Two former area wrestlers to be inducted into HOF

Six former wrestlers will be inducted into the South Dakota Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame later this month at the Class A and B state wrestling tournaments in Rapid City and Sioux Falls.

Here is a look at each wrestler.

* Paul Konechne wrestled for Kimball from 1993-1997 and was a five-time state place winner. He earned All-American honors as a freshman at South Dakota State, took second in the nation as a sophomore and won national titles at 141 pounds his junior and senior years.

He still holds the career-wins record at SDSU (137) and was the South Dakota athlete of the year in 2001.

* Tim Weisz was a state champion out of Parkston in 1982. That summer, he wrestled for the S.D. cultural exchange wrestling team that traveled to Germany.

He wrestled at SDSU for a year before transferring to Northern State where he was a three-time national qualifier.

He was an assistant coach at Northern in 1986-87 and was the head coach at Aberdeen from 1990-96.

* Chad Lamer wrestled for Tri-Valley and won state titles in 1990 and 1991. He was a four-time All-American at SDSU and won three straight national titles in 1994-96. He was a member of the Hawkeye Club from 1997-2004 and was in the U.S. Olympic trials in 2000 (fourth) and 2004 (seventh).

He was second in 2001 and 2002 in the U.S. Freestyle World Team trials and was a three-time U.S. Freestyle National placer.

* Justin Harty was a three-time 285-pound state champion for Lead in 1990-92. He was a four-time All-American heavyweight at the University of North Carolina and a four-time Atlantic Coast Conference champion.

He took eighth at nationals in 1994 and 1995, second in 1996 and sixth in 1997 and was the ACC wrestler of the year in 1996.

* Joseph Larson wrestled for Sioux Falls Lincoln and has been a coach at Midwest Wrestling for 18 years. He was also one of the founding members of Midwest Wrestling

* Wade Lager was a six-year varsity wrestler for Miller from 1980-85 and wrestled in five state tournaments. He won state titles in 1984 and 1985 and was the Class B outstandings wrestler in 1985.

His career record was 171-18-7 and he set the state record for career wins (171) in 1985. Lager wrestled for Northern State and qualified for the national tournament.

Tags: hall of fame, our towns, sports, wrestling, parkston, kimball