Milbank also well represented on Roger Merriam's list of top area wrestlers since 1984
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 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.
High school wrestling in northeastern South Dakota these past 40 years has been dominated by a few schools. One of those is Watertown, which will be next in line in the "20 Favorites" series.
Area schools that have made the most noise have no doubt been Webster in Class B and Milbank in Class A. As you read though the list, there will be plenty of Bearcats and Bulldogs to read about.
Other schools include Clear Lake (now Deuel), Arlington (now Kingsbury County with De Smet and Lake Preston), Sisseton, Clark-Willow Lake (used to be Clark) and Doland-Conde (a co-op that no longer exists).
Time to get things rolling.
20. Others
It's really hard to compile a list of others here. I will say there are plenty of other Milbank and Webster wrestlers that captured state titles during this timeframe. There's a picture of Milbank's Josh Schmeichel in the gallery to represent all those other champions.
I can't forget to mention Jeff Kruse of Hamlin and Shane Baier of De Smet, two wrestlers who won state titles in the 1987 state tournament in the Watertown Civic Arena. Kruse became Hamlin's first-ever state wrestling champion by winning the 126-pound championship 18-5 over Greg Harrell of Wagner and Baier became De Smet's first-ever state wrestling championship by holding off Luke Nordquist of Beresford 4-2 for the 145-pound title. Kruse finished 35-0-1 and Baier 32-2.
I'm not positive, but they might be the only state champions from those two schools, although De Smet is now part of the Kingsbury County program which has a two-time state champion who is listed below.
More: Roger Merriam's look at best Arrow volleyball players since program started in 1990-91
19. Dwayne Ingalls, Hamlin
Lincoln McIlravy of Philip, a three-time NCAA champion at Iowa and an Olympic bronze medalist, was a five-time South Dakota state champion from 1988 to 1992 while wrestling for Philip High School. He was so good, most wrestlers tried their best to avoid his weight class.
That wasn't the case for Ingalls, who stayed at 152 in both 1991 and 1992 and reached state championship matches against McIlravy. I believe as a senior, Ingalls was wrestling with an injured shoulder and I thought McIlravy was going to tear it away from his body.
His younger brother David later wrestled for Watertown and won a state championship. Their mother Donna, bless her soul, was one of the nicest moms I've met in all my years of covering high school sports. Yes, she was proud of her sons and an avid wrestling fan. I haven't forgot Donna, nor Dwayne, nor David.
More: 20 Favorites: Tuttle, Boecks, Nygaards & Vedveis among northeastern South Dakota's best
18. Matt Schell, Milbank
Bob Hirsch built a very solid program in the 1980s and 1990s at Milbank that competed very, very well against some much bigger schools in Class A. The Bulldogs are still in the state's highest class of wrestling today.
Milbank won a state Class A title in 1990 and had consecutive runner-up finishes in 1993, 1994 and 1995.
They had a lot of good wrestlers and Schell was one of them. He won state Class A titles in both 1996 and 1997.
17. Jacque Frazee, Milbank
Keep learning, that's I say. What I do know about Frazee is he was a 272-pound All-State football player who won state Class A heavyweight titles in both 1986 and 1987.
In 1987, he closed out a 33-1 season with a state title at Rapid City. His only loss to Jack Goodhart of Beardsley Valley, who was No. 1-rated in Minnesota.
I couldn't confirm that he wrestled or played football in college, but I did learn he got an art degree from Augustana College and has since became a scrap metal sculptor. Yeah, he's good, but he was in wrestling and football, too.
16. Ben Johnson and Casey Goodhart, Sisseton
Sisseton, like Milbank, spent most of these past 40 years competing in the highest class of wrestling. It's not like the Redmen didn't have good wrestlers, but championships didn't come easy.
Johnson went 44-0 on the way to winning the 171-pound state Class A championship in 1999 at Sioux Falls. He later wrestled at South Dakota State. I did learn that he had 29 pins in 1999 and 106 in his career, which are both among the all-time best marks in state Class A history.
Goodhart is listed because he won the state Class A 182-pound championship in 2012 with a 42-5 record. I believe he's the last state champion wrestler from Sisseton.
More: Sports writer Roger Merriam lists some of his favorite Watertown football players since 1984
15. Tony Vanorny, Milbank
Here's another spot for a Milbank wrestler who won two state Class A individual championships.
He won titles in 1989 and 1990. The 1990 title lifted the Bulldogs to the state Class A team title.
14. Caleb Orris, Clark-Willow Lake
It doesn't get much better for a wrestler than what Orris accomplished with the Cyclones as a junior and senior in 2017-18 and 2018-19.
He went 47-0 as a junior and won the 170-pound state B title. As a senior, he went 47-0 and won the 182-pound championship.
Orris just completed his junior season with the wrestling program at South Dakota State.
More: A look at some of Roger Merriam's top prep football players in northeastern SD since 1984
13. Eugene Martin, Kingsbury County
Let's keep going with two-time state champions and that includes Martin, who won State B titles in 2012 and 2013.
Martin went 45-3 and won the state Class B 182-pound title in 2012 and came back the next winter to go 46-1 and win another state title at 195 pounds.
12. Todd Paszek, Webster
Paszek's father LeeRon certainly had a memorable role in Webster's successful wrestling program. He won a state title for the Bearcats and spent 33 years as an assistant coach.
Todd Paszek continued the family tradition by winning the state B titles at 152 pounds as a junior in 1998 and 171 pounds as a senior in 1999, going 79-0 in the two seasons. He later wrestled at South Dakota State.
More: Roger Merriam's look at some of best Watertown High School boys basketball players since 1984
11. Mark Donovan, Arlington
Donovan gets the honor of being the oldest wrestler on this list, at least because he won back-to-back state Class B titles in 1985 and 1986.
Donovan closed out his career by winning 71-straight matches, including a 9-5 win over White Lake-Plankinton's Rich Peters in the 167-pound state B championship.
Peters, the defending champion, was 37-0. Donovan, who won the 155-pound title as a junior, finished 35-0.
10. Brian DeJong, Clear Lake
As long as we're remembering the 1980s, let's talk DeJong. He won back-to-back state Class B wrestling titles for the Cardinals in 1986 and 1987.
His first state title came in 1986 when he went 33-0 and won the 145 pound championship. He followed as a senior by completing a 34-0 season with the 155-pound title.
At the time, he was Clear Lake's all-time leader in wins with 144.
9A. Beau, Jeremy and Cael Larson, Webster
Beau Larson was a sophomore for the Bearcats in 1998 when he capped a 40-5 season by winning the 103-pound state B championship at Aberdeen. His older Jeremy Larson won the 125-pound state title in 1994.
Beau was an assistant in 2022 when his son Cael capped a stellar high school career by winning the 138-pounder championship in the State B tourney at Sioux Falls. He went 47-2 that season and 156-28 in his final four seasons, placing four times at state.
He is now wrestling at Northern State.
More: Some of the top northeastern South Dakota Class A, B boys basketball players since 1984
9B. Dave, Jon and Josh Madsen, Doland-Conde
It might not be fair to call them the best wrestlers ever out of Doland, since brothers Dennis and Duane Koslowski went on to become Olympic wrestlers. Dennis was a two-time Olympic medalist. The Kosklowskis wrestled at Doland in the 1970s.
The Madsens came a few years later. Dave won back-to-back state Class B titles in 1996 and 1997 at 189 pounds and Jon matched the feat by winning titles in 1997 and 1998 at heavyweight.
Younger brother Josh got into the act by adding a state title at heavyweight in 2001.
8. James Marx, Webster
Marx is kicking off a run of three-time state champions here.
He captured the 103-pound state B championship in 2003, won again the next year at 112 pounds and capped his run by winning again at 112 pounds in 2005.
The title in 2005 was extra special since it helped the Bearcats claim their first State B team championship in 26 years (1979).
More: Roger Merriam's look at some of his favorite Watertown High School girls basketball players
7. Jesse Krause, Milbank
The Krause family is well noted in wrestling and baseball in Milbank and they're not afraid to compete.
I'm sure that's what helped Jesse become a three-time state Class A champion for the Bulldogs in 1995, 1996 and 1997.
How do I say this nicely, and I'm only saying it because Jesse will laugh, he's much bigger than he used to be (believe me, so am I). He won state titles at 103 pounds in 1995, 112 in 1996 and 125 in 1997.
6. George Thompson, Milbank
The Bulldogs kept churning out top-notch wrestlers. Thompson won three state Class A titles a few years before Krause did.
Thompson won 103 pounds in 1990, 119 pounds in 1992 and 125 pounds in 1993. He actually went 2-1 in three consecutive championship battles with Chad LaQua of Watertown. He was a freshman on Milbank's state championship team in 1990 under head coach Bob Hirsch, who convinced Thompson to give up basketball for wrestling.
Good call. Thompson later became a four-time All-American and a NCAA Division II national championship at 134 pounds in 1997 at North Dakota State. He's been inducted into the South Dakota Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame and the NDSU Bison Hall of Fame.
More: A look at some of northeastern South Dakota's best girls basketball players since 1984
5. The Schileys, Webster (John, Dave and Rick)
John Schiley won three state titles for the Bearcats in 1973-74-75 and then revived the program as coach in the 1990s. The Bearcats finished second in 1994 and 1996 and then won State Class B titles in 2005, 2006 and 2011.
Dave Schiley (2006 grad) captured state B titles at 130 pounds in 2005 and 140 in 2006, sparking the back-to-back state titles. He also added two runner-up finishes and compiled a career record of 185-8.
Young brother (2007 grad) Rick went 168-11 in four years for the Bearcats and placed third in the state meet four times. The Schiley brothers later wrestled at Northern State.
4. The Richies (Jason, Nolan and Logan), Clear Lake and Webster
Wrestling is a sport that is often passed down from one family member to another, as it was with the Schileys and also with the Richies.
Jason Richie was a Clear Lake wrestler who capped a 30-3 in 1986 by winning the 98-pound title in the state Class B wrestling tournament at Huron.
His sons Nolan and Logan carried on the wrestling success a couple of decades later for Webster. Nolan was five-time state place winner who won state B titles in 2011 (103 pounds), 2012 (113) and 2015 (152). He also added second- and third-place finishes before competing in college rodeo in Northeastern Oklahoma A&M and Oklahoma Panhandle State.
Logan was a four-time state place winner who won the 182-pound state championship as a junior in 2016.
3. Brent and Cody Henriksen, Arlington
The Arlington brothers moved way up my list as I learned more during my research. I covered Brent when he won state Class B titles in both 1993 and 1994 but didn't cover Cody when he won a state B title in 2002.
Originally, I wondered if they were related. Some more research brought the answer: yes.
But wait, there's more. Brent was a two-time NCAA All-American and Cody a three-time NCAA All-American at Augustana College. Now they are both dentists/oral surgeons in Sioux Falls.
That's some cool stuff that wasn't in my memory bank.
2. Brock Lesnar, Webster
Technically, Brock is one of only two wrestlers on this list (Ingalls is the other) who didn't win a state high school wrestling championship. His best finish was third at heavyweight as a senior in 1996.
That's just being picky. From there, he went to win a junior college national championship at Bismarck (N.D.) State College and a NCAA Division I national championship at heavyweight for the University of Minnesota.
He wasn't done and probably is the most famous athlete I ever covered in high school., becoming a multi-time champion in professional wrestling as well as a mixed martial arts champion. Did I mention, he had a professional football tryout with the Minnesota Vikings.
That stuff should all count.
1. Logan Storley, Webster
Storley followed his fellow Bearcat (Lesnar) to the University of Minnesota, where he became a four-time NCAA Division I All-American wrestler, and into mixed martial arts, where he became an interim welterweight world champion for Bellator MMA. He is the main event headliner for Bellator 298 that is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 11 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls.
Storley tops this list because he's one of only two wrestlers in South Dakota history who have won six individual state titles. He won state B championships at 103 pounds in 2006, 119 in 2007, 130 in 2008, 152 in 2009 and 171 in both 2010 and 2011.
His high school career record was 262-3. As a youth wrestler, I may have lost three matches in one double-elimination tournament.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on Twitter @PO_Sports
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: A look at some of the top area Class A and B wrestlers since 1984
