MITCHELL — High school wrestling in South Dakota has a new signal for when a wrestler executes a takedown.

Officials raise three fingers in the air instead of two.

As part of a series of rule changes by the National Federation of State High School Associations last April, wrestlers are now awarded three points for executing a takedown in order to encourage more attacking from a neutral position on the mat. South Dakota High School Activities Association-sponsored boys and girls wrestling uses the NFHS rulebook.

The changes come a year after the three-point takedown was implemented in the college ranks at the NCAA and the NAIA levels. As more points are now on offer to the wrestlers, running up the score early in matches proves advantageous.

“I’ve been telling my kids that you’ve got to be able to come out of the first period with the takedown or 0-0,” Chamberlain head coach John Donovan said. “Kids that are really good on their feet are cutting people loose and then getting another takedown right away. You’re now down 6-1 and that’s quite a lead to make back up.”

The traditional top-bottom style of wrestling, where the wrestler on top of their opponent controls the pace and movement of the match, has been replaced in essence by a style that features wrestlers trying to cut underneath opponents, aiming at the legs to go and secure takedowns.

Similar to college coaches and wrestlers’ observations last season, the high school coaches have noticed the length of a match has been trimmed with wrestlers trying to run up the score. The pace of a match can also take on a frantic feel, providing wrestlers with less time to reset.

“You always want to keep going,” Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes wrestler Iden Myers said. “You never want to try and stall, but at the same time when you can catch your breath, you have to catch your breath because you always have to be looking to score.”

Though the additional points benefit wrestlers who are strong on their feet and can create good positions, it also places a premium on defensive tactics to protect large leads during a match. The goal for wrestlers is to still try and pin their opponents, and with higher scoring comes with a bit more desperation for the trailing wrestler.

“I think more than anything you can’t get careless,” Parkston boys head coach Dan Bonte said. “You have to have cleaner finishes and execute on your feet better in order to stay in matches. Otherwise, you can get yourself in a hole that’s hard to crawl back out.”

The three-point takedown, in addition to revising the near-fall criteria to award wrestlers a maximum of four points for keeping their opponents down in a pin attempt, has seen technical falls increase across the state and matches finishing sooner.

“More talented wrestlers are able to get that tech fall sooner,” Parkston/Ethan girls head coach Dustin Bouza said. “The wrestler is more under the gun to score the points versus being able to sit back and go, ‘I can wait until the third period.’”

A technical fall occurs in high school wrestling when a wrestler jumps out to a 15-point lead in a match, the sport’s equivalent of a mercy rule. Last season, Burke/Gregory boys wrestler Judd Hansen led the state with 14 technical falls, and Bennett County’s Finley Evjan led the girls in the category with three.

This season, five boys and 14 girls wrestlers have surpassed last year’s state-leading totals with six weeks remaining in the season. Philip/Kadoka Area/Wall’s Kale Crowser has a boys-leading 19 technical falls to his name, with Wagner’s Gannon Knebel second in the state at 16. Sisseton’s Vi Anderson and Sioux Falls Washington’s Olivia Kolbrek share the girls lead with seven.

While the changes have led to more attacking at duals and tournaments this season, some in the community feel the prestige of some stats and the old style of wrestling was taken away from the sport.

“Bottom wrestling is probably not even a big deal anymore,” Burke/Gregory head coach Seth Webster said. “I’m not a big fan of (the rule changes), but a lot of people are. Tech falls used to mean something back in the day. Now you get two takedowns to the back and then one extra point off the bottom hit, you got a tech fall already.”

However, wrestlers themselves believe there’s still a place for traditional wrestling today, whether to slow the pace down or score points off escapes and reversals of opponent holds. It also allows an opponent to be less fearful of getting pinned on the mat, knowing they can make up points as easily as losing points.

“I’m not wrestling as scared as I was last year,” Mitchell girls wrestler Frankie Kranz said. “I know that if I can get a reversal or an escape, I can get on top and make up those points if I do get taken down. That’s more points on my feet.”

As the stakes get higher with trips to the state tournament and hardware on the line, the matches could see more aggressiveness out of the wrestlers to score points and execute pins, especially the trailing wrestler. But if there’s one detail everyone is in agreement on, the action on the mat’s been entertaining for everyone in attendance.

“It makes it more exciting for the fans,” KWLPG head coach Thomas Konechne said. “The wrestlers understand the rules and they know what they need to do to make sure that they’re staying in these matches or pulling away in these matches even. But wrestling is still wrestling.”

“It’s a good change moving forward,” Bonte added. “Everybody likes seeing offense, and that’s kind of what we like to coach, too. You’re being rewarded for being on offense more, and it’s more fun for the fans to watch.”

The Class B boys dual state wrestling tournament takes place on Friday, Feb. 14, in Pierre, with the Class A boys dual tournament being held on Saturday, Feb. 15. Region tournaments for both boys and girls on Feb. 20 through Feb. 22, with the individual state wrestling tournament running from Feb. 27 through March 1, at the Summit Arena in Rapid City.

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – There’s a saying that goes, “Laughter is the best form of medicine,” and one new business is bringing that medication to the corner of 7th and Saint Joseph Streets.

West River Comedy Club had its grand opening earlier this month and what makes this place so unique is “it’s the only comedy club in South Dakota,” according to Trevor Ryan, owner of West River Comedy Club.

Ryan is a stand-up comedian who has been touring and hosting with West River Comedy in the Black Hills since 2019.

“We wanted our space for so long, so we were able to make that leap and sign a lease here and get something going,” Ryan said.

Ryan said the name and location of the venue came about because, “‘West River is the best river,’ you know? So, I just wanted to name it because I just love this area.”

Before opening West River Comedy Club, Ryan started open mic night at Aby’s.

“I was trying to find a place that was eclectic enough that, you know, where the misfit toys could go hang out, and Aby’s was perfect for that,” Ryan said, “They stuck with us whether we had two people or twenty people.”

Keeping the local feel, you can enjoy brews from breweries around the Black Hills and food from Ugly Graffiti before the show.

“We’re such a tight-knit community in this town. You know one person, you know six other people that knows that person. So, these people have been encouraging to me, and I wanted to pay it forward, plus they make good beer,” Ryan said.

Besides supporting other local businesses, Ryan said he wanted to give back to the community and have something open regularly.

“We don’t always have something to do for the locals, you know, when the tourists come in, things ramp up and there’s a lot more events,” Ryan added. “But I wanted to do something year-round because shoot, we live here year-round right? So, I wanted to make sure we take care of the locals.”

Ryan doesn’t just own the comedy club, he also makes appearances on stage.

“I still perform from time to time. You know, I’m an only child and I need the attention so every now and then I’ll still be on the stage,” Ryan said.

If you do plan on getting a good laugh, Ryan recommends getting your tickets early and online.

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PIERRE — A committee of South Dakota lawmakers endorsed a bill Friday that would require pornographic websites to implement age verification measures. 

The House State Affairs Committee passed the measure 11-2, with all yes votes from Republicans and the two no votes from Democrats. It now goes to the full House of Representatives. 

The legislation would require pornographic websites to ensure users are at least 18 years old by verifying their identification, via means that could include submitting an image of an identification card. The bill would also prohibit the websites and any third parties conducting age verification from retaining users’ identifying information post-verification. 

Non-compliance by websites would result in a misdemeanor for the first offense and escalate to a felony for subsequent violations. The bill contains lengthy definitions for pornographic content harmful to children.

Rep. Bethany Soye, R-Sioux Falls, is the prime sponsor of the bill. She said it’s essential to protect minors from exposure to explicit online content.

Hollie Strand is a forensic examiner with the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office who said she was testifying on her own behalf. She said children as young as kindergarten students are being exposed to pornography, whether parents take measures to protect their kids or not.

“I had a kindergartener ask me what to do when his friend showed him porn and he asked him to stop,” she said. 

The state Attorney General’s Office endorsed the bill. 

The American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota testified in opposition and said that while the intention is to safeguard minors, the legislation could undermine the First Amendment rights of adults who might be deterred by age-verification privacy concerns from accessing legal content.

“Allowing the government to restrict access to sexual content will inevitably lead to more censorship and a more restricted internet for everyone,” said Samantha Chapman, ACLU of South Dakota advocacy manager. “Young people deserve our protection and support, but age-gating the internet is not the answer.”

The legislative effort follows similar, failed legislation from last year. 

In response, an interim study committee was established to examine the issue further. A separate, similar bill also addresses the issue this session in the Senate but hasn’t had a hearing yet.

Sen. David Wheeler, R-Huron, a sponsor of the Senate bill, said it’s modeled after Texas legislation that’s under consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court. The bill would only take effect if the Texas law is upheld. Wheeler said that would prevent South Dakota from having to face litigation and pay legal fees for its own law.

The other difference is the Senate bill would only require age verification for sites where at least one-third of the content is harmful to minors, to more clearly distinguish between pornographic sites and sites that merely contain some adult content. In response to a South Dakota Searchlight question, Wheeler acknowledged that pornographic sites could transition two-thirds of their content to non-harmful material to avoid being age-gated.

“That just illustrates the difficulty of regulating this stuff,” Wheeler said.