By Rich Winter

605 Sports

Following Monday’s 5-2 win over Elk-Point Jefferson it took a minute for the Dell Rapids players to untangle themselves from mobbing each other after claiming the Class B American Legion state title. 

It took those same players even longer to disperse from the dugout after all the ceremonies had ended. 

“For the town of Dell Rapids this was huge because we hadn’t won since 2018,” Brayden Pankonen said. “For us as a team this will be the last time we ever play sports together and we all bawled our eyes out. It meant a lot to all of us to end our Dell Rapids careers with a win.”

Leading 5-2 with two on and one out in the seventh inning Dell Rapids coach Danny Miller didn’t hesitate to bring in Pankonen, an all-state center fielder to close the game.

Pankonen picked off the runner on first then induced a ground ball giving Dell Rapids its first Class B title since 2018.

The Dell Rapids baseball win capped a remarkable athletic career for Pankonen, who was an all-state defensive back for the Class 11A state champion Quarriers, a Class A second-team all-state selection in basketball (20.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg and 4.9 assists per game). In baseball, Pankonen earned all-state honors as a center fielder, batting .400 and leading his Legion team with 44 hits and runs scored with 43. 

“I kinda joke with my boys (teammates) and ask them besides Pierre’s Lincoln Kienholz, who is the only other South Dakota athlete that was all-state in three sports,” Pankonen said. “They all kinda laugh and just give me crap cuz I’m one of the guys.”

Some of Pankonen’s earliest memories have him playing sports and always with a ball in his hand. He distinctly remembers being dropped off at day-care at four years old and crying because his parents left him. 

He didn’t spend a lot of time with the other kids in day-care.

“The one thing that kept me occupied was they had a basketball hoop in the back,” he said. “I’d go out there for hours, come in and have lunch and then go back out and shoot until my parents came to pick me up.” 

A member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe, Pankonen said one of his first athletic loves was actually football. Pankonen was serious about football but he says his grade/age group always had a losing record. 

Dell Rapids went on a tear Pankonen’s junior year, eventually being bounced by Madison in the Class 11A semifinals. This year that same group of kids that lost at all levels during middle school defeated West Central 24-7 to win the Class 11A state football title. 

“It was pretty crazy after winning that and coming home and seeing the entire community welcome us home,” Pankonen said. 

Little kids were coming up to the Dell Rapids players asking them for autographs and the 2022 state title was the first for the Quarriers since 2014. 

“This was a special group of guys and it was extra special to win with the group of coaches we had that care more about us as kids than football players,” Pankonen said. “That one holds a special place in my heart because the state championship was for the whole community.” 

A handful of schools recruited Pankonen to play football and a bunch of schools wanted him to play baseball. 

“Baseball was my first love and I did travel stuff at an early age,” he said. “This wraps up my baseball career but I will definitely be hanging out with the old guys next summer and playing amateur baseball.” 

Midway through his sophomore basketball season Pankonen was inserted into the starting lineup after draining 11 3-pointers while coming off the bench. 

“We got fourth in state that year,” he said. “Each of the last two years our season ended a little earlier than we had hoped. We didn’t win some games we expected to win.” 

Pankonen finished his Dell Rapids basketball career with just over 1,200 points. He holds the records for most 3-pointers made in a game, season and career. 

Just before the state of the basketball postseason last February, Pankonen committed to play hoops for Dakota Wesleyan.

Just before the team lost to Madison in the basketball regionals, Dakota State entered the picture. Three days after losing to Madison, Pankonen picked up the phone to visit Dakota State.

“In the end it just felt like Madison was right for me,” he said. 

The state baseball championship capped Pankonen’s high school career, and on his way out he had plenty of people to thank.

“One thing that has always stood out to me is the booster club,” he said. “They are second to none in making snacks for us or preparing meals for us before and after any postseason games. We as athletes feed off the community but that community supports us and it is a pretty cool thing to have the whole community behind you.”

Pankonen noted all of the coaches, at all levels that have helped him find success and knows he is lucky to be in the position he’s in. 

“I am very blessed as a person and as an athlete,” he said. “I can’t thank the Dell Rapids community enough and it is a pretty cool feeling knowing that you made all-state in three sports.”