PIERRE, S.D. – The Pierre Athletic Coaches Association (PACA) has awarded their year end awards to the Riggs High School Athletes, Coaches and the annual Friend of PACA award. This years Riggs High School Athletes of the Year go to Garrett Stout and Mikah Moser. Coach of the Year is Governor Head Football Coach Steve Steele while the Assistant Coach of the Year Award goes to Travis Heasley of the Governor Wrestling team. The Middle School Coach of the Year award goes to Ryan Munsen and the Freind of PACA award has been given to Dennis Zabel and Bruce Kessler of Gators, Pizza, Pasta and More.
Friend of PACA: Denny Zabel and Bruce Kessler
Denny was one of the greatest supporters of all Pierre athletes and supported them to no end. He was at so many different events and was always friendly and encouraging to both players and coaches alike. While he will be sorely missed by all those attending Pierre sporting events I feel that he will forever be a friend of not just PACA, but all Pierre athletics. Denny was an individual that would attend any event where students from Pierre were competing. It did not matter if his grandsons were competing or not. If he was in Pierre and there was an event you could bet on seeing Denny.
Bruce Kessler and Gators Pizza are a cornerstone of the community of Pierre. Bruce has fundraisers for each and every sport that approach him to do so. He is always willing to help out and do whatever he can for the athletics of TF Riggs High School. During football season this was no more evident in his joint sponsorship of Tuesday morning Defensive Shut Out Breakfast. Having pizzas ready at 6:45 am is no easy task for a business whose hours hadn’t even started but Bruce was up to the task. Gators is also the home to Coaches Corner each and every Wednesday. We could go on and on about what Bruce does both for our athletic programs and our community. Thanks Bruce!
Senior Athletes of the Year: Mikah Moser and Garrett Stout
Mikah Moser (Volleyball, Gymnastics, and Track): Letter winner. Mikah worked extremely hard this year and was always asking what she could do to improve. She worked hard every day in practice to not only make herself better, but most importantly her teammates. Mikah Moser has been a varsity gymnast for six years and a team co-captain for two years. She has qualified for the SDHSAA State Gymnastics Meet as an all-around gymnast for six years. She currently holds three of the five individual school records and was part of the team that holds the current team score record for gymnastics. At the 2020 SDHSAA State Gymnastics Meet, Mikah was awarded the Sarah Nitz Award, received SDGCA Academic All-State honors and broke Pierre’s school vault record. She was a State All-Tournament Team member in 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2020. In addition to receiving PACA-Avera’s Athlete of the Week awards multiple times during her high school career, she was the first “Warrior of the Month” recipient and was a repeat winner in January of 2020. Mikah is a great role model and leader in and out the gym. She was voted Most Valuable Gymnast by her teammates three years in a row. Outside of high school gymnastics, Mikah gives her time to coaching youth gymnasts from the Pierre area. Mikah has vaulted for Pierre since her freshman year. In the ESD conference she finished 8th in 2018 and 5th in 2019. She has qualified for the pole vault in the state meet every year, placing 7th as a sophomore. She has spent countless hours working on her own vaulting skills as well as spending many hours working with middle school vaulters, making a great contribution to the continued success of Pierre pole vaulting.
Garrett Stout (Football): Garrett is a great human being who also happens to be one heck of an athlete. He was an absolute warrior for the football program the last few years, culminating in leading us to a 3rd consecutive title this year playing half of the year with a herniated disc and in large amounts of pain. He is a great influence on the youth in our community going out of his way to attend youth events and setting a great example for them. He is the type of kid that always works his heart out and doesn’t come around every year.
Head Coach of the Year: Steve Steele (Football)
Assistant Coach of the Year: Travis Heasley (Wrestling)
Middle School Coach of the Year: Ryan Munson (Football)
