By Rich Winter

605 Sports

As the US Marine Corps Junior & 16U Nationals begin Saturday in Fargo, North Dakota, Brandon Valley senior Navarro Schunke is a man on a mission.

Wrestling at a national championship event Schunke, a four-time South Dakota Class A state champion, has been chomping at the bit since seeing what competitors will be in attendance. 

“I’ve been told every top kid in the country is going to be there,” Schunke said. “I want to be the best in the country and I’m using this tournament as motivation to move myself up in the national rankings.” 

Schunke pays attention to those national rankings and said he has never been ranked No. 1 but has been in the top-five for a long time. 

Losses to those ranked ahead of him are seared into the memory of an athlete who will be looking to become South Dakota’s first five-time Class A champion in February 2024. 

“I lost to the No. 3 ranked kid at a tournament in Virginia by a single point about a month ago,” he said. 

It has been a busy summer for Schunke who has been practicing at South Dakota State University and wrestling freestyle, folkstyle and Greco Roman at tournaments across the country. 

Putting on the Team South Dakota singlet means a great deal to Schunke. For a young man that is being recruited in both wrestling and football, representing his country is the ultimate dream.

“My ultimate goal is to make a world team,” he said.

That dream nearly became a reality about a month ago when Schunke competed in the United States U20 Wrestling Championships in Geneva, Ohio. 

“I think I only wrestled one high school kid at that event,” he said. “I wrestled a kid from Oklahoma State and a guy from South Dakota State University and a bunch of different schools.” 

While he got beat out in the freestyle competition, Schunke finished third in the Greco Roman discipline. 

The Fargo experience is nothing new for Schunke who was a double-champion (freestyle and Greco Roman) at that tournament several years ago. 

In February Navarro Schunke won his fourth consecutive Class A wrestling title - Rodney Haas - 605 Sports

For all of his awards and accomplishments on the mat, wrestling might not even be Schunke’s best sport. A standout offensive lineman for Brandon Valley, the 6-foot-5 and 285-pound Schunke has received scholarship offers from Arizona State, Illinois, Kansas, Kansas State, Nebraska, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Notre Dame and Wisconsin. 

“My level of love for football is pretty high,” he said. 

The decision of what sport to play and where to play it will come shortly after the completion of the tournament in Fargo.

“To be honest that choice will come down to me putting myself in the best position to succeed,” he said. “I’m looking for the coaches that will get me there, not just for college but for dreams after that.” 

The upcoming decision is not an easy one. 

“This is really tough because I love both very much,” he said. “I’m still figuring out a few things. Either way I’ll be happy but at the same time I’ll be sad to lose one of the things I’ve been doing my whole life.”

Schunke, who comes from Native American and Hispanic descent, hails from an athletic family. His mother played college softball and his dad wrestled in college. Both parents coached their respective sports at the University of Northern Colorado where Schuke spent the first 10 years of his life.