South Dakota
Three-point takedown changes high school wrestling strategy in South Dakota
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.”
Blake Durham / Mitchell Republic
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.”
Nathan Swaffar / Mitchell Republic
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.
Blake Durham / Mitchell Republic
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.”
Nathan Swaffar / Mitchell Republic
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.
A tornado watch has been issued for much of central and eastern South Dakota as forecasters warn conditions are favorable for tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds Wednesday evening.
The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center issued the watch at 4:05 p.m. CDT, and it will remain in effect until 11 p.m. It includes dozens of counties across central and eastern South Dakota, as well as parts of southeastern North Dakota and western Minnesota.
Forecasters expect thunderstorms to develop along and ahead of a cold front moving southeast across the Dakotas. The strongest storms could become supercells capable of producing all severe weather hazards.
The severe weather threat is expected to continue Thursday, when another round of strong to severe thunderstorms could develop across parts of South Dakota. Large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes will again be possible.
What are expected impacts of South Dakota storms?
Storms that remain isolated could produce tornadoes and very large hail before merging into a line of thunderstorms later in the evening, according to the Storm Prediction Center. Once storms organize into a line, damaging winds are expected to become the main threat, although brief tornadoes and hail will remain possible.
The National Weather Service office in Sioux Falls said portions of southeastern South Dakota face a Level 2 out of 5 risk for severe weather Wednesday evening. Atmospheric conditions include high instability, increasing wind shear and abundant moisture, creating an environment supportive of severe thunderstorms.
In addition to severe weather, some areas could receive heavy rainfall. Most locations are expected to receive between a quarter-inch and three-quarters of an inch of rain, although isolated areas could see more than an inch. Widespread flooding is not expected, but localized flooding could occur in areas that recently received heavy rainfall.
Where will storms hit in South Dakota?
Storms are expected to develop in central South Dakota between late afternoon and early evening before moving east through the night. Forecasters expect the strongest storms to reach the Interstate 29 corridor between about 10 p.m. and midnight.
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Brandi D. Addison covers weather across the United States as the Weather Connect Reporter for the USA TODAY Network. She can be reached at baddison@gannett.com.
See Republican Zach Lahn speak after primary win in governor’s race
GOP gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn speaks to his supporters during an election night watch party on June 2, 2026, in West Des Moines.
The makeup of the Legislature was up in the air as of 1 a.m. after South Dakota’s primary election.
Ten Republican state lawmakers ousted in 2024 are angling to get their seats back in 2026. Results were mixed for the nine who had primaries on Tuesday, with results still coming in for several races and others set for possible recounts.
Shawn Bordeaux of Rosebud won the state’s only Democratic primary, beating Troy “Luke” Lunderman for a chance to return to the state Senate.
Bordeaux will face Chamberlain Republican Rebecca Reimer in November’s general election. Reimer, who was term-limited in the state House of Representatives, beat Lower Brule Sen. Tamara Grove in Tuesday’s primary.
In Watertown’s District 5, Rep. Josephine Garcia fell in a state Senate primary to incumbent Sen. Glen Vilhauer. Garcia beat Byron Callies in the 2024 primary to earn her seat in the House of Representatives, but opted to challenge Vilhauer for his Senate seat instead of seeking reelection to the House.
Callies, Vilhauer and Garcia are all from Watertown.
Vilhauer won with 59% of the vote. His was one of the first state legislative victories of the night reported on the Secretary of State’s website.
Vilhauer won handily, but he said he wasn’t necessarily expecting to as polls opened on Tuesday.
“I knew it was going to be a battle going in,” Vilhauer said. “She worked hard on her side, and I didn’t know what to expect.”
Callies was among the first to call Vilhauer to congratulate him, around 9:30 p.m.
“I’m happy, because Glen’s a solid legislator,” said Callies, who’s angling to win his seat back in the general election.
Garcia did not return a call seeking comment.
In District 21, Sen. Mykala Voita of Bonesteel beat former Sen. Erin Tobin of Winner in a rematch of their 2024 contest, which Voita won by a few dozen votes that year. This time around, Voita bested Tobin by 1,002 votes.
In response to a request for comment, Voita sent a text reading “Glory to God!”
Tobin did not return a call from South Dakota Searchlight about her race after it was called, but said earlier in the evening she would be “at peace” with the results regardless of what they might be.
Another rematch saw Yanktonites Lauren Nelson and Jean Hunhoff battling for District 18’s state Senate seat. Nelson was a newcomer in 2024 when she beat Hunhoff, who’d spent decades in the Capitol between stints in the House and Senate. On Tuesday, Nelson held off Hunhoff, winning by 243 votes.
Other notable races
- District 4 Rep. Dylan Jordan of Clear Lake, first elected in 2024, finished fourth in a five-way race. As of 1 a.m. Wednesday, he trailed Ryan Kohl of Milbank and former Rep. Fred Deutsch of Florence, in first and second place, respectively. A recount is possible in that race, with 59 votes separating the top two vote-getters while Rep. Kent Roe, of Hayti, came in third place, with 72 fewer votes than Deutsch.
- District 4 has two possible recounts. In the other, Bryant’s Stephanie Sauder beat Clear Lake’s Tim Begalka by 105 votes in the unofficial tally from the Secretary of State.
- District 1 Rep. Logan Manhart of Aberdeen, elected in the 2024 primary, fell to Rep. Nick Fosness, a hospital administrator appointed by Gov. Larry Rhoden in 2025, and newcomer Daniel Kjos.
- Another recount was possible as of Wednesday at 1 a.m., in the District 16 race for House of Representatives. Rep. John Shubeck of Beresford trailed Lisa Bogue of Beresford by 245 votes in unofficial results. Jason VanDenTop of Canton was in third place, trailing Shubeck by 68 votes.
Vote totals incomplete
- Sen. John Carley of Piedmont, who won his first term in 2024, trailed William Meirose of Sturgis by 166 votes as of 1 a.m. Wednesday.
- Former Rep. Tyler Tordsen led Rep. Tony Kayser by two votes in the District 14 primary, with results still coming in. The Sioux Falls men are vying for second place and a spot on the November general election ballot alongside Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt of Sioux Falls, who led by more than 600 votes early Wednesday.
- District 28 Sen. Sam Marty of Prairie City was in a close race with former legislator Ryan Maher of Isabel.
- Former Rep. Gary Cammack of Union Center, who lost his seat in 2024, and Gary Deering of Hereford, led Reps. Terri Jorgenson of Piedmont and Kathy Rice of Blackhawk in the District 29 race.
- In District 30, Hot Springs Sen. Amber Hulse led former Sen. Julie Frye-Mueller of Rapid City by more than 1,300 votes.
- Former Sen. David Johnson of Rapid City led Sen. Curt Voight of Rapid City in a rematch of their 2024 race for District 33 Senate in early results.
- Rep. Heather Baxter of Rapid City has signaled her intention to challenge sitting Secretary of State Monae Johnson for the Republican nomination to that constitutional office at the state’s Republican Party convention this summer. In early results, Baxter trailed former Rapid City Rep. Becky Drury and Rep. Mike Derby in the District 34 primary.
- Early results in the District 35 primary put Sen. Greg Blanc, elected in 2024, in a close race with fellow Rapid City resident Nicole Mitzel.
South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
South Dakota
Republican businessman Toby Doeden advances to primary runoff in South Dakota governor’s race
Republican businessman Toby Doeden has advanced to a runoff in South Dakota governor’s race, NBC News projects.
Gov. Larry Rhoden, who replaced Kristi Noem last year when President Donald Trump nominated her to lead the Department of Homeland Security, was battling with Rep. Dusty Johnson and former state House Speaker Jon Hansen for a second spot in the July 28 runoff. The primary will go to a runoff because no candidate eclipsed 35% of the vote.
Trump did not issue an endorsement in the race. Doeden branded himself on his campaign website as “a total political outsider who’s tired of the government’s failure to deliver on its promises” and one of Trump’s “fiercest supporters.”
Rhoden, a former lieutenant governor, agriculture secretary and lawmaker, campaigned on property tax cuts and lowering crime in his bid for a four-year term.
Johnson is the state’s lone representative in the House, where he previously was chair of the Republican Main Street Caucus. Hansen, who was elected to the South Dakota House in 2010, held several leadership positions before he became speaker.
The Republican nominee will be the favorite to win the general election in the solidly red state this fall. A Democrat has not served as governor in South Dakota since the 1970s, and Trump carried the state by 29 points in 2024.
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