Emily Niebrugge
Sports editor / The Volante
LATEST PROJECTS
News
Parkson, Bon Homme finish 1-2 at State B Wrestling
RAPID CITY — Just moments after the chaos of the final wrestling match of his senior year, Turner Blasius’s voice cracked as the reality hit him that he had just joined a long family history of placing first at the state competition.
“I’ve been wrestling against the same guys the whole season, and it feels amazing to finally peak at the end,” said the 195-pound senior from Kimball-White Lake-Platte-Geddes.
“Everyone wants to be a basketball player, but the real glory comes in wrestling if you can stick with it,” he said with 30 family members waiting for him in the stands. “Our program has been down for a while now, so this feels amazing.”
Blasius’s dream wasn’t the only one to come true over the last weekend in February in Rapid City. Parkston secured another first place finish with 151 points after last year’s championship.
“This is what dreams are made of,” said Parkston’s head coach James Boehmer. “Every single one of our guys laid it all on the matt. They had experience from last year, and they earned it.”
Sophomore Blake Bietz (145) and Wes Dvorak (170) took home first-place titles, while Austn Ripp (160) came in second place for Parkston. Logan Mahoney (120) took third for the Trojans, while Dawson Semmler (138) finished fourth. Austin Bertram (220) took second by default from injury, and Miles Semmler came in fifth in 195. Dylan Colt (120) also placed fifth.
When Pat Rotert returned in 2001 to the Black Hills, those who knew him years before in Sturgis probably expected the once-troubled kid to be something of a troubled adult.
But he was a changed person. He moved back to become the Spearfish police chief.
Rotert, still chief in Spearfish, represents the kind of magic Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Black Hills has performed in its 52 years of matching up youngsters needing help with older folks eager to provide it.
Mary Victor, director of the organization, recently heard two stories -- one was Rotert's -- that she keeps close to her heart.
"It's these type of long-term stories that come back and feed our soul and help us keep plugging along," she said. "We work on blind faith, hoping we're planting all the right seeds, and this is what brings it to fruition."
Just a sample of my work. To see more or discuss possible work >>
Sports
Features
Photos
Big decision looms for Ellsworth: Officials say expansion of air space key to base's future
Expanding an air force base by about 28,000 square miles is no easy task, especially when it involves four states, pleasing numerous affected parties, and navigating an approval process that takes years.
That has been the case with the attempt by Ellsworth Air Force Base to dramatically expand the size of its Powder River Training Complex, where pilots of B-1 Bombers and other military planes prepare for military missions in which our national security is often at stake.
The expansion effort that began on Dec. 2, 2008, has other major implications, from saving the military millions of dollars a year, to firming up the future of Ellsworth, the Rapid City area's biggest employer and one of its top economic engines.
After nearly six years of study, numerous public hearings across four states, about 2,000 collected public comments, and many modifications to satisfy concerns of affected parties, the decision to allow the expansion of air space could come next month, according to military and congressional leaders. During the process, the Air Force has tried to assuage the worries of a vast group of divergent groups and individuals, from ranchers to historic preservationists to Native American tribes.