Roger Merriam's 20 Favorites series segment takes a look at Watertown High School wrestling
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.
The first thing you need to know is that this wasn't easy. A good argument could be made that the best athletic program in Watertown High School since 1984 has been the wrestling program.
All but one of Watertown's state-best 10 state championships (tied with Rapid City Stevens) came after December of 1984. As we go through the list, you'll notice a lot of very obvious choices, but there are so many others who deserved recognition.
Keep in mind. It's "20 Favorites" and not totally the 20 best. Also the order isn't a big deal until we get down to the final 3-4 spots.
With the fall sports season off and running, the "20 Favorites" series is going to be a little more sporadic, especially for this next 5-6 weeks. I have a bunch more planned and I will eventually get around to them. Up next is going to be area Class A and B high school girls cross country.
Now back to Arrow wrestling. Let's have some fun.
More: A look at some of northeastern South Dakota's best girls basketball players since 1984
20. Others
We're going to start this off some of the wrestlers who won individual state championships for the Arrows who are not listed below. That group includes Brock Vardsveen (160 pounds in 1989), Brad Cordell (171 in 1994), Ryan Yoder (130 in 1995), Tony Speiser (152 in 1995), Jeff Hartley (160 in 1996) and Ryan Larsen (145 in 2007). Larsen had 120 career wins.
Other 100-win club members include Aaron Pickrel (2008, 150), James Suter (2015, 119), Dane Stahl (2018, 128), Jaxson Waugh (2020, 110), Jayden Hartford (2020, 134), Connor Hanson (2022, 112), Mac Young (2022, 142), Weston Everson (2023, 126) and Ian Johnson (2023, 107).
I also feel the need to mention two other current WHS wrestlers: Micah Hach and Gage Lohr. Hach, who will be a junior this fall, finished second in the state Class AA tournament this winter and recently earned All-American honors in the 2023 U.S. Marine Corps Junior and Cadet Nationals held in Fargo, N.D.
Lohr, who will be a freshman, capped a 47-4 season with a state Class A championship at 103. Not trying to put any pressure on Gage, but right now he has a chance to become the program's first-ever five-time state champion. Just saying. Either way, eighth-graders aren't supposed to win state A championships.
I also need to mention Hope Orr and the rest of her teammates on Watertown High School's first-ever girls wrestling team this past winter. Four Arrows placed at state led by Orr, a senior who went 27-5 and took second at 285.
More: Roger Merriam's look at some of his favorite Watertown High School girls basketball players
19. Eric Grund
Guess, you might say, this is a write-in candidate who was brought to my attention by a certain long-time assistant wrestling coach for the WHS program. The coach is mentioned in this story, but that's all I'm going to say.
The coach in question said his all-time favorite Watertown wrestler was Grund, who hardly ever wrestled a varsity match. Grund spent most of his career as a practice partner for standout Nathan Althoff, who won three state titles.
Grund later became a four-timer starter and a three-time national qualifier at Jamestown (N.D.) College.
18. Jared Aesoph and Brady Burghardt
If my memory serves me correct, Aesoph spent about five years on the varsity and didn't have the luxury of starting out at the lower weights. After a rough start, he pieced together a very successful career that included the 189-pound state championship in 2006 (35-4) and a third-place finish at at 189 (33-3) as a senior. He recorded 101 career wins.
Burghardt spent four years as a starter from 2010-2013, two years at 103 and two more at 113. He placed all four years at state and after runner-up finishes in 2011 (28-7 at 103) and 2012 (29-7 at 113), Brady capped his career with the 113-pound state title (29-1) as a senior.
17. Robert Coyle II and III
I obviously remember Robert Coyle III the best. The 2018 Watertown High School graduate placed sixth at 126 pounds as a junior in 2017 and fifth at 126 as a senior in 2018. He had 101 wins in his career.
He continued his wrestling career at Northern State and was named recently as the new head wrestling coach at Yankton.
His father Robert Coyle II wrestled for the Arrows in the mid-to-late 1980s.
More: Some of the top northeastern South Dakota Class A, B boys basketball players since 1984
16. Grant Van Gilder
There were four Van Gilder brothers (Gannon, Dustin, Lucas and Grant) who opened their athletic careers in Clark. Gannon won a 145-pound state champion for Clark in 1994 and I think graduated there.
Lucas was a standout on Watertown's 1996 state championship football team and also was a talented player for Watertown Post 17's baseball team.
I'm not entirely sure if Lucas wrestled or not, but Grant did and captured the 152-pound state championship for the Arrows in 1998. That's kind of cool, one family with state titles in each class. They were cousins to Wade and Ryan Van Gilder, who were standout baseball players in Watertown.
More: Roger Merriam's look at some of best Watertown High School boys basketball players since 1984
15. Micah Likness and Jared Sutton
Likness was a two-time state place winner for the Arrows who capped his career by winning the 125-pound state championship in 1999. What was interesting about that is that he had failed to place at state as a junior.
His father Clark, a doctor, spent many years offering his medical services at many high school athletic events. Speaking of doctors, Dr. Alan Lawrence also spent many years helping out the WHS wrestling program. His son Tim was a state runner-up in 2015.
Sutton was a three-time state place winner for the Arrows and won the 103-pound championship in 1998. He has spent many years officiating a lot of the junior varsity matches for the program. He recorded 106 career wins.
14. Bruce Carter, Brian Hartwig and Bobby (Bob) Hemiller
Some of us remember the 1980s for the "faceless" hair bands, but the Arrow wrestling program remembers these guys for being the first three wrestlers to win state championships after I arrived in Watertown.
Carter was a junior when he won the 132-pound state title in 1985, Hartwig won the 167-pound title in 1986 and Hemiller followed by winning at 167 in 1987. Bobby or Bob also happens to be the father of Tia and Tatum Hemiller, who were Arrow athletes. Tia, by the way, is one of the all-time best WHS female athletes.
Carter tallied a remarkable 116 career wins at a time when wrestlers didn't wrestle as many matches as they do today.
More: A look at some of Roger Merriam's top prep football players in northeastern SD since 1984
13. A.J. and Kris York
Wrestling, not only in Watertown but pretty much everywhere, is a family thing that is passed down from one generation to another. The Arrows have had so many "families" that had multiple siblings who had success on the mat.
After finishing third at 135 pounds as a junior, AJ came back as a senior in 1994 to win the 140-pound state championship.
I started covering Arrow wrestling more around the turn of the century and there were a ton of standout wrestlers for Watertown. Kris, AJ's younger brother was a three-time state place winner who wasn't afraid to chat with you.
12. Mike and Marcus Engelhart
Here's another family for the Arrows. Marcus was a three-time state place winner for the Arrows who finished second at 125 as a senior in 2003.
Younger brother Mike was a five-time state place winner for the Arrows. His career included two third-place finishes, a state championship at 125 as a junior in 2005 and a runner-up finish as a senior in 2006. Mike compiled 157 career wins.
Their father Kurt is a former Arrow and South Dakota state wrestler who helped build a wrestling training facility in the early 2000s for his sons and other Watertown and area wrestlers.
More: Sports writer Roger Merriam lists some of his favorite Watertown football players since 1984
11. Chad LaQua
Oh, if it just wasn't for Milbank's George Thompson, a three-time state champion who went on to become a four-time All-American and a national Division II champion at North Dakota State.
LaQua and Thompson met three-straight years in state championship matches. Thompson beat LaQua at 103 pounds in 1990 that longtime Watertown coach Marv Sherrill felt was taken away from LaQua.
LaQua got even the next year at 119 pounds. Thompson then won the "rubber" match at 119 in 192.
10, Tyler Dahl
My apologies to many other "nice" wrestlers I've interviewed through all these years, but I am serious when I say Tyler just might be the nicest of them all.
A three-time state place winner, he was one of four Arrows to win state titles in 2000. Two of them (Nate Althoff and Justin Ward) were three-time state champions and the other was Nate's brother Simon. Tyler won at 171.
I just remember interviewing Tyler and just feeling like he thought this was the most awesome thing in the world (not so much winning a state title, but being interviewed after he won). He went on to coach at Clark, Howard and Watertown and has at least one young son heading down the wrestling path.
More: 20 Favorites: Tuttle, Boecks, Nygaards & Vedveis among northeastern South Dakota's best
9. David Ingalls
Ok, this will give me time to clarify some things I had written about David's brother Dwayne in the "20 Favorites" story for area wrestling. Dwayne had four top four finishes in state B tournaments, including two runner-up finishes. Older brothers Bryan (second in 1998) and Warren also placed in state B tourneys for the Chargers.
David transferred to Watertown as a junior and after finishing second at 145 pounds in the state A tourney, he returned to go 35-1 and win at 145 as a senior.
He continued to wrestle at the University of Nebraska.
8. Sawyer Hoffman
Like LaQua, one opposing wrestler (Derrick Walraven of Huron) prevented Hoffman from becoming a three-time state champion.
A five-time state place winner, Hoffman went 39-4 on the way to winning the 130-pound state title in 2009. The next two years, he went a combined 67-5 and lost to Walraven in state championship matches at 140 and 145 pounds, respectively.
Hoffman is still the all-time wins leader in program history with 178. He later wrestled at Minnesota State Mankato.
7. Justin Lindsey
If I were actually going to list my so-called "favorite" Arrow wrestler of all-time, this is the guy. He's also one of the main reasons legendary WHS wrestling coach Marv Sherrill doesn't have any hair.
If you wanted to see action in a high school wrestling match, Lindsey was just the guy to provide it. A typical match would involve Lindsey getting a quick takedown, trying to turn the guy for a couple of seconds, and then letting him get away (an escape). It didn't take long for Lindsey to take his foe down again and the process was repeated over and over. Lindsey's wrestling style wasn't typical of Sherrill's wrestlers.
Let's do the math. Fifteen takedowns is 30 points, 14 escapes in 14 points. A 16-point difference equals technical fall. I believe they had them when Lindsey wrestled. He was a four-time state place winner who closed out his career with a 33-0 record and a 145-pound state title in 2003. He is still the all-time program leader in takedowns with 496 and tallied 126 wins.
More: Roger Merriam's look at some of the best Arrow volleyball players since program started in 1990-91
6. Robbie and Ryan Ward
The Ward brothers each won state titles for the Arrows in the 1990s.
Robbie was at least a two-state place winner who won the 130-pound championship in 1992.
After placing second at 103 in 1993 and third at 112 in 1994, younger brother Ryan won the 119-pound title in 1995. Ryan did collect 100 wins in his prep career.
5. Tim Wishard
Wishard was a standout wrestler for the Arrows in the late 1980s, who later wrestled at South Dakota State where he earned Division II All-American honors in 1993. He later coached at Rapid City Stevens.
As a junior in 1988, Wishard won the 132-pound title by criteria in overtime over unbeaten Dick Price of Brookings. He was named the outstanding wrestler of the tournament.
No longer the underdog in 1999, Wishard admitted he felt the pressure to repeat and did just that with a 9-1 win over Mark Monshaugen of Sisseton in the 140-pound championship.
4. Justin Ward
I could have put Justin with his cousins Robbie and Ryan, but a three-time state champion certainly deserves his own section.
Like Aesoph, I believe he made his way to the varsity as a young pup (eighth-grader maybe) and took some lumps early. Maybe I'm just getting Jared and Justin mixed up, but let's move on.
You could say everything turned out well. Ward won a state title at 130 pounds as a sophomore in 1998, at 145 pounds as a junior in 1999 and at 152 pounds as a senior in 2000.
Justin finished his career with 101 career wins and is one of only four Arrows to win at least three state titles.
3. Sloan Johannsen
The senior-to-be at WHS has a great opportunity, if he can stay healthy, of joining Rick Jensen (1971-74) as the only four-time state champions in program history.
Sloan closed out a one-loss season in 2021 with the 106-pound state title as a freshman and has followed with back-to-back undefeated seasons that included state championships at 113 in 2022 and 120 in 2023.
Johannsen, whose father Darin had a notable high school career at Clark, enters his final year as a prep with a 135-1 record that includes a current winning streak of 132 matches.
1B. The Olsons (Steve, Mike, Dave and Dan)
The final two spots are for standout Arrow wrestling families. Steve Olson was a state champion wrestler for the Arrows in 1975 who returned home to spend more than 25 years as an assistant coach in the program.
That included coaching his sons Mike (1997 graduate), Dave (2000 graduate) and Dan (2004 graduate).
Mike was a two-time state place winner who finished second in the state at 112 pounds in 1996.
Dave placed third at 112 pounds as sophomore in 1998, won the 119-pound title in 1999 a few hours after dislocated his shoulder in the semifinals and carried a 16-0 record into the state tourney as a senior despite dealing with the bad shoulder.
Last, but not least, was Dan. He was a five-time state place winner who had two runner-up finishes before closing wth a 36-0 record at the 130-pound state title as a senior in 2004. He ended his career with 159 wins, which was a program record at the time.
1A. The Althoffs and Stroups (Aaron, Simon, Nate, Ty, Ben, Sam and Leo)
Really, no family has done more for Arrow wrestling in the history of the program than the Althoffs. Brothers Aaron, Simon and Nate each were standout wrestlers as were Aaron's sons Ty and Ben. Can't forget sister Susie (Althoff) Stroup and her sons Sam and Leo. Susie has ran the Watertown Wrestling Booster Club for many years. Let's also mention mom Traci, who takes photos at basically every wrestling match.
Aaron, a 1996 graduate I believe, was a three-time state place winner with a pair of third-place finishes. He wrestled at South Dakota State and has spent the past 15-16 years as an assistant coach for the Arrows.
Simon placed twice in the state meet, winning the 140-pound title as a junior in 2000. That's the same year Nate, a four-time state place winner, won the first of three-consecutive state titles. He won at 135 in 2000, 152 in 2001 and 160 in 2002. He went 72-1 his final two seasons and won 154 matches before taking his talents to South Dakota State. Nate, now a volunteer assistant with the Arrows, was inducted into the S.D. Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2015.
Ty, a 2020 graduate, placed three times at state and capped a 42-1 season as a senior with the 132-pound state title. He also finished second at 120 in 2019 and tallied 147 career wins. Ben finally broke into the Arrow lineup as a junior in 2021 and finished second in the state at 152 before an injury cut short his senior season. Ty later wrestled at Northern State. Ben is now playing baseball at Northern.
Sam Stroup placed at 170 in both 2019 and 2020, compiled 107 career wins and also joined cousin Ty on NSU's wrestling team. Leo Stroup qualified for state as a sophomore last winter.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on Twitter @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com.
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: A look at some of the top Watertown High School wrestlers since 1984
