By Rich Winter

605 Sports

WINNER — When Winner eighth-grader Apollo Willuweit won the Class B state title at 106-pounds on March 1, the Willuweit finally was able to celebrate three generations of state champions.

Wayne Willuweit, Apollo’s grandfather, won three state titles for Burke in 1971-73 at 98 pounds, 112 pounds and 105 pounds, respectively. Clint Willuweit was the second Class B wrestler to win three state titles with the first being Greg Schmidt of Redfield in 1964-66.

Apollo Willuweit’s father, Clint Willuweit, won a Class B title for Gregory in 1997, finishing the year with a 37-0 record. Clint’s brother Justin won a state title for Gregory in 1993 at 125 pounds, finishing 31-4 that season. 

Apollo Willuweit finished the season with a 44-0 record completing the perfect season and producing what might be the first three-generations of state champions in South Dakota history. 

The Willuweit family came close to completing the three generations of champions during three recent state tournaments. 

In 2018, older brother Atlas Willuweit reached the state championship match at 120 pounds losing to Philip/Kadoka Area/Wall’s McCoy Peterson. 

Apollo’s other brother Achilles Willuweit reached the Class B 285 championships in 2020 and ‘21. In 2020, Achilles Willuweit lost to Bon Homme/Avon’s Micah DeBoer. In 2021, Willuweit lost to Wessington Springs/Woonsocket/Wolsey-Wessington’s Quentin Christensen.