By Matt Gade

605 Sports

SIOUX FALLS — “I’m very tired, but very blessed,” Hot Springs’ junior Sarah Rickenbach said after making history on Saturday, becoming the Lady Bison’s first-ever girls state champion wrestler.

Rickenbach defeated Yankton’s Winry Yaggie 7-1 to claim the girls' 145-pound championship Saturday during the South Dakota High School Activities Association’s state tournament at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls.

Rickenbach said the win was a culmination of all of her hard work paying off over the past couple of years.

“It feels really good,” Rickenbach said of winning. “I definitely couldn't have done it without my family and all the support. Actually, I just got off the phone with my brother (Caleb), and he is truly the reason why I can be here and do this.”
Caleb, now a member of the South Dakota School of Mines football team, was a top-five finisher for the Hot Springs’ boys wrestling team, graduating in 2024.

“We definitely got my dad’s aggressiveness,” Rickenbach said of her dad, Joshua Rickenbach.

Throughout the tournament, Rickenbach dominated her matches, winning each round by pinfall before meeting Yaggie in the finals.

“She's a really good wrestler. I have a lot of respect for her,” Rickenbach said of Yaggie. “I just had to set things up and wrestle really smart.”
Rickenbach said her coaches and teammates put her in the position to succeed this year through tough practices and getting her the rest she needed.

During practice, Rickenbach’s usual wrestling partner was senior KT Snyder, who finished 3rd at 140 pounds.

Earlier this season, Snyder said Rickenbach would usually just beat her up. Rickenbach said Snyder was still really good at pushing her in practice. 

“She’ll tell me I’m practicing like shit, which is fair,” Rickenbach said of Snyder. “I just couldn't have done it without my teammates and my coaches and my family. There were points in the season when it was really hard, and I had to push through a lot,” Rickenbach said. “She’ll tell me I’m practicing like shit, which is fair.”

As a junior, Rickenbach is already excited to defend and win another next year. 

But for now, Rickenbach said she’s going to go home and enjoy this win with her family before she has club volleyball practice on Monday.

“I'm just so blessed with all the support. Yeah, I couldn't have done it without them,” Rickenbach said of her family. “I'm just so grateful to God that he willed me the strength and gifts to be here.”

Hot Springs' Sarah Rickenbach wrestles Yankton's Winry Yaggie in the girls 145-pound championship match on Saturday morning during the 2026 SDHSAA state tournament at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls. (Matt Gade/605 Sports)