5th in the 7 team field.

The Pierre Lady Governor Competitive Cheer and Competitive Dance teams' will open their season tomorrow in Pierre. The Pierre Spirit Invitational will begin at 12 noon at Riggs High Gym. Both squads have been working on their routines for a month for this weekends season opening competition. Watertown, Brandon Valley, Sturgis and Huron are among the teams expected to compete.

The Pierre Area Coaches Association has named their first Riggs High Athlete of the Week award winner. She is sophomore volleyball player Kaitlin Severyn. Kaitlyn had 15 kills against Yankton after spraining her ankle in warm ups and playing through the match with it. She was nominated by head coach Kacy Kienholz who said that Kaitlyn came into fall camp very strong and has been chosen by her team as a captain and a very good leader on the court. Her sprained ankle did not allow her to play Saturday against Douglas or Tuesday against Aberdeen Central.

Rod's Thursday Sports Blog

2011-09-01T05:31:00.000-07:00

The Pierre Lady Governor Volleyball team looks to rebound tonight when they host Huron in an ESD Conference match-up at Riggs High Gym. The Lady Govs are looking to bounce back from a 3-0 drubbing they took Tuesday night in Aberdeen. They are 1 and 2 on the season but 0 and 2 in ESD play. Huron is 0-1 after getting swept in 3 games by Yankton on Saturday in their only match of the season so far. Varsity match is scheduled to begin at 7 pm.

The Stanley County Lady Buffalo Volleyball team is still in search of their first win of the season tonight when they host Gregory at Parkview Gym. The Lady Buffalos are coming off a 3-0 loss to Chamberlain on Tuesday night and are 0 and 2 on the season. The Varsity match is scheduled for approximatly 7:30 pm tonight.

The Pierre Governor and Lady Governor Cross Country teams open their season today. The Govs and Lady Govs will travel to Brandon to compete in the Brandon Valley Invitational this afternoon. This is the first time that Pierre has competed in the Brandon Valley Invitational that is being run on the same course that will host the ESD Conference Cross Country meet later this fall. The JV and Varsity meet is scheduled to begin at 4 pm.

"The Jackrabbit Insider," a weekly television program featuring South Dakota State University Athletics, will return for its third season this weekend. The half-hour show, hosted by Pierre native Tyler Merriam, will air locally at 10:30 p.m. Sunday nights on Sioux Falls-based KTTW Fox 7, starting on Sept. 4, and will feature highlights, student-athlete features and interviews with Jackrabbit coaches and administrators.

Mixed martial artists from a four-state region will descend on Eagle Butte’s CRST Labor Day Fair and Rodeo this Saturday, beginning at 6 p.m. Male and female combatants from South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Nebraska are scheduled to be in attendance at the Warriors Challenge. The cost to attend is $30, and the fairgrounds are located one mile north of Eagle Butte. For more information, contact Gayle Lofton at 605-200-9216.

Rod's Tuesday Morning Sports Blog

2011-08-31T06:00:00.000-07:00

A short-handed Pierre squad was swarmed under by Aberdeen's serving and hitting. Aberdeen Central beat Pierre 25-12, 25-9, 25-11 in high school volleyball at Golden Eagles Arena on Tuesday in an Eastern South Dakota Conference match. The Golden Eagles missed just eight serves and racked up 11 aces and 32 kills to keep Pierre off balance.

The Stanley County Lady Buffalo volleyball team was beaten 3-0 by Chamberlain in the Lady Buffalos home opener last night. The Cubs won the match 25-15, 25-21, 25-15. Shelby Geinger led the way for the Lady Buffs with four kills and three aces. Kelly Sweetman also had nine digs and three aces in a losing effort.

Sioux Falls Lincoln, Elk Point Jefferson and Northwestern hold down the top spots in the first South Dakota High School Volleyball poll from the South Dakota Sportswriters Association. Mobridge-Pollock is rated 5th in the Class A rankings while Herreid-Selby Area is in a tie for 8th in the Class B poll for the only teams from the Dakota Radio Group listening area ranked. Miller received some votes in Class A while Sully Buttes and Eureka-Bowdle received votes in the Class B poll but not enough to crack the rankings

The Pierre Governor golf team traveled to Aberdeen yesterday to compete in the Hub City Invitational only to get rained out. Head Coach John Knox said that most of the players got 8 or 9 holes in before the rains became to heavy to continue and officials called the tournament. Coach Knox said that the one good thing about it yesterday was the Cash Anderson and Joey Beck were playing with the varsity and both were golfing pretty good which is a good sign. The Governors travel to Sturgis for a tournaent on Friday.

Rod's Sunday Morning Sports Blog

2011-08-28T07:23:00.000-07:00

The Pierre Lady Governor tennis team scored 93 points and finished 8th in the 12 team Rapid City Invititational tennis tournament that wrapped up yesterday. Abby Burke and Emily Dix finished 4th in the number 4 and 5 singles spots to place for the Lady Govs while Eileen Leong and Kate Wollman finished 6th in number 1 doubles for the Lady Govs top finishes on the tournament. Sioux Falls O'Gorman won the team title.

The Pierre Lady Governor Volleyball team bounced back from their season opening loss Friday night to Yankton by defeating Douglas yesterday. The Lady Govs won a 4 game match by scores of 25-19, 23-25, 25-14, 25-19. The Lady Govs are 1 and 1 to start the season as they travel to Aberdeen to face Aberdeen Central Tuesday night.

Yankton pulled away in the second quarter to build a 37-8 halftime lead and went on to cruise to a 43-20 win over the Pierre Governors in the season opening and ESD Conference opener for both teams last night in Yankton. Connor Fitzsimmon led Yankton scored 5 touchdowns on the night. He rushed for four and caught a pass for a TD. Austin Wagner scored on runs of 65 and 10 yards for the Governors who have their home opener next Friday against Aberdeen Central.

Rod's Saturday Morning Sports Blog

2011-08-27T07:54:00.000-07:00

Yankton defeated Pierre 3-1 last night in high school volleyball. Yankton won the first set 25-17 before the Lady Govs came back to take game 2 25-22. But Yankton regained control with a 25-17 win in the third and a 25-11 fourth game win to clinch the match. Kelsy Fitzgerald led the Gazelles with 16 kills and 9 blocks with 2 of them being solo. Emily Fedders had 39 assists and Chloe Corneman had 4 aces and 16 digs. The Lady Govs were led by Kaitlin Severyn with 15 kills on the night. Ashley Polak had 17 assists and Tara Stout had 18 digs. The Lady Govs travel to Douglas for an afternoon match today.

The Pierre Governor golf team had a fourth place finish yesterday at the Huron Invitational won by Sioux Falls O'Gorman with a 299 team score. The Governors had a 320 team score. Willie Welch tied for fourth with a 75 for the Governors best score of the day. Zach Smalley finished in a 3 way tie for 6th with a 76 for the two place winners the Governors had on the day. The Governors travel to Aberdeen on Tuesday to play in a tournament.

Rod's Friday Sports Blog

2011-08-26T05:38:00.000-07:00

The Pierre Governor football team is putting in it's final touches for the season opener tomorrow night in Yankton. Governor head football coach Joe Kramer has a handful of players back from last year's squad that tied with Watertown and Brandon Valley for the ESD Football championship. The Governors are picked 6th in the ESD Coaches pre season poll while Yankton is selected to finish third. Head Coach Arlin Likness at Yankton has severel returning players from last year's squad including quarterback Michael Rucker who started the last five games of the season for the Bucks last year. Tomorrow Night’s game can be heard on River 92.7-FM.

While most of the area high school football squads don't open their season until next week, there is are a few openers on the schedule for tonight including Highmore-Harrold who opens the season on the road at Ipswich. Sully Buttes will open the season tonight at home entertaining McLaughlin and Jones County will host Colome in their season opener tonight.

The Pierre Governor Golf varsity squad travels to Huron today to compete in the Huron Invitational being golfed at the Broadland Creek Golf Course. Most of the Class AA schools and ESD teams will be in attendance. The Governors are looking to improve upon their fifth place finish last week at the West River Invitational.

The Pierre Lady Governors volleyball team opens their season tonight when they entertain Yankton at Riggs High Gym. Lady Gov head coach Kacy Kienholz lost only one senior to graduation in Amber Olson and has everybody else back from last year's squad. After tonight, the Lady Govs travel to Douglas for an afternoon contest tomorrow. You can hear tonight’s match on River 92.7-FM.

The Pierre Lady Governor tennis team coming off a 1 and 2 start in their dual season, heads to Rapid City today to compete in the Rapid City Invitational tournament today and tomorrow. Head Coach Jeff Bloomberg says last weekends season opener against the 3 Sioux Falls public schools went about the way he thought they might have. This week, the competition level picks up a notch with top rated Rapid City Stevens and number 2 Sioux Falls O'Gorman in the tournament field. Coach Bloomberg says that O'Gorman from all accounts has improved from last year's squad and is probably better than Stevens at this point in the young season.

The Pierre Governor and Lady Governor soccer teams will have their home openers this weekend when they host Yankton this evening and Brookings tomorrow at the Hilgers Gulch soccer fields. The Governors are 0-1-1 on the season after losing to Rapid City Central and tieing Rapid City Stevens last week in their opening weekend in Rapid City. The Lady Govs are off to a 0 and 2 record after losing both of their matches to the Rapid City Schools last weekend. Tonight's varsity matches are scheduled to begin at 6 pm vs. Yankton. Tomorrows matches against Brookings have 1:30 pm start times with both the boys and the girls varsity matches being played simultaneously following the JV matches.

The final 4H rodeo event of the season will be held this weekend in Ft. Pierre. The South Dakota State 4H Finals Rodeo begins it's 3 day run today at the Stanley County Fairgrounds in Ft. Pierre.

Pro Darrell Peters of Slayton, Minn., and co-angler Jeff Sass of Waupun, Wis., brought in five walleyes weighing 21 pounds, 9 ounces Thursday to lead day one of the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour tournament on Lake Oahe. The pair now hold a 2-pound, 1-ounce lead over their closest rivals in an event featuring 113 pros and 113 co-anglers representing 18 states and Canada fishing for top awards of $63,000 in the Pro Division and $10,500 in the Co-angler Division. Tommy Skarlis of Waukon, Iowa and Randy Rock of Brandon, S.D. caught five walleyes weighing 19 lbs. and 8 oz. to sit in second place after day 1.

Rod's Wednesday Morning Sports Blog

2011-08-24T04:45:00.001-07:00

The Mitchell Kernals are the pick by ESD football coaches to win the ESD Conference title this year. The Kernals were selected as the top team in a pre season poll conducted by the Mitchell Daily Republic Newspaper. The Kernals edged out 2nd place Brandon Valley. Yankton was picked third followed by Brookings. Watertown is fifth in the pre season poll while the Pierre Governors, who tied with Brandon Valley for the ESD Conference honors last year, are rated 6th. Aberdeen Central and Huron rounded out the 8 team conference. The season begins Saturday.

Prior to the final weigh-in of the National Guard FLW Walleye tour event in Pierre this weekend, FLW Outdoors, in conjunction with the NPAA, will be hosting a free Family Fishing Clinic where children can receive free rod and reels, plus other great giveaways. Fans will have the opportunity to interact with professional anglers, ride a Ranger boat simulator, enjoy interactive games and activities, and learn more about the sport of fishing. All activities are free and open to the public. The free fishing clinic is scheduled to begin at 2:30 pm in the parking lot of the Walmart store in Pierre on Saturday.

Rod's Tuesday Sports Blog

2011-08-23T08:04:00.000-07:00

Long-time Rapid City Poost 22 American Legion baseball coach Dave Ploof will retire after 47 years on Oct. 31, according to a report Monday night by Inside Dakota Sports.com. Ploof, who took over the Post 22 head coaching reins in 1965, guided the Hardhats to a 2,483-808 record in 47 seasons. In that span, Post 22 recorded 33 state championships and a 1993 national title.

Sioux Falls Post 15 East coach Brandon Hunt confirmed Monday night that he will be resigning from his position in order to move to Denver, Colorado in May. Hunt, who is also the Sioux Falls Washington head baseball coach, guided East to the State Legion baseball championship in August – the club's first state title since 2004.

The Rapid City Stevens girls tennis team begin the season as the top-ranked team in the state. The Raiders received five first-place votes and 37 points in the first coaches’ poll of the season. Defending State Champion Sioux Falls O’Gorman checks in at No. 2 with two first-place votes and 33 points. Sioux Falls Roosevelt, Rapid City St. Thomas More and Aberdeen Central round out the top five.

The South Dakota Horseshoe State Doubles and Singles championships will be decided in Pierre over the Labor Day weekend. The Doubles State championships will be determined on Saturday September 3rd beginning at 1 pm at the Horseshoe Pits in Griffin Park. The Singles State championships will be pitched on Sunday beginning at 8 apm again at the Horseshoe pits in Griffin Park. There is a $15 entry fee for particpants both days. For more information, contact Keith Whaley at 605-390-1974

Rod's Monday Sports Blog

2011-08-22T06:59:00.001-07:00

Tim Begeman of Madison prevailed in the South Dakota Golf Association's State Men's Senior Golf tournament that was played this weekend at the Bakers Crossing Golf Course in Sioux Falls. Begeman fired a 68 on Saturday and followed that up with a 78 yesterday for a two round total 146 and a one stroke victory over Steve Dietrich of Sioux Falls and Steve Pelzl of Aberdeen. Lou Mendoza of Eagle Butte and Hillsview Golf Course in Pierre had rounds of 74 and 78 for a two round score of 152 and a fourth place finish. Jesse Mendoza of Eagle Butte and Hillsview Golf Course in Pierre won the first flight championship with a two round total 148 after fired rounds of 76 and 72. Joe Villa of Pierre finished 4th in the first flight with a two round total 154. Lou and Jesse Mendoza and Villa were the only golfers from Pierre entered in the two day tournament.

Stanley County High School has alot of changes in store for fans this season. Number 1 with the Buffalos football squad now entering the 9 man ranks, they will no longer be a member of the Big Dakota Conference. 2nd year Athletic Director and head football coach Matt Jensen says that the football program is the only program however that will not be a member of the Big Dakota Conference. All other sports will. It will also be a changing of the guard with the coaching staff as every sport this year, fall, winter and spring, will have a new head coach. Jensen is beginning his first year as head football coach. Kylie Mundt, a former Pierre Lady Governor volleyball head coach, will be the head coach of the Stanley County volleyball this season after being an assistant coach last year. Rob Ingram is the new head coach of the Cross Country and Girls Basketball programs. Adam Spoehr is the new head boys basketball coach. Hilary Hanson takes over as the new head gymnastics coach and Tom Stotts will serve as the new head Track and Field head coach next spring. Jensen says all of the coaches are young, energetic and ready to lead the Buffalos and Lady Buffalos into a new school year.

Rod's Sunday Morning Sports Blog

2011-08-21T07:22:00.000-07:00

The Pierre Lady Governor soccer team lost their second consecutive match to start the season yesterday when they were beaten by Rapid City Central 4-1. Alexandra Sterling scored Pierre's lone goal in the 28th minute of the contest. The Governor boys also lost yesterday to Rapid City Central by a 2-1 score. The Governors went 0-1-1 on the weekend after a 1-1 tie in their season opener against Rapid City Stevens on Friday. Both Pierre squads have their home openers on Friday when they entertain Yankton. Brookings comes to Pierre for matches on Saturday at the Hilgers Gulch Soccer Fields.

The young Pierre Lady Governor tennis team opened their season yesterday going 1 and 2 in 3 duals against the 3 Sioux Falls public schools. The Lady Govs defeated Sioux Falls Lincoln 8-1 but lost to Sioux Falls Washington 6-3 and Sioux Falls Roosevelt as Pierre fell 7-2. Against Lincoln, the Lady Govs swept all 6 singles matches and won the number 1 and 3 doubles. In the loss to Roosevelt Pierre won the number 6 singles and number 1 doubles matches. And in their win over Washington, Pierre claimed victories at the number 3 and number 6 singles and number 3 doubles. The Lady Govs head to Rapid City next weekend.

Rod's Saturday Sports Blog

2011-08-20T06:43:00.001-07:00

The Pierre Governor golfers started the day in 5th place and finished the day in 5th place in their first golf tournament of the season, the West River Invitational. Yesterday's second and final round was played at the Meadowbrook Golf Course in Rapid City and the Governors fired a 330 team score for a 36 hole total 631. Zach Smalley had a two round total of 160 to place 10th for the Governors highest finish of the tournament. Willie Welch had a 163 for the Governors other low score on the tournament. The Governors travel to Huron Thursday for the Huron Invitational.

The Pierre Lady Governor soccer team dropped their first game of the season last night when they fell to two time defending state champion Rapid City Stevens 3-2. Stevens built a 3-0 lead only to see the Lady Govs score twice in the second half but fall short. The Lady Govs play Rapid City Central in Rapid City this afternoon.

Rod's Friday Morning Sports Blog

2011-08-19T04:55:00.000-07:00

Fans will get a sneak peak of this year's edition of the Pierre Governor football team tomorrow morning during the annual gatorade scrimmage at the football field at Hollister Field at Phil Trautner Stadium. Governor head football coach Joe Kramer says that the scrimmage will be scripted out and be a controlled scrimmage. He tells Dakota Radio Group Sports after yesterday 4th two a day practices of the week that the team was tired and the coaching staff would ease up a bit on the squad today for the final two a days. He says that the final numbers look like 12 seniors, 11 juniors, 30 sophomores and 40 freshman will make up the Governor varsity and sub varsity teams this year. The numbers are down a bit at the senior and junior level from last year but about the same in the other two grades.

Pierre Governor golfer Zach Smalley fired a first round 77 to lead the Governors after the first day of the West River Invitational boys golf tournament golfed at the Spearfish Canyon Country Club. The Governors fired a 331 team score and sit in 5th place, 9 strokes behind first round leader Rapid City Stevens. Other Governor scores yesterday included Mark Costello with a 81. Willie Welch carded a 82 while Hans Leong had a 91, Drew Leif fired a 98 and Joey Beck came in with an even 100. Sam Musch and Taylor Boos of Rapid City Stevens along with Tyler Burr of Belle Fourche all fired first round 73's to tie for the lead. Today's second and final round of the West River Invitational will be played at the Meadowbrook Golf Course in Rapid City.

The Pierre Lady Governor tennis team opens their season on the road tomorrow when they travel to Sioux Falls to face the 3 Sioux Falls public schools in dual matches. The Lady Governors will face Sioux Falls Washington, Sioux Falls Lincoln and Sioux Falls Roosevelt. Pierre has only two returning players that played varsity tennis last year and they do not have a senior on the squad. It will also be an opportunity for Pierre doubles teams to play together, in most cases, for the first time.

The Pierre Governor and Lady Governor soccer seasons begin this weekend. The Govs and Lady Govs will open their season tonight taking on Rapid City Stevens at the Sioux Park soccer fields in Rapid City. Both the boys and girls varsity matches will be played simultaneously at 8 pm following the JV games that are scheduled to begin at 6. Pierre's boys have 6 seniors returning from last year's squad and after that, underclassmen who saw some action last year. The Lady Govs got to the championship of last year's state tournament before losing in the title game. Martyn Beeny begins his second year as head coach of the Governors while Sydney Zenin begins his 4th season at the helm of the Lady Govs program. Tomorrow, the Governors and Lady Governors will face Rapid City Central in Rapid City with the varsity matches both scheduled for 1 pm following the JV contests at 11 am.

Rod's Thursday Morning Sports Blog

2011-08-18T07:05:00.000-07:00

The Pre Season sports practices continue for at least a fourth day for the athletic teams at Pierre Riggs High School as well as every other high school around the state. Along with the Governor golf team opening it's season today in Spearfish, the Lady Governor tennis team squad continues preperation for it's season opening matches Saturday in Sioux Falls against the 3 Sioux Falls public schools. The Governor football squad practices from 7 to 11 am this morning for their fourth day of two a days. The Lady Governor volleyball team also conducts it's fourth day of two a days today and the Governor and Lady Governor Cross Country teams practice for a fourth consecutive day as well.

Two members of last year's State Boys Varsity Hockey champion Pierre-Ft. Pierre Capitals will continue their hockey playing career by making the cut at a pair of tryout camps for two different junior hocky teams. Goalie Cody Bishop has signed with the Hudson Crusaders in Wisconsin and forward Lucas Lindholm will be taking his hockey talents to Canada as he has signed with Winnipeg Saints in Winnipeg, Canada. The two players will be playing in the junior A league, one tier below the USHL where the Sioux Falls Stampede compete. Hudson and Winnipeg are in the same tier as the Aberdeen Wings of the North American Hockey League. Bishop and Lindholm become the second and third players from Pierre-Ft. Pierre to play junior hockey following Matt Ferris who played with the Sioux Falls Stampede for 3 years and now is a player for Princeton at the Division 1 college level.

The Pierre Governor boys soccer teams opens it’s season tomorrow night when they travel to Rapid City Stevens and then face Rapid City Central on Saturday at the Sioux Park soccer fields. Martyn Beeney begins his second season as head coach of the Governors and he has 6 seniors and group of younger players to form a nucleus around. While offensively coach Beeney says fans probably won’t see a lot of different things this year than last, defensively he has instituted a new plan that he thinks will help his squad. Beeney also feels that there is great parity around the state and nobody will run away with the league title. Pierre’s home opening matches will be next weekend Friday and Saturday the 26th when they host Yankton and Brookings.

Rod's Wednesday Afternoon Sports Blog

2011-08-17T13:19:00.000-07:00

The Pierre Governor golf team opens it's season tomorrow golfing at the Spearfish Invitational being golfed at the Spearfish Canyon Country Club. The Governors have 4golfers back from last year's varsity. Head Coach John Knox, who is in Williamsport, Pennsylvania today to watch his grandson play baseball for Rapid City in the Little League World Series, took 14 golfers to Huron on Monday and Tuesday for challenge matches to determine the varsity squad for the first two tournaments. The six golfers that will be competing today in Spearfish and tomorrow in Rapid City at the Meadowbrook Golf Course are Willie Welch, Zach Smalley, Hans Leong, Drew Lief, Mark Costello and Joey Beck. Welch, Smalley, Leong and Beck all golfed on the varsity squad last year. While Coach Knox is watching his grandson play in the Little League World Series, assistant coach Guy Hunter will be coaching the squad today and tomorrow in his absence.

The Pierre Lady Governor soccer team opens it’s season this weekend when they travel to Rapid City to face the Rapid City public schools. Pierre plays Rapid City Stevens Friday evening in their first match at the Sioux Park soccer fields. The Saturday, the Lady Govs will face Rapid City Central who head coach Sydney Zenin has a solid squad this year. Pierre has a large contingent of their girls back from last year’s State tournament championship game team that finished 2nd in the state tournament. Zenin says that is a luxury that will allow him to introduce more tactics the team can do on the field than they were able to do last year. The Lady Govs home opener is next weekend August 26th and 27th when they host Yankton and Brookings.

The National Guard FLW Walleye Tour will visit Lake Oahe in Pierre Aug. 25-27 for the fourth and final event of this season. The tournament, being hosted by the Pierre Area Chamber of Commerce, will feature as many as 200 top walleye anglers casting for top awards up to $63,000 in the Pro Division and $10,500 in the Co-angler Division. Water levels on Lake Oahe have been high all summer; however, they are now dropping according to Ted Takasaki of Sioux Falls. He says the lake has dropped three feet in the last two weeks and he expects it to drop another one to two feet before the tournament starts. Anglers will take off from Spring Creek Resort & Deep Water Marina located at 28229 Spring Creek Place in Pierre at 7 each morning. Weigh-ins will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Walmart located at 1730 North Garfield in Pierre beginning at 4 p.m.

Prior to the final weigh-in of the National Guard FLW Walleye tour event in Pierre August 25th through the 27th, FLW Outdoors, in conjunction with the NPAA, will be hosting a free Family Fishing Clinic where children can receive free rod and reels, plus other great giveaways. Fans will have the opportunity to interact with professional anglers, ride a Ranger boat simulator, enjoy interactive games and activities, and learn more about the sport of fishing. All activities are free and open to the public.

The Chamberlain-Oacoma Fitness Council is hosting a kid's triathlon and duathlon on Saturday on the campus of St. Joseph's Indian School in Chamberlain. The duathlon is for kids aged 6 and under. kids ages 7 to 15 will compete in a triathlon, either as individual or teams. Entry is just $5 per athlete. For more information contact Shana Harming at 605-680-4098.

The South Dakota State Seniors Bowling Tournament will be held Sept. 24-25 and Oct. 1-2 at Gregory Lanes in Gregory. The event is a singles and doubles tournament with five divisions based on age. It is open to S.D. State USBC members over 55 years of age. For entry forms go to www.bowlsd.com. Contact tournament manager Cheryl Gapp at 605-421-1669 for more information.

Rod's Tuesday Morning Sports Blog

2011-08-16T07:25:00.001-07:00

The annual Zamboni Day fundraiser for the Oahe Hockey Association is this evening from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Oahe Capitals and Lady Capitals players will be going door-to-door in Pierre and Fort Pierre, asking for donations for cases of Pepsi products. Money raised by the event will go toward such projects as the maintenance and upkeep of the Zamboni ice machine and the rink at the Expo Center in Fort Pierre, as well as coaches, officials and team uniforms. The Capitals varsity, the defending league and state-tournament champions, will host the state tournament next March. For more information call Kathy at 945-1969.

Rod's Monday Sports Blog

2011-08-15T05:35:00.000-07:00

The Pierre Governor golf team will be traveling to Huron today and tomorrow. Head Coach John Knox says that challange matches will be played over the course of the next two days at the Broadland Creek Golf Course as coach Knox narrows down the numbers and selects his varsity team for the first two tournament of the season, Thursday at Spearfish and Friday at Rapid City. Coach Knox says that right now he has 4 golfers back from last year's varsity squad so a couple of spots are open and maybe three depending on things on the varsity roster.

On Line registration for JV and Varsity Boys Hockey for the Pierre-Ft. Pierre Capitals is under way. The registration period began last Monday and will continue through thru September 5th. You can register on the Oahe Hockey Association's website at www.oahehockey.org. On line registration for all other divisions of hockey will begin on September 6th and run through the 30th.

Yesterday was the 8th Coca Cola Points Series races at Oahe Speedway north of Pierre. The winners included Rick Meier of Box Elder in the Super Pro Class. Joe Harry of Ferney captured the Pro Class Races. Schaun Schnathorst of Huron was a first time winner at the track this season winning the Bike race while Travis Falcon of Pierre won the Sportsman Class Division races. Adam Vetter of Gettysburg was the winner of the Street Trophy Class. Stephanie Holm of Pierre captured the High School division while the Junior Major Division winner was Carly Ellingson of Rapid City and Noah Miller of Ft. Pierre won the Junior Minor Division. The Gamblers race winner was Sonnie Boke of Gettysburg. The next racing at Oahe Speedway will be in two weekends on August 27th and 28th.

Youth bowling registration for the upcoming season will be held at the Lariat Lanes in Pierre beginning at 5:30 this evening. All interested area youth ages 6 though high school age are encouraged to sign up for sanctioned junior league bowling. In addition, following the registration period, there will be a small awards ceremony for all youth bowlers who earned trophies and awards from last season’s State Youth Tournament in Sioux Falls. The awards presentation will begin at around 7:00 this evening.

Rod's Sunday Morning Sports Blog

2011-08-14T06:46:00.000-07:00

The Old Skool Nostalgia Drags highlighted yesterday's racing at Oahe Speedway north of Pierre. A total of 5 races were run and the winners were John Scott DeMotts of Lebanon in the Nostalgia Pro Two Class. Ray Fuchs of Bowman, North Dakota won the Nastalgia Pro One Class Race. The Nostaligia Comp Division race was won by Josh Johnson of Belfield, North Dakota. Ann Hirsch of Pierre won the Nostalgia Gas Division and Bob Watkins of Rapid City was the winner of the Nostalgia Street Class Race. There were also regular Shootout Races held yesterday at Oahe Speedway. Dale Garber of Pierre captured the Box Shootout race while Curt Heib of Chamberlain won the No Box Shootout division. Doug Percy of Winner was the Trophy Shootout race winner and Carly Ellingson of Rapid City captured the Junior Shootout division races. Today is the 8th Coca Cola Points Series Races at the Speedway located some 15 miles north of Pierre on Highway 1804. Elimination round races are scheduled to begin around 1 pm this afternoon.

Rod's Friday Afternoon Sports Blog

2011-08-12T12:37:00.000-07:00

Once Monday roles around, the fall sports season in South Dakota will be in high gear. Monday is the first allowable practice day for football, volleyball and cross country. Pierre head football coach Joe Kramer reminds players that equipment checkout will be held Sunday evening at 7 pm at the equipment shed below the upper pracitice field at Riggs. With Monday being a teacher in service day, football practice will begin at 4 pm and last until 8 pm. On Tuesday, practices will be in the morning from 7 to 11 am. On Wednesday it will be a 4 to 8 pm practice and then Thursday and Friday the team returns to a 7 am to 11 am practice time. Then on Saturday morning at 10 am on August 20th will be the annual Gatorade scrimmage at Phil Trautner Stadium at Hollister Field. The Governors kick off the season on the road on Saturday August 27th when they travel to Yankton.

The Lady Governor volleyball team will begin the season Monday morning at the track. Head Coach Kacy Kienholz says the girls will need to run the mile in 8 minutes or less at 7 am. Then they head to practice court Monday afternoon at 3:30 pm for their first practice and will go until 6 pm. The rest of the week has the practice schedule with two a days from 7:30 to 10 am and again from 3:30 to 6 pm thru the rest of the first week. Coach Kienholz is expecting between 40 and 50 girls to report on Monday. Coach Kienholz says that basic fundamentals will be priortized for the first couple weeks of practice. The Lady Govs will open the season on Friday, August 26th when they host Yankton and then travel to Douglas the next day so they will have two matches under their belt within 24 hours of each other.

Rod's Friday Sports Blog

2011-08-12T07:06:00.000-07:00

To celebrate the 50th season of South Dakota State football at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium, the 50-player Coughlin-Alumni Stadium All-Time Team was announced Thursday in conjunction with Fall Media Day. Fan balloting determined roughly half the team by position, with the remaining at-large players selected by a panel of former coaches, administrators and media who have a long association with Jackrabbit football. More than 4,000 ballots were cast in online voting. The Coughlin-Alumni Stadium All-Time Team will be honored the weekend of Oct. 21-22, when the Jackrabbits host North Dakota State. Former Pierre Governor head football coach Mike Busch is on the list of 50 at quarterback.

Two Pierre golfers are scheduled to play in the USGA Senior Amateur local qualifying tournament to be played tomorrow in Brookings. Lou Mendoza of Eagle Butte and Hillsview Golf Course will be playing in the tournament along with Joe Villa. There are a total of 10 golfers scheduled to compete. One player will advance to the 57th USGA Senior Amateur Championship to be held Sept. 10-15 at Kinloch Golf Club in Manakin-Sabot, Va.

The Pierre Lady Governor tennis team will be young and relatively inexperienced this fall with only two returners back from last year's varsity squad in sophomore Eileen Leong and junior Emily Dix. Head Coach Jeff Bloomberg does not have a senior on the team this season but he has a strong cast of juniors that have been together since they started playing in the Lady Govs system as 7th graders. Coach Bloomberg says that the 12 girls out so far have played a lot of tennis over the summer and it is showing. Pierre opens their season a week from tomorrow when they travel to Sioux Falls to dual the 3 Sioux Falls Public schools.

The flood of 2011 shut down Griffin Park but it did not shut down the tennis courts at the complex in Pierre. Lady Gov head coach Jeff Bloomberg says that the flood waters at the height of the flood got to the edges of the courts, but did not get on any of them so all of the courts are being used as the flood waters recede.

Rod's Thursday Sports Blog

2011-08-11T09:20:00.000-07:00

The flood of 2011 in Pierre-Ft. Pierre has cost the Pierre Governor golf team their Invitational tournament. Officials had hoped to have the tournament at another course in another city on the day it was scheduled, August 23rd, but teams that were coming to the Pierre Invitational were not receptive. Governor head coach John Knox said that Huron's Broadland Creek Golf Course had offered to host the tournament, but many of the teams that would come to Pierre were headed to Huron later that week for the Huron Invitational and they did not want to play the same course two consecutive tournaments. Coach Knox says that hopefully they will be able to put something together next year, but he is not optomistic that Hillsview Golf Course will be ready to play next year.

The Pierre Governor golf team is practicing where it can this fall. Due to the flooding this summer in Pierre-Ft. Pierre, Hillsview Golf Course was closed. Except for the putting green and chipping green near the clubhouse, Governor head coach John Knox says places to practice are at a minimum. There are a couple of holes on the course that the golf team has been allowed to use but other than that, coach Knox is having to take his team to courses out of town to play. 7 holes on the back 9 at Dunes Golf Course in Ft. Pierre are open and coach Knox says that they will use those holes as well today and tomorrow. Coach Knox says the team will head to Huron on Monday and Tuesday of next week for playoff matches. Pierre's first tournament is next Thursday in Spearfish and Friday in Rapid City.

Youth bowling registration for the upcoming season will be held at the Lariat Lanes in Pierre beginning at 5:30 Monday evening. All interested area youth ages 6 though high school age are encouraged to sign up for sanctioned junior league bowling. Also, new for the upcoming season, the Lariat Lanes will feature a Pee Wee league for bowlers ages 5 and under. Pee wee bowlers will bowl two games of bumper bowling Saturday mornings, while learning the basics of the sport that will help them prepare for the sanctioned league competition in the years to come. Youth bowling leagues will begin Saturday, Sept. 10, at the Lariat Lanes. In addition, following the registration period, there will be a small awards ceremony for all youth bowlers who earned trophies and awards from last season’s State Youth Tournament in Sioux Falls. The awards presentation will begin at around 7:00 Monday evening. Contact the Lariat Lanes in Pierre at 224-1020 for more information.

Rod's Sunday Night Sports Blog

2011-08-07T18:37:00.000-07:00

The Pierre 13-14 Teener baseball team was beaten by Rapid City Blue in the semi finals of the State 13-14 Teener Baseball tournament today in Sioux Falls. We don't know the score but we know that Rapid City Blue went on to win the State 13-14 Major Division championship with a 8-3 win over Brookings in the title game.

Heath Olson of Pierre fired a third round score of 74 today in the State Men's Amatuer Golf Tournament in Brookings. Olson finished 3rd in the first flight with a 54 hole score of 221 and he finished two shots behind the tournament champion. Miles Schock of Pierre had a third round score of 79 to finish with a 54 hole score 228 and a 15th place finish in the first flight championship division.

Rod's Sunday Morning Sports Blog

2011-08-07T07:08:00.000-07:00

The baseball season ended for the Pierre Post 8 15-16 Teener Green baseball team yesterday when they dropped a 6-1 verdict to Brandon Valley in an elimination game of the State 15-16 Major baseball tournament in Brookings. The Pierre squad was outhit 8-6 in the game and never led in the contest. Cooper Walton went the distance for Pierre Green as he struck out 7 and walked only 1. Austin Wagner and Alex Gray each had 2 hits to pace Pierre Green which went 3 and 2 in the tournament.

The Pierre 13-14 Teener baseball team plays Rapid City Blue in one semi final game of the State 13-14 Teener baseball tournament today in Sioux Falls. Pierre outscored Sioux Falls West 15-14 in their final pool play game of the tournament yesterday. Matt Booth had 4 hits and 5 RBI's to lead Pierre's 18 hit attack in the game. Connor Ryan got 3 hits and was the winning pitcher as he was the 4th pitcher used in the game by Pierre.

Heath Olson of Pierre shot a second round 71 and is in a 3 way tie for the lead with a 147 score in the First Flight of the SDGA Men's Amatuer golf tournament being played in Brookings. Miles Schock, who fired a 69 and was tied for third after the first day ballooned to a 80 yesterday and is well back in the pack in the first flight championship with a 149 tied with 6 other players. Carson Moore of Murdo had a second round of 71 after Friday's first round of 87 and is in the third flight.

Rod's Saturday Morning Sports Blog

2011-08-06T07:08:00.000-07:00

Pierre golfer Miles Schock fired a 69 yesterday and is in a 3 way for third after the first round of the South Dakota Golf Association's State Men's Amateur Golf tournament being golfed in Brookings. Schock, a former Pierre Governor standout golfer, is three shots behind the first round leader Tom Carlson of Sioux Falls. Heath Olson of Pierre and Hillsview Golf Course fired a first round 76 while Carson Moore of Murdo had a first round score of 87.

Rod's Friday Night Sports Blog

2011-08-05T19:45:00.000-07:00

The Pierre Green 15-16 Teener baseball team downed Sioux Falls East 6-1 Friday evening in the State VFW 15-16 Teener State Baseball tournament in Brookings Friday night. Willie Welch went the distance allowing 1 run on 4 hits. He struck out 6 and walked 3. Austin Wagner, Cash Anderson and Kyle Sarringer each had 2 hits out of Pierre's total of 9 on the game. Ryan Goodwin had 3 RBI's in the contest. Pierre is 2 and 1 in the State Tournament. Pierre Green will play Brandon Valley, a team they beat 13-10 Friday in the opening round of the tournament, Tomorrow afternoon at 3 pm in another elimination game in the tournament. The Winner will play the loser of the Sioux Falls West and Watertown game which will be played at 12 noon. That game will be at 6 pm. Brandon Valley eliminated the Pierre White 15-16 Teenere baseball team earlier in the day.

Rod's Friday Sports Blog

2011-08-05T09:52:00.000-07:00

You probably have already heard but former Pierre Governor basketball standout Sam Willard signed a professional basketball contract to play with Team BK Ventspils in Latvia. Willard has been in Pierre in recent days but is leaving to head to the European country. Terms of the deal that Willard signed were not announced. Willard completed his collegiate career at Pacific University after becoming the only player in Pacific history to score 1,000 points, pull down 800 rebounds and have 80 steals. He was an All Big West first team performer this past season. Willard signed his contract with the Latvian pro team in mid July.

Sioux Falls West defeated Pierre Green 5-3 in the State VFW 15-16 Teener State Baseball tournament this morning. Cody Honeywell was the losing pitcher for Pierre while Austin Wagner had 4 of Pierre's 9 hits in the game. With the loss, Pierre Green is now 1 and 1 in tournament play while Sioux Falls West is 2-0. Pierre Green will play again this eveing at 7 pm in the tournament. The Pierre White Teener team was playing Brandon Valley in a game that started at 10 a.m in an elimination game in the tournament.

Rod's Wednesday Morning Sports Blog

2011-08-03T06:00:00.001-07:00

The deadline for registration for the Oahe Family YMCA Tackle Football League is coming up for partipants. The deadline for players who will be entering the 3rd through 7th grades this coming school year is Sunday. You can signe up at the YMCA or go to their website at www.oaheymca.org.

The 6th annual Pierre Athletic Booster Club Golf Tournament was played on Saturday at the Oahe Trails Golf Course north of Pierre. The winning team Team Vance. The team was made up of players Vern Larson, Rick Dockter, Randy Vance, Buddy Hendrickson, Scott Bothun and Jeremy Lund. The runner up team was Team Knox headed by Governor and Lady Governor head coach John Knox, Ron Wagner, Kirby Welch, Hillaree Leif, Gayle Varty, and Brook Varty. Team Fitzke finished 3rd in the tournament. Pierre Athletic Booster Club officials would like to thank all who played and particpated in the tournament. The next regular monthley meeting of the Pierre Athletic Booster Club will be Tuesday, August 9th at 5:45 pm at View 34 along East Highway 34 in Pierre.

Rod's Tuesday Afternoon Sports Blog

2011-08-02T13:23:00.001-07:00

The three Pierre Teener baseball teams will all be in action beginning Thursday at their respective State Tournaments. Both of Pierre's 15-16 Teener baseball teams, the Green squad and the White squad have qualified for the State VFW 15-16 AA State tournament that begins tomorrow in Brookings. The Green squad, the number 2 seed in the North Division, will matchup against Brandon Valley in their first game on Thursday at 10 am. The 4th seeded White Squad will take on Sioux Falls West at 1 pm in their first game of the tournament on Thursday. The White squad finished the regular season with a 3-12 league record. The Green squad had a 10-5 regular season league record. That tournament runs through Sunday in Brookings. Meanwhile, the Pierre 13-14 Teener baseball team will begin it's State tournament Friday in Sioux Falls playing two games in pool play against Yankton Friday morning at 9 am. They play Sioux Falls South Friday afternoon and Sioux Falls West Saturday morining. If they qualify they will move into a single elimination tournament Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

The fall sports season begins next week for athletes at Stanley County with the annual parent-coach meetings scheduled for next Tuesday at 7 pm at Parkview Gym. Stanley County Athletic Director Matt Jensen says that the first part of the meeting will be to take care of the proper required paperwork plus go over the concussion release forms that all athletes will need to sign before they are allowed to compete. Jensen says he wants to also explain to the parents the online scheduling that Stanley County will be making available to parents and fans. Jensen says that parents can go to the website bigdakotaconference.com and sign up. He also says that they will have a link set up on the school website www.stanleycounty.k12.sd.us.

There will be an organizational meeting for the Pierre Women's Volleyball Association next week. The meeting will be held on Wednesday evening at 6 pm at the VFW in Pierre. All teams should have a representative at the meeting and any team who would like to be in the league this year should also have a representative on hand. And if anyone who would like to play but doesn't have a team is invited to attend the meeting. For more information, contact Kellie at 280-5533.

There will be a Fall Meeting for the Pierre United States Bowling Conference Bowling Association at the Lariat Lanes on Tuesday, August 9, 2011 at 7:00 PM. Everyone is encouraged to attend. Supplies will be handed out. Also, Registration for the Pierre Youth Bowlers will be August 15, 2011 at the Lariat Lanes at 5:30 PM.

Rod's Tuesday Morning Sports Blog

2011-08-02T05:41:00.000-07:00

Kacie Mikkelsen has been named as the new certified athletic trainer for the Pierre Governors and Lady Governor athletic teams for the coming school year. Mikkelsen is a Agar native and Gettysburg High School graduate in 2004. She attended South Dakota State and recieved her undergraduate degree in athletic training. She earned her Masters degree from SDSU this spring. She will be the first full time athletic trainer that Pierre Riggs High Sports has had.

Pierre Post 8's Teeners Green team fell 5-4 to Brandon in Green's final State VFW 15-16 League contest of the 2011 season Mondday evening. The game was played at the Valley Springs field. Green finished its regular season with a league record of 10 wins and five losses. But both the Green and the White Team will play this weekend in the State VFW 15-16 Teener AA State tournament in Brookings. The Green squad will matchup against Brandon Valley in their first game on Thursday at 10 am. The White Squad will take on Sioux Falls West at 1 pm in their first game of the tournament on Thursday. The White squad finished the regular season with a 3-12 league record.

Today is the start of the fall sports seasons in South Dakota. Competitive Cheer and Dance teams can begin practice for the first time today. Girls Tennis and Boys Golf first allowable practices are scheduled for Monday while Cross Country, football and volleyball can begin their first practices for the season on Monday, August 18.

Pierre Swim Team had a strong showing at the 2011 SD Long Course State Championship held in Sioux Falls July 29-31 with several state champions and a record setting relay team. The 9-10 girls relay team: Talia Jorgensen, Sydney Theobald, Marlee Dravland and Taryn Senger broke a 21 year hold record in two events. They set a new record in the 200-meter Freestyle and the 200-meter Medley relays breaking the previous records set in 1990.

The Best in the West Horseshoe tournament was held in Pierre over the weekend at the horseshoe pits at Griffin Park. Pitchers came from Rapid City, Midland, Spearfish, Ridgeview, Harrold, Blunt and Pierre to pitch in the blistering heat. On Saturday, Macey Chambers of Blunt won the Class A division as she finished ahead of Billy Markwed of Midland and Roland Kleinschmidt of Harrold who finished 2nd and 3rd. In the Class B division, Bryce Chambers of Blunt won the title finished ahead of runner up Ron Purkapile of Pierre and third place finisher Gary Whitney of Pierre. Sunday's winners were Glenn Lee of Ridgeview in the Class A divison and Macey Chambers of Blunt in the Class B division. Lee finshed ahead of Kleinschmidt and 3rd place finisher Harlan Nielsen of Rapid City. Chambers won out over Purkapile and 3rd place finisher Whitney.

The Stanley County Booster Club will be having the first meeting of the new school year tomorrow evening at 6:00 pm in the high school learning center in Ft. Pierre. All are welcome and encouraged to attend as items to be discussed will be fall activities. Any questions may be directed to Ronda Sweetman 280-7165.

More of Rod's Monday Morning Sports Blog

2011-08-01T08:18:00.001-07:00

Here are the first round pairings for the Class A Amatuer Baseball tournament that will be played at Hyde Stadium this Friday through Sunday. On Friday at 5:30pm it will be the Renner Monarchs facing the Vermillion Red Sox followed at 8:00 pm by the Brookings Cubbys taking on the Black Hills Landscape A's. The two losers will play Saturday at 11 am in an elimination game with the winner advancing to next weekend final weekend in Mitchell. The two winners will play each other at 1 pm with both teams advancing to the next weekend in Mitchell. Then Saturday at 5:00 pm it will be Yankton taking on Brandon Valley followed at 7:30 pm by the Rapid City Angels taking on Castlewood. Sunday at 11 am the two losers will play in an elimination game with the winner advancing to next weekend in Mitchell and the two winners will meet at 1:30 pm with both teams advancing to next weekend's final weekend of the tournament in Mitchell. In visiting with Pierre Rattlers General Manager Tom Magedanz who will be the local tournament organizer, he realizes that fans probably won't come out to the tournament in numbers that they would if Pierre were in the tournament, but Pierre fans who purchased season tickets for the Rattlers, those season passes will be honored as a way to make up the many rainouts the Rattlers had in June and early July.

I have been asked how I liked the fact that our station did not broadcast any Legion Baseball games this summer and the other station in town did most of them? I can only say "it stunk". I missed not having the opportunity to call any baseball games this summer. Especially the Region and State tournament. I understand the economics of it all but it still "stunk". With the flooding situation of this summer, I tip my hat to the Legion baseball board who all of sudden lost the use of one field and had to reschedule 4 teams to one field. I admit, I tried to listen to some of the games but it was hard and I usually turned the station and found out later. I would prefer to be busy next Summer broadcasting the games and my boss told me in an email that if I found ways that we might be able to generate some dollars to let him and our sales staff know. So I emailed him about 14 or 15 different ways and we will go from there. It also doesn't hurt to let your voice be heard either with a call or an email or short note. Meanwhile I have been working on the high school sports schedules. I think we have a nice product that we will be bringing you this fall and winter. Our Pierre sports schedule features all 9 football, 12 volleyball (7 home and 5 road) games. In the winter we will be broadcasting every boys and girls basketball game, 4 wrestling matches and the Pierre Gymnastics Invitational. KGFX will be broadcasting Stanley County Football 4 or 5 volleyball matches as well as a number of Stanley County boys and girls basketball games along with the Pierre Lady Governor basketball season. We will also have SDSU football, womens and some men's basketball games on again. I have the football and womens basketball games scheduled and am waiting for the SDSU men's schedule to be released. KPLO and KMLO will again have a number of regional games once again this year as well. And again, if you want Pierre baseball on the Dakota Radio Group next year, let our people know by giving my boss and sales manager a call, emailing them or just drop them a note. Or email or drop a note off to me and I will forward it to them.

The Stanley County Booster Club will be having the first meeting of the new school year this Wednesday August 3 @ 6:00 pm in the high school learning center. All are welcome and encouraged to attend as items to be discussed will be fall activities. Any questions may be directed to Ronda Sweetman 280-7165.

Rod's Monday Morning Sports Blog

2011-08-01T05:47:00.000-07:00

The Class A State Baseball Tournament wrapped up yesterday in Yankton with Sioux Falls East defeating the host Yankton squad 8-2. It was their first title since 2004. Sioux Falls East now moves on to the regionals, which begin Thursday in Dickinson, North Dakota.

The Pierre Green 15-16 Teener baseball team claimed bragging rights for a season in Pierre as they swept a doubleheader from the Pierre White 15-16 Teener baseball team in the regular season home finale for both squads last night at Hyde Stadium. The Greens beat the Whites 7-6 in the first game which was the league contest and then completed the sweep with a 19-15 win in the nightcap. In the opener, Carson Eisenbeiz went 2 for 3 and scored 3 runs to lead the Green Teeners. Ben Liedholt had two doubles and RBI for the White squad. Cody Honeywell went the distance to pick up the win for the Green squad. In the nightcap, Cash Anderson had 4 RBI's to lead the Green offense while Liedholt went 3 for 3 with a single, double and triple. The Green squad travels to Brandon today for a 4 pm doubleheader before advancing to the State AA VFW Teener tournament next week in Brookings. The White squad awaits word whether or not they have qualified for the State tournament.

The Pierre Rattlers amateur baseball team had it's season come to an end over the weekend as they went 1 and 2 at the Region 1A tournament in Brookings beating Huron but losing twice to Castlewood. The Rattlers dropped their opening game to Castlewood 6-3 on Saturday but bounced back yesterday in an elimination game to defeat Huron 11-9. That set up another contest with Castlewood, an elimination game, and the Rattlers were beaten 7-5 to end their season. Pierre ends the 2011 campaign with a 5 and 14 record. Brookings and Castlewood both advanced to the State Class A amateur baseball tournament that begins next Friday in Pierre.

Pierre Athletic Director Dan Whalen says that the Parent and Athlete meetings with coaches of the fall sports is scheduled for this evening at Riggs High School. Parents and Athletes that plan to participate in Athletics at Riggs High School for the 2011-12 school year can come in and get their Required Athletic Paperwork completed for any sport for any season – fall, winter or spring. The General meeting begins at 6:30 pm. The Fall Sports Meetings (with the exception of Girls Tennis which will be held on Thursday Aug. 4th @ 7:00 pm at Riggs HS Cafeteria) will follow the general information session and paperwork explanation.

The Oahe Mens Golf Association 2011 Championship tournament will be held on Sunday at the Murdo Golf Course in Murdo due to flooding having closed the facility at Hillsview Golf Course in Pierre. The 27 hole tournament will have six flights including Senior and Super Senior divisions. To register for the tournament or get more information contact Boy Conzemius at his Insurance Agency next to Zesto or call 224-6271. The deadline to register for the tournament is today.

Levi Woodring and Bailey Wooley were the Junior Jam winners yesterday at Oahe Speedway north of Pierre. Woodring, from Holdrege, Nebraska defeated Kimberlee Guether of Ft. Pierre in the Finals of the Junior Major Division. Wooley, from Lexington, Nebraska defeated Charlee Schumacher of Rapid City to take the title in the Junior Minor division. Also yesterday, the second points series race in the Coca Cola Points Series was run this weekend after being postponed in May. The winners included Curt Humann of Pierre in the Pro Series Class. Todd Caspar of Willow Lake took the Pro Series and Karen Englund of Pierre won the Sportsman Class. In the Bike Series race, Toby Giese of Kandyoki, Minnesota won. Robert Kuntz of Thompson, North Dakota took the Street Trophy Class while James Morris of Pierre prevailed in the High School Class finals and Carly Ellington of Rapid Cit won the Junior Gamblers race yesterday.

Saturday's winners at Oahe Speedway north of Pierre included Caleb Kleewien of North Platte, Nebraska in the Junior Major Countdown to the Jam race. Jonathan Huse of Onida won the Junior Minor Countdown to the Jam race. Other Saturday winners at Oahe Speedway included Randy Nygaard of Watertown taking the title in the Box Shootout while Jim Hunsley of Rapid City won the No Box Shootout division and Brian Brad of Pierre won Saturday's Trophy Shootout division race.

The Pierre Adult Soccer League will be playing games beginning Sunday August 21st and will play every Sunday thru October 9th at the Pierre Indian Learning Center Soccer Fields. Games will be played beginning at 5:30 pm. For more information contact Mark Morris in Pierre.

The Pierre Recreation Department is once gain sponsoring a fall adult kickball league in Pierre-Ft. Pierre. Anyone who is interested in having a team in the league this fall should contact City Recreation Director Mindy Cheap at 773-7445 or email her at mindy.cheap@ci.pierre.sd.us. The deadline to contact Cheap is August 10th.

Rod's Sunday Morning Sports Blog

2011-07-31T07:48:00.000-07:00

Jebben Keyes of Pierre may be the next Pierre track standout. Keyes finished 13th in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10 minutes, 15.92 seconds at the USA Track and Field National Junior Olympic meet in Wichita, Kan. yesterday.

The Pierre 15-16 White Teener Baseball team split a doubleheader with Brookings yesteerday losing the opening league contest 13-3 but came back to win the nightcap 8-5. In the second game, Alex Meagher went the distance allowing 10 hits and 5 runs. A 5 run 4th inning was the big inning. Ben Liedholt had 3 of Pierre's 8 hits. In the opener, which counted in the league standings, Liedholt was the losing pitcher allowing 7 runs in 4.1 innings pitched. Graham Protexter had 2 of Pierre's 5 hits in the contest. The Whites wrap up the regular season by playing the Pierre Green Teener squad in a doubleheader at Hyde Stadium this evening.

Rod's Friday Sports Blog

2011-07-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

Former Pierre baseball player Landon Busch struck out 15 batters in seven strong innings as the Brookings Bandits edged two-time defending champion Rapid City Post 22 2-1 in a pitchers duel late Thursday night at the S.D. State Legion Tournament at Riverside Field. In other games yesterday during day 2 of the State Tournament, Sioux Falls West downed Pierre 9-5 and Yankton defeated Garretson 11-2 in elimination games at the tournament. Last night, Sioux Falls East pounded Watertown 19-8. Today's 3 games at the tournament have Yankton facing Watertown at 12:30 pm in an elimination game and Rapid City Post 22 takes on Sioux Falls West at 5 pm in another elimination contest. Brookings and Sioux Falls East face off in the winners bracket game at 7:30pm with the winner assured a spot in Sunday's title game.

The South used a strong defense and a powerful rushing attack Thursday night to defeat the North 38-0 in the football game, the final event of the 2011 South Dakota High School All-Star Games. The South defense held the North to a minus 14 yards rushing on the night. The South led 14-0 at halftime. Pierre's Terelle Walker had 2carries for a minus 7 yards rushing for the North. Sully Buttes Tate Seftner had 1 carry for a minus 6 yards.

Onida natives Curt and Tom Byrum, longtime players on the PGA Tour, will be inducted into the South Dakota Golf Hall of Fame during a ceremony Aug. 8 at Westward Ho Country Club. The induction ceremony and reception begins at 5 p.m. following completion of the Orion Classic at Westward Ho. The Byrum brothers become the 40th and 41st members of the South Dakota Golf Hall of Fame, which was established in 1977.

The Pierre Athletic Booster Club will be holding it's 6th annual Golf Tournament tomorrow at the Oahe Trails Golf Course north of Pierre. The tournament will consist of 6 person teams with a $20 entry fee per person. Cart rental and green fees are extra. Registration begins at 10:30 am with the 9 hole tournament scheduled to tee off at 12 noon.

The Oahe Hockey Association will once again show "Oahe Capitals, The Dream Season", a fundraiser and movie tribute to the first Varsity State Hockey Champions in Pierre-Ft. Pierre. There will be a second showing of the movie tomorrow morning at 11:00 am at the State Theater of Pierre. Admission is a free-will donation, which will be divided between flood relief and the Oahe Hockey Association.

This weekend will be the Junior Jam Weekend at Oahe Speedway north of Pierre. The third of four Street Legal races will be held tonight at the Speedway with the race gates opening at 5 pm and racing running from 6 pm to dark. Countdown to the Jam is tomorrow with two special junior dragster shootout races to be run leading up to Sunday's Junior Jam bringing the areas best junior dragsters to the track. Also on Sunday it is the 2011 National Dragster Challange and the make up of the second Coca Cola Points Series races that were rained out in May. Oahe Speedway is located 14 miles north of Pierre, just off SD Hwy1804.

Rod's Thursday Afternoon Sports Blog

2011-07-28T11:29:00.000-07:00

The Pierre Post 8 American Legion Baseball team was the first team eliminated from the State American Legion Championship tournament in Yankton today losing to Sioux Falls West 9-5. Pierre committed 4 errors in the game but they outhit their opponents 10-9. Post 8 spotted Sioux Falls West a 6-0 lead but started to chip away at it and by the 8th inning had cut the West lead to 6-5 before Sioux Falls scored 3 runs in the top of the ninth inning to win by the final score. Nolan Merrill and Tanner Wolf each had 2 hits apeice for Pierre which saw their season end 2 games over the .500 mark at 28 and 26. Adam Deneke pitch 8.1 innings in the start for Pierre allowing 5 earned runs and gave up all 9 hits to Sioux Falls West who avenged a loss to Pierre in early June in the Yankton Lewis and Clark Tournament.

Rod's Thursday Morning Sports Blog

2011-07-28T05:03:00.001-07:00

The Class A State Baseball Tournament kicked off this afternoon in Yankton, S.D. The top teams from across the state descended upon Riverside Ballpark to compete for the right to be called South Dakota's best. In early game action, Sioux Falls East defeated Pierre 14-4 and Brookings topped Garretson 8-2. At night, Watertown rallied to top Sioux Falls West 10-6 and Rapid City Post 22 knocked off Yankton 11-1. Today's games have Pierre facing Sioux Falls West at 10 am and Garretson taking on Yankton at 12:30 pm in elimination games of the double elimination tournament. Tonight in the winners bracket, Watertown takes on Sioux Falls East and Rapid City Post 22 faces Brookings.

The Pierre White 15-16 Teener baseball team lost both ends of a doubleheader to the Watertown Red Sox last night at Hyde Stadium. Watertown won the first game 14-10 to gain a league victory. Watertown then swept the doubleheader with a 4-3 win in 6 innings in the nightcap. Watertown scored 2 runs in the fifth and the go ahead run in the 6th in the 2nd game leaving reliever Shay Reinke with the loss. He was the third Pierre pitcher used in the contest. Alex Meagher had 2 of Pierre's 6 hits. In the opener, Watertown outhit Pierre 11-6 as they scored 8 runs in the 2nd inning. Pierre had a 5 run 4th inning to cut the lead to 10-8 but would get no closer. Ben Liedholt and Bo Atkins each had 2 of Pierre's 6 hits. Atkins allowed 13 runs on 10 hits to take the loss on the mound.

The final All Star game of the week is tonight in Aberdeen. The high school all star football game will be played at Swisher Field with a 6 pm kickoff. Pierre's Terelle Walker is one of the athletes who will be competing on the North Squad. Terry Keller, Todd Palmer and Louis Young of Pierre will be 3 of the 5 officials working the game tonight.

51 members of the Pierre Swim Team have qualfied for the State Long Course Championship Meet to be held in Sioux Falls this Friday through Sunday. Swim team members recently competed in 3 meets in Sioux Falls, Brookings and the B/C Long Course State Championships in Mitchell. In the meet in Brookings, Talia Jorgenson won 6 of the 8 events she swam in, in the girls 9-10 age division for the best performance by a Pierre swimmer in that meet. In Sioux Falls, Wyatt Rumrill had 3 first place finishes in 10 events he competed in, in the Boys 13-14 division for Pierre's top performance at that meet. In the B/C State meet at Mitchell, Kaitlynn Axtell had the best peformance from Pierre swimmers finishing first in 3 of the 6 events she competed in, in the girls 8 and under age division.

Rod's Wednesday Sports Blog

2011-07-27T12:08:00.000-07:00

Sioux Falls East banged out 21 hits and scored 10 runs in the second and third inning to cruise to a 14-4 win over Pierre Post 8 in a game called after 8 innings on the 10 run mercy rule the opening round of the State American Legion Baseball tournament in Yankton Wednesday. Pierre starter Scott Cichos was in trouble from the start loading the bases in the first inning but pitching out of it with no runs allowed. But the walls came crashing in on Cichos and Post 8 in the second and third innings. Cichos allowed 8 earned runs on 11 hits in 3 innings of work. Pierre had 6 hits including a 3 run home run from Adam Deneke and a solo shot from Jarred Nielan. With the loss, Pierre drops into the losers bracket of the tournament will play an elimination game Thursday morning at 10 am.

The Pierre White 15-16 Teener baseball team dropped both games of a doubleheader yesterday to Sioux Falls West losing the opening league contest 21-6 and then was outscored 17-16 in the second game. Alex Meagher had 2 of Pierre’s 6 hits in the opener. He also allowed the first 10 runs of the game as he was the losing pitcher. In the nightcap, Sioux Falls pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the 7th inning as Jon Albright took the loss in relief of starter Shay Reinke. 5 Pierre batters had 2 hits apiece as the Whites had 14 hits in the game.

The Pierre 15-16 Green Teener team swept a doubleheader from Aberdeen last night at Hyde Stadium. The Green squad won the opener 11-7 in the league contest between the two teams. In the nightcap, Pierre had an easier time of it by besting Aberdeen 20-7. In the opener, Willie Welch went 2 for 2 with a 2 RBI's and Alex Gray added 3 RBI's. Cody Honeywell struggled but won on the mound. In the nightcap, the Green's got a pair of doubles and 3 RBI's from Tyler Sarringer. Welch weas the winning pitcher in the 5 inning contest. The Green Teeners will play Brookings Friday in a doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m. and then they close the regular season with a doubleheader agains the Pierre 15-16 White Teeners at 5:30 on Sunday. Both doubleheaders are in Pierre.

Pierre's Zach Smalley fired a second round 79 to finish with a 36 hole score of 160 at the South Dakota Golf Association's Austad's Junior Golf tour's State Championship tournament played at the Brandon Golf Course yesterday. Smalley finished 21 shots behind the winner in the boys 16-18 division tournament Chris Gaher of Sioux Falls. In the girls 16-18 division tournament that wrapped up yesterday, Hallie Getz of Pierre fired a 76, 9 strokes lower than her opening round score to record a 36 hole total 161 and finished in 7th place. Getz was 7 shots off the pace of the winner of the tournament, Haliee Piper of Watertown.

Another summer camp is being held in Pierre Thursday thru Saturday. A Pierre Governor Wrestling Camp is being held in the wrestling room at Riggs High Gym with the guest clinician, former North Dakota State wrestling standout Gabe Mooney. Mooney was a 4 time state champion in high school in Minnesota and this will be the fourth consecutive year that he had held a camp in Pierre over the summer. Pierre Governor head coach Ryan Noyes says the camp for those entering high school next year will be from 9 am to 11 am. The camp for group one wrestlers will be from Noon to 1 pm and for Group two wrestlers will run from 1 to 3 pm. The camp is free to all Pierre wrestlers and any one who wants to take part in the camp should just show up at the wrestling room. This week's camp is the third wrestling camp that has been held in Pierre this summer.

Rod's Tuesday Sports Blog

2011-07-26T08:03:00.000-07:00

The first round of the Class A Men's Amatuer State Baseball tournament is scheduled for Friday through Sunday, August 5th through the 7th at Hyde Stadium in Pierre. There will be two games on Friday night at 5 pm and 7:30 pm. 4 games will be played on Saturday at 11:00 am, 1:30 pm, 5:00 pm and 7:30 pm and 2 games on Sunday at 11:00 am and 1:30 pm. 6 teams out of 8 will advance to the second and final weekend of the State "A" Amateur Tournament in Mitchell the following weekend. Amatuer baseball teams move into Region Tournament play this weekend to qualify for the State "A" Tournament. The Pierre Rattlers Region tournament is Saturday and Sunday in Brookings with Brookings, Castlewood, Huron and Pierre making up the district tournament field. Two teams will qualify for the first weekend of the State tournament in Pierre.

Pierre youth golfer Zach Smalley fired an 81 yesterday during the first day of the South Dakota Golf Association Junior Championship tournament being golfed at the Brandon Country Club Golf Course. Smalley, golfing in the Boys 16-18 division is 6 shots behind the first round leaders going into today's second and final round. In the girls 16-18 age division tournament, Hallie Getz of Pierre fired an 85 and is 9 shots behind the leader going into today's second round. In the boys 12-13 age divison tournament which golfed only one round of 18 holes yesterday, Cody Kuehl of Pierre fired an 87 to finish in 8th place in the tournament. Kade McTighe of Ft. Pierre fired a 9 hole score of 48 to finish 6th in the boys 11 and under division. No girls from Pierre golfed in either the 11 and under or 12-13 age division tournament.

Several central South Dakota players and Pierre Lady Governor head girls basketball coach Lisa Kannegeiter-Bahe will be competing tonight in the girls All Star basketball game during the 25th annual South Dakota High School All Star games in Aberdeen. The north squad has Baily Kusser of Highmore-Harrold on it. She is joined by Erin Rabenberg of Mobridge-Pollock, Kelsey Hunter of Miller and Roni Moore of Cheyenne Eagle Butte. Sharee Galbraith of Winner is on the South Roster.

A 12 year old athlete from Pierre has qualifed for the Hershey National Track and Field North American GAmes Final next month in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Bradley Dean qualified in the 200 meter dash. Dean won the 200 meter dash at the State Hershey Track and Field meet held in Pierre last month. Dean will be one of 400 athletes who qualified for the Hershey North American Finals meet which will be held August 6th in Hershey, Penn.

Rod's Monday Morning Sports Blog

2011-07-25T04:51:00.000-07:00

Pierre qualified for the State American Legion Championship tournament that begins Wednesday in Yankton with their runnerup finish last week in the Region 3A tournament. Post 8 dropped a 17-7 verdict in 8 innings to Rapid City Post 22 Friday night in the championship game. Pierre will open the tournament at 9:30 am against Sioux Falls East, the only team that Pierre did not play this year over the course of the regular season. Pierre is 28 and 24 on the season. Sioux Falls East won the Region 2A tournament. The other pairings for the first day of the tournament have Brookings taking on Class B champion Garretson at 12:30 pm. Watertown will face Sioux Falls West at 4:30 pm and Rapid City Post 22, the defending state champions, will take on the host team Yankton in the final game of the first day of the double elimination tournament at 7:30 pm. The double elimination tournament continues through Sunday with the State Champion qualifying for the Central Plains Region Championship tournament in Dickinson, North Dakota.

The Pierre White 15-16 Teener baseball team won an important league contest yesterday as the split a doubleheader with Aberdeen in the Hub City. The White's won game 1 11-6 before dropping the second 5 inning contest 15-7. In the opener, Pierre banged out 16 hits in the game with Ben Liedholt leading the way with 4 hits and Graham Protexter had 3 RBI's for Pierre. Protexter pitched 4 innings of shutout relief for starter Bo Atkins. Protexter allowed 3 hits. In the nightcap, The Whites outhit Aberdeen 8-7 but committed 9 errors in the loss. Aberdeen scored 10 runs in the first inning off of starting and losing pitcher Taylor Dowling. Dowling did have 2 hits to lead the offense. With the victory in game 1, the Pierre Whites have won 3 league games in a row and are still in contention to make the State AA Teener Tournament field.

The Pierre 13-14 Teener baseball team swept a doubleheader yesterday and went 4-0 over the weekend with victories over Sioux Falls East and Sioux Falls South in Pierre. After Saturday's 12-4 win over East and 14-4 win over South, yesterday the 13-14 Teeners posted a 12-2 win over Sioux Falls East and then had to outscore Sioux Falls South 11-10 scoring the winning run in the bottom of the 7th inning. The 13-14 Teeners are back in action on Friday when they travel to Mitchell with a 5 pm first pitch of the doubleheader.

The Big Dakota Conference will be losing a pair of teams when Stanley County and Miller make the move to nine-man classes this year. The conference included Winner, Chamberlain and Mobridge-Pollock as well. Mobridge-Pollock was the defending champion of the Big Dakota, compiling a 4-0 conference record last season. For basketball the conference will remain in-tact with the members Mobridge-Pollock, McLaughlin, Miller, Winner, Cheyenne Eagle Butte, Chamberlain, Todd County and Stanley County.

Rod's Sunday Morning Sports Blog

2011-07-24T08:49:00.000-07:00

The struggles continue for the Pierre Rattlers amateur baseball team as the Rattlers were swept in a doubleheader at Redfield on Saturday losing the opener 10-3 and then dropping the nightcap 3-1 to fall to 4 and 12 on the season. Tyson Lindekugel hit a pair of home runs for Pierre in the opener but after scoring 2 runs in the first, Redfield answered with 3 in their half of the inning and never trailed the rest of the way. Allen Goodman started and took the loss for the Rattlers who were outhit 15-10 in the game. In the nightcap, Redfield scored 3 runs in the bottom of the first and made it stick as Harry Decker took the loss on the mound allowing 6 hits over 7 innings of work. Pierre had 8 hits, all singles in the game.

It looks like Pierre will play Sioux Falls East in the first game of the State American Legion Baseball tournament Wednesday in Yankton at 9:30 am instead of 10:00 am if you believe what was reported in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader Sunday morning. In the past, the tournament began at 10 am. We are not sure why the American Legion Sports Commission decided to move the start time up a 1/2 an hour but apparently they did. And unlike what I said yesterday morning, Pierre did not play Sioux Falls East during the regular season. It was Sioux Falls West who Pierre beat in the Yankton tournament back in early June. My apologies. Sioux Falls East swept the Region 2A tournament winning the championship. Pierre was the runner up of Region 3A.

The Pierre 13-14 Teener baseball team is hosting another triangular today when Sioux Falls South and Sioux Falls East play along with Pierre in Pierre. Pierre won twice yesterday beating Sioux Falls East 12-4 and Sioux Falls South 14-4. And the Pierre White 15-16 Teener baseball team play in Aberdeen in a doubleheader today. Pierre has won it's last two League openers and another win is vitally important in the first game today for Pierre to make the State AA Tournament field. The Pierre Green squad is in the tournament having won a number of league contest earlier in the season.

As we told you earlier this week, Pierre Lady Governor Tennis Head Coach Jeff Bloomberg recieved the South Dakota Tennis Association Achievement Award this weekend in Sioux Falls during the South Dakota Open Tennis Classic. Bloomberg has also been the president of the Pierre Tennis Association and has been the organizer of the Pierre Capital City Open Tennis Tournament in recent years. Congratulations go out to Coach Bloomberg.

And apparently we will have NFL football to talk about. ESPN, also known as the NFL Channel Number 2, is reporting this morning that the players are expected to vote on the Collective Bargaining Agreement already okayed by the NFL owners. If they vote yes, and they need 50 percent plus 1 vote out of their 1500 plus members to ratify the agreement, team facilities could open Wednesday, then the free agent flury of signings will take place and finally training camp will open. So far only one game has been cancelled. That one is the NFL Hall of Fame game between the Rams and the Bears.

And congratulations to Bert Blyleven, the former Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates, California Angels, Cleveland Indian and I lost track of any other teams pitcher for his enshrinement into Baseball's Hall of Fame. After 14 years, he finally made it and with over 3700 strikeouts over the course of his career, well deserved. Just 200 and sixty some days until his birthday I think.

Rod's Saturday Morning Sports Blog

2011-07-23T08:13:00.000-07:00

A 10 run second inning by Rapid City Post 22 was to much to overcome for the Pierre Post 8 American Legion baseball team as Post 22 won another Region 3A championship with a 17-7 win in the title game called after 8 innings due to the 10 run mercy rule. Nolan Merrill took the loss allowing 9 runs on 10 hits and did not get out of the second inning. Jarred Nielan led the Post 8 offensive attack again with 3 hits out of the leadoff spot. Pierre still qualifies for the State American Legion Championship tournament that begins Wednesday in Yankton. Pierre will open the tournament at 10 am against Sioux Falls East, a team that Pierre beat earlier this season in the Lewis and Clark Wood Bat Classic in Yankton. Pierre is 28 and 24 on the season. Sioux Falls East won the Region 2A tournament. The other pairings for the first day of the tournament have Brookings taking on the still to be determined Class B champion. Watertown will face Sioux Falls West and Rapid City Post 22, the defending state champions, will take on the host team Yankton in the final game of the first day of the double elimination tournament.

The Pierre 15-16 White Teener baseball team split a doubleheader with Huron last night. The Whites won the first game 9-4 picking up their second straight win in league play. Huron won the nightcap 6-5. Alec Norwick was the winning pitcher in the opener limiting Huron to just 3 hits. Pierre was also assisted by 7 Huron errors. Pierre had 12 hits in the opener with Shay Reinke and Ben Liedholt each getting 3 hits apeice. In the nightcap, Huron scored the winning run in the bottom of the fifth inning off of losing pitcher Ben Liedholt. Pierre had only 4 hits in the nightcap with 4 different players getting them.

Rod's Friday Morning Sports Blog

2011-07-22T04:53:00.000-07:00

The Pierre Post 8 American Legion baseball team plays for the Region 3A Championship this afternoon but more importantly, qualified for the State American Legion Championship tournament next week in Yankton. Pierre dropped a 5-4 verdict to Rapid City Post 22 yesterday afternoon but bounced back with a 16-5 victory over Rapid City Post 320 in an elimination game of the tournament. In the afternoon contest, Pierre scored 3 runs in the top of the 8th to take a 4-3 lead but Post 22 answered with 2 in the bottom of the 8th and then held on for the victory. Nolan Merrill took the loss in an inning of relief of starter Adam Deneke. Merrill allowed the 2 runs in the 8th. Both teams had 7 hits. Jaren Nielan had 3 hits to pace Pierre. In the elimination game against Rapid City Post 320, Nielan and Brandon Heckenliable each had 3 hits of the 12 Pierre amassed during the game. Pierre erupted for 8 runs in the 6th inning to put the game away as it was called on the 10 run mercy rule. Jordan Smith allowed 11 hits in picking up the win. Pierre must beat Post 22 twice today to win the championship game. the first title game is scheduled for 6:30 pm central time tonight in Rapid City.

The Pierre Green 15-16 Teener baseball team swept a doubleheader from the Mitchell Gold squad last night at Hyde Stadium. The Green squad won the opener 11-1 and then swept the doubledip with a 17-7 win. The win in the first game counted for the Green squad in the state league standings.

Two Pierre youth baseball teams are competing in the State 12 and Under State tournament that begins today in Mitchell. The Pierre Bombers are in the AA Majors Division round robin tournament that begins pool play today. The Pierre Rattlers are in the AA Minor Division tournament. The tournament wraps up with the championship games in 4 divisions on Sunday. A total of 28 teams are playing in Mitchell in the tournament this weekend.

Rapid City’s Jade Blackwell scored 68 in saddle bronc at the National High School Finals Rodeo in Gillette on Thursday to win the event’s eighth performance. Fort Pierre’s Jace Melvin dominated the steer wrestling field on Wednesday night with a run of 3.82 seconds to win the event by more than two seconds. The National High School Finals Rodeo will continue through the weekend in Gillette, Wyoming.

Rod's Thursday Afternoon Sports Blog

2011-07-21T11:33:00.000-07:00

The EXPO Center in Ft. Pierre will be the site of the 2012 State Boys Varsity Hockey Championship tournament. Oahe Hockey Association officials say that the state awarded the tournament to Pierre-Ft. Pierre. The Pierre-Ft. Pierre Capitals won the State Championship last year and will now have a chance to defend their title on their home ice. The tournament is schedule for March 9th, 10th and 11th and Pierre officials say it will be a economical boost to the area as the tournament will bring a couple of thousand people to Pierre-Ft. Pierre. The last time Pierre hosted the Boys Varsity Hockey State Tournament was 2004. 10 teams will be involved in the State Tournament.