Colby Harrell’s winter consists of wrestling takedowns and swimming strokes. 

The Miller High School senior is a dual-sport athlete that competes in two physically demanding sports — wrestling and swimming — during the winter sports season. Harrell splits his time practicing and competing in both sports, including driving 45 miles for swimming practice in Huron.

It might appear grueling for an 18-year-old, who also maintains a 3.39 grade point average. But not for Harrell, who sees it as a challenge.  

“It’s more like a challenge because everybody else told me I was crazy and I couldn’t do it,” Harrell said. “Because it is. It’s an hour and a half round trip to go swim in Huron. On top of that, taking up a sport like wrestling where you are committed all the time, and you have to constantly be watching your food and you have to be very disciplined. I don't see it as grueling. I see it as an opportunity to do something that not a lot of kids can or want to do.”

Miller/Highmore-Harrold's Colby Harrell wrestles against Sunshine Bible Academy's Jimmy Burma at the Big Dakota Conference meet on Feb. 3 in Fort Pierre. (Rodney Haas / 605 Sports)

It was an opportunity that arose last season for Harrell, who wrestled when he was younger before focusing primarily on indoor swimming during the winter. The Miller/Highmore-Harrold wrestling team had an open spot on their dual roster and the coaches persuaded him to join the Bandits. 

Harrell, who joined the wrestling team in mid-January, went through morning practices to reach the 10-practice limit to be eligible for competition and got into wrestling shape. 

“We put a lot of extra time in,” Miller/Highmore-Harrold coach Ryan Resel said “He was doing morning practice with wrestling and in evening practice, too. We were doing a lot of drilling just trying to get positioning and his technique caught up, but Colby is such a strong, athletic kid naturally that he’s picked the sport up super fast.”

Harrell helped the Bandits reach the Class B dual tournament, but just missed qualifying for the state wrestling meet last season. Harrell and the Bandits will compete at the Class B state dual meet on Saturday in Watertown.

Then it’s the Region 3B tournament on Feb. 17 in Parkston. 

“He’s definitely capable of making that state tournament and I know that his goal is to be a state qualifier and try to be a state placewinner, too,” Resel said. 

Harrell splits time between swimming, wrestling  

Harrell has been “a swimmer my entire life,” but the only problem was Miller (population: 1,300) doesn’t have a swimming pool. The closest pool was in Huron, which meant regular trips for practices and competitions. 

And not just for him, but for his parents — Lynn and Trish Harrell. Colby wasn’t old enough to drive at the time, and his parents took turns driving him to Huron for practice. 

“We never ever missed a practice because mom and dad couldn’t go,” Harrell said. “But they were super committed, and their only deal was if I am going to do this, I have to have all As and Bs. I can’t have any Cs or anything. Because if I can't put out the best possible grades that they know that I can do, then why would they spend all of their extra free time taking me to swim all the time.”

It’s a deal Colby has kept for the past six years. He’s currently a member of the Dakota Riptide, a co-op of the Huron and Mitchell swimming teams.

He’s competed at meets across South Dakota, along with competitions in Minnesota, North Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa. Harrell skipped a pair of wrestling tournaments this season to compete at swim meets in Sioux Falls and Mitchell. 

Harrell competes in the short distance freestyle and butterfly strokes, along with relays. 

Harrell splits his time between both swimming and wrestling. He wakes up at 5:30 a.m. to lift with the wrestling team, and then after school, it’s either swimming or wrestling practice. 

He swims Monday, Wednesday and Friday, while he wrestles Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. 

While some might think the two sports complement each other, Harrell said that’s not the case. 

“Swimming and wrestling are very different and the same,” Harrell said. “They both require a lot of conditioning. Swimming, it’s essentially like a track meet, except that you have to hold your breath the whole time; control your breath and hold your breath a lot more. It's more flexible, like strength and speed, where in wrestling you are always flexing your muscles.”

The two sports share one commonality and Harrell said “Swimming and wrestling are pretty hard on your shoulders and it’s definitely taken a toll this year. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

‘Wrestling his best’ 

Last season, Harrell missed qualifying for the state tournament by one place. It was still an impressive feat considering he was adjusting to the sport. 

“It has been surprising and that it’s hard to do,” Resel said. “But with his determination and work ethic, and how he wants to be good at everything he does, it just made it that much easier. In swimming he’s a sprinter. So he does real short course stuff. I think that explosiveness that it takes to swim just carries over into wrestling. He’s an explosive type wrestler for sure.”

As a junior, Harrell said he relied on his strength and focused on overpowering opponents. This season, he’s more tactical on the mat. 

“This year, I actually kind of think about things and manage matches a little bit,” Harrell said. “That was a huge thing. Here at the end of the season, I am finally aware of where I am at in the matches and on the mat. It’s a game of anticipation and I finally feel like I have some of that anticipation.” 

Miller/Highmore-Harrold's Colby Harrell wrestles at the Big Dakota Conference meet on Feb. 3 in Fort Pierre. (Rodney Haas / 605 Sports)

Harrell, who competes in the 190-pound weight class, has a 22-19 record this season. He’s coming off a fourth-place finish at the recent Big Dakota Conference meet. 

“He’s wrestling his best,” Resel said. “He just keeps getting better every day. He is really concentrating on his techniques and his match awareness. Knowing what the score is and what he needs to do to try to score points.”

Harrell, who also participates in football and track and field, received scholarship offers to swim in college. Harrell, however, plans to attend the University of South Dakota solely for academics and will major in business law.

And Resel said he will excel in whatever he chooses to do in life. 

“He’s just a super respectable kid,” Resel said. “He gets along with everybody in the room. He takes a lot of time out to help the younger kids that are in the room. He’s just been quite a leader to be on the team. For the short time that he’s been a part of the team, he’s really grown into a leader.”