Earlier this month the South Dakota High School Activities Association approved the change to the dual state tournament beginning this year. In 2024, the dual state tournament will be two weeks before the individual state tournament.
Since returning in 2020, the dual state tournament has had several different changes, from being on Friday and Saturday along with the individual tournament, to being held on Thursday and Friday, to just only held on Saturday. Now, the tournament will come two weekends ahead of time, which will be on Saturday, February 10. The individual tournament remains the same on Thursday-Saturday, February 22-24. Shawn Lewis, head coach of the Pierre Governors, says the change is significant, but this isn’t surprising…
But, it brings uncertainty of how the season will look and go and Lewis says it will take a full season to really know how it will go…
Lewis also says it could be difficult for teams who don’t qualify for the state dual tournament…
But when it comes to the individual tournament at the end of February, Lewis says not having the dual tournament will help preparation…
The state dual tournament will be on Saturday, Feb. 10 and the individual state tournament will be Thursday-Saturday Feb. 22-24.
