TC Sports Pages - February 24th

PODCAST: Coaches Corner Podcast - February Podcast

The Coaches Corner Podcast is a weekly podcast where sports editor Ryan Stonebraker sits down with area coaches to talk about their seasons.  Check it out at the link below:

Coaches Corner Podcast

Gustafson Tabbed B1G Freshman of the WeekHaw

Hawk Megan Gustafson earned Big Ten Freshman of the week this week.  She averaged a double-double with 14 points and 10.7 rebounds per game.  Iowa was 2-1 in that time.

Wisconsin native earns her 1st career conference award

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- University of Iowa center Megan Gustafson earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week recognition, the league office announced Monday. It is the first conference honor of her career and first freshman of the week accolade for Iowa since Feb. 28, 2012 (Samantha Logic).

Gustafson averaged a double-double with 14 points and 10.7 rebounds per game to guide Iowa to a 2-1 record last week. She shot .563 from the field and averaged 3.3 blocks per contest in the three-game stretch.

The Port Wing, Wisconsin, native recorded a career-high 19 rebounds at Minnesota on Feb. 15, the highest rebounding total in a single game in Iowa women’s basketball history since Feb. 16 2012, when Logic pulled down 18 boards at Michigan. Gustafson added 14 points, netting 6-of-12 field goal attempts, to secure her fifth career double-double in a six-game stretch.

Gustafson followed it up with 18 points and led the team for the seventh straight game with seven rebounds against Purdue on Feb. 18. She also recorded a team-high four blocks and shot .778 from the field to lead the Hawkeyes.

In Iowa’s third game in seven days, Gustafson posted 10 points to reach double figures for the fourth consecutive game and six boards against Indiana on Feb. 21. The 6-foot-3 center also added a team-high four blocks to help the Hawkeyes win their second straight Big Ten game.

Gustafson leads Big Ten freshmen with 50 blocks this season, which is the third-highest total among all freshmen in Iowa history. She has posted three or more blocks in nine of 28 games this season and owns the sixth-highest rebound total for a freshman in program history (177).

On the season, Gustafson leads the Hawkeyes with 6.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. She is third offensively, averaging 9.5 points per contest this year. Gustafson has appeared in every game of her career with nine consecutive starts.

The Hawkeyes hit the road for a midweek game at Penn State on Wednesday at 6 p.m. (CT). Iowa returns home to conclude the regular season on Saturday against Illinois at 5 p.m. It will be Senior Day for Kali Peschel, Nicole Smith, and Claire Till.

OABCIG Bowling Coach to Receive IGHSAU Golden Plaque of Distincction

OABCIG Girls Bowling Coach Roger Christensen is the 2016 recipient of the IGHSAU Bowling Golden Plaque of Distinction Award.             

The IGHSAU Golden Plaque of Distinction Award honors the Iowa coach who has demonstrated a successful career while making notable contributions toward school, community and the coaching profession. Christensen will be honored at this week's State Bowling Tournament.  

Christensen has been the girls bowling coach at Odebolt-Arthur/Battle Creek-Ida Grove since 2006, the first year bowling was introduced as an IGHSAU-sanctioned sport. 

Christensen is a native of Forest City and a graduate of Waldorf and Northern Iowa. He has been teaching and coaching in the OABCIG school district for 32 years. He has coached one state bowling qualiifer and served on the Bowling Advisory Committee. 

He and wife of 34 years, Janet, have a daughter, Emily, a son, Isaac and one grandson Elijah.

TC Sports Section - February 17th

PODCAST - GBB Podcast Febuary 13th

The Coaches Corner Podcast is a weekly podcast where sports editor Ryan Stonebraker sits down with area coaches to talk about their seasons.  Check it out at the link below:

Coaches Corner Podcast - February 13th

Wildcats Ranked From Start To Finish

Durant's Aubrey Werthmann (22) lines up a free throw attempt during the Wildcats 39-20 win at home over Tipton earlier this season.  The Wildcats finished the 2015-16 season ranked in every class 2A poll put out by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union this season.  Photo by Ryan Stonebraker.

Wildcats Ranked From State To Finish Of Season, 1 of 3 RVC Teams To Do So

DES MOINES — The Durant Wildcats girl’s basketball team began the 2015-16 season ranked in class 2A and they ended there last week when the Iowa Girl’s High School Athletic Union released their final rankings for all classes.  The Wildcats finish the season ranked #15.  Durant had a highest ranking of #9 which was in the first preseason rankings of the season last November.

The top two teams in 2A, top ranked Western Christian and number-2 Iowa City Regina remained unchanged from last week’s poll.  The biggest mover was Des Moines Christian from #9 to #12.  DM Christian lost by 10 points at home to #11 Van Meter.

The three River Valley Conference schools ranked in the top-15 have been in the 2A poll all season.  This week there were five ranked RVC Schools.  In 2A, Regina held on to #2 and West Branch moved up a spot to #6 while Durant held steady at #15 in class 2A.  In class 3A, Monticello moved up to #10 and Mid-Prairie entered the rankings at #14.  Camanche dropped out of the rankings, having been #14 last week after losing at #2 Iowa City Regina on February 5.

Here is a look at the final rankings in class 2A:

Final Class 2A Rankings

February 12, 2016

Team-Record-Conference/Conference finish

1. Western Christian 19-2 Lakes Conference Champions

2. Iowa City Regina 21-0 River Valley South Champions

3. Unity Christian 19-1 War Eagle Conference Champions

4. Pekin 21-1 SE Iowa Super Conference North Champions

5. Okoboji 20-1 Siouxland Conference Champions

6. West Branch 18-3 River Valley South Runners-Up

7. Manson-NW Webster 16-4 Twin Lakes Conference Runners-Up

8. Central Decatur 20-1 Pride of Iowa Conference Co-Champions

9. I-35 (Truro) 19-2 Pride of Iowa Conference Co-Champions

10. Treynor 18-1 Western Iowa Conference Champions

11. Van Meter 19-2 West Central Valley Conference Co-Champions

12. Des Moines Christian18-2 West Central Valley Conference Co-Champions

13. Lawton-Bronson 16-4 Western Valley Conference Co-Champions

14. Grundy Center 20-1 North Iowa Cedar League - West Champions

15. Durant 16-5 River Valley South - 3rd

Here is a look at the preseason class 2A rankings for the 2015-16 school year:

Preseason Class 2A Rankings

November 20, 2015

Team 2014-15 Record

1. Unity Christian 27-0

2. Iowa City Regina 21-4

3. Western Christian 22-4

4. Pekin 19-3

5. Manson-NW Webster 18-6

6. West Branch 17-6

7. I-35 (Truro) 19-5

8. Lawton-Bronson 14-10

9. Durant 16-8

10. Okoboji 19-5

11. Van Meter 15-8

12. Central Decatur 23-2

13. Maquoketa Valley 17-6

14. Des Moines Christian 20-5

15. West Hancock 14-10

TC Sports February 10th, 2016

Tigers Advance 6 To Districts, RVC Sends 43 On As A Conference

LISBON — The Tipton Tiger wrestling team will be represented by six wrestlers at a class 1A District meet in Wilton this Saturday.  The Tigers finished as runners-up to Sectional Champion Lisbon Saturday at the Lisbon Sectional.  By doing so, the Tigers qualify for the Regional duals Tuesday, February 9 in Lisbon.  Wilton and Iowa City Regina also qualified for the 1A Regional Duals as did West Liberty in class 2A.

Here is a list of Individual district qualifiers from each River Valley Conference school.  The 2016 Iowa State traditional state tournament is Thursday, February 18-Saturday, February 21.  The State Dual team tournament is Wednesday, February 17.

River Valley Conference District Qualifiers:

SRU = Sectional Runner-Up; SC = Sectional Champion

Bellevue (1): Mason Lyons (182) SC.

Camanche (4): Nate Thoms (126) SC; Brice Everson (132) SC; Baylor Crigger (138) SRU; Noah Everson (145) SRU;

Cascade (3): Nolan Noonan (106) SRU; Sam Martin (113) SC; Derick Koppes (120) SRU;

Durant (1): Brandon Dykes (195) SRU.

Iowa City Regina (4): Ryan Schott (152) SRU; Aaron Demroy (182) SRU; Cam Lynch (195) SRU; Jared Brinkman (285) SC.

Mid-Prairie (4): Duncan McCain (113) SRU; Cameron Tolander (170) SRU; Visouth Peterschmidt (195) SRU; Levi Duwa (220) SC.

Monticello (3): Chase Luensman (106) SC; Lake Stahlberg (182) SC; Zach Timm (285) SRU.

North Cedar (3): Torrey Wilhau (152) SRU; Byron Boleyn (160) SRU; Brendan Sander (182) SRU.

NE Goose Lake (0): None.

Tipton (6): John Crowley (106) SRU; Ben Emrich (113) SC; Colton Clark (132) SRU; Justin McAtee (145) SRU; Jordan Challis (195) SC; Cameron Ihrig (220) SRU.  

West Branch (1): Drew Finnegan (220) SC.

West Liberty (6): Coy Ruess (106) SRU; Justis Dengler (126) SRU; Austin Beaver (132) SRU; Joe Kelly (152) SC; Joe Baker (160) SRU; Bryce Esmoil (195) SC;

Wilton (8): Reid Johnson (120) SRU; Jerome Mays (132) SRU; Trey Brisker (145) SC; Tanner Greenwald (152) SC; Cameron Reddick (160) SRU; Eli Fasion (170) SRU; Bryce Oveson (182) SC; John Rife (220) SRU.

Regional Dual Pairings:

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Class 1A:

At Alburnett #3 Alburnett vs. #53 Iowa City Regina

#9 Dike-New Hartford vs. #18 East Buchanan

At Lisbon #2 Lisbon vs. UR - Tipton

#11 MFL, Mar Mac vs. #20 Wilton

Class 2A:

At Washington #7 Washington vs. #27 West Liberty

#11 Mediapolis vs. #14 Williamsburg