July 30: Former NSU standout athlete Dan Mehlbrech won the men’s 70-74 discus throw at the National Senior Games in Ames (IA). The South Dakota native (Bridgewater) holds 17 records in the South Dakota Senior Games.
Aug. 1: Thad Jean (11-0) defeated Roslyn native Logan “Storm” Storley in their championship welterweight fight in the PFL World Tournament 5. Storley won six prep state wrestling titles at Webster and was an All-American at Minnesota. He is 18-4 as a pro mixed martial arts fighter and is a former Bellator world champion.
Aug. 5: Life-long friend of auto racing Terry Voeltz, 78, has died. The Gettysburg and Northern State graduate had numerous roles in dirt track racing for more than 50 years, including as a fan, driver, flagman and promoter. He also served as president of the WISSOTA Promoter’s Association for several years before being hired as WISSOTA’s first executive director, a post he held for seven years. Voeltz was honored during the season championship at Brown County Speedway on Aug. 22.
Aug. 6: Long-time South Dakota college and high school basketball coach Fred Paulsen, 72, has died. Paulsen was an assistant coach on the 1979 Michigan State national championship team that featured Magic Johnson. He later turned Huron College into a NAIA national powerhouse. He also coached at Custer and St. Thomas More high schools. His son, Derek Paulsen and girlfriend Eva Wahlstrom, died in a car accident on July 30, 1999. Derek was a high school basketball star who being heavily recruited.
Aug. 7: Aberdeen’s Olivia Braun shot a 36-hole total of 149 on Thursday to win the Girls’ Division championship at the prestigious Sanford Futures Tour golf event at The Falls Golf Course in Sioux Falls.
Aug. 7: With family in the stands, Pierre native Grey Zabel played in his first NFL game, as his Seattle Seahawks hosted and tied the Las Vegas Raiders 23-23 to open the pre-season. Zabel, a versatile and athletic offensive lineman, was Seattle’s first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. The former NDSU standout’s parents, Mark and Tanna (Negaard), were athletes at NSU.
Aug. 9: The New York Jets defeated host Green Bay 30-10 to open the NFL pre-season. It was rare air for South Dakota and SDSU as three Jackrabbits were part of the game. Timber Lake native Tucker Kraft has been establishing himself as one the game’s best tight ends while his Green Bay teammate, Amar Johnson – another former SDSU standout, is trying to make the Packers as an undrafted rookie. Former Jackrabbit Isaiah Davis is a second-year pro for the Jets. Davis made one of the game’s biggest plays on NYJ quarterback Justin Fields’ 13-yard touchdown run. Davis was running a pass route into the end zone and faked out his defender by acting as if he was trying to catch a pass in the corner of the end zone. Fields was following Davis’ path from behind and the player defending Davis would have likely tackled Fields had he turned around and not followed Davis to the corner of the end zone. Johnson, meanwhile, got to do his first Lambeau leap into the Packers’ crowd after his impressive 39-yard touchdown run.
Aug. 10: One of the greatest billards players of all-time, Rapid City native Shane “The South Dakota Kid” Van Boening, finished second in the inaugural Florida Open Pool Championship in Orlando. Winning the event was Aloysius Yapp of Singapore.
Aug. 10: The weather has not been kind to the Sunday night auto races at Casino Speedway in Watertown this season. The dirt track finally got in a program for the first time since July 13. Six of the past eight racing programs had been wiped out by weather.
Aug. 12: Viborg-Hurley is building a $6 million athletic complex that includes a 100-yard artificial turf football field, grandstand and eight-lane track. It is scheduled to open next year.
Aug. 14: After a year away due to health issues, the voice of the Augustana Vikings will return for the 2025 football season. Jeff Fylling has called 430 football games and more than 1,600 basketball games across 41 seasons with Augustana.
Aug. 16: Yankton native and 2024 Paralympian badminton silver medalist Miles Krajewski won two gold medals at the Peru Parabadminton International Tournament in Lima. He won the singles titles and the doubles title with Yasmina Eissa of Egypt. Krajewski is training full-time in Texas for the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles.
Aug. 17: In only their third year of existence, the Parkston Devil Rays scored eight runs in the eighth inning to defeat Hartford-Humboldt 10-8 for the 2025 State B Amateur Baseball Championship. Jake Helleloid of Parkston was the tourney MVP while Phil Johnson (a pickup player from Dimock/Emery) was the winning pitcher in the championship game. The Devil Rays won their first championship under manager Doug Sudbeck.
Aug. 19: USD athletics received its largest monetary gift in its history. South Dakota philanthropist T. Denny Sanford is donating $20 million to the University of South Dakota to build a $45-million indoor track and field and training facility complete with training areas, offices and classrooms. The facility will be used by other athletic teams as well, including softball and tennis. The track and building will be named in honor of current Sanford Heath CEO Bill Gassen and wife Jill. Both were track and field athletes who graduated from USD in 2004. Jill competed in hurdles and pole vault, while Bill threw shot put and was a standout defensive lineman on the Coyote football team. Both also went on to get advanced degrees at USD. Jill became a physician assistant and Bill earned his law degree.
Aug. 22: Sioux Falls Lutheran started it second high school varsity football season with a couple of historic results. Not only did it take their first lead in a game, SFL also defeated Irene-Wakonda 52-20 for their first win. The SFL Eagles are coached by Danny Strande.
Aug. 24: Troy McKown won one of the Upper Midwest’s oldest golf tournaments. The Warner man won the 95 th annual Dakota Open in Aberdeen.
Aug. 27: The Yankton Quarterback Club began its 78th season where fans can hear local and statewide coaches talk about their teams.
Aug. 27: Rapid City native and Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon and her Aces are the hottest team in pro sports. They started August with a 14-14 record and as the eighth seed for the upcoming WNBA playoffs. After a 12-game win streak, Las Vegas is now 26-14 and a second seed. Hammon directed the Aces to WNBA championships in 2022 and 2023.
Aug. 28: The college football season in South Dakota opened with a great game between the University of Sioux Falls and Black Hills State. USF won 27-21, using a defensive stand in the middle of the fourth quarter to fuel its win. The Yellow Jackets had a first and goal at the USF seven-yard line with seven minutes to go. However, the Cougars were able to keep Black Hills out of the end zone. The game was viewed by 5,785, who were helping to celebrate 75 seasons at Lyle Hare Stadium in Spearfish.
Aug. 29: The high school sports season is in full swing as evidenced by the fall varsity sports schedule of the Rapid City Stevens teams on this day: girls’ tennis at 8 a.m.; boys’/girls’ cross country at 9 a.m.; boys’ soccer at 4 p.m.; football at 5 p.m.; girls’ soccer at 6 p.m.; and volleyball at 7 p.m.
Aug. 29: Sioux Falls Jefferson defeated Watertown 51-7 at the Arrows’ newly-renovated $11 million Allen Mitchell Athletic Complex. It was Watertown’s first-ever home game on a turf field and the first home game since 1941 the Arrows have played away from Watertown Stadium.
Aug. 29: Sioux Falls Lincoln defeated Rapid City Stevens 62-14 as Patriots’ quarterback Brody Schafer threw seven touchdown passes in the first half. He hooked up with Mikey Roche for four TDs in the first quarter.
Aug. 29: Rapid City Central defeated Sioux Falls Roosevelt 23-7. It is the Cobblers first win over the Rough Riders since 2018 when RCC won 19-18 on Oct. 5.
Aug. 29: Wagner defeated Winner 34-20 in football, possibly for the first time in school history. Wagner quarterback Gannon Knebel had a hand in all five of the Red Raiders’ TDs. Winner is the defending State 11B champions and has been a long-time football powerhouse with 10 state titles in the playoff era that started in 1981.
Aug. 29: The South Dakota State volleyball team led by Sylvie Zgonc opened the season with a 3-1 victory over the Big Ten’s Illinois. It was the program’s first win against a Big Ten Conference opponent.
Aug. 30-31: Pine Ridge volleyball coach Nellie Long got her 700th career win, all with the Thorpes, while one day later Northwestern’s Nora Groft won her 700th career match, all with the Wildcats. The two are among only six coaches to ever reach 700 wins in South Dakota volleyball history. The others are Jill Christensen of Parker, Kari Jung of Warner, Anita Boeck of Arlington, and Linda DeBoer of Miller.
Aug. 30: The 79th game in the college football series between rivals Dakota Wesleyan and Dakota State in Mitchell didn’t disappoint. DWU won a defensive battle in a 16-14 win over DSU. Danny Carsrud kicked the game-winning field goal with 8:47 left in the game. DSU missed three FGs, including one from 18 yards at the end of the game after the Trojans drove 74 yards on 17 plays. The Tigers were led defensively by Joseph VanOvers and Grayson Hanson while the Trojans were led by Taron Serr and Tamareon Foster. DWU leads the series 41-37-1.
Aug. 31: South Dakota State golfer Tyler Seeling (Breezy Point, MN) tied a national record during the second round of the Island Resort Intercollegiate at Sage Run Golf Club in Harris (MI). Seeling matched the NCAA single-round record with a 12-under-par 60 Sunday. He posted three eagles in a five-hole stretch and added seven birdies for his second lap. He is the 21st player in college golf history to score a 60 and bested the SDSU program record by five strokes.
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.
