June 28: South Dakota’s team of 35 shooters and archers scored 242 points to tie Missouri for second place at the 2024 4-H Shooting Sports National Championships in Nebraska. Louisiana won the team national title with 267 points. Landon Tieszen of Canistota was the national champion in 3-D compound archery.
July 1: Construction continues on a $20 million shooting range north of Rapid City. The South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks’ Shooting Sports Complex will offer 400 acres for hunters, recreational shooters and law enforcement. Ground was broken on the complex in December 203 and the state hopes to have it completed in the fall of 2025.
July 1: A favorite magazine of college football fans features a South Dakotan on its cover. University of Nebraska standout senior noseguard Nash Hutmacher is one of five players featured on the 350-page Phil Steele’s College Football ’24 edition. Hutmacher is a Chamberlain graduate and a native of Oacoma. His brother, Noah Hutmacher, is a member of the NSU Wolves’ football team.
July 2: NSU softball coach Ashley Schilling has resigned to become an assistant coach at NDSU. She was the coach of the Wolves for three seasons, leading them to 25 wins this past season, the most for NSU since 2018.
July 7: Former NSU standout offensive lineman Jake Oliphant was named lineman of the year for his Arena Football League team, the Washington Wolfpack.
July 8: Ryan Jansa of Sioux Falls qualified for his fourth Senior PGA event, but it was a big one. He will play in the Senior British Open Championship July 25-28 in Scotland at the Carnoustie Golf Links.
July 9: The Milwaukee Bucks have signed former USD standout Stanley Umude to a two-way contract. He appeared in 24 games with the Detroit Pistons last season with two starts. Athletes signed to a two-way contract are paid for their time whether they are playing in the NBA or the NBA G developmental league.
July 11: The University of Jamestown has been accepted as a member into NCAA Division II. The Jimmies will transition from NAIA into NCAA DII beginning in the fall of 2025 and will join NSU’s Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The Jamestown athletic director is Aberdeen native Austin Hieb.
July 12: On a night meant to honor the late Andy Daly, it was only fitting that one of his high school friends won the feature race that honored Daly at Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen. Mark Abeln won the Andy Daly Super Stock Special feature race and paid tribute to Daly, a former driver at the track, following the victory. “I swear up above that the last three laps he was the one that was driving,” Abeln said. “I don’t remember it. I honestly don’t remember it.” Abeln took home the biggest Super Stock prize money of the year by winning the race; a total of $3,112.12. That sum also honors Daly as his race car was No. 12.
July 13-14: A 25-year-old native of Russia who is a world champion billiards player put on a clinic in Aberdeen. The Aberdeen Cue Club brought Fedor Gorst to the Hub City. He won the 2024 nine-ball world championship in Saudi Arabia earlier this summer, a title that earned him $250,000. Past world champ Shane Van Boening of Rapid City made it to the round of 16.
July 14: The Dimock/Emery Raptors defeated the Platte Killer Tomatoes 8-3 at Geddes in the first amateur baseball game held in the town since 2010. Thanks to many volunteers and donations/grants of more than $40,000 to renovate the Geddes field, baseball is back in the small Charles Mix County town of 153 people. The field has been used this season by other baseball teams as well, including those from Platte-Geddes.
July 14: The Madison Dairy Queen Broncos outlasted Canova 2-1 in 10 innings despite a sparkling effort on the mound by Canova’s Kendall Gassman. He threw 181 pitches, struck out 20 and allowed seven hits. Dawson Bakker’s RBI-single provided Madison with the winning run.
July 18: The 35th annual Burke Stampede Rodeo kicked off with an unique event. More than 300 boys and girls of all ages from a handful of states competed for 57 titles in “Rumble at the Rodeo,” an outside AAU wrestling tourney at the Burke rodeo grounds.
July 19: SDSU assistant coach Megan Lueck has been named head women’s basketball coach at NCAA DIII St. Olaf in Northfield, MN. Lueck helped the Jacks to a record of 157-42, five Summit League regular-season titles and six NCAA appearances in the past six seasons. The Winona native was a former NSIC standout at Minnesota-Duluth.
July 20: Sturgis sophomore Arina Haugen and her horses “Chili” and “Scratchy” won the All-Around Rookie Cowgirl title at the National High School Finals Rodeo in Rock Springs (WY). She qualified for the nationals in three events, finishing fifth in breakaway roping, 12th in pole bending and 15th in barrel racing. Only two other South Dakotans have won that world title, Dusti Varland of Faith in 2004 and Kayla Nelson of Buffalo in 1999. The other top finisher at the 2024 NHSR Finals was Jude Sargent of Winner, who finished as the national runner-up in trapshooting. Sargent hit 196 of 200 targets while the national champion, Brandon Heck of Arkansas, hit 198.
July 21: The J Sizzles Adidas Gold 16U Native American boys’ basketball team went 7-0 July 18-21 to win the platinum division at the Las Vegas Big Time. They beat teams from Texas, California, Utah, Georgia and Idaho. Coach Ashley Davis’ team consisted of Marvin Richard III of Pine Ridge; Darian Eaglestaff and Damien Clown of Cheyenne-Eagle Butte; Kenneth Eaglestaff, Makiya Berryhill, Te’Darrion Slack and Artie Carlow of Bismarck; Eli Eaglestaff of Mandan; and Lawrence Marshall of New Town.
July 22: Former NSU standout wrestler Matt Meuleners will be inducted into his third Hall of Fame in less than one year. The four-time All-American, two-time NCAA DII national champion and U.S. Olympics Trial qualifier will be inducted into the National Wrestling Coaches Association Jim Koch DII Hall of Fame. Earlier, the Young America (MN) native was inducted into the NSU and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference halls of fame. Meuleners, who was 145-32 with the Wolves, is the head coach of the University of Sioux Falls men’s wrestling team.
July 22: Coaches and media picked two-time defending FCS national champion SDSU to win the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2024. NDSU was picked second and USD third. USD opens by hosting Northern State at 7 p.m. Aug. 29 in the DakotaDome. The Jacks enter the season on a 29-game winning streak. SDSU got 42 of a possible 44 first-place votes (NDSU one and Missouri State the other). The Jackrabbits also dominated the preseason all-conference team, with 14 first and second team selections. Leading the SDSU contingent were QB Mark Gronowski, center Gus Miller, back Amar Johnson, DT Jarod DePriest, LB Adam Bock, CB Dalys Beanum and S Tucker Large. USD first-team selections were WR Carter Bell as a receiver and a return specialist, TE JJ Galbreath, DL Nick Gaes, DB Dennis Shorter and kicker Will Leyland. NDSU offensive lineman Grey Zabel of Pierre also made the first team.
July 24: Former 1980s standout USD quarterback Scott Jones, wife Lisa and their family have gifted Coyote Athletics with the athletic department’s largest private family gift ever. The gift — amount not reported — will go to benefiting not only the USD football program, but general athletic scholarships and event support for the entirety of the USD athletic department. A portion of the gift will endow the Offensive Coordinator position, which will provide budgetary enhancements to Coyote football. The Scott & Lisa Jones Family Offensive Coordinator position is the first coaching position to be endowed for Coyote Athletics.The Jones’ gift also will provide seven-figures into the next phase of the DakotaDome renovations that will have a positive impact on football student-athletes.
July 25: Former Augustana standout Jordan Barth hit a walk-off RBI single that gave his Sioux Falls Canaries a 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Goldeyes.
July 25-27: The 65th annual National Trappers Association Convention and Sports Show was held in Sioux Falls. Even though South Dakota has a rich tradition in the trapping industry, this was the first time that the national convention was held in in the state. It drew more than 100 vendors and thousands from across the nation.
July 26: Ryan Jansa of Sioux Falls and former Sioux Falls resident Rich Beem failed to make the cut after the first two rounds at the Senior British Open in Scotland.
July 29: The city-owned Elmwood Golf Course in Sioux Falls is getting a new clubhouse to replace the one built in 1966, part of a $7.7 million renovation plan. New cart storage and a golf programming complex will be part of the improvements as well. Officials hope to have the changes ready for the 100th anniversary of the course in the spring of 2026.
July 31: SDSU senior Denilson Cyprianos swam in the 2024 Paris Olympics as a member of the Zimbabwe delegation. He competed in the 200-meter backstroke and finished 28th.
July 30: The USD football team started practice, kicking off coach Bob Nielsen’s 32 nd year as a college coach at the NCAA DI, DII and DIII levels. Nielsen told Matt Zimmer of Sioux Falls Live it is his first time in his 32 years that one of his teams started a practice in July. The Coyotes had its best season in DI last year as they were 10-3, second in the Missouri Valley Football Conference at 7-1, won their first DI national playoff game and reached as high as third in the nation. They open by hosting Northern State at 7 p.m. Aug. 29 at the DakotaDome in a blackout game featuring new USD black helmets.
July 30: Watertown Post 17 defeated Sioux Falls East 4-2 in the opening round of the State A American Legion Baseball Tournament in Brookings. It was Watertown’s first win in the state tourney since 2016. Post 17 used the pitching of Kaden Rylance (win) and Nathan Briggs (save).
July 31: NSU has hired Kaley Ness as its next head softball coach. The Mankato native who played her college career at Southwest Minnesota State has spent the last seven years as the head coach at Chadron State.
July 31: Track and field and cross country pioneer Dean Mann (1932-2024) of Sioux Falls has died at age 92. Mann did it all during his lifetime of service to the sports. He was a star athlete, coach, official and administrator. His teams won state high school championships that Mann ran on, coached and administrated. He was a star runner for Sioux Falls Washington and Augustana.
Email us at dave@sdsportscene.com if you think we missed something or if you have an event you would like us to consider for this feature.
