Sports

For the 2023 football season, Avon will see a new head coach take charge of the football program. The Pirates welcome new head coach, Justin Lukkes. Lukkes is a 2003 graduate of Avon High School. He grew up on a farm outside of Dante, and then moved to Avon when he started high school.

As I become more “mature', I find that being in the outdoors is more important to me each day. Much of it is just getting away from the office and the racket that’s associated with it! To me it’s an escape and a chance for me to get back to my roots.

The Andes Central/Dakota Christian Cross Country team is a very young team. They are coached by first year coach, Beth Harrington. There are no seniors or juniors on the team and only one sophomore and one freshman. Only one returning athlete has experience, and that is Eilie DeHaan.

On Saturday, August 26th the Wagner JV and Varsity teams traveled to Parkston to compete in the first tournament of the year. The JV team finished the day 1-3. Losses came from Parkston (15-25, 23-25), McCook Central/Montrose (17-25, 25-22, 7-15), and Warner (25-20, 13-25, 9-15).

The Lady Raider’s Volleyball team entered the 2023 season ranked #3 by the Midco Sports SD Class A Volleyball Media Poll. Last year the volleyball team ended the season playing in the State Tournament, bringing home 7th place and ending the season with a 32-5 record.

The Lady Raider Volleyball team traveled to Vermillion on Thursday, August 24th to face the Tanagers. The Raiders came on strong and earned the win with scores of 25-9, 25-18, and 25-12.

The 2023 cross country team is comprised of 16 runners. They are coached by Patrick Belling and Mieke Slaba. This is Coach Belling’s third year coaching the Raider’s cross-country team. Senior members of the team are Jenny Barnett, Vincent Bechen, Caleb Zephier, Jason Weston and Owen Bekanich.

On Friday, August 25, The Wagner Red Raiders started their 2023 Cross Country season at The Beresford XC Invite. This was one of the largest meets the Wagner Cross Country will take on. This meet had 31 teams and a total of 668 runners and the Raiders faced teams from class A and B.

The Red Raider football team was defeated 46-6 by winner on Friday night. The Raiders were in the red zone 5 times but were only able to turn one trip into a touchdown. Jhett Breen lead the raiders on the ground with 100 yards rushing.