SALEM — Scott Andal, the longtime architect of the McCook Central/Montrose wrestling program, will step down after this season.

Andal, 59, will resign following the season, ending a head coaching career that began in the 1992-93 school year. Under Andal’s watch, MCM enjoyed sustained success and became one of South Dakota’s most respected wrestling programs.

“There wasn’t a lot of wrestling tradition here,” Andal said. “I am not a cocky person. But I am very proud of what I built and with the coaches that helped me build it.”

Andal has coached his entire career at McCook Central, but missed the 2004-05 season for active military duty. Originally, Andal circled the 2024-25 season as his final season.

He opted to come back for the 2025-26 season, and decided in December it would be his final season as MCM’s head coach. 

Andal’s daughter, Landry, is a freshman on the MCM girls basketball team, and the challenge of balancing his roles as coach and father factored into his decision.

“Last month we had a wrestling quad in Salem and my daughter was playing basketball over in Montrose,” Andal said. “My wife (Hope) was sending me snaps and in between duals I am sitting there on my phone. I am trying to watch my daughter and I have JV kids out here trying to watch them wrestle. That’s when over Christmas break I definitely made the decision I was going to hang it up at the end of this season.”

But the longtime wrestling figure plans on being involved with the sport. Andal hopes to continue working with youth wrestlers, possibly commentating matches online and remaining a regular presence at tournaments.

“I am going to miss the competition,” Andal said. “The mat time. Probably what I am not going to miss — practices. I will miss being on that corner cheering those kids on. Now, I might be in the stands cheering them on.”

McCook Central/Montrose wrestling coach Scott Andal hugs some of his wrestlers after being recognized for his final season in coaching during the McCook Central/Montrose wrestling invitational Saturday Jan. 3 2026 in Salem. (Rodney Haas / 605 Sports) S during the McCook Central/Montrose wrestling invitational Saturday Jan. 3 2026 in Salem. (Rodney Haas / 605 Sports)

Through wrestling, Andal built countless relationships and was honored with a 25-year coaching award from the South Dakota Wrestling Coaches Association in 2018. Andal said he will cherish those relationships — especially with fellow coaches — as he becomes the next longtime coach to step down.
“I still talk to them every time they come to watch tournaments, and now to be the old guy heading out to the pastures, is kind of unique after I've seen a lot of great coaches leave the sport because it was their time,” Andal said. 

Andal’s path to becoming a longtime wrestling coach began in Parker, where he was raised alongside four siblings by his parents, Elmer and Connie.

A Parker High School graduate, Andal’s desire to coach was ignited when an injury derailed his senior season. 

“What drove into wrestling was just unfinished business,” Andal said. “I wrestled all the way through high school. I was no state champion. I went to college. I had a little bit more success. I got injured. But I never got to be that champion I wanted to be. So I just thought I loved the sport and I wanted to pour my heart into it.”  

After wrestling at Huron College for a season, Andal attended Dakota State and played football and competed in track and field. He was a conference champion in the pole vault. 

Shortly after college graduation, Andal landed the wrestling job at McCook Central (later McCook Central/Montrose) in the 1992-93 school year.

A staple at the school, in the community and in the wrestling room, Andal has helped the Fighting Cougars become a consistently strong program, contending for podium finishes both individually and as a team.

“We went on about a 10-year sprint here where we were getting eight to 10 kids in the state competing,” Andal said. “We didn’t win state team titles. But being on the podium or getting even that top-eight finish was huge in our program. To finally see that prosper the last 10-11 years was awesome. To be the coach of it was awesome.”

While pushing his wrestlers to reach the podium, Andal also stressed that life extends beyond wrestling, with bigger moments still to come. 

“We always say making a state tournament, being on the podium or winning a state title, when you don’t accomplish it, you are that short, it feels like your life is over,” Andal said. “It feels like the worst thing. But I tell them every time it happens to a kid because I went through it myself, and I tell them you’ve got your adult life in front of you.”

The mantra came from longtime Parker High School wrestling coach Gary Kropuenske, who inspired Andal to become a coach. Now, Andal will live his own words as he turns the page to the next chapter.

“It’s been a fun ride,” Andal said. “I am sure when that last whistle blows it will be a hard one. But I have to take all the talking I did to my kids. I have to remember that now. I have to remember I still have more things in front of my life.”