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| WINTER SPORTS THE VALLEY NEWS | HERALD-JOURNAL

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Photo by Jason Glenn/CHJ-SVNSIX RETURNING STARTERS... Front row, left to right: Anthony McCart, Kolton Birkby, Hunter Rasmussen, Brandon Meston, Broc Hansen, Craig Rice Second row, left to right: Alex Hastie,Robert Benson, Drake Strickler, Chris Goodman, Frank Faust, James Hill, Jacob Buck, Hayden Meier Back row, left to right: Dylan Collins, Bret Blackburn, Seth Phillips, Spencer Phillips,Mark Hall, Zane Burge, Derek Swanson. Not pictured: Cody Johnson, Jesse Dady, Andrew Luke, Landen Nissen

SWI Wrestling returns good experienceBy JASON GLENN

Staff Writer

With six returning starters and, maybemost importantly, a full roster top to bottom,

the Southwest Iowa Warrior wrestling teamis looking forward to a big 2012-13 season.

Seniors Mark Hall and James Hill, bothdistrict qualifiers last year, will lead theteam made up of Fremont-Mills and Sidney

student-athletes. Joining 220-pounder Hallin the upper weights will be fellow seniorZane Burge, who will wrestle at 285, asanother senior, Cody Johnson, fills in the138-pound slot and takes charge of the

lighter classes. Junior Drake Stricklerreturns to occupy the 152-160 pound rangeand sophomore Broc Hansen will look toimprove on a promising 15-9 freshman year

see SWI, Page 3

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as he slides into the 132-pound spot.The Warriors will also get good leadership from returning

letter winners Andrew Luke (285), Robert Benson(132/138) and Jacob Buck (152/160), Luke and Buck espe-cially hungry to get back in the mix after missing much ofthe 2011-12 season with injuries. Among the team’s prom-ising newcomers, coach Bob Rasmussen lists more than a

dozen freshmen and sophomores across almost all weightclasses.

Rasmussen said he expects great things from his experi-enced and athletic roster. With 25 guys out for the team, he’sgot the numbers and said there are a bunch of boys on theteam that played basketball last year but were very goodwrestlers at the junior high level and in youth competitions.He said even early in the season he likes the team’s chancesof advancing multiple wrestlers to the state tournament andknows they will be tough to beat on the mat.

Perhaps most beneficial to the combined squad and some-what surprising, Rasmussen noted, is that the two schoolswho were such fierce opponents on the gridiron and experi-enced such success overall, will be joining forces on themat.

“It’s a very competitive group, with athletes from twoschools who advanced in the football playoffs comingtogether to form a solid wrestling team that knows what ittakes to win and the discipline involved in being a champi-on,” Rasmussen said.

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Photo by John Van Nostrand/CHJ-SVNCLARINDA WRESTLING CHEERLEADERS ARE... front row, leftto right: Allison Van Vactor, Beth Anderson, Amanda Coverdell; backrow, Elizabeth Mayer, Lauren Shane, Mallory Degase.

cchheeeerrlleeaaddeerrssClarinda wrestling


By KENT DINNEBIERStaff Writer

The Clarinda wrestling team has adopted a simple butpower motto for this season – never satisfied.

“Our number one goal is to compete day in and day out.We’re trying to come together as a team and improve so wecan perform our best when it comes time for sectionals,”Clarinda head coach Josh Porter said.

Leading by example for the Cardinals is junior BlakeLuna. A two-time state qualifier, Luna earned an eighthplace medal at 120 pounds last year in Class 2A.

Although Luna is well on his way to earning more than100 wins in his high school career, Porter said he is not sat-isfied with reaching the state tournament.

“You don’t return a lot of people with that kind of expe-rience, so we’re really excited about this season. I know hehas some high expectations,” Porter said.

Meanwhile, Clarinda also has nine other returning letter-winners among the 22 wrestlers out for the program thisseason. They include seniors Cole Race and Trey White.Race is past district qualifier, while White has twice quali-fied for the district tournament.

“Our third senior is Reagan Johnson. He has been herefor three years and works hard in the room, but just has nothad much of an opportunity to show what he can do at thevarsity level,” Porter said. “We’re going to need all three ofthose seniors to be leaders for us.”

Clarinda also has two juniors, Dakota Calfee and DustySwindler, who lettered last season. The final returning let-

ter-winners are sophomores Kyle Holmes, Cain Johanns,Christian Lauritsen, Brook Stephens and Luke Strong.

Despite having an open weight at 106 pounds, Porter saidClarinda would round out its lineup with two freshmen.Dante Peterson is slated to take the mat at 113 pounds andJJ Clark will compete at 160 pounds.

“Our strength is the fact that we’re pretty balanced. Wehave guys at about every weight and our lineup should bemore competitive than we have been the last couple ofyears. I think we can put a pretty good dual team out therethis year,” Porter said.

The Cardinals put that balance to the test Nov. 29 whenthey opened the season at Lewis Central with a double dualagainst the Titans and Shenandoah

Clarinda wrestlers strive for success

Photo by John Van Nostrand/CHJ-SVNMEMBERS OF THE CLARINDA WRESTLING TEAM ARE... Front row, left to right: manager Cheyenne Race, manager Mallory Degase, Rodney Baldwin, Donte Peterson, Trey Stickler, Blake Luna, KollynBuch, Luke Strong, manager Taylor Owens; second row; coach Scott Stickler, James Van Fosson, Bowen Sigler, Shawn Beason, Tre Wilson, Brook Stephens, Trey White, Cole Race, Dustin Swindler, and coachJason Gordon; back row, Harry Carson, JJ Clark, Ross Christie, Dakota Calfee, Reagan Johnson, Kyle Holmes, Cain Johanns, Christian Lauritsen, and coach Aaron Davidshofer.

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After the Cardinals compiled the mostsuccessful basketball season in school his-tory, excitement is running high for the

Clarinda boys’ basketball team this year.Clarinda posted a 21-5 record last season

and capped off a magical state tournamentrun by defeating MFL-Mar-Mac 69-52 tofinish third in the state in Class 2A.

“Our seniors last year helped set a levelof expectation and created a lot of excite-ment in the community,” Clarinda headcoach Van Gilmore said. “Every guy in thatgym wants to continue that level of excite-

ment and earn the respect of the communi-ty on the court.”

Although the Cardinals lost eight seniorsto graduation, they have six upperclassmen

Cardinals seek to deliver more excitement

see BOYS BB, Page 6

Photo by John VanNostrand/CHJ-SVN

MEMBERS OF THE CLARINDABOYS’ BASKETBALL TEAMARE... Front row, left to right:Dedric Kettwick, Jacoby Lamb,Lucas Gray, Jason McCall, JettKettwick; Second row, left toright: coach Van Gilmore NoahBix, Jayden Landess, Clint Fine,Dakota Woods, Justin Cabeen,Austin Smith; Back row, left toright: Alex Chambers, JacobCabbage, Jared Devoe, JordanPeterman, Troy Aldrich, assis-tant coach Bill Gilmore, assistantcoach Casey Hill.


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that all saw varsity action a year ago.Leading that group are seniors DakotaWoods and Jordan Peterman.

“The game really slowed down forDakota last year. He provides us with a lotof experience and played some big minutesin big games. He knows what that’s like andhow to perform. So we will be relying onhis leadership and experience to keep theteam calm and focused so we can executeour game plan,” Gilmore said.

Meanwhile, Clarinda also has four jun-iors returning this year that contributed tothe success of the Cardinals. They are TroyAldrich, Noah Bix, Justin Cabeen and JasonMcCall.

“Even though they did not see extensiveminutes at the varsity level, they were allpart of that ride. Those guys had a role tomimic the other team and were a large partof what we did last year,” Gilmore said.

In all, the Cardinals have 30 players outfor the boys’ program this season. Theyopened practice Nov. 12 and tipped off theseason Nov. 27 at home against NodawayValley.

“Everyone has worked hard this summer.Being a part of that atmosphere last seasongave them a taste of what it takes to get tostate and they are determined to get back,”Gilmore said. “We are hoping to keep thesame expectations, but that may not bewrapped up in wins and losses. Instead,we’re focusing on having a good workethic, putting forth a positive effort and tak-ing care of business in the classroom. If wemaintain that positive frame of mind, wecan continue to build on those expectationsand keep the program moving in the rightdirection.”

Maintaining a positive frame of mind willalso be important if the Cardinals are to suc-ceed in the always-competitive Hawkeye 10Conference.

After winning the conference last season,Atlantic returns a senior laden lineup and isthe early favorite this year. Gilmore saidCreston and Glenwood also have their start-ing lineups intact, while Red Oak could bethe surprise team in the conference based onthe play of its two key seniors.

“Part of being a team is sacrificing yourindividual goals and aspirations for thegood of the team. If we can keep a positiveteam approach, the wins and losses willtake care of themselves,” Gilmore said. Photo by John Van Nostrand/CHJ-SVN

CLARINDA BASKETBALL CHEERLEADERS ARE... front row, Stephanie Marsh, Heather Auffert,Bailey Mellencamp, Jenna Fulk; back row, Shea Samuelson, Kenzie Jones Bri Russell and StephanieBaum.

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With five returning letter winners, theClarinda girls’ basketball team is hoping fora reversal of fortune this season.

Jenny Bair, Karyee Buch, Paige Fast,Krista Rogers and Ellie Shane are all backfrom a team that posted a 4-17 record a yearago.

“Last season we were very young, espe-cially at guard. Bringing back Ellie, Pageand Jenny will definitely make a differenceover last season,” Clarinda head coach Matt

Bird said.In all, the Cardinals have 25 players out

for the girls’ program this year. Along withthe returning letter winners, Bird said seniorMarissa Anderson and junior Leah Brookeare expected to contribute to the success ofthe team.

“We also have a load of sophomores whoare our support crew,” Bird said. The sopho-mores include Abby Brown, Nicole Johnson,Klarissa McElroy, Jaedra Moses, KaylaRogers and Baillee Warren.

The Cardinals started practice Nov. 5 and

tipped off the regular season schedule Nov.27 at home against Nodaway Valley.Although the team was farther along at thestart of the season than a year ago, Bird saidthere was still room for improvement.

“We’re still working on every area of thegame. We have really emphasized ourrebounding and taking care of the ball. Weturned the ball over way too many times lastyear and need to limit the extra possessionsof our opponents. That is something we can’tstress enough,” Bird said.

The success Clarinda has in those two

areas will also go a long way in determininghow the Cardinals fair in the Hawkeye 10Conference this season.

Lewis Central is the defending conferencechampion, while Harlan and CarrollKuemper each have the athletic ability tochallenge for the top spot. Bird said Denisonalso has a pair of key scorers returning thisyear and could be a team to reckon with.

“I know we’re going to be more competi-tive this year, but we have to take it one prac-tice at a time and one game at time. Then,we’ll see where we stand,” Bird said.

Clarinda relies on experience of returning letter winners


MEMBERS OF THE CLARINDAGIRLS’ BASKETBALL TEAMARE... Front row, left to right:Krista Rogers, Ellie Shane,Marissa Anderson; second row,Allison Fast, SheyannSunderman, Lauren Jones,Madi Nothwehr, Paige Fast,Jaedra Moses, Klarissa McElroy,Rachael Bair, Kristen Trusty,Jordan Sunderman, PaetynRock, Natali Donahue; Backrow, left to right: assistant coachRon Grebert, SamanthaSwanson, Taylor Stansbury,Karyee Buch, Jenny Bair, AbbyBrown, Nicole Johnson, BailleeWarren, Sydney Casteel, KaylaRogers, coach Matt Bird.


Excelling on the mat is just a small por-tion of the success the Clarinda Academywrestling program strives for each season.

Matt Darrah has returned for his 15thseason at the helm of the Eagles. Alongwith teaching his young athletes the skills

associated with wrestling, Darrah said healso strives to teach the members of thesquad valuable lessons that will benefitthem the rest of their lives.

That starts with having as many wrestlersas possible earn their Eagle status atClarinda Academy during the season.

“Eagle students are recognized as cam-pus leaders,” Darrah said. “We also want to

prepare them to return home without fallingback into the negative lifestyles they previ-ously had.”

Clarinda Academy opened practice Nov.12. Darrah said the preseason practicesfocused on improving the technique of thewrestlers along with their understanding ofthe sport.

Although Clarinda Academy is a member

of the Corner Conference, the Eagles areone of only three schools in the conferenceto offer wrestling. As a result, Darrah saidthe Eagles had to turn elsewhere to roundout its schedule this season.

“We want to face good competition and ithelped us last year to be exposed to qualitycompetition from around the state,” Darrahsaid.

PAGE 8 | WINTER SPORTS THE VALLEY NEWS | HERALD-JOURNAL

Learning lessons that extend beyond wrestling mat

Photo by John Van Nostrand/CHJ-SVNMEMBERS OF THE CLARINDA ACADEMY WRESTLING TEAM ARE... Front row, left to right: Dillan Tangeman, Jason Congress, Eni Xiong, Jones Huynh, Oshea Wright, Louis De La Cruz, Isaiah Lagassie.;middle row, Johnny Juan, Dwight Brown, Tykell Robinson, Roberto Munoz, Jared Smith, DeMarcus Walls, Kip Hartwick, Jon Sibbitt, Danny Hutchinson; Back row, left to right: Reynaldo Lopez, Nick Thompson,Robert Hillard, Joe Saufley, Tyler Robideaux, Jordan McElroy, Dakota Liddell, Cristian Jones, Taran Torkelson.

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Each time the Clarinda Academy girls’basketball team takes the court this season

the Eagles will be looking for improve-ment.

“Our goal is to work hard. If we come topractice and improve every day, everythingelse will fall in line. It’s not about whether

we win or lose as long as we’re out therehustling and getting better,” ClarindaAcademy head coach Jason Armstrongsaid.

Armstrong is returning for his sixth sea-son at the helm of the Eagles. ClarindaAcademy opened practice Nov. 5 and have19 players out for the team.

“They have worked hard and done whatthe coaches have asked. It will be interest-ing to see what happens when we playanother team because it’s hard to judgewhere you’re at in scrimmages,” Armstrongsaid.

The only player returning from last sea-son’s squad that defeated HeartlandChristian for its lone victory of the year ispoint guard Endia Denton. Armstrong saidDenton is able to push the basketball up thecourt, has a good knowledge of the gameand is willing to work with the younger

players during practice. In addition, Armstrong said Ashley Mays

and Ali Hamilton should add some depth tothe lineup. Mays was an honorable mentionall-conference selection in volleyball andwill serve as the shooting guard for theEagles.

“She has some experience playing thegame and can handle the ball, so she will beable to help Endia,” Armstrong said.“Ashley Mays is a freshmen, but she is oneof our taller players. At 5’ 9” or 5’ 10” sheshows the potential to help us on the inside.She is aggressive and not afraid to scrap alittle bit.”

Clarinda Academy will open the regularseason Friday, Nov. 30, with a home gameagainst Stanton. Armstrong said Stantonshould be one of the top teams in the CornerConference this season along withFremont-Mills, Villisca and Essex.

Eagles focus on fundamentals, improvement

Photo by John Van Nostrand/CHJ-SVNMEMBERS OF THE CLARINDAACADEMY GIRLS’ BASKETBALL TEAMARE... Front row, left to right: JazzmineRembert, Laina McIntyre, Tae Ayers, EndiaDenton, Whisper Lacey, Miracle Vang;Middle row, left to right: Cynthia Schopp,Ashley Mays, JT Scott, Symone Williams,Tyler Williams, Stephaney Foreman; Backrow, left to right: Karry Timms-Raven,Brandee Dammann, Ali Hamilton, JaydaMorgan, Jasmine Westenberger, CandyRocha, Mary Smith.

PAGE 9 | WINTER SPORTSTHE VALLEY NEWS | HERALD-JOURNAL

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For the past decade Dane Byerly has been the steadyingforce behind the success of the Clarinda Academy boys’ bas-ketball program.

Byerly is entering his 10th season as the head coach of theEagles. Last season he led Clarinda Academy to a 10-12record and a 7-5 mark in Corner Conference action as theEagles won the eastern division championship for the secondstraight year.

“As time has gone on we have developed a cycle of eventsand things don’t change as much as people think. We havelearned to focus on who we are and what we do,” Byerlysaid. “We just have to focus on us and go from there. We area short-term program, so we try to do the best we can withthe kids in the short time we can impact their lives.”

The Eagles opened practice Monday, Nov. 12, and have 31players out for the program. Although the Academy has noplayers returning from last season, Byerly said he was stillpleased with the hard work the players have displayed inpractice.

“The intensity level is very high. They have shown a will-ingness to learn new things, which is excellent. Everybody ishustling, getting to where they need to be on the court and

gaining an understanding of the new concepts we’re teachingthem,” Byerly said.

Besides having a young team on the floor, Byerly said theEagles do not have the height they have had in the past. “Iknow we’re going to be small. Our tallest guy is only 6’ 1”.We are athletic and will be able to get out and run, but we’resmall and inexperienced,” he said.

As a result, Byerly said the Eagles are focusing on improv-ing not only from game to game, but also during the courseof the game.

“Our goal is to improve with each quarter we play. We’renot going to be looking two or three games down the road,but rather just focus on the next quarter and try to gain someexperience. We’re going to take it one thing at a time,”Byerly said.

Clarinda Academy will open the 2012-2013 season Friday,Nov. 30, with a home game against Corner Conference rivalStanton.

Although Stanton had a strong showing last season in theconference race, Byerly said Villisca and Sidney appear to bethe preseason favorites this year.

“I also think South Page is going to surprise people thisyear. They have a good group of seniors and some niceunderclassmen. Also, you can never count out East Mills,”Byerly said.



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MEMBERS OF THECLARINDA ACADEMYBOYS’ BASKETBALLTEAM ARE... Front row,left to right: RobertMuller, Coty Wayman,Pedro Flores, JavierOrozco, GordonStanding Bear, MonielDennis, Mario Murillo,Kacy Brown, WyattLopez, Dvon Hardin;Second row, left to right:L T, Devante Hellams, MC, Darrius Harris, UrielCano, Maurice Evans,Fermani Maldanaldo,Josh Hawley, DarnellStuart, Chot Chotkuak;Third row, left to right:Jabarie thornton,Jaytwon Ross, DeionBriscoe, KendaleWilkerson, DeshawnTriplett, Roman Hellems,Dhallis Davis, StephenLoers, Nile Edwards.

By JASON GLENNStaff Writer

There’s only so muchpreview information youcan ask from someonecoaching the debut seasonof a high school sport.Returning starters? Nope.Last year’s letter winners?Not applicable. Goals?Work hard and learn as wego.

As the ShenandoahMustang and Fillie bowl-ing teams roll into theirinaugural seasons, theywill invariably be theguinea pigs and the stan-dard-bearers of the pro-gram for years to come. Asindividual bowlers they areanything but inexperienced- many team membershave been involved inyouth bowling since theywere five years old – but inthe team framework, theyare the test pilots and standto gain a boatload ofknowledge and experiencethis season.

Coach Amy Zwickel,who will be helming boththe boys’ and girls’ teamsthis year, is a lifelong Shenbowler and former Fillieherself and said it’s mainlyjust exciting to finally havea school-affiliated programcompeting. As with theteam-rotation Baker for-mat under which they’ll beplaying, Zwickel saidmany things about this sea-son will be new, even tosomeone who’s been activein the sport for quite sometime. Above all, she said,having the chance to donthe school colors and shootfor conference and statechampionships will hope-fully give further encour-agement and opportunitiesto many of the talentedkids who are consideringor already bowling in Shenyouth leagues.

“It’s our first year, butwe’ve got some goodyouth bowlers we’ve hadin the program for a long

New Shenandoahbowling program

see BOWLING, Page 13



With an experienced lineup returning tothe court, the South Page Rebels are poisedto contend for one of the top spots in theCorner Conference this season.

Despite finishing last year with a regularseason record of 6-15, the Rebels have fiveplayers back for their senior campaign.Those seniors are Briar Hoyt, ZackeryNeihart, Dustin Peregrine, Jacob Petermanand Jacob Sunderman.

“With the experience they have and theirleadership, I think we could see some posi-tive things this year,” South Page head coachDennis Falk said.

This will be Falk’s third season at the helmof the South Page boys’ basketball program.He will be joined on the sideline by BrettWennihan, who is returning for his secondseason as the assistant coach of the Rebels.

Falk said Fremont-Mills, along with EastMills and Sidney, look to be the earlyfavorites to challenge for the western divi-sion title in the Corner Conference.Meanwhile, in the eastern division, Villiscareturns a great deal of talent and should con-tend for the title.

Falk said Essex and Stanton could also bebattling for the top spots in the eastern divi-sion and he believes South Page will be inthe hunt in the division.

“I would like to think you can put us in

there and hopefully we will be,” Falk said.“The Corner Conference should be toughagain this year. The conference was morewide open than we really dreamed it wouldbe last year and I think it will be that wayagain.”

In all, there are 14 players out for theSouth Page squad this season. Joining thefive seniors are three juniors and six sopho-mores. Junior Blake Harvey and sophomoreZachary Peterman each saw varsity actionlast season for the Rebels and will lend someadditional depth to the South Page lineup.

Meanwhile, juniors Damian Davis andJesse Graham played on the junior varsitysquad last season and should contribute atthe varsity level this season. Rounding out

the team for the Rebels are sophomoresMartin Engstrand, Marcus Mackey, BrianStory, Michael Wheelbarger and AaronWhitehill.

“We have some foot speed and good ballhandlers, but our weakness is our lack ofsize. That could have an impact on ourrebounding,” Falk said. “We have someyounger boys with good size, but they don’thave much experience yet.”

The Rebels opened practice Monday, Nov.12, and tipped off the regular seasonMonday, Nov. 25, at Diagonal. South Pagethen faced Shenandoah Tuesday and willconclude a busy opening week of actionFriday, Nov. 30, with a game at Fremont-Mills.

South Page poised to contend in Corner Conference race

Photo by Kristan Gray/CHJ-SVNMEMBERS OF THE SOUTH PAGE BOYS’ BASKETBALL TEAM ARE... Front row, left to right: coach Brett Wennihan, Jacob Sunderman, Jacob Peterman, Zackery Neihart, Dustin Peregrine, coach DennisFalk; Back row, left to right: Michael Wheelbarger, Brian Story, Damian Davis, Blake Harvey, Marcus Mackey, Zackary Peterman, Aaron Whitehill, Jesse Graham, Martin Engstrand. Not pictured, Briar Hoyt.


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As tough as last year was for the Shenandoah Mustangbasketball team, the coming season could be even tougher.Having lost three senior leaders to graduation and a fewpotential returners to other winter athletic offerings, not tomention facing the relentless grind of the Hawkeye 10 cal-endar, the Mustangs face a monumental task as they contin-ue the rebuilding effort.

Junior Jackson Baker will again key the Shen offense,having led the 2011-12 team in assists with 42, steals with47, and second in scoring at 6.5 points per game. SeniorJosh Dudley is the only other returning player with signifi-

cant court time, netting 3.4 points and 2.0 rebounds andhaving led the Mustangs with 20 blocks. Between gradu-ates Drew Bayless, Jake Doerr and Drew Nielsen,Shenandoah lost their top three rebounders and two of theirtop three scorers from last year.

Last season, the Mustangs won their opening night gameagainst South Page and then dropped the next 21, almostbreaking the dubious streak with close losses to Red Oakand Fremont-Mills late in the season. While they had suc-cess on defense, ranking third as a team in blocks and sixthin steals, they were second to the bottom in rebounding, ledthe Hawkeye 10 in turnovers by quite a bit and were last inmost offensive categories.

Above all, the Mustangs have to learn to come out strong

and stay competitive for the duration of a game. Last sea-son they struggled to light a fire in both the first and thirdquarters and had only a slight uptick in scoring in the fourthand were outscored by 30 points on average. Putting up theplurality of your points in the second period is not a recipefor great success.

First-year coach Erik Grudle, who shared in a great dealof success as an assistant coach at Sidney over the last fiveseasons, should infuse a good amount of life into the team,but faces a stern challenge in the coming months.Upperclass leaders will be key to keeping Mustang headshigh when the going gets tough, but some new faces step-ping up and into important roles will be critical to makingsure that it doesn’t stay that way.

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Photo by Jason Glenn/CHJ-SVNMEMBERS OF THE SHENANDOAH BOWLING TEAM ARE...Front row: Kassie Herron. Second row, left to right: Joe Racine,Josh Simkins, Zane O’Neil, JayCee Hogue, Justn Marsh, CoachAmy Zwickel, Jaycee Johnson, Samantha Kent, Lisa Dishong,Shania Mather, Taylor McGargill, Adrianna Viney. Back row, left toright: Austin Manley, Jacob Orr, Kyle Hiser, Sean Gluck, DamienDawson, David Hogue, Allie Gluck, Nathan Hoyt, Austyn Wittrock,Amber Oldham.Member FDIC



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BOWLINGContinued from Page 10

time, too. And we haveyoung ones that are still upand coming and hopefullythis will gain more, we canget more kids out for bowl-ing in high school as asport,” Zwickel said.

The first Mustang bowl-ing team will be comprisedof David Hogue, JoeRacine, Kyle Hiser, Tyler

Hoyt, Sean Gluck, AustinManley, Jacob Orr, AustynWhitrock, Alex Kellison,Zane O’Neil, Josh Simkins,Damien Dawson, ParkerRice and DevonAshenfelter. The first Fillieteam is Shyanne Powers,Justine Marsh, Jacee Hogue,Allie Gluck, AmberOldham, Lisa Dishong,Kassie Herron, JayceeJohnson, Shania Mather andAdreana Viney.



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Photo by Jason Glenn/CHJ-SVNMEMBERS OF THE SHENANDOAH GIRLS’ BASKETBALL TEAMARE... Front row, left to right: Kaylee Birt, Abby Wiegel, BreannaAllely, Ciera Hoyt, Rita Costa, Jaime Runyon. Middle row, left toright: Kensila Saner, Stacie Fischer, Jordan Major, KayleeBartholomew, Jordyn Lembrick, Brianna Holmes, MadelineWoolery. Back row, left to right: Coach Jon Weinrich, HannahDailey, Sydney Nielsen, Serena Parker, Jasmine Woolery, PaydonWhitehill, Coach Bryan Diekmann.


Unlike many of their Corner Conferenceneighbors, the Class 2A Shenandoah Fillieswill be looking to move up the ranks thanksto the graduation of a number of key play-ers in the top Hawkeye 10 teams last spring.Glenwood, Lewis Central and Kuempereach lost a ton of scoring, rebounding andexperienced leadership and the Fillies couldbuild on their 2011-12 turnaround and makesome noise in the scramble for the top.

Super sophomore Serena Parker will cer-tainly have to deal with a lot more attentionafter her 13.9-point, 9.1-rebound, 68-blockdebut last year, but if the newfound feistyedge the normally sweet-natured Fillie dis-played during the volleyball season is anyindicator, opposing teams will be seeing awhole new side to Parker. All three totalsabove were in the top five in 2011-12 and,with the exception of Denison’s ChelseyVan Ness’ scoring average of 14.8, are thebest for any returning Hawk 10 player.

Having lost almost 15 points, 13rebounds, six assists and five steals to thegraduation of three core seniors, the Fillieswill also need increased production fromsenior guard Breanna Allely (4.9 ppg, 4.4rpg, 41 assists, 35 steals) and sophomoreSydney Nielsen (5.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 39assists, 19 steals) to get up in the big girls’grills.

Senior Ciera Hoyt and sophomore JordanMajor stepping up and draining three-ballswill be a big part of the Fillie equation,which absolutely hinges on cutting downsignificantly on their turnovers, which werethe most in the conference by a long shotlast year. The Shen girls also trailed theHawk 10 in free throw and 3-point percent-age last year and will, critically, need to fixthose issues to contend.

The Fillies had the challenge and benefitof a pre-Thanksgiving warmup game, host-ing the East Mills Wolverines on Nov. 19

and coming away with a nice 69-43 win.While Parker got a chance to see the firsttriple-team coverage of many likely tocome this season, Nielsen provided someinsight into what could be in store for oppo-nents dedicating too much defense to stop-ping the Fillie center, going for 26 pointsand 13 rebounds and only giving up twofouls.

Coach Jon Weinrich said that’s going tobe a theme this year and the team’s successwill rest on how well and consistently otherplayers step up to score and rebound whenParker is fending off small armies of oppos-ing players.

“If they’re going to put three on Serenaand we can get the ball to Sydney, thatworks too. Our kids are extremely unselfishand they want to win,” Weinrich said.“You’re going to have to pick your poisonwith us. Other kids have to make Serenabetter, she makes other people better.”

With Allely, Parker and Nielsen the vocaland on-the-floor leaders of the team,Weinrich said he will be looking for othersto raise their game as the season progresses,and contribute to the Fillies’ somewhat lightand inexperienced bench. Being able toadjust to the speed of the varsity game andlearn from mistakes – hopefully duringgames they end up winning anyway – willbe big factors in how the season turns out,he added.

While those remain question marks forthe time being, one thing for certain is thatthe measure of success for Weinrich won’tbe in how many victories they pile up.

“Success is never a record and I try not tocompare us to last year or previous years.It’s about effort and whether the other teambeats us or if we beat ourselves. We playgood teams, so we might play better thanlast year and have a worse record. Successwill be if we play to our best level, playsmart and make the other team beat us,” hesaid.


Fillies could be upwardlymobile in Hawkeye 10



The Essex-South Page Trojanettes, whodidn’t lose a single player to graduation,will feature a mix of youth, experience and,well, experienced youth, this season. Juniorscoring machine and first-team all-CornerConference and all-region pick SeanaPerkins will lead the team, hoping to ele-vate her offensive attack from the alreadystratospheric heights of14.1 buckets with 28 3-pointers and 45 assists,while senior do-it-allHaley Fundermann (9.6ppg, 56 assists, 35 steals),an all-conference second-teamer, should have yetanother standout perform-ance in her final campaign.

To jump the hump andreach the top half of theconference, the ‘Netteswill need more than themulti-faceted efforts oftheir upperclassmen,though. They will alsorequire the hardnosed,physical style of sopho-more Cheyana Brownfield(6.4 ppg, 7.7 rpg) andreach and dexterity of fel-low soph Kym Graham, abit of a renaissance ladyherself, earning all-confer-ence honorable mentionwith 5.7 points, 30 assists,34 steals, 22 blocks and ateam-leading 8.2 reboundsper contest last year.Graham’s presence downlow will be especiallyimportant for the under-

sized E-SP squad as they look to realizetheir potential.

With five returning starters and sevenadditional returning letter winners on top ofthat, the Trojanettes will be putting thegreatest all-around amount of experienceon the court every night. Even so, they willstill only have two seniors on the roster andcould be a force for season to come if theycan find the right formula in 2012-13.

Trojanettes trying to buildwith unchanged base


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Photo by Kristan Gray/CHJ-SVNMEMBERS OF THE ESSEX GIRLS’ BASKETBALL TEAM ARE...Front row, left to right: Tessie Lindburg, Haley Fundermann. Middlerow, left to right: Skylar Ross, Koreen Polsley, Seana Perkins,Regan Burns. Back row, left to right: Ausha Gay, Samantha Racine,Amber Ohnmacht, Cheyana Brownfield, Bethany Johnson, SaraSkalberg, Andrea Allen, Katie Radley. Not Pictured: Kym Graham

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The Essex Trojans are yet another area boys’ squad tohave dropped a significant amount of production to thealumni rolls, but an important nucleus of underclass talentmay seize their chance to shine. And first-year coach KyanKirkholm will be looking to make his mark on the program.

Senior Nick Williams, coming after the holiday break lastseason, ended up with 9.0 points per game, 20 3-pointers,33 assists and 35 steals and junior Zach Dailey was steadyall around with 6.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per contest ontop of 18 assists, 19 steals and 24 blocks, which was goodfor fourth in the conference. Junior Brett Johnson will alsofigure prominently in the Trojans hopes for a prosperous2012-13, having put up decent numbers (2.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg,

17 blocks) in his limited action last year.Between Levi Allen, Jordan Jones and Justin Moyer, the

Trojans lost 54 percent of their assists, 58 percent of theirrebounding and 62 percent of their scoring – numbers thatwill be very difficult to account for. In Allen and Jones, theyalso had their greatest chance to spread defenses, the twoseniors accounting for 58 of the team’s 94 3-pointers.

The truly interesting thing about the Trojans last year wasthat while there were good stats, they didn’t necessarilyequate to good outcomes. Essex was 7-16 overall, but just2-10 in conference games and their –5.3-point differentialoverall increased to –14.7 when they were playing otherCorner teams.

It’ll be an uphill climb either way, but chemistry might bea more vital ingredient for a Trojan turnaround than gaudy

numbers. Last year’s Trojan team was one of the bestrebounding squads in the conference and certainly put up alot of shots, but grabbing those boards and lofting thoseshots didn’t result in a lot of points on the scoreboard andeffective possessions. The Essex boys put up the secondmost field goal attempts and the most three-point tries, butfinished in the bottom three in both those percentages madelargely because they had problems finding good open looks.

Though they were a good ball handling team – giving upthe second fewest turnovers in the conference – it seemed tocome more from a reluctance to move the ball around thanalways making great decisions. The Trojans should look tovastly improve their seventh-ranked assist total from the2011-12 season, even if it comes at the expense of a fewmore turnovers.

Trojans looking for right mix to replace numbers

Photo by Kristan Gray/CHJ-SVNMEMBERS OF THE ESSEX BOYS’ BASKET-BALL TEAM ARE... Front row, left to right:Tucker Scott, Jacob Jones, Matt Lundgren, NickWilliams, Alex Dailey, Cody McClintock, WayneFranksBack row, left to right: Austin Woods, JacobOhnmacht, Zach Dailey, Nicholas Martin, IanIsaacson, Brett Johnson



While all the Corner Conference boys teams lost talent-ed seniors, the Fremont-Mills Knights were probably themost stung by matriculation, dropping almost 45 of theirsecond-in-the-conference 63 points per game with thegraduation of Nate Meier, Corey Morrical, Nick Williams,AJ Scarborough and Logan Wood. Also gone with thatoverachieving Knight class that finished second in the con-

ference tournament is 11 assists and six steals per contest –all in all, a massive diminishment of their resources, to saythe least.

One thing the F-M faithful can be thankful for is that themassive shoulders of Clayton Wilson are still there to carrythe load. On more than one occasion this fall, the seniorlooked like a one-man army on the football field and hemay have to do the same in the tighter confines of a noisygym this winter for the Knights to keep up. Wilson bringsback 8.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, as well as aconference-leading 50 blocks, with him. They’re going to

need it, and then some.Though his team will be largely untested entering the

season, coach Matt Thompson said he is hoping some rawtalent and enthusiasm will translate into a quick learningcurve for his younger players.

“We have a lot of kids who have had success in JV bas-ketball, we are hoping that can carry over to the varsitylevel. We have a lot of size, and kids who want to play.They have been working hard in practice, and we are look-ing forward to playing some different people,” Thompsonsaid.

Knights need new laces to step it up

Photo submittedMEMBERS OF THE FREMONT-MILLS BOYS’ BASKETBALL TEAM ARE... Front row, left to right: Isaah Luke, Mackenzie Lang, Colton Dodson, Lane Goodman, David Dines, Blake Jones, Frank Prazen,Jason Rusten, Tristan Melgoza, Devin House Back row, left to right: Jace Kemp, Caleb Bowles, Kevin Herrick, Cody Meston, Dakota Thomas, Clayton Wilson, Aaron Fleuren, Lucas Clark, Austin Switzer, DonnieAnderson

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If any Corner Conference girls’ team is poised for a greatleap forward, it’s the high-octane, shoot-first-ask-ques-tions-later Lady Knights of Fremont-Mills. With one moreyear of maturity funneling the ginger rage that is MacyWilliams, F-M will build on an 8-3 2011-12 campaign thatfeatured a closing stretch with victories over Nishnabotna,East Mills, Sidney and a program-defining 59-56Valentine’s night win against the Viqueens on their homecourt.

Williams was at her absolute peak in that game, going12-for-18 and 7-for-10 from behind the arc to score 37

points and carry her team to victory. For the season,Williams was an unstoppable offensive force, leading theconference with 17.5 points per game and 57 3-pointers,but somehow also collected the second-most assists with 84and hounded opposing ball handlers to the tune of 69 steals.

Despite her prodigious talent, Williams will need contin-ued support from senior Emily Smith (6.0 ppg, 22 3-pts,3.3 rpg), junior Kalyn Madison (4.7 ppg, 34 assists, 54steals) and fellow sophomores Taryn Williams (8.7 ppg, 233-pts, 35 assists, 29 steals) and Andrea McClary (8.0 rpg,30 assists, 25 steals, 42 blocks) for the team to take it to thenext level. If the short but scrappy Knights can crack downon defense, keep the turnovers low (with 314, they were

second only to Stanton last year) and, above all, sink moreof the 1,350 shots, including 432 3-pointers, they sent sky-ward last season, they’ll be a force for years to come. Theframework lies in that Stanton comparison – the Viqueensonly took 16 more shots than F-M last year, but outscoredopponents by 21.3 points to the Lady Knights’ 2.2-pointdifference.

Coach Rod Williams said his team is obviously youngand very athletic, but also carries a great work ethic intopreparation for games. Last season, he said, their successtranslated into greater maturity, which he said he will lookfor especially in terms of handling the occasional setbacksthat invariably come with a demanding season.

Athletic Lady Knights on quest to conquer

Photo by Jason Glenn/CHJ-SVN

MEMBERS OF THE FREMONT-MILLS GIRLS’ BASKETBALLTEAM ARE... Front row, left toright: Cassie Gilbert, KendallFichter, Emily Smith, TarynWilliams, Macy Williams Backrow, left to right: DelaneyLangfelt, Haylee Chambers,Taryn Hansen, Ashley McClary,Andrea McClary, Kelsey Hurley




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Having lost not only one ofthe best basketball players, butone of the best all-around ath-letes in the history of the CornerConference in AndrewThompson, the NishnabotnaBlue Devils will be counting ona pair of seniors and a sopho-more to keep themselves afloat.

The Blue Devils put together arespectable 12-11 and 5-6record in 2011-12 largely onThompson’s 15.2 points and 6.9rebounds per game, 76 assistsand 74 steals, but also got solidand timely help from SchuylerBrennan (7.3 ppg, 47 assists, 33steal, 4.6 rpg), Riley Scroggie(5.8 ppg, 16 steals, 17 blocks,4.7 rpg) and emergent froshKeagan Jewell (5.3 ppg, 14assists, 15 steals).

In addition to Thompson,Nish lost another tremendousathlete in Chris Osborn, whotransferred to Sidney last springand took his 9.5 points and 3.3rebounds per game, as well as

his 48 steals, with him.To stay out of the cellar, the

numbers for the remainingmembers have to climb signifi-cantly and the Nish boys have todo so efficiently, replacing the48.8 percent shooting ofThompson, 33 3-pointers ofgraduate Joe Gude and all-around effectiveness of Osbornwith not just quantity but quali-ty. Unfortunately, health issueswill keep Scroggie on the benchearly in the season and perhapsthroughout, as the team looks tosee who from the younger rankswill emerge as a player.

Coach Nick Hodges said histeam will bring an up-tempostyle to the floor and have to finda way around a height disadvan-tage.

“Our strengths will be ourteam speed, ability to press, ballhandling and our outside shoot-ing. We will not be very tall, sowe will have to lean on ourspeed and being sound in boxingout and playing team defense,”Hodges said.

Blue Devilsworking to fill

big gaps

Photo by Jason Glenn/CHJ-SVNMEMBERS OF THE NISHNABOTNA BOYS’ BASKETBALL TEAM ARE... Left to right: Milan Patel, Thomas Gude, SchuylerBrennan, Andrew Welch, Bradley Nahkunst, Riley Scroggie, Tyler Beam, Josh Haning, Austin Thompson, Ben Phillips, and ChadBlank. Not pictured: Eric Charbonneau and Cary Lang.

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In a relatively young Corner Conference, Nishnabotnawill be the squad of hungry, grizzled veterans this year.Coach Steve Sauvain, in his second year leading the teambut having picked up his 300th career win last year, will usehis own wealth of experience to guide the wise and compet-itive senior-heavy squad into battle.

Losing Jody Shough and her conference-leading 88

blocks, as well as 45 steals and 7.1 rebounds, was a hugeblow to the Blue Devil defense, but they will hit the floorwith four seniors who can all do just about anything on thecourt. Molly Goltz is the undisputed leader and one of themost versatile athletes in southwest Iowa, returning from a12.7-point, 73-assist, 54-steal, 17-block, 5.5-rebound jun-ior campaign to helm a final charge with classmates AshleyGilbert, Alexia Blank and Amanda Brennan.

For the Blue Devils to make their own push for the con-

ference crown, Gilbert will have to use her athleticism tograb rebounds and make big blocks, while Blank andBrennan will have to continue to dish and harangue oppos-ing offenses. Blank, with 115 steals, and Brennan, with 74,were first and third on the conference list and a big reasonit was so tough for foes to get any traction against Nish.Junior Cierra Voyles, who had a breakout season in 2011-12 with 6.3 ppg, 55 steals and 4.0 rpg, will also be a bigfactor and sophomore Anne-Marie Maher, second on theteam last year with 20 blocks and 6.1 rpg, can help fill theShough slough by kicking it up a notch.

Last year, the Blue Devils were the third-best shootingteam inside the 3-point line, but the third-worst frombeyond it. A little more range could go a long way. Sauvainsaid they are a very solid group on the whole, with lock-down defensive skills and a desire to compete with anyoneon the floor. He added that having a year under his belt, get-ting to know the players and their strengths and weakness-es and building relationships, should make this season a lotmore comfortable for everyone.

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Experience, leadership key to Blue Devil’s successMEMBERS OF THE NISHNABOTNA GIRLS’ BASKETBALL TEAM ARE... Front row, left to right: Ashley Gilbert, Molly Goltz, Kaylnn Poe, Alexia Blank, Amanda Brennan. Back row, left to right: CaileeKingery, Kenna Voyles, Sam Moran, Jacy Hendrickson, Cierra Voyles, Autumn Haupt, Christa McCall, Miranda Scroggie, Anne Marie Maher, Shelby Christiansen, Hannah Boeser. Not pictured: KelliRobinson


The Sidney Cowboys also lost some of the best seniortalent ever to run a southwest Iowa floor in Brendon Hardyand Casey Cruickshank, but they had a number of juniorsand a freshman that could and did play and scored a hugewin on the waiver wire in the off-season, landing junior

transfer Chris Osborn (9.5 ppg, 18 3-pointers, 34 assists, 48steals) to put them right back into the conference mix.Sophomore Jacob Cain had a fantastic freshman campaign,putting up almost eight points and seven rebounds a game,and the senior trio of Noah McKeever, Mason Sheldon andNick Shipley bring back a balanced and disciplined coreleadership to the Cowboys.

Aside from their athletic gifts, Hardy and Cruickshank

provided tremendous competitiveness an leadership to theirteam as arguably two of the toughest gamers in the confer-ence. If this year’s Cowboy hoops squad can bring the fightthey showed on the football field to the hardwood, theycould be strong contenders to make it back to the top of theheap. Limiting turnovers on offense and picking up moresteals and blocks on defense will be key to their continuedsuccess.

Last year’s Sidney squad was a great rebounding team,ranking second in the conference, but didn’t really domi-nate in any other one facet of the game. Instead, it wouldseem their success arose from good chemistry, hard workand perhaps most importantly, getting stronger as the gamewent on. Of the top five scoring teams in the CornerConference, the Cowboys were the only ones to score theirgreatest number of points in the fourth quarter, somethingthat speaks to the program’s focus on fitness and will helpthem not only late in games but late in the season.

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MEMBERS OF THE SIDNEYBOYS’ BASKETBALL TEAMARE... Front row, left to right:Blane Moreland, MiguelAlvarez, Noah McKeever,Michael Coates. Middle row,left to right: Paul Clayton,Richard Smith, ErickRodriguez, Brett Horrach,Nicholas Shipley, ChrisOsborn, Emmett Gilson, GavinDriskell Back row, left to right:Tyler Dupre, Jeremy Cain,Mason Sheldon, Jacob Cain,Phil Worcester, Dylan Lucas,Eno Heller, ConnerNennemann, Vojtech Sejkora


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Another Corner Conference blended of both experienceand youth will be the Sidney Cowgirls, who will look toseniors Shelby Anderson, Rachel Finnell and BaileyShirley as well as junior Ruthie Gregory for their directionand hope to fill in some blanks with underclass enthusiasm.

The cowgirls will not want for rebounding, bothAnderson and Finnell among the conference leaders.Anderson in particular could have the kind of season peo-ple talk about for some time as the only returning player

besides Villisca’s Focht to have averaged a double-doublelast year. Her 10.1 points and 11.2 rebounds were comple-mented by 20 assists and 29 steals, but she needs toincrease her total of 16 blocks for the Cowgirls to reversean 11-point scoring deficit they had in 2011-12. Fellowtwin tower Finnell will also have to up her offensive outputfrom last year’s 5.7 points per game to give the Sidney girlsa shot, as will Gregory, who put up 5.0 points and was theteam’s best long-distance threat with 17 3-pointers. Shirley,the Cowgirls’ leading returner in assists with 29 and No. 1pilferer with 30 steals, takes the reins of the Sidney offenseinto the unknown horizon.

Coach Dave Dowling said he’s excited to see what awave of six talented freshman that went undefeated in theireighth grade season last year con contribute to this season’seffort. Many of those girls showed their skills and ability totake it to the next level on the volleyball court this fall, butDowling said it will be important for them to make the nec-essary growing steps on the basketball hardwood as well.

“It will take time to mesh and develop some chemistrybetween the older girls and younger girls,” he said. “Eventhough the freshmen have some raw talent, they are stillfreshmen and need to work through the inconsistencies ofthat age due to a lack of experience.”

Cowgirls combine experience and youth


MEMBERS OF THE SIDNEYGIRLS’ BASKETBALL TEAMARE... Front Row, left to rightRuthie Gregory, Bailey Shirley,Shelby Anderson, RachelFinnell, Hope Misner, KatelynHarbor. Back row, left to rightAlexis Hall, Lexy Larsen,Kennedy Hughes, Shea Sears,Kenna Nenneman


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Winter Sports Preview

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