"20 Favorites' series continues with a look at Great Plains Lutheran's boys athletes
Editor's Note: Sports writer Roger Merriam is compiling a "20 Favorites" series highlighting some of his favorite athletes in a variety of high school sports since he started working at the Watertown Public Opinion in December of 1984. The series is about northeastern South Dakota athletes, but some played at colleges all over the state and others have moved to other areas.
Here's a quick refresher from yesterday's "20 Favorites" Great Plains Lutheran girls story as we set up this one for the Panther boys.
Great Plains Lutheran opened in 1996 and is currently in its 28th year. The school's volleyball and basketball teams started competing in 1998, track and field in 1999, cross country in 1999, boys golf in 2000, football in 2003 and girls golf in 2005.
Again, let's thank former GPL coaches Bert and Beth Falak and Jeff Roloff for their assistance with the project and friend and photographer Boyd Tesch for taking many of the GPL photos through the years.
Look for more "20 Favorites" stories relating to the spring high school sports in the coming weeks. Up next on the schedule are girls and boys tennis.
Now for the GPL boys:
Others
Normally, we put the others as the No. 20 category on the list, but as you will learn there's something special at No. 20.
Just to throw out some names we came across in our research who did some good things for the Panthers: Brothers Paul and Matt Kanzenbach, brothers Tristan and Brody Scharlemann, brothers James and Nathan Livingston, brothers Andrew and Alex Heil, Alex Gosch, Noah Fick, Caleb Roberts, Steven Renner, Thaddeus Kratz, Matthew Lentz, Alex Gosch, Myles York and Nick Moffenbier. Again, we can't list everybody.
Roberts is the school record holder in the 100-meter hurdles in track. He's now a senior competing in multi-events for Dakota State. Matt Kanzenbach and Nate Livingston are part of the school-record 3,200 relay team (8:30.56) from 2000 that also included Michael Nei and Eric Lindemann. Nate Livingston also holds the school's 1,600 run record (4:44.10 set in 1999).
20 Favorites: Links to the stories highlighting the best northeastern South Dakota athletes since 1984
20. Samuel Mattick
Mattick is on this list because he's an answer to a trivia question that we doubt anybody would know off hand. Who is the first All-State football player in Great Plains Lutheran history, what year and what position did he make on the Class 9AA All-State team?
The answer (Mattick). The year (2010). The position (punter). For extra credit, you need to know Mattick also received honorable mention on the 9AA All-State team in 2009. Only one other player in school history has earned All-State acclaim and he's on the list below. P.S. Mattick did more than punt, winning team MVP honors in football in 2010 and also was a hurdler in track for the Panthers.
19. Kjenstads and Jaegers
Cousins Jordan and Ethan Kjenstad were the Panthers' most valuable players in basketball in 2018 (Jordan) and 2022 (Ethan). Jordan also medaled by earning a 25th-place finish in the state Class B cross country meet in 2025. Ethan is still playing baskeball at Martin Luther College.
A late addition to my list is Ethan Jaeger, who medaled in the state golf meet for his father and coach Gene Jaeger in 2014 and 2015, earmed MVP honors in golf (2014) and baskeball (2016) and also earned the Panther Award in cross country (2015), boys basketball (2016) and golf (2016). His younger brother Colin also competed in basketball, golf and country for the Panthers.
18. Colton Ksenych
Ksenych earned his spot on the list because he was not only a good football player (tight end and defensive back) but also was a member of the Watertown Lakers' 2007 state championship hockey team.
As we mentioned in the girls' story yesterday, many GPL athletes through the years have also made their mark with Watertown club sports.
17. T.J. Anderson
One thing we've tried to do with both of the Great Plains Lutheran's lists is to try to have representation from throughout the whole course of the school's athletic history.
That brings us to the early days and Anderson, who was named the boys basketball team's most valuable player in 2001 and placed fourth in the Class B high jump later that spring. He also joined Lindemann, Nei and Darrell Davidson for a 1:35.61 clocking in the 800-meter relay that is still a school record to this day. His brother Wade was the boys basketball team's MVP in 2003.
20 Favorites GPL Girls: Stone, Bauer and families among most notable athletes in school history
16. RJ Perry
Perry enjoyed a notable football and track and field career with the Panthers and just spent his freshman season as a 6-foot, 280-pound lineman for Martin Luther's football team.
He finished second in Class A discus at the 2022 state track and field meet and narrowly missed placing in the shot put or discus in other state meets.
In football, he was a two-time team MVP (2021 and 2022) and is the other All-State player in school history, being named as a special teams player on the 2022 Class 9AA All-State team.
15. Josh Jakober
Jakober was one of the strong middle-to-long distance runners that coach Greg Diersen had for the Panthers' cross country and track teams in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Jakober placed 12th in 2004 and seventh in 2005 in the state Class B cross country meet. He earned team MVP honors in cross country twice (2004 and 2005) and basketball once (2007).
14. Nicholas Lindwurm
I'll admit my memory sometimes isn't the greatest in remembering whether or not some area athletes continued competing in college, but I do know Lindwurm ran at Northern State University.
He won the Class B 800-meter run and also placed fifth in the 400 dash and long jump in the 2012 state track meet. That came a year after he finished eighth in the Class A 800 run at state.
Lindwurm did more than run. He earned team MVP honors in football (2010) and basketball (2012) as well as track (2012).
13. Heath Stone
Heath's sister Kelly led our GPL girls' list yesterday he's probably too low on this list. Again, the order isn't really of great importance until we get down to the final sports.
Stone's resume included team MVP honors in track and boys basketball in 2005 and the Panther Award in football in 2004. He also holds the school record in the 300-meter hurdles (41.9 in 2005).
12. John Rawerts
Rawerts was an Aberdeen native who could really run and eventually continued to compete in both track and cross country at Northern State University.
In high school, he placed eighth in 2005 and second in 2006 in the state Class B cross country meets and also took fourth in the Class B 1,600 run and seventh in the 3,200 run at the 2007 state track meet. He still holds the school record in the 3,200 (2:01.22).
11. Skylor Christensen
Another three-sport standout, Christensen won team MVP honors in football in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and also in boys basketball in 2016.
In track, he earned the Panther Award in 2016 and 2017 and later played college football at Wisconsin Lutheran.
10. Stuart Schlomer
Let's continue with these three-sport standouts. Schlomer gets credit for that by winning team MVP honors in football in 2004, boys basketball in 2004 and boys golf in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
He became the school's first state medalist in boys' golf when he placed 19th in the 2005 state Class B tourney.
9. Andrew Darkow
Yep, you guessed it. Another three-sporter who earned team MVP honors in all three.
Darkow was honored in football in 2007; boys basketball in both 2008 and 2008 and in boys' golf in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
8. Mitchell Giovannettone
One right after another. Giovannettone was a two-time MVP for the Panther football team in 2012 and 2013 and a two-time MVP for the boys track and field team in 2013 and 2014. In boys basketball, he had to settle for the Panther Award in 2013 and 2014.
He placed fourth in the Class B high jump and seventh in both the long and triple jumps in the 2013 state track meet and returned in 2014 to record runner-up finishes in both the Class B high and triple jumps.
7. Ryan and Ethan Maertz
Sisters Lauren and Alyssa made the girls' list and I didn't even mention that they both played soccer at Martin Luther College. Now it's the turn for the brothers, who excelled as distance runners in track and cross country.
Ethan placed 18th in the 2014 state B cross country meet and Ryan placed 17th in 2017. Ethan earned MVP honors in cross country in 2014 and 2015 and tack in 2016. Ryan won MVP honors in cross country in 2016 and 2017 and Panther Awards in cross country (2016) and track (2018).
6. Jacob and Jonathan Steinmetz
Jacob Steinmetz is another answer to a triva question, since he became the first GPL track and field athlete to win an event in the state meet when he took the Class B boys' triple jump in 2007 (42-3.25). He also placed eighth in 2007 and returned the next year to win the long jump (21-9.5) to go along with a runner-up finish in the triple jump and a third-place finish in the 400 dash. GPL's fourth-place team finish that year is the best in school history.
He holds school records in the long jump (21-9.5) and 200 dash (23.06), both from 2008. Jacob won track MVP honors in 2007 and 2008 and cross country MVP honors in 2007.
His brother Jonathan won team MVP honors in cross country in 2008 and also competed in track and football for the Panthers.
5. Nick and Sam Hansen
Nick also played basketball (winning the Panther Award in 2018) and his brother Sam quarterbacked the football team and won MVP h'onors in basektball in both 2021 and 2022, but the Hansens will remembered for their golf exploits for their father and head coach Tony Hansen.
Nick placed fourth in the 2016 state Class B meet and helped lead the Panthers to the school's only state championship (in any sport) in the 2018 state tournament at Cattail Crossing Golf Course in Watertown by placing third. Nick earned team MVP honors in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Sam also played on the state championship team and later recorded three top-10 finishes in state tourneys (sixth in 2019, tied for third in 2021 and tied for ninth in 2022). He earned team MVP honors in 2019, 2021 and 2022. The 2020 spring sports season was wiped out by COVID-19.
4. The Holiens
Brothers Aiden, Pierce and Micah Holien have proven their worth for the Panthers over the past decade.
Aiden was first, winning team MVP honors in boys' golf (2015), basketball (2017) and football (2016 and 2017). He placed 19th in the state Clas B golf tournament in 2017 and added an eighth-place finish for the state championship team in 2018. He played defensive back in football at Martin Luther College and helped lead the Knights to consecutive school-record 9-2 seasons and national NCAA Division III runner-up finishes in both 2018 and 2019 .
Pierce was a sprinter in track and a running back in football, earning the team's Panther award in 2020.
Micah, who is currently only a junior at the school, has been a regular in football and basketball the last couple of seasons and was named the track and field's team MVP last spring.
3. Zach Feil
Feil played football and basketball for the Panthers, but really is best remembered for his exploits in track and field where he earned team MVP honors in 2010, 2011 and 2012. He still hold school records in the high jump (6-6) and triple jump (44-4).
He didn't win an event at state like Jacob Steinmetz, but did place in 10 jumping events at state during his career. He took second in the high jump and seventh in the Class B long jump in 2009; third in the triple jump, fifth in the high jump and eighth in the long jump in Class A in 2010; third in the high jump and fourth in the long jump in Class A in 2011; and third in the triple jump and fourth in the high and long jumps in Class B in 2012.
Feil compete in track for Northern State.
2. Phil Bunkowske
Bunkowske was a standout in football, basketball and golf for the Panthers and earned team MVP honors in golf (2010), football (2011) and boys basketball (2010 and 2013).
He later golfed at tPresentation College and played baskeball at Martin Luther College. As an adult, he has remained active in athletics and religious education. He is currently the activities director and golf coach at St. Croix Lutheran Academy in West St. Paul, Minn.
1. Scott Geary
"Be All That You Can Be" was a slogan used by the U.S. Army for its recruiting campaigns in the 1980s and 1990s and it relates to Geary, a Wyoming native who became a standout in football, basketball and track at Great Plains Lutheran in the late 2000s.
He played quarterback for the football team, earning MVP honors in 2008. He also was the MVP in basketball and track in 2009. He placed seventh in the shot put (2007); second in the shot put and third in the discus (2008); and second in the discus and seventh in the shot put (2009) in state track meets.
Then he took his talents and continued throwing for the Army men's track and field teams. He still has the eighth-best shot put and 20th best discus throw in the history of Army's program.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Taking at look at Great Plains Lutheran's best boys athletes in history
