A few weeks ago I asked my Twitter followers how they would put together an all-time great college dual team with the current weights using athletes from their home states. The responses were great and really got me curious. So, I did the research and have now putting together the best possible team for some of the top states, including some formidable back-up teams.

Previous States: Pennsylvania, California, Oklahoma, Iowa, New Jersey, Ohio, New York, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri

Now to South Dakota, which packs a strong punch while being the 46th least populated state. A special thanks to Barry Manfore of Pierre, SD for helping contribute to this team.

125 Starter: Gary Wallman, 1967-68

Hometown: Miller

College: Iowa State

NCAA Finishes: 4, 6 (123)

From Gary “Smokey” Wallman’s South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame page - The patriarch of the most famous wrestling family in South Dakota, Wallman was the state's first four-time high school wrestling champion and the state's first NCAA Division I wrestling All-American. At Iowa State, he was a two-time All-American, placing fourth in 1967 and sixth in '68 and going 94-11. He was a two-time Midlands champ and he also won the UCLA and SCI tourneys.

133 Starter: Randy Lewis, 1978-81

Hometown: Rapid City

College: Iowa

NCAA Finishes: 2, 1 (126), 1, 7 (134)

Under coach Dan Gable at Iowa, Randy Lewis went 127-11-1 with 64 pins while winning two individual national titles and earning AA honors four times. Lewis’ sophomore and junior seasons, the years he won national titles, he went 76-1. His senior year, Lewis suffered a dislocated elbow during a match, and finished the season using virtually one arm but still managed to finish 7th in the country. 

Lewis would continue using his crazy, high point scoring style to win a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics. Lewis also made the 1980 Olympic Team that boycotted the Games while still in college. In addition to the two Olympic Teams, Lewis made the 1982 World Team. In the 1988 Olympic Trials, Lewis lost to John Smith in the finals.

Watch Randy Lewis talk about his classic matches with John Smith below.

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141 Starter: Paul Konechne, 1998-2001

Hometown: Kimball

College: South Dakota State

NCAA DII Finishes: 6 (134), 2, 1, 1 (141)

This pick is bending the rules a bit, but seems justified when realizing that South Dakota has never had an All-American at the 141-pound weight class and the only 142-pound All-American is Lincoln McIlravy, who is at 149 because he spent 3 years at 150. Anyway, Paul Konechne wrestled at SDSU when they competed in Division II. While competing for the Jackrabbits, Konechne was a 4X AA, 3X finalist, and 2X champ. He compiled a career record of 137-30. No matter the division, that’s not too bad.

Paul Konechne is a 2️⃣x national champion for the Jackrabbits and was inducted into the Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016. Additionally, Konechne is being inducted into the Jackrabbit Hall of Fame next weekend (11/9) ?#GetJacked pic.twitter.com/JTqgiIKNBE

— Jackrabbit Wrestling (@GoJacksWrestle) October 31, 2019

149 Starter: Lincoln McIlravy, 1993-97

Hometown: Phillips

College: Iowa

NCAA Finishes: 1 (142), 1, 2, 1 (150)

After getting his redshirt pulled his freshman year, Lincoln McIlravy made it all the way to the national finals where he defeated 3X Gerry Abbas in a wild 16-15 match in the finals. McIlravy went undefeated and won his second-straight title his sophomore year. The only loss his junior year came in the NCAA finals to Steve Marianetti, who McIlravy had defeated in the Big Ten finals just two weeks prior. After taking a redshirt year, McIlravy returned to once again go undefeated and win his 3rd NCAA title. This time McIlravy defeated Chris Bono in the finals and won OW of the 1997 NCAA Championships.

McIlravy went 96-3 while wrestling for coach Gable at Iowa. He still sits at 2nd all-time in career winning percentage for the Hawkeyes with .970. 

McIlravy made a smooth transition to freestyle wrestling. He won World bronze in 1998, World silver in 1999, and Olympic bronze in 2000.

157 Starter: Corey Wallman, 1997-2000

Hometown: Freeman

College: Wisconsin

NCAA Finishes: DNQ, DNQ, NQ, 4 (157)

Originally from Freeman, S.D., Corey Wallman earned trips to the NCAA Championships in 1999 and 2000. At the 2000 NCAA tournament Wallman earned All-American honors to cap his senior campaign. He only lost to Brett Matter and TJ Williams by a combined 3 points to finish in fourth. Additionally, the Badgers twice awarded Wallman with the team's Pat Terry Most Dedicated Award. After finishing up his competitive career, he served as an assistant coach under Barry Davis.

165 Starter: Robert Kokesh, 2012-15

Hometown: Wagner

College: Nebraska

NCAA Finishes: R12 (165), 3, 4, 3 (174)

Yes Robert Kokesh competed most of his career at 174, but in order to fit both him and Logan Storley into the South Dakota lineup, Kokesh is going to have to take one for the team and cut a few extra pounds like he did his freshman year. Being the tough farm kid that Kokesh is, I think he’ll get by alright. After going 2-2 at NCAAs his freshman year, Kokesh never finished below 4th place. He sits at 2nd all-time in Husker history for both wins (144) and winning percentage (.906). Kokesh’s senior year his only loss came to Tyler Wilps, who he had beaten at NCAAs in 2014, 3-2.

Watch Robert Kokesh defeat Mike Evans at the 2015 NCAA Championships below.

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174 Starter: Logan Storley, 2012-15

Hometown: Webster

College: Minnesota

NCAA Finishes: 6, 4, 3, 4 (174)

Now undefeated in MMA, Storley was the real deal at Minnesota. Without redshirting, Storley went 119-27 with 59 bonus point victories and 27-3 in Big Ten duals. Storley was part of the group including Kokesh, Mike Evans, and Matt Brown in the Big Ten at 174 that beat each other up for the better part of their careers. Every year of Storley’s career he reached the NCAA quarterfinals.

Watch Logan Storley pin 2X NCAA champion Chris Perry.

184 Starter: Jim Scherr, 1981-84

Hometown: Mobridge

College: Nebraska

NCAA Finishes: 6, NQ, 1 (177)

Before finishing 5th at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, Jim Scherr won a national title at the University of Nebraska. Scherr defeated Iowa’s NCAA champion and 4X finalist Duane Goldman 3-2 in the finals. Scherr’s career record as a Husker was 109-25-4.

197 Starter: Bill Scherr, 1981-84

Hometown: Mobridge

College: Nebraska

NCAA Finishes: 4, 3, 1 (190)

The most decorated wrestler internationally on this list, Bill Scherr (twin brother of Jim) won five World/Olympic medals. The first was a gold medal just one year out of college at the 1985 World Championships in Budapest. He then won either bronze or silver the next four years, including bronze at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. At Nebraska, Scherr went 133-18 en route to 3 All-American finishes including 1st in 1984. He holds the Husker record for most dual victories with 71.

285 Starter: Brock Lesnar, 1999-2000

Hometown: Webster

College: Minnesota

NCAA Finishes: 2, 1 (285)

From a Sports Illustrated in 2000, “Minnesota wrestling coach J Robinson calls Lesnar an anomaly, a freakish combination of size (56-inch chest and 21-inch biceps), speed, strength and skill. Robinson has seen Lesnar, who is 20 to 30 pounds heavier and four inches taller than the average college heavyweight, throw 260-pound men around like dolls and execute finesse moves rarely used by guys in his weight class. Since joining the Golden Gophers after winning the national junior college heavyweight title at Bismarck (N.Dak.) College in 1998, Lesnar has been all but unbeatable.”

While Lesnar wasn’t totally unbeatable, he was pretty close. His record at Minnesota was 55-3 and including his JUCO was 106-5. After losing to Stephen Neal 3-2 in the NCAA finals his junior year, he beat Wes Hand in the finals his senior year, avenging his only loss of the season.

Lesnar would go on to become a WWE and UFC champion as well as get signed and play in several preseason games with the Minnesota Vikings.

Quick reminder of what Brock Lesnar looked like in 2000 https://t.co/Gfqt6R3imZ pic.twitter.com/KbKUaE5X13

— JD Rader (@rader_jd) January 12, 2020

Listen to Brandon Eggum tell a story about the time Brock Lesnar lifted a car.

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There you have it, the greatest South Dakota D1 lineup of all-time.