ONIDA – As his time as a high school basketball player is winding down, Wesley Wittler is ready to step up.

The senior standout for Sully Buttes has an impressive prep resume, which includes a state football championship. However, something is noticeably absent: a trip to the state basketball tournament at Wachs Arena in Aberdeen. Wittler plans on doing something about that in the next week.

“It’s my last year, so it definitely means everything trying to make it to be able to play three more games in arguably one of the best arenas to play high school state tournaments in, even Class AA and Class A,” Wittler said.

The Chargers came close a year ago, but came up short against Wall in the SoDak 16. Wittler couldn’t bring himself to watch a replay of the game until six months after the fact.

“I don’t like losing,” Wittler said. “It makes me mad.”

Wittler hasn’t done much losing since he became a cornerstone of the Sully Buttes football and basketball teams.

He began playing basketball in kindergarten, three years before he was able to compete in football in Onida.

“I was playing basketball with my brothers (Nick and Marshall) for three years before I even touched a football,” Wittler said.

Wittler broke onto the basketball scene as an eighth-grader, and became a freshman starter for the Chargers who took advantage of his long-range shooting ability.

“When I was a freshman, I’m pretty sure my only job was to shoot 3s, which I was good at,” Wittler said. “I could shoot it really well when I was a kid.”

Fast forward four years and Wittler’s role has changed dramatically.

“Now, I’m probably one of the second or third tallest kids on the team. I gotta go get rebounds,” Wittler said. “Probably less of a shooting role probably. I still shoot it, but I don’t make it as much as I used to. When we’re struggling I have to be the guy that is able to go get a bucket at the rim when we need a bucket.”

While Wittler admits to not having the same accuracy from distance as he used to, he has found numerous other ways to help the Chargers. He recently hauled down 17 rebounds in one game.

“Whatever I can do the help the team win. It definitely feels like maybe I’m not shooting it as well for sure, not hanging around the 3-point line as much … but I’m able to get to the rim now,” Wittler said. “I feel like I can go up and challenge a 6-4 guy at the rim and still get the bucket or at least draw a foul.”

Meanwhile, Wittler has blossomed as a football player, quarterbacking the Chargers to the Class 9B state championship a year ago. He was named the title game’s Most Valuable Player.

“I remember playing obviously, but it’s kind of a blur now,” Wittler said of his recollection of that championship contest. “I always say how I think the happiest I’ve ever been in sports is actually beating Canistota in the semifinal game, knowing that Sully Buttes finally made it back to the state championship game. Like I was a part of that.”

In fact Wittler loves the sport of football so much, he plans on playing the sport next fall at Northwestern in Orange City, Iowa, where his sister Stevie is a student.

“I’m really blessed to have the opportunity to play football and that’s why I chose it,” Wittler said. “There’s so many things that go into football that I love. That was pretty much my decision. I love the culture of football.”

Wittler said as quarterback he feels more responsible for how the team fares than he does while on a basketball court.

“In basketball, if I’m not playing good, we might lose, but I have four other guys on the court that are just as a capable of winning a basketball game. … The ball is always in my hands though for football,” Wittler said. “I get the ball snapped to me every time so it feels like a little more is on my shoulders kind of in football, rather than in basketball, if it’s clicking, I don’t have to touch it every possession for us to score.”

And when you play for Sully Buttes, the bar is always set high, regardless of the sport and Wittler wouldn’t want it any other way.

“The expectations are high for sure. I’m not going into any season thinking that I’m going to lose in the playoffs and I’m going to be OK with it. I’m always looking for gold, so that definitely brings pressure to myself and what I’m trying to get,” Wittler said. “I don’t really feel pressure around myself, maybe as other people think about me. Within my team, within my guys, five of us on the basketball court, nine of us on the field, there’s just no pressure, you just have to execute.”

Both of Wittler’s parents attended Sully Buttes, and Wittler counts it a blessing to grow up in the Onida community.

“I think it’s an amazing community. It’s so tight knit. Everyone is so close to each other,” Wittler said. “Being a Charger is a special thing. A winning culture, I think it is.”

The all-state performer in football and basketball knows the Chargers have a tall task ahead of them as they attempt to reach this year’s state basketball tournament. Sully Buttes is rated ninth in the final Class B poll.

“We’re not a big team at all. You look at the top six teams, and they’ve got 6-4 all across the board,” Wittler said. “We’re definitely an underdog, which I love. People aren’t talking about us, which is perfect. So when we go shock someone, it’s like, oh wow, where did these guys come from?”

Wittler, who has scored around 1,700 career points, would love to play his final three games at the Barnett Center as tries to lead the Chargers to their first state tourney since 2019 after COVID wiped out their last qualification a year later.

“It would be an absolute blessing if I got to play in there in front of all those people,” Wittler said.

He knows what it would mean for his home town to make it back to the big stage.

“It would be special for our community and kind of show like hey we’re building something here again,” Wittler said.

As the Chargers start their journey on the road to Aberdeen this evening in region play, Wittler is planning for a big finish to his prep hoops career.

“I do feel like if we don’t make it this year it’s kind of a bust,” Wittler said. “That’s the expectations and the high standards that I hold for my myself and all my teammates, and I think that they would probably say if we don’t make it this year and don’t make a run in the postseason it does feel like a bust.”

With that as the postseason background, you can bet that Wittler will play a major role in the team’s accomplishments no matter what happens. He has thrived in big moments before and won’t shy away from making key plays if the situation requires them.

“I always tell my guys, when we’re in pressure situations we just have to calm down. I’ve been there,” Wittler said. “I’ve been in a million games like that before. So I feel like I understand it. … When it comes down to the stretch … I would love for the ball to be in my hands, because I feel like I’m going to make the best play for the team, if it’s passing or I’m going to get a bucket.”