Webster named to Hall of Fame

Retired Custer High School wrestling coach and current assistant coach Alan Webster had lots to smile about at the state B wrestling tournament in Sioux Falls last weekend. Not only did his son Jared’s team come away with one state champion and one runner-up but Webster was inducted into the South Dakota High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame. 

The honor came during an induction ceremony on Saturday just before the state finals. 

“It was just a nice honor,” said Webster. “It was fun to get back with coaches who started with me in 1974-75. It was nice to be recognized by them”

He said the group of coaches he has known for over 40 years feels like family. 

Webster said another highlight of the weekend was the fact that his grandson Jackson Eklund who wrestles for Burke/Gregory at 145 pounds “won a state championship finally.” 

“He beat his kid in a tech fall in the finals so that was nice,” said Webster.

Another bright spot for the Webster family was Custer’s Logan Graf being crowned champion at 106 pounds. 

“This was Jared’s first state champion,” said Webster.  

Webster is the patriarch of a Custer wrestling dynasty. In his high school wrestling career, son Jared was a four-time state place winner and was Class A state champion at 152 pounds his senior year. In his time of coaching at Custer he has been named Region 4B Coach of the Year twice. 

Webster’s other son Seth was a four-time state place winner in high school and currently serves as assistant wrestling coach at Gregory High School where he teaches physical education in grades K-8. Previously he coached and taught at both Winner and Harding County High Schools. 

Kim Webster, Alan’s wife, is retired after over 41 years as a teacher and continues to volunteer many hours for the Custer wrestling program. 

Webster’s own long and storied wrestling career began in Ellendale, N.D., when as a struggling sophomore basketball player and was told by his coach he should go out for wrestling. 

He took that advice and went on to place second at 145 pounds at the North Dakota state finals in 1970. 

After high school Webster attended junior college at Ellendale for one year where he became the Montana/Dakota 150 pound Conference Champion. Transferring to Valley City (N.D.) State College the next year, Webster wrestled varsity and qualified twice for nationals. He and his 1974-75 wrestling team were inducted into the Valley City State Hall of Fame for their no-loss record. 

Webster began his high school teaching and coaching career in 1974 at Harding County High School in Buffalo and was head wrestling coach for seven years and the AAU coach for 16 years. During his time there he also started a six-and-under AAU tournament and an amateur wrestling team that traveled throughout North and South Dakota. He was also a teacher and athletic director for Sky Ranch for Boys near Camp Crook.

Moving to Custer in 1990 Webster taught at the high school and was head wrestling coach off and on for 10 years and was middle school coach for 12 years. In 2011 he was named South Dakota Wrestling Middle School Coach of the Year. 

Webster’s CHS teams were rated in the top ten for all but two of his head coaching years for a record of 144 wins and 40 losses. 

Even while he was teaching and coaching others, Webster’s own wrestling career stretched into his mid-thirties as he wrestled in open tournaments around the country. He also placed fifth in the World Monster Arm Wrestling Machine and placed first in the National Masters wrist wrestling championships. 

In 2017 he and Kim were presented the Custer School District Helping Hands Award and in February last year he was inducted into the Custer High School Hall of Fame. (An article by Jason Ferguson about Webster’s Hall of Fame induction which includes more details of his career appeared in the Feb. 6, 2019 edition of the Chronicle.)

Webster continues his involvement in wrestling working as an assistant coach alongside Jared and is in the wrestling room daily training young wrestlers.