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:
Jan. 1: Webster native Brock Lesnar, 44, won his sixth World Wrestling Entertainment championship and his nine professional wrestling title. Lesnar, who made his pro wrestling debut in 2002, also has won three WWE universal championships.
Jan. 2: The NSU men’s basketball team trailed Minnesota State Moorhead 68-54 with 3½ minutes left in regulation, but the Wolves ended up with an 83-80 double overtime win. With Sam Masten directing traffic, Kobe Busch (six points) and Jacksen Moni (eight) put the Wolves on a 14-0 run to tie the game at 68 and send it into its first overtime. Moorhead took a five-point lead in the first overtime, but Gus Reede and Jordan Belka teamed up to rally the Wolves again to send the game to a second and final overtime.
Jan. 8: Former Britton-Hecla and South Dakota State standout Dallas Goedert raised $2,010 for a hometown cause by selling the cleats he wore for an NFL game on Dec. 5 when he scored two touchdowns to lead Philadelphia past the New York Jets 33-18. The Eagles’ tight end wore Britton-Hecla school colors white and red cleats with the message “Pass it on #ForTrevor” in the game. The cleats honored Trevor Zuehlke, a former quarterback and linebacker at Britton-Hecla who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a 2019 game. Zuehlke’s family started the “Pass it on #ForTrevor” charity in honor of Trevor, who continues his recovery journey. Zuehlke was a student manager for Britton-Hecla when Goedert was a player. Goedert’s cleats were auctioned off online as were the shoes of other team members during the NFL’s annual “My Cause, My Cleats” week.
Jan. 8: The USD women’s basketball team ripped rival SDSU 65-42 with a great defensive effort. Two of the Coyotes leaders were senior captain Chloe Lamb (Onida) and freshman Kyah Watson (Rapid City Stevens) with a combined 24 points. The Coyotes held the Jacks to their lowest scoring total of the season, did not allow any SDSU player into double figures and snapped a 19-game Summit League regular season winning streak for the Jacks. The last game when no SDSU player reached double figures was Jan. 2, 2014, against Notre Dame, an Irish team on which current USD assistant coach Ariel Braker was a starter.
Jan. 8: The Scotland girls’ basketball team played its third game over five days, all decided by one point. Scotland beat Gayville-Volin 42-41 on Jan. 4; beat Tripp-Delmont/Armour 40-39 on Jan. 6; and lost to Howard 49-48 on Jan. 8.
Jan. 8: Lennox 6-foot-5 sophomore Porter Ihnen scored 41 points in the first half in his team’s 95-33 win over Pine Ridge. His 45-point total was a school record (Jared Vlastuin scored 42 points in 2007-08) and tied for the 13 th most in Class A boys’ basketball history.
Jan. 12: The South Dakota High School Activities Association board of directors voted to start the first sanctioned South Dakota high school softball season in March 2023. The first state tournament to be played on the first weekend in June. Officials guesstimated the state will have 35 to 40 teams the first season.
Jan. 15: USD ripped Omaha 105-70 in men’s basketball, as the Coyotes had one of its best shooting days in school history. USD made 17 of 30 three-pointers (57 percent) and 30 of 37 free throws (81 percent). Mason Archambault (Rapid City Stevens) led the way with 25 points, including a 15 of 16 performance from the free-throw line. It was the Coyotes’ third Summit League win in six days.
Jan. 15: White River defeated Lyman 58-36 to win the 54th annual Jones County Invitational in Murdo. It was the Tigers fifth JCI title in a row, their 16th in the past 17 seasons, their 24th title overall and their 18th consecutive JCI championship game appearance. White River teammates Joe Sayler and Dylan Marshall were on the all-tourney team and Sayler was the MVP.
Jan. 15: Plans for the new $2.5 million seven-field First Dakota Soccer Park in Yankton were announced. First Dakota National Bank said it would contribute $1 million while Yankton backers Larry and Diane Ness gave $250,000 for Ness Championship Field, the crowning jewel of the park across from Walmart north of SD Highway 50.
Jan. 15: The 21st annual Mobridge Ice Fishing Tournament drew a record 551 teams competing on Lake Oahe to catch walleyes and to reel in some of the more than $250,000 in cash and prizes. The team of former Mobridge resident Travis Bergstrom and Tate Merchant of Mobridge won the tourney by catching four walleye that weighed 15.8 pounds, including one 9.33-pound fish. The duo earned $650 for winning the tourney.
Jan. 15: Chamberlain 195-pound junior Noah Hutmacher set a state wrestling record by getting a four-second pin at a tournament in Gettysburg.
Jan. 16: Sioux Falls native, Lincoln graduate and current World Wrestling Entertainment superstar Shayna “Queen of Spades” Baszler was part of the Smackdown/Raw WWE SuperShow in Sioux Falls. Baszler, 41, is a former two-time world women’s champion and was recently a tag-team champion.
Jan. 18: Aberdeen Central sophomore gymnast Maggie Fites broke the 13-year school record in all-around when she scored a 37.05, which broke Andrianne Skaggs record in 2009.
Jan. 20: The longest women’s basketball winning streak in the NCAA DI nation belongs to USD as the Coyotes won their 13th straight with a 70-53 win over Western Illinois.
Jan. 20: The Freeman boys’ basketball team defeated Menno 56-27 to end a 36-game losing streak and give the Flyers their first win since Feb. 3, 2020 (48-40 over Scotland). In the last three seasons, Freeman is 2-50.
Jan. 21: USD senior Chloe Lamb of Onida is one of 61 senior women’s basketball players across the nation selected for the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s “So You Want To Be A Coach” program. The two-day workshop will be held March 31-April 1 during the NCAA Women’s Final Four in Minneapolis. The program is in its 19 th year and Lamb is only the third USD player to be selected for it.
Jan. 21: SDSU athletics raised a record $42 million from 4,169 donors in 2021.
Jan. 21: Long-time Brandon Valley football and track coach Chad Garrow died following a 13-month battle with brain cancer. The 55-year-old was the winningest football coach in school history, leading the Lynx to a record of 131-47 with 14 conference championships, two state titles and three state runner-up finishes.
Jan. 29: More than 1,100 people entered the three-hour 2022 Ice Fish Fest on Catfish Bay near Sioux Falls, competing via ice fishing for more than $25,000 worth of prizes.
Jan. 29: Winner’s Bella Swedlund surpassed 2,000 career points, making her the 31st girls’ basketball player in state history to reach the milestone.
Jan. 31: Langford native and Northern State senior defensive back Chance Olson was named a first-team NCAA DII All-American on the 34 th annual Don Hansen National Football Gazette team. Teammate wide receiver Dewaylon Ingram was an honorable mention selection. Olson was second in the nation last season with seven interceptions. He and Ingram led the Wolves to its best season (7-4) in 2021 since the Wolves went 8-3 in 2014. Other All-Americans in NSU football history: Jim Kretchman; Harlan Krein; Morris Bates; Vince Johnson; Daryl Merkwan; Dick Wherry (twice); Gordon Groos; Dave Pastian; Leon Breske; Curt Fredrickson; Larry Kolbo; Kendall Titze; Chuck Farley; Seth Kahn; Steve Hanson; Paul Kemnitz; Jason Landmark (twice); John Carda; Sam Flakus; Bryan Schmidt; Doug Coughlin; Kevin Cox; Tom Scheid; Stacy Roberts; Todd Tatum; Jim Caraway; Tony Kjaglien; Rick Knecht, Ed May (twice); Brent Sheehan; Aaron Ferrie; Kip Kieso; Bill Noble; Dave Guthmiller; Tyrone Morgan (twice); Eric Cuka; Channing Barber (twice); and Conner Doherty (twice).
Jan. 31: The SDSU men’s basketball team grabbed its third win in five days, including its second over North Dakota. The Jacks beat UND (96-61) Jan. 27; NDSU (80-76) Jan. 29; and UND (70-64) Jan. 31. SDSU is now 20-4 and 11-0 in the Summit League, its best start since joining the league.