By Rich Winter

605 Sports

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — In her first NCAA women’s wrestling tournament, Spearfish native Taylor Graveman earned All-American honors with a seventh-place finish. 

Wrestling for North Central College (Illinois), Graveman, along with her teammate Yele Aycock (second place) both reached the medal stand at 136 pounds to earn All-American honors. 

“Just being able to have a solid training partner really pushed my grit and tested my adversity,” Graveman said.

Graveman, who was a three-time state champion in South Dakota, was part of the national championship team race as North Central College and the University of Iowa were locked in a battle the entire tournament.

Iowa scored 204 points to edge North Central College, which had 198.

For Graveman, being part of the team race was a new experience and got her competitive juices flowing. 

“Being part of the team race was extra special because of the team camaraderie,” she said. 

North Central College is a Division III school that has one of the elite women’s programs in the country. Graveman said the size of her school and regularly being thought of as an underdog were big reasons for her to attend college in Illinois. 

“We have so many good wrestlers on our team,” Graveman said  “We sent 15 athletes to Cedar Rapids and I was the only freshman to be selected.” 

While Graveman was in high school, she reached a number of firsts for South Dakota girls wrestlers. Earning All-American honors was another barrier breaking moment for Graveman. 

“I wished I would have finished a little higher but being the first female All-American from South Dakota is pretty cool,” Graveman said.