By Rich Winter

605 Sports

Entering the Class A state wrestling tournament Brandon Valley brothers Brendon, Trevon, Jordon and Trason Oehme of Brandon have a combined record of 138-9

Each of the Lynx wrestlers are top seeded in their respective brackets and each is aiming for a state title this weekend in Rapid City. While brothers finding success on the mat together is not uncommon, it is believed that never in the history of South Dakota wrestling have four brothers won state titles in the same season. 

“We’ve talked about all four of us winning and it’s not something we totally disregard,” junior Trevon Oehme said. 

Oehme lightheartedy joked that if all four brothers did win that ESPN might show up at their house next week.

 “If we do it we’ll have ESPN at our house next week. We don’t want to get caught in the moment and the finals aren’t until Friday so until then we’re just taking it one match at a time.

Eighth-grader Brendon Oehme (34-4) is the top seed in the 106-pound class. Junior Trevon Oehme (31-3) is the top seed at 113. Senior Jordon Oehme is 38-1 and the top seed at 132 and senior Trason Oehme is top seeded at 145. 

While the Oehme children are dominant on the mat, parents Troy and Jen don’t come from wrestling backgrounds. When twins Jordon and Trason were five-years-old, their parents went looking for their kids to get involved in something.

“It’s one of those things where we said ‘Hey let’s give this a try,’ ” Jen Oehme said. “Troy got a hold of the Brandon Valley youth wrestling coaches and they decided they liked it.”

While the brothers enjoyed their time on the mat, things took a more serious turn when Legends of Gold wrestling asked Trevon and Trason to fill spots for a team in North Dakota. 

 “Trason was nine and Trevon was seven,” Jen Oehme said. “Going to North Dakota was a turning point and when they got back they made a conscious decision and said, ‘We want to do something with this.’”

Walk into the Oehme household and you will immediately see wrestling success. 

“We have this bannister in the house and at some point the boys just started hanging their medals on the bannister,” Jen Oehme said. “It wasn’t intentional but they kept doing it and there are now so many medals they start falling off. If you hit the bannister when you walk by it you can hear it jingle through the whole house.”

A pile of medals that has accumulated over the years hangs on a bannister in the Oehme family home - Photo courtesy of Jen Oehme

Trason Oehme won a state title in 2021 at 126 pounds as a sophomore and will be heading to the Air Force Academy after graduation.

“I took my visit down there in May and verbally committed a couple of days after,” he said. “I really enjoyed being there. I liked the aspect of having my life set for me and having a job right out of college plus I get to serve my country.” 

After finishing 6th, 2nd and 2nd in his last three state tournaments, Jordon Oehme will be looking for his first state title this week. 

“I have a picture of me losing last year that I’ve kept on my phone all year,” he said. “I’ve worked really hard this year.” 

After graduation Jordon will be taking his wrestling talents to NAIA Indiana Tech. He said of his choice that he liked the camp and the coaches and wanted to get out of the area a little bit and experience something new. 

Trevon Oehme captured a state title at 106 in 2022. He’ll be looking for another this week and says he has the perfect training partner in younger brother Brendon. 

“It’s pretty awesome that I get to wrestle him every day and beat him up,” he said. “I guess I have been working a lot harder than normal and I want to win again and not choke in the finals.”

The youngest brother, Brendon beat Watertown’s Gage Lohr in a dual against the Arrows late in the season. He says his brothers and that win over Lohr give him confidence going into the state meet. 

“My brothers have helped me a lot with mistakes that I make in practice and on the mat,” he said. “The win over Gage gave me a little boost of confidence but I still have a job to do this week.” 

With the two oldest boys headed off to Air Force and Indiana Tech, academics are a priority in the Oehme household. 

“I expect a lot out of the kids academically,” Jen Oehme said. “We do a lot of traveling in the offseason and it is understood that in order to travel they need to take care of everything else in their lives to do so.” 

While Jen Oehme is the vocal parent in the stands, husband Troy said he’s extremely proud of his boys. 

“There are really no words to describe what it is like to see my boys succeed on the mat,” he said “They put in a lot of work to get there and they deserve every single accolade they get.”