The South Dakota NewsMedia Association held its annual convention over the weekend in Deadwood, where it announced the results of the 2025 SDNA Better News Media Contest.

605 Sports staff members Matt Gade, Rodney Haas and Ryan Deal were recognized for their work in 2025.

Gade took first place in sports photo with a photograph from the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships at the Sturgis Buffalo Chip last August. Haas took second place in the sports photo category for a photo of Tri-Valley softball advancing to the Class A state championship game.

Paco "The Texas Punisher" Castillo takes a punch to the face from Dan "The Primal" Godoy in the first fight of the night during the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships at the Sturgis Buffalo Chip on Saturday, Aug. 2, during the 85th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Godoy won the fight by TKO in the third round. (Matt Gade/605 Sports)

Deal took third place in Sports Columns for his columns on “Remembering Fred Paulsen,” “Remembering Josh Mueller’s 2001 epic state tournament for the West Central Trojans” and “The Lakota Nation Invitational is good for the soul.”

In April, Gade was named the Sports Photographer of the Year by the Northern Exposure MN photojournalism competition. Northern Exposure MN is an eight-state regional photojournalism competition hosted by the University of Minnesota. 

Gade also took second place in the Photographer of the Year category behind the Wisconsin State Journal’s Owen Ziliak. Gade also placed in individual categories: Feature, General News, Sports Action and Sports Feature.

605 Sports correspondent and Black Hills State University junior Duncan Martin was recognized with an Honorable Mention in the Sports Action category in the college division for a photo from the Santee vs Oelrichs boys basketball game during the Lakota Nation Invitational last December.

Santee’s Ronald Goodteacher (1) draws the contact at the basket as Oelrichs’ Jesse Her Many Horses (12) during a game in the Lakota Nation Invitational on Dec. 20 at the Barnett Center in Rapid City. (Duncan Martin/605 Sports)