MHS wrestlers and wrestlers and wrestling fans across South Dakota will remember Marv Sherrill as “often imitated, never duplicated”. Sherrill, a member of the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame, who holds the title of the winningest wrestling coach in state history, died in Watertown on March 25. He had just celebrated his 84th birthday.
In 2021, the Watertown Arrows renamed their annual, season-opening, eight- team, dual tournament to honor Sherrill and his illustrious career– a tour de force that spanned 35 years.
Sherrill moved to Huron from Cody, Wyoming, at Christmastime in 1959 during his senior year of high school. He immediately began making a name for himself by becoming the first Tiger to win a state wrestling title. After graduation, he attended SDSU,where he wrestled for another remarkable coach –Warren Williamson. Sherrill won the North Central Conference championship at 137 pounds for SDSU during his senior year.
His coaching career started with two seasons in Brookings. He then moved to Watertown, where he retired in 2003 after 35 years of collecting more state titles than any coach in South Dakota.
Under Sherrill, Watertown earned eight state Class A titles and took home nine trophies as the runner up. The Arrows also won 14 Eastern South Dakota Conference championships and the regional championship 18 times. Including his one season as head coach at Brookings, Sherrill compiled a record of 504-151-13 in duals. That record still stands as the state’s best.
Sherrill was named the 1997 National High School Coach of the Year by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association( NHSACA). In 1999, the National Wrestling Coaches Association selected him as their Coach of the Year. Sherrilll was inducted into the NHSACA’s Hall of Fame in 1998. He is also a member of the South Dakota High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
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