SIOUX FALLS — Regina Stoeser put the finishing touches on her sparkling South Dakota girls wrestling career on Saturday. 

The Harrisburg High School senior captured her fifth consecutive girls wrestling title at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center, joining Bon Homme/Scotland/Avon’s Peyton Hellmann as the only five-time winner in South Dakota girls history. 

Stoeser cemented her fifth championship with a pin over Sully Buttes’ Cateri Yellow Hawk (4:35) in the 130-pound state championship match. 

“I think just being the last one was really special,” Stoeser said. “I had a lot more to reflect on and just a lot of gratitude for everything. There’s just so much gratitude surrounding this one.”

In addition to her 130-pound title, Stoeser also has two 120-pound titles, a 126-pound championship and a 132-pound title. Saturday’s win over Yellow Hawk capped off a 20-0 season, and one that was nearly derailed by an injury. 

Stoeser suffered an elbow injury prior to the season, putting her senior campaign in jeopardy. She weighed her options and opted not to go through with surgery.

“I just prayed about it a lot and I had peace in the fact that I wasn’t going to do surgery, see how it went and honestly it’s doing really well and hopefully no surgery in my future,” Stoeser said. “I trusted what my heart was telling me to do and wrestled and obviously it worked out.”

Stoeser also stamped her legacy as one of the pioneers for South Dakota girls wrestling on Saturday. The South Dakota High School Activities Association sanctioned the sport in the 2020-21 season, Stoeser’s seventh-grade year. 

Five seasons and five state championships later, Stoeser said it’s rewarding to be part of the girls wrestling movement. 

“I never could have imagined that we would be where we are now and people are looking up to me,” Stoeser said. “There are so many little girls that it’s cool now to be in wrestling. When I joined it definitely wasn’t cool and I got picked on a lot. But for some reason I stuck it out.

“It brings me so much joy to know that I was part of the people that started this and led it. Now it’s such a big thing and people are so supportive of it. It just makes my heart really happy that other girls get to do it and don't have to be ostracized for it.” 

On Saturday, Stoeser also took pictures with the next generation of girls wrestlers after her fifth state championship.  

“They want to chase their dreams and I had great role models growing up,” Stoeser said. “If I can be that for them that just means the world if I can give back in any way that I can. This sport has done a lot more for me.”

Up next, Stoeser will join one of her role models in college. Stoeser has signed to wrestle collegiately at Fort Hays State University in Kansas, where Hellmann competes. 

Stoeser said the two started off as competitors, but quickly forged a friendship and both are now five-time state champions. 

“She’s just been a huge role model for me,” Stoeser said. “We’ve been through a lot together and to have five with her is one of the coolest things ever.”