Winfield-Mt. Union, IA- The “Championship Road” seems to always lead to the state capital, as we will spend today and tomorrow reminiscing about two state basketball programs. Today we go back to a squad that might have been a bit premature in their winning ways, but it allowed for history to be made. Today is all about the 1994-1995 Winfield-Mt. Union Girls’ Basketball title run.
It had been 12 years since the Wolves had made the tournament, back when the game was still 6-on-6 and 16 teams from all over the state, no class determination, made the dance. Little did anyone in the community know how legendary that 1994-95 season would end up being.
Winfield-Mt. Union was coming off a successful season where they shocked the Southeast Iowa Super Conference by winning the tournament and finished as the West Division runners-up to Harmony. Heidi Venghaus was the main scorer for that team and was expected to lead a talented youth movement that was optimistically eyeing a run at the 1995-96 season, at least according to Laci (Palar) Lower, who was a sophomore on the 1994-95 team,
“Oh, I think, you know, we watched them play when they were growing up, and they were always a great team, but I don’t think we knew that it was going to be quite that level that quickly. But there was a lot of competition always in the area at all the little tournaments that we had, and there was a lot of, you know, competitiveness going around.”
5’11 freshman Linda Lappe certainly provided a spark for a team that was set to feature a starting line up of five underclassmen and despite that youth on the floor, there was nothing but confidence from a team too green to understand what was happening,
“Oh, I mean, I guess we kind of all grew up playing together in the gyms. A lot of our moms played together when they were young. So, I think we got trained up by our moms. And so, we were all, you know, being from a small town in such a small community, we knew each other well. And I think we just gelled really quickly. And Coach Wachs was great. Maybe we were a little delusional. We thought we could beat anybody, especially after we beat Harmony and Allison Rohdy’s team. We just thought anything could happen. So, I mean, I think we didn’t know any better.”
Even for Wolves head coach Mitch Wachs, who was just a couple years out from graduating college, was a bit naïve to it all,
“So that was just a special, special group of kids from freshmen through seniors. You know, whether they were all-stars or great teammates, um, it was, it was surreal at the time. I didn’t even, you know, I was probably too young and naive to even know what was going on and probably after we won, it probably didn’t enjoy it as much as we should, because it was on to the next year. So, it was a pretty cool time.”
However, the opportunity to repeat as Conference champs was dashed in a December conference tournament loss to Wapello, where the team simply struggled to score. For Lower, that moment sparked the Wolves tournament run,
“I mean, that’s probably the part of the season that I remember most. Like I remember being in that locker room and like Wachs getting on us so much after that game. Like we didn’t want to feel that again. So, I think I mean, that was a key memory of my high school basketball career. And we’re just like, OK, let’s go. We don’t want to do that… I mean, I remember having a conversation with Heidi Venghaus about how bad like how bad it stunk to lose that game. So, it wasn’t like we’re never going to lose again. It was just like, yeah, we just had that fire and knew we wanted it.”
The team started to click and did not look back with Lappe leading the team with 15.1 points per game as a freshman, helped along by Venghaus’ 12 points per contest. Still, everyone had a roll to play and when the team was playing their best they were hard to beat,
“Oh, it was a ton of fun. Like we worked really hard, but we had a lot of fun at the same time. So, you know, we were always all business in practice, but with a lot of fun thrown in. So, I think, and you know, we grew up watching the boys play at the state tournament. So, we wanted our shot.”
The team had won 19 games in a row and ranked 5th in the state heading into their Regional Final. The only problem was they would have to play a familiar conference foe in undefeated and 2nd ranked Harmony for the right to go to the state tournament and what would be their first appearance in the 5v5 era,
“Our conference was super stacked. We kind of, you know, especially if you think about, you know, 1A, 2A schools, it was just a different level. Like everyone had somebody or a group. I think a lot of people played together all the time when they were younger. So there was a lot of gelling in the area. And, you know, the game to get to state was against like, Allison Rohdy and team and gosh, like, I think they were number one in the state, and no one thought we would beat them. So that was like, once we beat them, and I think we came back, we knew that we could come back against anybody.”
It was also a first-hand education on what it meant to be one of the top teams in the area,
“They had some, they had some really good kids. They had the gal named Alison Rhody and a girl inside named Emily Klein. And we had some good girls, and we felt like we had a good scout on them, but we show up and the lines around the block to get in the gymnasium, you know, and I’ve got girls coming off the bus and one of them’s crying, I was like, what, what’s wrong? She’s like, they came to watch us play, you know? And it was like, oh yeah, I know. Let’s go, you know, kind of thing. And, uh, so that was a, that was an upset. That was a big one. I mean, that, that, um, the old gym, you know, Mount Pleasant, uh, was packed to the rafters.”
Alison Rohdy had a game to remember against a Wolves team that prided itself on defense, scoring 34 points. However, Winfield-Mt. Union had an advantage of depth and the bench outscored the Rockettes 19 to 0 in an eventual 56-51 victory and earned a ticket to Des Moines. After years of watching the boys’ team make the trip to state, the girls’ were ready to provide the town another opportunity to cheer in state’s capital and they took full advantage,
“Oh, it was amazing. Like our community was like so behind basketball and our teams at that time and actually any, any sporting team. But they really like, I think the whole town shut down and traveled to Des Moines. And then they’re all there, you know, waiting for us when we get home as the fire truck comes into town. So, you know, and it was, it was really exciting to like, go there and get it done. And, you know, we had the expectation with the guys, but we, we are the first ones to get it done.”
Coach Wachs said the team expected to win, but the other teams did not get the memo. The Wolves had to battle against Bellevue in the quarterfinal, sneaking out with a 49-43 victory, before needing a Lappe game-winning bucket in the semifinals to down Newell-Fonda, 64-62. Coach Wachs talked about his greatest moment on the sideline,
“We had the ball. We were tied and I called a timeout. It was probably one of the best coaching things, you know, moves I ever made. I wasn’t that great of a technician, you know, but out of bounds. I said, throw it to Linda, get out of the way. And of course the rest was history.”
Then it was on to the championship game against Northeast Hamilton and coach Wachs was handed something you never want to give before a game, motivation,
“And so we go on to the finals and they were playing Northeast Hamilton. Um, and I just remember their coach in the paper and the ‘Des Moines Register’ going, we feel pretty good. They did have a good player. Her name was Trisha Heiden. And, uh, he says, there’s only one team at the state tournament that has a Trisha Heiden, you know? And obviously that was bulletin board material that, you know, we saw him. And I challenged, uh, a gal, Heidi Venghaus. She was a tremendous post player for us about 5’10, 5’11, who taught Mount Pleasant system for several years as well. Um, I said, you’re going to guard her. She goes, what? She’s a guard. And she, she locked her down that night.”
No dramaticism, just a rout put on by the Wolves, 56-29, and Venghaus even clinched her 1,000th career point. Not only was it the program’s first state championship, but Winfield-Mt. Union also became the first team in the state to have both the boys’ and girls’ teams win the basketball state championship in the same season. Something, the community was quick to cling on to,
“Yeah, it’s, it’s wonderful. You know, like there’s a billboard outside of our town, think claims that we’re like the basketball capital of Iowa at that point. And it was, it was fun. And hopefully maybe we inspired the guys a little bit to like get it done. They didn’t want us to outdo them. So it was, it was really awesome. And still, there’s not many teams that have done that.”
According to Lower, the confidence from that first championship has carried the team far beyond the court,
“Yeah, you know, I’ve always said, I look at our team, and I look at all the success that the, that the team’s had in our lives, I think there was like 13 girls on our team. And I am positive that I think nine of us at least maybe there’s probably even more have advanced degrees, we have like, there’s MBAs, there’s master’s degrees, there’s PhDs. And I just think like, I don’t know if we were like, would have done that if we hadn’t had the confidence that all playing sports gave us and winning and like, it took us a lot further in life.”
All five starters returned the next year and ran it back for a perfect season and another championship. Overall, the Wolves won 80 consecutive games and made the state tournament four years in a row, while Lappe was named to the All-State team four times. But, it all started with a precocious team in the winter of 1994-95,
“I mean, it was, it was amazing. Like I, I feel so blessed to have had that in my life. Like, really, like you, no one can take that away from us. And I mean, even still, like our community, still, we go back to Winfield for Crooked Creek days or something, and they are supportive. They love us. It’s like, it’s pride for the town. And yeah, it’s, it’s amazing.”
Lower still found herself sweating out a state championship game, as her daughter Averie Lower led Clear Creek Amana to the state title in 2024 for the program’s first banner. She would have rather been on the court,
“I’ll tell you, it was a lot easier to be a player than it was to be a parent, like on the sidelines. So, I think, you know, when I was saying a little delusional, like at the time you’re a parent, you like know all the things that can happen. And like, you’re, you can’t control anything. And it’s so nerve wracking. But like, if the kids can just enjoy it and have fun, that’s, that’s amazing. And I, you know, my daughter’s playing basketball. She’s a freshman at Arizona State. And, you know, I think like, I look back at Linda Lappe and like how amazing that was. And, you know, she kind of like gave me the blueprint for, you know, what it could be for, you know, a path. And it’s pretty that my daughter’s following that.”
For coach Wachs, it’s hard to pin down a favorite moment but the ones he got to spend it with made it all special,
“Those kids were so much fun to be around. All of them. They were just fun people, you know, and I communicate with many of them, obviously still to this day. Um, when I see them and I, you know, we do, we always hold that bond together…that first year that we won it, that was, and driving back into town. Um, I think we probably had a, um, we got to Ainsworth. That was before 218 was four lanes and the town met us there and we looked back. And as far as we can see, there was cars behind us for the procession into town. And then we had a welcome back in the gym. So all those memories, you know, were pretty special. Um, and, but I said, probably the top one was the kids. They were just an absolute blast to be around. Just top-quality kids, top quality families. And, and, uh, just really a lot of fun.”
The tradition continued for Winfield-Mt. Union, when Mendy McCreight, a W-MU alum, led the Wolves back to the state tournament in 2023 after being a part of the last team to make the trip to Des Moines in 1998.
Stay tuned for the last episode of Championship Road tomorrow!