Southeast Iowa- It’s that perfect time of year to reminisce about everything that was accomplished this year. So, it’s time for the opening tip of Quarter 1 of KILJ’s Sports Year in Review sponsored by H&R Block. Aptly, we start on the basketball court.
January saw the stage be set for what would become entertaining postseason matches and some late season dashes for conference supremacy. The month started with both WACO teams trying to make a run for the Southeast Iowa Super Conference North title with the girls’ team snapping Columbus’ five-game winning streak in a 58-57 double-overtime thriller that saw Ella Huisenga net 26 points. The boys’ team had Christian Stacy outduel Jake Edwards in a 51-42 final over Winfield-Mt. Union to put them tied atop the standings with Hillcrest Academy.
In the South Division of the SEISC, the Mediapolis girls’ team showed their dominant play in a 69-42 statement victory over Holy Trinity Catholic to claim the crown. A crown they would not surrender but more on the Bulldogs in a bit. The south division of the SEISC was again a three-team race between West Burlington, Holy Trinity Catholic, and Burlington Notre Dame on the boys’ side. In Class 2A, the Falcons were ranked as high as #6 as Mason Watkins, Quincy Collins, and Kobe Davis helped the team average 82 points per game, while Holy Trinity Catholic was also placed at #6 in Class 1A, which included a close 55-54 win over the Nikes as Luke Hellige and Adam Sobczak were looking to make it to state in their senior seasons. Burlington Notre Dame would have something to say about that.
On the wrestling mats, Mt. Pleasant’s Zenlynn Lee had made her return to the mat for her junior season after losing her sophomore campaign to an injury and her rivalry with Peggy Miller of Washington was something to behold as the Demon got the best of Lee at the Keokuk Invite before Lee came back in a dual against Washington to come away with a narrow 1-0 win by decision. These close matches would prepare the Panther for a possible run at state in early February.
On the boys’ side of things, Burlington Notre Dame was busy dismantling teams as their squad was hoping to raise another banner in mid-February. A top ten matchup saw Kaiden Dietzenbach for the Nikes defeat New London’s Gage Burden, two names to remember as state looms. WACO had a trio of wrestlers making some noise as freshman, Ian Maize, and senior Louden Huisenga were running through the competition and aiming for perfect seasons.
The Mt. Pleasant’s boys’ team led by Ramzy Davis, William Birdsell, Charlie Bohenkamp, Lane Beckler, Levi Evans, and Payton Walker was taking down any conference foe that stood in their way, defeating Fairfield 40-35 then Burlington at the end of the month 49-28 for the Southeast Conference championship, their first time securing the conference crown in over a decade.
However, one name that was able to secure a win for Fairfield during that dual was Cael McCabe. His spectacular season saw him, WACO’s Huisenga, and Nikes’ Dietzenbach as three of the 15 finalists for the Dan Gable Mr. Wrestler of the Year award. We will hear more about them later on.
Heading back to the basketball court, that double overtime win for WACO launched them on a nine-game winning streak and they weren’t the only team winning. In a showdown that would determine who would get the Southeast Conference Player of the Year honor, Mylee Stiefel cashed in for 27 points to lead Burlington past Keokuk in overtime, 72-69, which also put the Grayhounds in the top 15 for Class 4A. Stiefel would later tab her 1,000th career point.
The Mt. Pleasant girls’ and boys’ teams walked out with home victories against New London, but for the boys’ team it meant a little more with it being their first win of the season, exiting with a thrashing of the Tigers 66-27.
The end of January saw a scramble atop the boys’ South Division standings as Holy Trinity Catholic handed West Burlington their first conference loss in three seasons as Luke Hellige punched in 21 points for a 66-60 victory. However, Burlington Notre Dame sprinted onto the scene, usurping the Crusader’s position in the top 10 at #9 with a 64-53 win behind Shay Stephens, who was averaging 21 points per game and nearly 7 assists. The two would meet in another important matchup.
Speaking of Holy Trinity Catholic, Melissa Freesmeier, who had captured her 1,100th win in the fall was picked as one of the finalists for the National High School Athletic Coaches Association’s National Coach of the Year award for volleyball. She was nominated on the basis of longevity, service to high school athletics, honors, championship years, and winning percentage.
The month of February started on the mats as the girls’ state tournament presented a perfect opportunity for our local athletes to represent the region. Qualifying for state was Zenlynn Lee of Mt. Pleasant with a 23-3 record after winning her state qualifier.
Wapello’s Kenadee Helscher finished one win away from a perfect season, but the junior took home the silver medal and a 35-1 record for the season. Her teammate, Clara Ball took home 6th place for the 110-pound weight class. Fairfield’s Samantha Lyons garnered 4th place and the Southeast Conference Wrestler of the Year, Jalyiah Gardner, took home the silver medal for the 140-pound weight class. Lee, Lyons, and Pairs Phosy of Mt. Pleasant were named to the All-SEC 1st Team.
On the boys’ side, the SEISC held their conference tournament and a year after watching Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union pry it away from them by the narrowest of margins, Burlington Notre Dame dominated, nearly doubling the Wildcats’ score and producing nine conference champions: Kohen Dietzenbach, Rowan Berndt, Colt Boyles, Jared Glendening, CJ Davis, Kaiden Dietzenbach, Kael Cook, Dirk Boyles, and Blake Wilson.
Mediapolis’ Kyler Crow, Wapello’s Cohen Wolford, and WACO’s Louden Huisenga also took home conference titles.
Before we head back to Des Moines for the boys’ state wrestling tournament, we put on our bowling shoes and head to the lanes where the Keokuk girls’ team and the Burlington boys’ team won their respective SEC titles. Earning All-Conference honors on the girls’ side for Mt. Pleasant was Bethany Drury, Shyann Smith, and Joanna Fortin, while Fairfield had Emma Cass and Grace Forrest earn All-Conference honors. On the boys’ side, Henry Pforts for Mt. Pleasant and Ethan Cass, Ian Aplara, and Blake Ballew for Fairfield claimed All-Conference bids.
The Keokuk girls’ team and Burlington boys’ team would turn those All-Conference championships into state qualifier bids as the Chiefs successfully defended their Class 2A championship, while the Grayhounds took 6th in their first ever team appearance at the state tournament. Drury and Madalyn Millard each qualified for the state tournament for the Panthers as it was Drury’s second consecutive trip to state.
Back on the hardwood, the Mt. Pleasant boys’ team upset Washington in a conference showdown 62-53 behind a barrage of three-points as Ryan Helling cashed in for a career high 24 points.
Both New London teams found victories on their senior nights. The Columbus’ girls’ team bounced back from their early January loss to WACO to secure their program’s first SEISC-North title. In the 9th edition, the Mediapolis girls’ team finally found a spot in the rankings, jumping up to #13 by the final edition. Between the two division champs, Mediapolis would win their super conference shootout game 66-12 as Ellah Wagnebach splashed six threes for 22 points.
On the boys’ side, #10 West Burlington, for the third year in a row, walked out as champions of the Southeast Iowa Super Conference shootout, after dismantling Hillcrest Academy 76-42 as Mason Watkins poured in 41 points. We’ll be back for the fastbreak that is postseason basketball, but first southeast Iowa was ready to travel to Des Moines for the boys’ state wrestling tournament.
32 local wrestlers were able to punch their ticket to the state tournament, including 11 Nikes, as they were looking for their second state championship in program history. First for the SEC, Fairfield’s Cael McCabe managed 37 wins on the season and 3rd place in the 113-pound weight class. Aaron Boone of Washington took home 50 wins in the 132-pound weight class and his own bronze medal. Cason Miller of Fairfield finished in 7th place. Miller and Boone shared SEC Wrestler of the Year honors.
Kyler Crow of Mediapolis managed a 6th place finish, Gage Samo of WACO finished his career with a 6th place finish as well, as did New London’s Gage Burden.
Championship Saturday would truly heat up as southeast Iowa had four wrestlers dueling for a state championship. WACO’s Ian Maize would finish as the runner-up for the 106-pound weight class, losing in overtime. Louden Huisenga avenged his loss in the year’s prior championship match, by scoring a take down in the final 17 seconds to end the year with the gold medal and a perfect 42-0. Burlington Notre Dame’s CJ Davis and Kaiden Dietzenbach both waited until the waning seconds of their matches to explode for their own state championships.
With those victories, plus five other Nikes placing in the top 8, Burlington Notre Dame secured their second title in the last four years in Class 2A with 129 points.
Mt. Pleasant’s Lane Beckler, Ramzy Davis, and Payton Walker were named All-SEC 1st Team wrestlers.
With the postseason ready to tip-off, the Winfield-Mt. Union girls’ team got it started with Madisen Kellogg and Kynlee Buffington each tabbing double-doubles in a road upset over Keota, 61-51. The WACO girls’ team downed Burlington Notre Dame in the opening round with the help of Pizza Ranch All-Star Ella Huisenga and coach Lisa Graber.
On the boys’ side, Wapello and New London engaged in a snowy epic. Wapello would end up with the victory 55-51. Yet, the path was narrowing for Holy Trinity Catholic and Burlington Notre Dame to decide who would win the season series and be district champion.
The Columbus girls’ team would get the chance to host Danville in the Regional semifinal and in a low scoring affair, the Bears would hang on for the 53-49 victory as Reagan Henklevig and Alaina Gourley went to work, each netting 14 points.
In a battle for the district championship, the Crusaders and Nikes would exit the first quarter tied at 12. But Notre Dame would grab the lead and never let go, winning 55-46 as Shay Stephens scored 18 points.
Luke Hellige finished his career with 1,792 points and as the program leader in points, rebounds, and three-pointers made, while Adam Sobczak finished his career as the all-time leader in assists for the Crusaders. The Nikes were set to play North Linn for the right to go to the state tournament.
Navigating their way through their own district in Class 2A was West Burlington, who knocked off Mid-Prairie in an overtime bout to take on Grand View Christian for the substate championship.
The Nikes held tough against the Lynx, leading for most of the contest. But their bid would up end up just short, falling 56-52, despite the double-double by Stephens. The same fate found West Burlington as they were shut down by Grand View Christian. Still, Watkins would earn a spot on the Pizza Ranch All-Star tournament team as he rewrote the record book for the Falcons.
For the Southeast Conference, Mt. Pleasant’s Noah Lange found a spot on the 2nd Team, while Alexa Fuller, Kynlee White, Aiden Humble, and Ian Reid were named All-SEC Honorable Mentions. Fairfield had Riley Perkins claim All-SEC 1st Team and Faith Jones make the 2nd Team.
In other news, Mt. Pleasant had a pair of athletes sign their National Letter of Intent to join the throwing team at Mount Mercy University in Nolan Frueh and Savannah Slobodnik. A different pair would announce their commitment to St. Ambrose with Payton Walker joining the Bees football team and Ava English planning to join the throwing team.
The Mt. Pleasant Wrestling Club ended the season ranked 14th in the nation with a state champion crowned and the team grabbing a couple of trophies by the year’s end. Head coachNick Ettinger along with his assistant coaches Karla Maher, Corey Hamilton, Jordan Norton, and Mick Manning have been building something special, spending six hours a week with the kids under the motto “work hard.” A motto embodied by the entire club according to coach Ettinger.
The seeds were also planted by the Iowa High School Athletic Association releasing the football districts, renewing old rivalries during the most important time of the season.
With that, the horn sounds for the end of the 1st quarter, join us for quarter #2 as we relive the spring sports and the start of summer baseball and softball! This is KILJ’s Sports Year in Review brought to you by H&R Block!