By Rich Winter

605 Sports

FARGO, N.D. — For all the success Sioux Falls O’Gorman senior wrestler Keenan Sheridan has enjoyed, the pangs of defeat in big moments have been hard to handle. 

Twice Sheridan has lost in the South Dakota state finals and at the 2023 US Marine Corps Junior Nationals, he lost in the blood round that would have made him an All-American. Sheridan quieted any doubts when he finished sixth at the recently completed 2024 nationals. 

“It was a long time coming and I felt like this was a breakthrough moment for me,” Sheridan said.

Having lost some tough matches in the last few years Sheridan said the biggest thing those losses have taught him is to remain focused.

“You have to stay focused for the full six minutes,” he said. “In the past I’ve wrestled really well for four minutes of a match but those last two minutes of matches is what’s gotten me.” 

Other than one week off during the summer, Sheridan had been working for the Fargo tournament since the conclusion of the high school season in February. 

“Fargo is the tournament that is the peak of the summer,” he said. “It’s the one you want to do well at and I’ve been training for this tournament for months.” 

Sheridan, who has committed to wrestle for South Dakota State University, spent a lot of those months training with Brady Berge of the Berge Elite Wrestling Academy in Brookings. 

He said Berge was instrumental to his summer success.

 “I’ve always wanted to be a Fargo All-American and coach Berge helped me believe I could do it,” he said. “Coach has a system that helps me understand positions better. If one thing doesn’t work I’m fully confident on moving to the next thing and I feel like I always know what to do next.” 

At Fargo, the son of Steve and Janiece Sheridan, came in seeded No. 23. His first match didn’t start exactly as planned. 

“I was down 6-0 and I looked over into my corner and the look back said, ‘OK, it’s time to go,’ ” Sheridan said. 

Sheridan ended up with a tech-fall over his first two opponents before running into a tough kid in the quarterfinals. 

“That match was tied 2-2 but I was losing on criteria,” he said. “I picked him up, and put him on his back and pinned him and that earned me the All-American status.” 

After wrestling exceptionally well his first two days, Sheridan admitted to falling off a bit in the placing matches while dealing with some minor injuries. 

“Putting on that Team South Dakota jersey puts a chip on my shoulder,” he said. “South Dakota isn’t really known as a successful wrestling state and we should be. We’ve not Pennsylvania but we do have talent and we do have really good kids.’

Sheridan says he plans on wrestling the Super-32 tournament in North Carolina before getting ready for his senior season at O’Gorman.