Iowa Sports Connection - Volume 12 Issue 12

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Billy Cundiff graces the front cover of this 13th anniversary of the Iowa Sports Connection and how appropriate, as we launched this company while Billy and his friends from Drake worked for the Local Sports Connection. Billy Cundiff was actually on the September 2002 cover with the title “Billy the Kid is a Cowboy!” That was his debut in the NFL as he shocked the world by making the Dallas Cowboys roster and proceeding to tie the Monday Night Football record for field goals with seven on a Monday night in the Meadowlands against the New York Giants. Billy Cundiff played his high school football in Harlan, Iowa, for legendary coach Curt Bladt and the powerful Cyclones. Billy finished high school career and came west to Bulldog Country and played at Drake for Rob Ash. Drake University is certainly not recognized as a mecca for aspiring NFL place kickers, but Billy’s athleticism and leg strength caught the eye of several scouts. The rest is history and, as the Beatles sang, the “Long and Winding Road” to this year’s Pro Bowl began.Billy was on a roll and destined for a long career with the Dallas Cowboys when an injury sent him into the league’s unemployed ranks for a period with many job interviews and part-time positions in the fickle world of NFL kickers. I quit keeping track of all of his stops as it was getting too expensive for me as I always purchased a ball cap from the team he signed with in a statement of support for my favorite NFL player. Okay, I’ll try to remember: Packers, Chiefs, Saints, Bucs, Falcons, Browns. Cundiff saved the best for last by signing with the Baltimore Ravens and landing a spot on the Pro Bowl roster. The determination and commitment that Billy displayed in his quest to return to the league and prove that he still was an elite athlete is nothing short of phenomenal. Billy is a very intelligent, balanced young father of two and husband to his college sweetheart living comfortably in Arizona with an MBA under his belt in case this kicking gig didn’t pan out. However, he was certain that his talents were still at the caliber that would merit a full time roster offer and

CONTENTS

4 Pee Wee Profiles

8 Prep Connection

20 Collegiate Corner

26 Minor But Major

2928 Ingersoll Ave. • DM, IA 50312PH: (515) 283-1933 • FAX: (515) 283-1646

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Volume 12 Issue 12

The Iowa Sports Connection is published once per month with copies available by subscription. The magazine can also be found at all Casey’s General Stores across the state in addition to a few select locations in Iowa. All stories and pictures produced by ISC staff © 2008 Iowa Sports Connection. All rights reserved. Stories, pictures and other content produced by contributors © 2008 their respective owners, with limited reprint rights reserved by the Iowa Sports Con-nection. The Iowa Sports Connection logo is trademark ™ Iowa Sports Connection.

MIKE RICKORD • President/Publisheremail: [email protected]

JOHN STREETS • Business Consultantemail: [email protected]

PJ CAFFREY • Account [email protected]

TONY ATZENI • Radio Account Manageremail: [email protected]

JOE STASI • Sr. Sales [email protected]

TIM WEIDEMAN • Editor

LAUREN SMITH • Graphic Artist/Writer

DELBERT CHRISTENSEN • Marketing Cedar Rapids/Sioux City

ADAM OESTREICH • Graphic Artist

HUNTER PETERSEN • Graphic Artist

Contributing Writers: Amy J. Tagliareni, Ashley Lewis, Barron R.B. Bremner, Greg Boyd, Molly Brown, Lynn M. Lindaman, Ted Schultz, Howie Thompson

Cover: Baltimore Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff celebrates after making a field goal. The former Drake Bulldog and Harlan Cyclone was an NFL All-Pro selection.

ProseFrom the Pub

Drake Bulldog Determination and Fury of a Harlan Cyclone Carry Billy Cundiff to Pro Bowl!

he accomplished that with gusto and made a resounding statement to every team that had overlooked this former Cyclone and Bulldog. I for one am proud to call him a friend not because he’s in the NFL but because he represents his family, Harlan, Drake and the rest

of Iowa with integrity, hard work, character, and humility. Sounds like

another Drake Alum from Cedar Rapids who happens to also be on page 26 of this 13th Anniversary edition of the Iowa Sports Connection. The 13th anniversary issue of the Iowa Sports Connection! Man what a journey it has been! However, the number 13 has been very lucky for our firm as we continue to expand our multi-media reach across Iowa with TV, radio, magazines, digital magazines, web sites, video, live scoring, Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail newsletters. The expansion of our coverage of active Iowans “From the Pee Wees to the Preps to the Pros” and “From the Missouri to the Mississippi” has propelled our firm to a leader in the state and it’s entirely on the shoulders of our incredible staff, clients, and the hundreds of thousands of athletes in all 99 counties that we have had the privilege of covering over these 13 years. I want to thank each of you who have supported us by listening to our shows, picking up our magazines, watching our TV shows, logging on to our websites and following us on our social platforms. The expansion of our firm will continue this year with additional digital products, expanded radio network, statewide TV, and exciting partnerships that will be announced this spring. I have encouraged our audience for years to send us great stories from across this state regardless of the sport or the age. If it relates to an active Iowan participating in a healthy endeavor, we want to recognize them. In closing, I thank you again for your support and look forward to many more years of covering the great state of Iowa and the incredible residents that inhabit its boundaries. Have a Championship Month! God Bless You and God Bless America!

Qwest M.V.P: Bruce Stilson, Des Moines Bruce Stilson and his family volunteer much of their time to help out during sporting events. Turn to page 4 to read about what Stilson believes sports and volunteering can teach kids.

Muscatine Crowned Boys State Swimming ChampsThe 2011 High School Boys State Swimming Tournament found Muscatine at the top of the team standings overall, with Dubuque Senior in second and Cedar Falls rounding it off in third place.

Mike Rickord ISC Publisher

Heart of an Athlete: Sarah PaulsonCentral College junior Sarah Paulson talks about her involvement in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and the Central basketball and golf teams. She also discusses her chosen attribute, how it relates to her life as and athlete, and some of her personal athletic experiences.

Zach Johnson Receives Double D Award From DrakeDrake alumnus Zach Johnson was presented with the highest award Drake University has to offer it’s former student athletes on Jan. 25. Johnson won the Masters in 2007, and was a member of the 2010 Ryder Cup team.

STAFF

Contributing Photographers: Impact Imagery

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Pee-WeeProfiles

Presented By:

Qwest Most Valuable Parent: Bruce Stilson, Des MoinesTim Weideman Editor

When Bruce Stilson was involved in sports as a kid, there weren’t many people who volunteered. As anyone who has ever been involved in youth sports will tell you, having very few volunteers makes operating youth sporting events very difficult. He wants to help make things easier and help the kids have more fun.

But for Stilson, sporting events aren’t just about the kids having fun. They’re also about kids learning life lessons from the sports. Stilson says sports teach kids how to be self-disciplined, how to take directions from those in positions of authority and kids will learn that sports can be a “fundamental building foundation for life.”

Stilson also makes sure his own kids understand this too. His kids are all involved in sports. In fact, the whole family is involved in volunteering too. He makes sure they realize that what they learn in sports can also be applied to life in general. “One of the things I teach them is you don’t go into anything half-heartedly,” says Stilson. “You’ve got to put your heart behind it. You have to understand that every sport that you’re in, you have to want to be in the sport. If you don’t give 110 percent, there’s no sense in being in it.”

Stilson also teaches them that sports will show them how to be coachable. This is another one of the lessons he says applies outside of sports.

He also stresses the importance of helping others. Even if his kids aren’t participating, they’ll volunteer with their parents. One example is how Stilson’s daughters volunteer during football games, even though they don’t necessarily like football. “One of the things I teach them is you always have to give back,” says Stilson. “Everything in life is not free, so you have to give back in some way, shape or form.”

That makes the Stilsons busy during sporting events. Bruce and his family are always attending sporting events—usually while volunteering. Stilson adds that he is so proud of how much his kids are willing to “give back to people who don’t have.”

The Stilsons’ willingness and readiness to help out has left a positive impression on youth sports directors such as Brian Keck, the Iowa Grade School and Junior High Wrestling tournament director.

“He’s been there since I started the tournaments,” says Keck. “I can always rely on at least their family to be there.”

Keck says Stilson’s drive to help out is what makes him such a great volunteer. He says that Stilson is always coming up to him before tournaments asking what his family can do to help.

Another key thing for Stilson is that the entire

family attends sporting events in which one of them is participating. When his son is wrestling or playing football, the entire family will attend to support him. Or if one of his daughters is in bowling or has a track meet, the whole family will go to support her. “I’ve seen too many kids in my life, when they’re out for an individual sport and nobody would be there as a family member to share in either the triumphs or the failure of that child,” says Stilson. “So that child can go away not feeling very comfortable about it and they feel just like life has let them down.” Stilson also works with the Youth Sports Foundation in Iowa. He is volunteering his time with that program to help develop a new program for football on the east side of Des Moines.

The Youth Sports Foundation helps kids participate in many sports. The organization also focuses on mentoring kids and giving them the tools they need to succeed on the field. Stilson helps out mostly with football.

“It’s not about the wins or losses,” says Stilson. “It’s about teaching them the fundamentals of football and having fun, basically getting the kids familiar with what football is and giving them a foundation building block on what they can do going into high school.”

In each magazine we feature a youth sports team. The team is recognized for their effort on and off the field/court and not solely on their wins and losses. If you would like to nominate a Pee-Wee team for our Qwest Team of the Month, please contact us at [email protected].

Visit us on the web @ www.iowasportsconnection.com Volume 12 Issue 12 5

Pee -WeeProfiles

Join our team.

A Policy of Working Together

A winning team is built on strong relationships. Grinnell Mutual has been building relationships with our customers since 1909. To join our team, visit your local Grinnell Mutual agent or grinnellmutual.com.

Qwest Team of the Month: Johnston VipersTim Weideman Editor

The dream for the Johnston Vipers is to one day make it to the Little League World Series. It’s a dream that is taken seriously by the coaches and the players. The Vipers’ coaches believe that this dream could become a reality. Currently, the Johnston Vipers are seven years old and under, so they’ve got some time to become a well-oiled machine and make sure the dream of making the world series can actually happen. Most of the players on the team are six or seven years old. Last year, the Vipers were one of the youngest teams to compete in the tournaments they entered. The Vipers compete in coach-pitch baseball, where the coaches pitch to the kids. This isn’t like your regular recreation center league style of play, though. With coach-pitch tournament leagues like the ones the Vipers compete in, there are umpires who call strikes, balls and outs just like any other level of baseball. These kids are getting one heck of a head start on other little league players. The Vipers are comprised of hand-picked kids from Johnston, Iowa. Manager P.J. Caffrey started the team and plans to keep it going as the kids get older. That way, the same kids will play with each other at every level and improve as an entire team. That will also help the team build a strong chemistry, which is a must for any youth tournament team that wants to be successful. The team competes against other teams from

all over the Midwest. However, the Vipers only play locally. They don’t travel to other tournaments. Instead, the Vipers play around the Des Moines metro area. Currently, the Vipers do not host any tournaments, though Caffrey says that would be ideal once the team has a few more seasons under its belt. Caffrey explained that the team is put together by the coaching staff, which watches Johnston little league games and asks the parents of any kids the coaches are interested in having play for the Vipers if they would also be interested. The Vipers will begin their second year this season. Caffrey started the team so he could coach his son. Caffrey says he hopes to take the experience the team gained last year and improve. Last season, the Vipers finished third in the final tournament of the season. Caffrey said it was very rewarding because, just like in previous

tournaments the team competed in, it was against teams will all older kids. In some cases, the other players were two years older than the Vipers’ players, who were five and six years old at the time. Caffrey said that’s just another step up these kids have on others because they’re used to facing tougher competition.

In each magazine we feature a youth sports team. The team is recognized for their effort on and off the field/court and not solely on their wins and losses. If you would like to nominate a Pee-Wee team for our Qwest Team of the Month, please contact us at [email protected].

Presented by:

Presented By

Johnston Vipers

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Pee-WeeProfiles

The Good Start Young: Youth Wrestling TournamentsTim Weideman Editor

Wrestling is a sport that requires years of practice, hard work and discipline. Most often than not, the best wrestlers started at a young age. It’s at youth wrestling tournaments around the state of Iowa that you’ll see many of the sport’s up-and-comers. Many Iowa youths even travel to other states just to find the best competition and just to have someone to compete against.

Youth wrestling tournaments are held throughout the year. A good resource for finding when youth tournaments are going to be held near you is The Predicament. On its website (www.thepredicament.com), there is a schedule of upcoming youth wrestling tournaments. Most of the tournaments are in Iowa but some are in other Midwest states. Some tournaments are even further away but are nevertheless great opportunites to see the best competition the country has to offer in terms of youth wrestling.

Even if your child is already wrestling, it’s good to expose them to new levels of competition. Wrestling, like all sports, is one that you get better at with experience. All the practice time in the world can’t replace time spent on the mat.

Here’s a list of youth tournaments to get your young grappler started:

Saturday, March 19, 2011Corn Cob NationalsDivisions: 6 & U; 7-8; 9-10; 11-12; 13-14; High School

(15-18); Open(19 and older)Contact: Brian Keck at [email protected] website: corncobnationals.comJacobson Center at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines

Saturday-Sunday, March 19-20, 2011 Rocky Mountain NationalsDivisions: 6 & U; 8 & U; 10 & U; 12 & U; 15 & UContact: 303-635-1549Register at www.RMNEvents.comNational Western Events Center in Denver, Colo.

Sunday, March 20, 201112th Annual Iowa USGWA Girls State Wrestling Championships OpenDivisions: Elementary (K-5); Middle School (6-8); High School (9-12); Collegiate/Adult Open (Any woman over 18 years old)Contact: Gene Hildreth at 515-289-6380or [email protected] or Jenn Vetterick at 515-681-6584or [email protected] High School in Des Moines

Saturday-Sunday, March 26-27, 2011 2011 Iowa AAU Kids State Tournament - must qualify at districtsDivisions: Grades 3-4, 5-6, 7-8Contact: Lee Pamulak at 515-961-6116 or [email protected] Fargo Arena in Des Moines

Saturday-Sunday, April 2-3, 201111th Annual Midwest Classic NationalsDivisions: Ages 6 & U; 8 & U; 10 & U; 12 & U; 15 & U; 18 & UEvent website: www.midwestclassicwrestling.comViaero Event Center in Kearney, Neb.

Pee-WeeProfiles

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Pee Wee Pics St. Theresa v. Holy Family (Des Moines)

Waukee Warriors Youth Wrestling

Do you have action photos of your athletes?

Send them to isceditor@iowasp-

ortsconnection.com to have them published on the Pee-Wee Pictures

Page.

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The 2011 Iowa High School Boys State Swimming Championships were contested on Saturday afternoon at the YMCA in Marshalltown. Muscatine ended the season on top of the power rankings and after the last event it was the Muskies that prevailed and won the team title, outdistancing Dubuque Senior and Cedar Falls. One of the reasons for the Muscatine title was Travis Greenwald (Muscatine) won the 100 breaststroke in 58.55 and Tyler Calegan who claimed the 100 butterfly in 50.50 along with the 200 individual medley. The Muskies also won the 200 medley relays in an All-American time of 1:35.17. Haden Calegan, Travis Greenwald, Tyler Calegan and Paul Jindrich made up the winning team. Muscatine also gained valuable points with a third place finish in the 200 and fourth place finish in the 400 freestyle relays. Dubuque Senior and their second place finish were aided by the 200 freestyle relay team with Josh Gill, Alex Duster, Connor Huff and Tate Forsyth. The Rams also finished second in the 400 freestyle relay and fourth in the 200 medley relay. Cedar Falls finished third overall and did claim the 400 freestyle title with Austin Abbas, Jon Baker, Gabe Langner and Josh Sund making up the winning team. Abbas also won the 100 backstroke and finished third in the 200 freestyle.

Ben Loeffelholz (Dubuque Hempstead) was crowned the fastest in the pool when he won the 50 freestyle title in 21.07 and also added the 100 freestyle title in 46.22. Both winning times were good enough to be placed into consideration for All-American status. Colin McAllister (Iowa City High) helped the Little Hawks to a sixth place finish

with the 200 freestyle title along with Cameron Herting who won the distance event, the 500 freestyle. Team Standings1. Muscatine - 187.5 2. Dubuque Senior - 1413. Cedar Falls - 135 4. Cedar Rapids Washington - 105.55. Ames - 102 Individual ChampionsAthlete/Class/School/Time Note: Athletes in bold posted times that are in consideration for All-American status 50 FreestyleBen Loeffelholz, SR., Dubuque Hempstead - 21.07 100 Freestyle1-Ben Loeffelholz, SR., Dubuque Hempstead - 46.22 100 BackstrokeAustin Abbas, SR., Cedar Falls - 51.35

100 BreaststrokeTravis Greenwald, SO., Muscatine- 58.55

100 Butterfly1-Tyler Calegan, SR., Muscatine - 50.50

200 Freestyle1-Colin McAllister, SR., Iowa City High - 1:42.57

200 Individual Medley1-Haden Calegan, SO., Muscatine - 1:53.06

500 Freestyle1-Cameron Herting , SR Iowa City High - 4:36.03

Relay Results 200 Medley RelayMuscatine - 1:35.171) Haden Calegan, SO., 2) Travis Greenwald, SO., 3) Tyler Calegan, SR., 4) Paul Jindrich, SR. 200 Freestyle RelayDubuque Senior - 1:25.351) Josh Gill, SO., 2) Alex Duster, SO., 3) Connor Huff, JR.,

400 Freestyle RelayCedar Falls - 3:09.851) Austin Abbas, SR., 2) Jon Baker, SR., 3) Gabe Langner, FR., 4) Josh Sund, SR. 3:17.13

Muscatine Crowned Boys State Swimming ChampionsTony Atzeni Radio Account Manager

PrepConnection

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High School: Des Moines LincolnClass: 2011GPA: 4.10Sport: Wrestling, Baseball and Football

of the Month

Quick Facts: Favorite Food: Spaghetti

Role Model: J Robinson, University of Minnesota wrestling coach

Favorite Movie: Stealth

Favorite Athlete: Jayson Ness, NCAA Champion: Big Ten Champion, Hodge Trophy Winner, Intermat Wrestler of the Year, Big Ten Wrestler of the Year

Brought To You By:

Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureauiowagtsb.org

How the Community Views Zach: Extremely courteous, quiet, loyal, hard-working, dependable, dedicated, coachable, appreciative, humble and kind.

Plans after High School: Attend Iowa State University and major in Aerospace Engineering

Athletic Honors:

Football: 3 year letter-winner, 1 year captain, CIML Metro All-Conference Honorable Mention in 2010 and named to CIML Academic All Conference 3 years.

Baseball: 3 year letter-winner and named to CIML Academic All Conference 3 years.

Wrestling: 4 year letter-winner, 2 year captain, 4 year Lincoln High School Wrestling Iron Man Award Winner, named to CIML Academic All Conference 4 years, 2011 Newton District Wrestling Champion at 140 lbs, 2010 and 2011 Iowa High School State Qualifier Class 3A at 140 lbs and 2011 State Wrestling 6th place.

Academic Honors:

2 year National Honor Society participant, National Council of Youth Leadership

Overcoming Adversity: “My freshman record was 3 wins and 24 loses, so I quickly realized I wasn’t the fastest, quickest, or strongest wrestler there was. So I knew I had to work harder than everyone else. I had to lift harder, I had to run further, and I had to listen to my coaches and go to camps and learn from the best.”

Zach Cooper

10 Volume 12 Issue 12 Visit us on the web @ www.iowasportsconnection.com

PrepConnection

Tony’s High School Wrestling ReviewTony Atzeni Radio Account Manager

Not valid with any other offer. Good March 1 - 31, 2011.

The 2011 Iowa High School State Wrestling Tournament provided plenty of history and excitement this season. On Saturday night, February 19th the individual and team champions were crowned in front of the 22nd straight sellout crowd for the event.

Waverly-Shell Rock Remains the King; Claims Class 3A Wrestling Crown

When the season began there were seven returning champions in Class 2A. Five reached the championship match, including two-time champion Tanner Weatherman of Ballard (Huxley). Davenport Assumption won two individual titles and used their depth to claim the team title with defending champion Denver-Tripoli second just ahead of Ballard (Huxley). Dylan Peters of Denver-Tripoli repeated as a champion with his 13-4 major decision over Colton McCrystal of Sergant Bluff-Luton at 112 pounds. Peters completed a perfect 50-0 season. Topher Carton of Davenport Assumption, leading 4-2 late in the match turned a near head lock into two points late and held off Sawyer Farris of New London/Winfield-Mount Union, 6-2 for the 119 pound crown. Jacob Colon of Clear Lake won the 125 pound title against Dakota Simmons of Fairfield, 4-0 and finished the season with a 37-0 record. Brandon Sorensen of Denver-Tripoli also repeated when he claimed the 130 pound title with a major decision win over Josh Perkins of Atlantic, 15-7. Sorensen won the 119 pound title last season. Jake Marlin of Creston-Orient-Macksburg repeated this time up one weight class at 135, defeating Tyler Patten of Webster City for a major decision, 13-4. As expected the 145 pound title match was a good one, and in the end it was unbeaten Brody Grothus of Davenport Assumption (48-0) who defeated Tanner Hiatt of Ballard (Huxley), 4-2. Kyle Lux improved to 4-0 on the season when he won the 160 pound title, 13-7 over Nick Fuller of Independence. Make it three titles for Tanner Weatherman of Ballard (Huxley) in his high school career. Weatherman rolled to a major decision victory over previously unbeaten Colton Van’t Hof of Sioux Center, 17-5. Weatherman improved to 44-1 on the season while Van’t Hof fell to 38-1. Also winning state titles were Doug Miner (Spirit Lake Park, 41-2) at 103 pounds; Kyle Risher (Centerville) and Ryan Valline (East Marshall/GMG, 31-4) at 152 pounds and Ross Larson (Ballard, Huxley, 38-4) at 189 pounds. Until the 215 pound matches, only two falls had been recorded but Kane Seeley of Perry completed a 47-0

Davenport Assumption Uses Depth to Claim Class 2A Wrestling Championship

Five returning champions began the season in Class 1A, and all five reached the championship match again this season including Jordan Bremer of Woodbury Central (Moville) who was back to defend his 103 pound title, and defend he did with a 6-2 decision over Andrew Foutch of Underwood. Bremer completed a perfect 45-0 season. For the first time in six years we have a new team champion as Logan-Magnolia finished ahead of Don Bosco (Gilbertville) for the team title. Tyler Shulista (48-1) recorded the first fall of the night and repeated as champion, winning the 119 pound title. Shulista won the 112 pound title last season. Christopher Halblom of Alburnett kept his perfect record in tact with a hard-fought 2-1 2 - overtime victory against Kolbi Kohl of Lisbon, and in the process repeated as a state champion. Halblom finsihed with a 45-0 record. Logan Mulnix North Linn (Troy Mills) had hopes of repeating as champ but Drew Proctor of Tipton had a dif-ferent idea as he won the 135 pound championship, 6-2. Proctor finished the season with a 44-2 record while Mulnix lost for only the second time and finished 40-2. Robert Walker of Martensdale-St. Mary’s was hoping to win a title along with his brother David, but a shoulder injury ended those hopes so he carried the family and Blue Devil torch for him as a repeat winner, this time at 145 pound when he defeated Nolan Oviatt of Logan-Mag-nolia, 5-1. Walker completed the perfect season at 46-0. Loren Williams of Tri-Center (Neola) came up huge in the 145 pound title match improving to 53-2 when he handed Matt Finch of Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn his first loss of the season, 5-4. Finch completes a 32-1 season. Dallas Houchins of Interstate 35 (Truro) kept his per-fect record with a tough 6-4 victory over Austin Kessler of Durant-Bennet, 6-4. Houchins finished the tournament at 36-0. Perfect as well this season was Andrew Nodtvedt of Central Spring (Manly) as he shutout Ethan Calvert of Interstate 35 (Truro), 7-0 to improve to 45-0 and claim the 189 pound championship. Two falls were recorded at the 215 pound weight class as Nate Howard of Graettinger-Terril joined Jordan Seely of Perry in Class 2A with a pin of Zach Salisbury of Sumner-Fredericksburg and like Seeley, remained unbeaten on the season with a 46-0 record. Also winning state titles were Brennan NcNitt (St. Albert, Council Bluffs, 49-1) at 130 pounds; Austin Even, (Jesup, 45-2) at 160 pounds; Jacob Everts (Aplington-Parkersburg, 42-1) at 171 pounds and Caleb White (Tri-Center, Neola, 37-0) at 285 pounds.

Logan-Magnolia Replaces 5-Time Champs Don Bosco as Class 1A State Wrestling Champ

When the season began in Class 3A there were ten returning champions which included Levi Peters who won a title at 160 in Class 1A last season with Twin River Valley (Bode). Five of the returning champions reached the championship match, including the battle at 285 with Cody Krumwiede of Waverly-Shell Rock who won a title at 215 last season and defending champion Brodie Berrie of Bettendorf. Waverly Shell Rock had to wait until the final match as expected to win the tight battle for the 3A title. The Go-Hawks totaled 152 points, with Iowa City West next with 150 and Bettendorf third with 148. One of those champions was Cory Clark of Southeast Polk who set claimed his third straight title, this time at 119 pounds and in the process remained unbeaten in his high school career and completing a 45-0 season with his 5-2 decision over Keegan Wakefield of Iowa City West. John Meeks of Des Moines Roosevelt matched Clark by winning the 130 pound title against Dakota Bauer, 9-4. Meeks won his third straight championship and next season along with Clark will try to join the elite field of four-time champions, and an even more elite field of unbeaten four-time champions. Brian Warren showed that the Des Moines North/Hoover program is on rise as he defeated Jordan Rinken from Waverly-Shell Rock, 3-1 in the 140 pound title match. Warren finishes the season with a 35-3 record. Zach Wiite of Cedar Rapids Prairie battled with Gabriel Moreno as expected to win the 145 pound title, 6-5 and remained unbeaten on the season at 38-0. Also winning state titles were Phillip Laux (Iowa City West, 43-2) at 103 pounds; Colby Knight (Urbandale, 40-2) at 112 pounds; Jack Hathaway (Iowa City West, 50-3) at 125 pounds. Cody Caldwell of Waverly-Shell Rock won a key match in the Go-Hawks fight for a team title with a 9-3 decision over Trey Lewis of West Des Moines Valley at 152 pounds. Caldwell finished at 44-2. Taylor Berger of Carrol finished the season at 40-0 as he recorded only the second fall of the evening against Ethan Lara of Sioux City East. It started slow for Willie Miklus of Southeat Polk with injuries but when it counted he was at his best as Miklus claimed the 171 pound title against Levi Peters of Fort Dodge, 10-6. Brandon Abernathy of Indianola and Jared Bartels of Mason City both came into the 189 pound title match with

season with a fall of Collin Blevins of Creston/Orient-Macksburg.

39-1 records but it was Abernathy who would prevail with a 3-0 shutout. As expected the final match in Class 3A held team championship implications but Cody Krumwiede of Waver-ly-Shell Rock left no doubt who the 285 pound champion was to be, and in the end the team title as he posted a 10-0 major decision on Brodie Berrie of Bettendorf. Also winning state titles were Wade Edgington (Indi-anola, 45-6) at 135 pounds and Connor Herman (Cedar Rapids Jefferson, 38-2) at 215 pounds.

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Two Wrestlers Try To Land in History Books, Become Four-Time ChampsTim Weideman Editor Even though he has won three state championships in his three-year high school wrestling career, Southeast Polk junior Cory Clark is not fazed by the prospect of making history by becoming a four-time state champ. Clark set himself up to accomplish a feat that only 18 Iowa wrestlers have done in the past by defeating Iowa City West’s Keegan Wakefield 5-2 to claim the Class 4A 119-pound title.

Clark finished his junior season 45-0 and remains undefeated in his high school career. For Clark, this latest championship is just another victory and another title. “I just kind of take it one at a time,” says Clark. “It’s kind of the same as the past two years. I haven’t really looked at it as being a three-time state champ, I kind of look at it as being another state champ.”

Aside from facing different competition in the 119-pound division, Clark says there wasn’t much different about winning a state championship this time around than the previous two years. Clark says that he was more nervous during his freshman campaign when he won the state championship at 103 pounds, a weight class mostly filled by freshman. The nerves, Clark says, came mostly from it being a first-time experience.

The next year, Clark faced many of the same wrestlers he faced the previous season when he moved up to 112 pounds. But when he made the move to 119 pounds this season, many of his former opponents did not. That meant new competition and an impending battle with the reigning state champ at the time, Eric DeVos of Waverly-Shell Rock.

Unfortunately for his opponents, Clark had become used to the environment of the State Wrestling Tournament. “This year I really wasn’t even that nervous,” Clark says. “It just felt like I had more pressure on me to win because I won it the past two years, so this year I felt like I had to win.”

The matchup between Clark and DeVos eventually came in the semifinals. It was a close match, which Clark is not used to. He’s more accustomed to dominating his opponents. DeVos represented a new challenge.

“I knew he was tough and I know his credentials and how he won State at 119 last year,” says Clark. “He was bigger than I was. I wasn’t really cutting much weight and he was cutting pretty hard to get down to weight.”

Clark also had to deal with the speculation from many that DeVos was going to upset him and end his chances at becoming a four-timer.

DeVos recorded the first takedown of the match. Clark says he remembers hearing the Waverly-Shell Rock crowd erupting, but he remained calm. “I knew that if I let that get to me or started thinking about that it wouldn’t (be) good,” says Clark. “I just kind of wiped it off and continued with the match.”

As the seconds ticked down during the final period, DeVos was down 7-6 and nearly had a reversal on Clark that would have won the match. But Clark held on.

“I knew he was going to be tough so winning by a point wasn’t completely unexpected,” says Clark. “I knew if I just kept wrestling and kept my nerves under control and stayed focused, then I’d be fine.”

Next year, the goal for Clark is clear: win a state title. It’s not about focusing on becoming a four-timer or meeting expectations. It’s simply about accomplishing the mission he sets for himself every year.

PrepConnection

Des Moines Roosevelt’s John Meeks

Also in the hunt next year for becom-ing a four-time state champ is Des Moines Roosevelt’s John Meeks. Like Clark, Meeks is undefeated in his high school career.

Though it would be a match to remem-ber, luckily for the two wrestlers, there are no plans for Meeks or Clark to compete in the same weight division. That means Clark and Meeks will both have a shot at winning a state championship again next season.

About not having any plans to com-pete at the same weight division as Clark, Meeks told the Des Moines Register: “We’re never going to wrestle (in a meet). I want him to be a four-time state champ.”

12 Volume 12 Issue 12 Visit us on the web @ www.iowasportsconnection.com

IGHSAU Likes 5 Classes ProposalAaron Gernes Staff Writer

As the number of Iowa high schools decreases, there was a mind set that changes would have to be made to the current classifica-tion system. Four classes was not going to work for most sports. The Iowa High School Girls Athletic Union agreed with this. “We originally were looking to move down to three classes,” said IHSGAU Executive Director Mike Dick. “The cue to go a different direction came about a year ago from our basketball committee.” What cue was that? The bas-ketball committee didn’t want to cut down to three classes. Instead, they proposed to Dick that most of the sports should actually increase to five classes.

“We are always trying to think outside the box,” said Dick. “When we looked at the numbers they proposed, the board thought there was definite merit to the idea.”

Dick says that they looked at about 15-18 dif-ferent options on how to sculpt the new classifica-tion structure. The biggest debate was how many schools should be in the new large-school class, 5A.

“40 (schools in 5A) is where everyone is land-ing,” explained Dick. “We had some people that wanted to cut it down to 32, and some wanted to keep it at 48. So 40 is a compromise.” Dick says the biggest reason to increase classes rather than decrease them is to cut down on the disparity between large and small schools,

especially in the large-school classes. Norwalk Athletic Director Al Lammars says that’s something he really enjoys about the five-class proposal.

Norwalk is tied with Western Dubuque (Epsworth) for the 48th largest school in the state with 564 kids enrolled. Norwalk was placed in 3A while Western Dubuque in 4A because of an alphabet tie-breaker.

“It would have been tough to compete with the Valleys and An-

kenys,” says Lammers. “Valley is over 2000 kids, and were just over 500. A 1500-kid difference is enormous.”

The difference between Valley and the 40th school (Pleasant Valley) in enrollment currently stands at 1185 (2016-831).

“From our perspective, it works,” says Lam-mers. “Rural schools continue to see decreasing enrollment, and suburban schools continue to see enrollment rise. This will help create more competitive balance within the classes.”

Lammers also sees a positive impact on the communities. “With basketball, you have eight more teams go-ing, and each team probably has about 15 girls on it. That’s 120 more kids that have opportunities to celebrate, and eight more communities that have reason to be more proud.”

Dick says issues about feasibility of state tour-naments are addressed in the proposal.

“Basketball will be difficult. It’s seven more games. But we’d probably start at around nine-thirty in the morning and keep going until the last game tips off at eight at night or so.”

With softball and volleyball, Dick says that there’s enough downtime in the schedule where they’re not playing that fitting seven extra games into those schedules won’t be an issue. He says that this move would impact softball, baseball, bas-ketball, and golf. If passed, he says that it probably would get started with softball in 2012. Track and cross country would not be impacted, because those are co-ed events with the Iowa High School Athletic Association. The IHSGAU meets on March 4. Dick says the proposal is on the agenda and that he thinks by that time everyone will be “ready to move on with it and go.”

PrepConnection

Visit us on the web @ www.iowasportsconnection.com Volume 12 Issue 12 13

PrepConnection

Champions Across Iowa

Ben Loeffelholz, a senior

from Dubuque Hempstead,

was crowned the fastest

in the pool when he won

the 50 freestyle title in

21.07 and also added the

100 freestyle title in 46.22

during the State Swimming

and Championships. Both

winning times were good

enough to be placed into

consideration for All-

American status.

Swimming

Name: Ben Loeffelholz

School: Dubuque

Hempstead

Class: 4AReed Mells (Grandview

Park Baptist, Des Moines)

reached a milestone when

he scored his 1,000th

career point in a victory

against North Polk on

Feb. 3. Mells also set the

school’s all-time assists

record with 15 against

Bondurant-Farrar on Feb. 8.

Basketball

Name: Ashton Yossi

School: Dallas Center-

Grimes

Class: 3AAshton Yossi (Dallas Center-

Grimes) set the school’s

all-time scoring record at

1,274 and counting in a

victory over Saydel on Jan.

21. Yossi also broke the

school single-game scoring

record with 32 points in a

Fillies win against Boone

on Feb. 12. No. 8 DCG was

knocked out of the playoffs

by No. 10 South Tama.

Basketball

Name: Maggie Marnin

School: West Central

Valley (Stuart)

Class: 2A

Maggie Marnin (West

Central Valley, Stuart)

reached a milestone

with her 1,000th career

rebound against Guthrie

Center on Feb. 3. Maggie

also posted a quadrupal

double with 26 points, 10

rebounds and 10 blocked

shots and 10 steals against

Van Meter on Feb. 10.

Basketball

Presented By:

Get your breakfast of Champions at your local

Name: Reed Mells

School: Grandview Park

Baptist

Class: 1A

14 Volume 12 Issue 12 Visit us on the web @ www.iowasportsconnection.com

Cassy Herkelman (Cedar Falls) and Megan Black

(Ottumwa): Herkelman (Freshman, 20-13) and Black (Sophomore, 25-13) made

history this year by becoming the first girls to qualify for the Iowa High School State

Wrestling Tournament.

South Tama Girls Basketball: For the first time in school history in 5-on-

5 action, the No. 10 Trojans qualified for the State Tournament with a win over No. 8

Dallas Center-Grimes Feb. 23.

Des Moines Oakleafs Hockey: The Oakleafs edged out the rest of the

pack to capture a highly-contested Midwest High School Hockey League Regular

Season Championship.

Monticello Girls Basketball: The Panthers won their first ever

conference championship, claiming the Tri-Rivers title when they defeated Springville

on Feb. 7.

Kalli Richardson (Northeast Hamilton, Blairsburg):

Richardson set the school five-player all-time scoring record for a career on Feb. 10

against CAL (Latimer). The old record was held by Trisha Heiden.

Austin Halls (Murray): Halls reached a milestone when he scored

his 1,000th career point against Twin Cedars (Bussey) on Feb. 5. Halls is just a

sophomore.

Tim Olejnczak (Ankeny Christian Academy): Olejnczak became

only the 30th player in Iowa high school boys basketball history to score 2,000 points

in his career. Tim reached that mark with 21 points in a double-overtime loss to Des

Moines Christian on Feb. 11.

Ryan Tubbs (Morning Star Academy, Bettendorf): Tubbs

dished out 20 assists in a single game which places him second on the all-time single

game list.

1

2

3

5 14

6

23456

A quick look at some of the State’s best performances from the Missouri to the Mississippi

7

7

8

81

Visit us on the web @ www.iowasportsconnection.com Volume 12 Issue 12 15

We’re Broadcasting Live!

The Iowa Sports Connection, Iowa’s #1 high school sports connection from the Missouri to the Mississippi, bring you the most comprehensive radio coverage of Iowa high school football and basketball from the state’s foremost team of broadcasters!

Friday 6pm - 8pm

Brought to you by:

or to any of our statewide affiliates

Tune in this winter to:.com

Streaming Live OnTHE TEAMS!

THE TEAMTHAT COVERS

2011 State Wrestling Championships

1A - 103 3A - 1192A - 119

1A - 119

3A - 1122A - 1121A - 1123A - 1032A - 103

1A - 135

2A - 135

3A - 135

1A - 1403A - 140

2A - 160 3A - 160 1A - 1712A - 171 3A - 171 1A - 189 2A - 189 3A - 189

Weight: 1031st: Jordan Bremer, Woodbury Central Moville JR 2nd: Andrew Foutch, Underwood SO 3rd: Zach Welter, North Linn Troy Mills JR

Weight: 1121st: Brance Simms, Twin River Valley Bode JR 2nd: Nathan Ryan, Woodbury Central Moville JR 3rd: Aaron Bartenhagen, Durant-Bennett SO

Weight: 1191st: Tyler Shulista, Alburnett JR 2nd: Jesse Partlow, Manson Northwest Webster JR 3rd: Lincoln Monroe, Valley Community Elgin JR

Weight: 1251st: Christopher Halblom, Alburnett SR2nd: Kolbi Kohl, Lisbon JR 3rd: Matt Bertsch, Newman Catholic Mason City SR

Weight: 1301st: Brennan McNitt, St. Albert Council Bluffs SR 2nd: Jordan Johnson, Interstate 35 Truro SR 3rd: Austin Demuth, Don Bosco Gilbertville JR

Weight: 1351st: Drew Proctor, Tipton SR 2nd: Logan Mulnix, North Linn Troy Mills JR 3rd: Brandon Welter, Don Bosco Gilbertville SR

Weight: 1401st: Robert Walker, Martensdale-St. Marys JR 2nd: Nolan Oviatt, Logan-Magnolia SR 3rd: Skyler Rice, Emmetsburg/RA SR

Weight: 1451st: Loren Williams, Tri-Center Neola SO 2nd: Matt Finch, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn SR 3rd: Shay Taylor, Prairie Valley Gowrie SR

Weight: 1521st: Dallas Houchins, Interstate 35 Truro SR 2nd: Austin Kessler, Durant-Bennett SR 3rd: Rilen Carew, West Branch SR

Weight: 1601st: Austin Even, Jesup JR 2nd: Brett Roberts, Eddyville-Blakesburg SO 3rd: Marrick Loftus, Logan-Magnolia SR

Weight: 1711st: Jake Everts, Aplington-Parkersburg SR 2nd: Tevin Brinson, Newman Catholic Mason City SR 3rd: Jayden DeVilbiss, South Winneshiek Calmar SR

Weight: 1891st: Andrew Nodtvedt, Central Springs SR 2nd: Ethan Calvert, Interstate 35 Truro SR 3rd: Dalton Peterson, Woodbine SR

Weight: 2151st: Nate Howard, Graettinger-Terril SR 2nd: Zach Salisbury, Sumner-Fredericksburg SR 3rd: Trent Baker, Westwood Sloan SR

Weight: 2851st: Caleb White, Tri-Center Neola SR 2nd: Joe Koehn, Valley Community Elgin JR 3rd: Tanner Johnson, Dike-New Hartford SR

1A - 145

Weight: 1031st: Phillip Laux, Iowa City West JR 2nd: Jake Koethe, Valley West Des Moines FR 3rd: Alijah Jeffery, Linn-Mar Marion FR

Weight: 1121st: Colby Knight, Urbandale SO2nd: Jake Agnitsch, Ames SR 3rd: Jordan Jones, Des Moines North/Hoover SR

Weight: 1191st: Cory Clark, Southeast Polk JR 2nd: Kegan Wakefield, Iowa City West SO 3rd: Eric DeVos, Waverly-Shell Rock JR

Weight: 1251st: Jack Hathaway, Iowa City West JR 2nd: Connor Ryan, Bettendorf JR 3rd: Tanner Werner, Waverly-Shell Rock SR

Weight: 1301st: John Meeks, Des Moines Roosevelt JR 2nd: Dakota Bauer, Iowa City West JR 3rd: Adam Perrin, North Scott Eldridge SR

Weight: 1351st: Wade Edgington, Indianola SR 2nd: Jay Hildreth, Lewis Central SR 3rd: Luke Kremer, Cedar Rapids Kennedy JR

Weight: 1401st: Brian Warren, Des Moines North/Hoover JR 2nd: Jordan Rinken, Waverly-Shell Rock SR 3rd: Elijah Sullivan, Iowa City West SR

Weight: 1451st: Zach Witte, Prairie Cedar Rapids JR 2nd: Gabriel Moreno, Urbandale JR 3rd: Chad Ryan, Sioux City North SR

2011 State Wrestling Championships

1A - 1303A - 1252A - 1251A - 1253A - 119 2A - 130 3A - 130

2A - 140

3A - 140

1A - 160

3A - 189 2A - 215 3A - 215 1A - 285 2A - 285 3A - 285

Weight: 1451st: Loren Williams, Tri-Center Neola SO 2nd: Matt Finch, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn SR 3rd: Shay Taylor, Prairie Valley Gowrie SR

Weight: 1521st: Dallas Houchins, Interstate 35 Truro SR 2nd: Austin Kessler, Durant-Bennett SR 3rd: Rilen Carew, West Branch SR

Weight: 1601st: Austin Even, Jesup JR 2nd: Brett Roberts, Eddyville-Blakesburg SO 3rd: Marrick Loftus, Logan-Magnolia SR

Weight: 1711st: Jake Everts, Aplington-Parkersburg SR 2nd: Tevin Brinson, Newman Catholic Mason City SR 3rd: Jayden DeVilbiss, South Winneshiek Calmar SR

Weight: 1891st: Andrew Nodtvedt, Central Springs SR 2nd: Ethan Calvert, Interstate 35 Truro SR 3rd: Dalton Peterson, Woodbine SR

Weight: 2151st: Nate Howard, Graettinger-Terril SR 2nd: Zach Salisbury, Sumner-Fredericksburg SR 3rd: Trent Baker, Westwood Sloan SR

Weight: 2851st: Caleb White, Tri-Center Neola SR 2nd: Joe Koehn, Valley Community Elgin JR 3rd: Tanner Johnson, Dike-New Hartford SR

Weight: 1031st: Doug Miner, Spirit Lake Park SO 2nd: Zach Less, West Delaware Manchester SO 3rd: Derek Miller, Winterset JR

Weight: 1121st: Dylan Peters, Denver-Tripoli JR 2nd: Colton McCrystal, Sergeant Bluff-Luton SO 3rd: Zach Skopec, Spirit Lake Park FR

Weight: 1191st: Topher Carton, Assumption Davenport JR 2nd: Sawyer Farris, New London/WMU JR 3rd: Chase Flack, JSPCEG SR

Weight: 1251st: Jacob Colon, Clear Lake SR 2nd: Dakota Simmons, Fairfield SR 3rd: Kyle Blocker, East Marshall/GMG SO

Weight: 1301st: Brandon Sorensen, Denver-Tripoli SO 2nd: Josh Perkins, Atlantic SR 3rd: Logan Thomsen, Union LaPorte City SO

Weight: 1351st: Jake Marlin, Creston/Orient-Macksburg SO 2nd: Tyler Patten, Webster City SR 3rd: Jake Kadel, New London/WMU SR

Weight: 1401st: Kyler Risher, Centerville SR 2nd: Brad Schwenke, Atlantic SR 3rd: Cory Chapin, Denver-Tripoli JR

Weight: 1451st: Brody Grothus, Assumption Davenport SR 2nd: Tanner Hiatt, Ballard SR 3rd: Blake Meling, East Marshall/GMG JR

Weight: 1521st: Ryan Valline, East Marshall/GMG SR 2nd: Chase Skoneczka, Benton Van Horne SR 3rd: Garrett Smith, Denver-Tripoli JR

Weight: 1601st: Kyle Lux, South Tama County SR 2nd: Nick Fuller, Independence JR 3rd: Cody Solari, Sergeant Bluff-Luton SR

Weight: 1711st: Tanner Weatherman, Ballard SR 2nd: Colton Vant Hof, Sioux Center SR 3rd: Jeff Guttry, Fairfield SR

Weight: 1891st: Ross Larson, Ballard JR 2nd: Devin Mitchell, Bondurant-Farrar SR 3rd: Blaize Cabell, Independence SR

Weight: 2151st: Kane Seeley, Perry JR 2nd: Collin Bevins, Creston/Orient-Macksburg JR 3rd: Devin Lemke, Iowa Falls-Alden SR

Weight: 2851st: Austin Blythe, Williamsburg SR 2nd: Zach Bauer, Dallas Center-Grimes SR 3rd: Tyler Swope, Assumption Davenport SR

2A - 145

3A - 145

1A - 152

2A - 152

3A - 152

Weight: 1401st: Brian Warren, Des Moines North/Hoover JR 2nd: Jordan Rinken, Waverly-Shell Rock SR 3rd: Elijah Sullivan, Iowa City West SR

Weight: 1451st: Zach Witte, Prairie Cedar Rapids JR 2nd: Gabriel Moreno, Urbandale JR 3rd: Chad Ryan, Sioux City North SR

Weight: 1521st: Cody Caldwell, Waverly-Shell Rock SR 2nd: Trey Lewis, Valley West Des Moines JR 3rd: Zeb Wahle, Lewis Central JR

Weight: 1601st: Taylor Berger, Carroll SR 2nd: Ethan Lara, Sioux City East JR 3rd: Justin Koethe, Iowa City West JR

Weight: 1711st: Willie Miklus, Southeast Polk JR 2nd: Levi Peters, Fort Dodge SR 3rd: Travis Mallo, Mason City SR

Weight: 1891st: Brandon Abernathy, Indianola SR 2nd: Jared Bartel, Mason City JR 3rd: A.J. McBroom, Southeast Polk SR

Weight: 2151st: Connor Herman, Cedar Rapids Jefferson SR 2nd: Ben Nagle, North Scott Eldridge SR 3rd: Jesse South, Urbandale SR

Weight: 2851st: Cody Krumwiede, Waverly-Shell Rock SR 2nd: Brody Berrie, Bettendorf SR 3rd: Bryan Varisco, Southeast Polk SR

1A - 215

18 Volume 12 Issue 12 Visit us on the web @ www.iowasportsconnection.com

PrepConnection

High School Golfers on a Mission Take on Operation State Champ

Since its start in 1997, Operation State Champ’s Winter session has helped over 2,000 young golfers better their skills. Started by Kevin Beard, Director of Golf at Otter Creek Golf Course in Ankeny, the program was started when the Boy’s Golf team from Ankeny high school came to him with a predicament.

They had several young boys on the team with potential, but they never made the state tournament. Beard worked with 12 players in the offseason and they saw improvement. The clinic now has 152 students this winter, and has had students from 28 different area schools.

Beard admits his formula has been a mixture of trial and error in what works, but after 13 years of Operation State Champ, he thinks they have it pretty much figured out. He attributes a lot of the student’s success to the “top notch teachers” who help out with the clinic. And the results confirm it. For example, Beth Wagner, a senior at Ankeny High School, has committed to play golf at Iowa State and has been a member of the program. She finished third in the 2010 State tournament.

The clinic has students meet twice a week for six weeks to work hands on and in a classroom setting, says teacher and PGA Pro Judd Gibb.

Maggie Sutton Staff Writer

The progression of the clinic goes from identifying the correct way to hold a club and executing a proper swing to increasing speed and better putting. Students are videotaped in the first and last weeks to see their improvement.

This year there is also a new advanced course for students who have attended at least two previous winter clinics. These clinics focus more specifically on individual’s problem areas and ways to fix them.

Operation State Champ also has summer sessions available. For more information visit www.ankenyiowa.gov and click on departments.

Call - 515.327.1500

Drive Tek. The Drive in Driver Education.

or visit us at:

www.drivetek.com

Visit us on the web @ www.iowasportsconnection.com Volume 12 Issue 12 19

2011 High School State Wrestling Tournament

Do you have action photos of your athletes?Send them to [email protected] to have them published

on the Prep Pictures Page.

PrepConnection

20 Volume 12 Issue 12 Visit us on the web @ www.iowasportsconnection.com

Heart of an Athlete: Sarah PaulsonAshley Lewis Iowa FCA

Ashley Lewis of the Iowa Fellowship of Christian Athletes had the chance to talk to Central College junior Sarah Paulson about being involved in FCA and playing basketball and golf while at Central.

Chosen attribute: Love

What is your personal definition of this word? I like to think about what the Bible says when I think of love, and so I could de-fine love in one word. Love=God. Love is anything good in this world, and love is showing care and respect for others regardless of how they treat you.

What are some of your favorite quotes from other people about this word?-Love is such a big word, it really should have more let-ters. –Kobi Yamada-Love is the single most important aspect of life. –John Robbins-True love is choosing to give another person what they need the most, when they deserve it the least, and at great personal cost.

What is your favorite Biblical passage that deals with this characteristic?And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16

Why did you choose that particular passage?It was difficult to choose because there are so many amazing passages in the Bible about love. I chose this

passage because it is something that has always stuck with me ever since I heard it for the first time. God is love. But then it goes on to say that whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. And to me, that is the ultimate goal in our lives. When I think of loving something or someone, whether its as significant as my family, or as insignificant as a favorite food, I feel happy, and warm inside. These feelings come from God, and it is the feeling of love for one another and for God that makes me feel more complete inside than anything else. And so it is this passage that has a significance to me because it describes the tangible feelings I have of God, and the mysterious beauty of the connection we have with Him through love.

Give an application/example of this word in your life:I think the most significant one would be the love God has shown me through my family. I think I am one of the luckiest girls in the world to be blessed with my amazing family. I have 4 sisters, one of which is my twin sister, an amazing mother, and a father who went Home a year and a half ago. I have learned the most about love from them, because we are all so different, and we love each other through every diversity within our family in a joyous way.

How do you apply this word in your sport?Love is so applicable in my sports, I play basketball and golf for Central College. I realize how important it is to show love to my teammates, to support them in any way possible, so that they can believe in themselves and become the best person and player that they can be, and how important it is for every teammate to do that for one another in order to bond as one. I find that when we are all working together, we not only are happier, but we are

more successful, and it all starts with the love we show to one another no matter what we face in competition. I feel it is also important to show the opposing team or players love by respecting them during competition. It is more important than anything else to show God’s love to others whenever we can, and there are plenty of opportunities in my sports or any other to show the love of God to others.

How did you become first become involved in FCA?I signed up to be a huddle leader for an FCA retreat the spring of my freshman year of college. It was not some-thing I had in high school, and I loved retreats, my friends told me I should do it with them so I decided to go. It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, as I learned so much from fellow huddle leaders at camp as well as the girls I was blessed with in my huddle.

How active within FCA where/are you? It has been hard to be as involved as I would like with FCA during the school year, however, I’ve done 2 spring re-treats with FCA and have been a summer huddle leader for the week long camp in Pella once. I am now more ac-tive with FCA, as I am on the lead team at Central College.

What is your athletic experience? I have played sports ever since I can remember. My two favorites have always been golf and basketball. I also ran track and cross country in high school in Ottumwa, Iowa. Now, health permitting, I have played basketball and golf since I got to Central College in Pella, IA. I am a junior now, so this is my third year of playing the two sports I love.

For more about Fellowship of Christian Athletes, please visit www.iowafca.org or call 515-7271868.

CollegiateCorner

Visit us on the web @ www.iowasportsconnection.com Volume 12 Issue 12 21

CollegiateCorner

New AIB Coach is Old SchoolAmy J. Tagliareni AIB Sports Information

AIB COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

ATHLETICS www.aib.edu

DEGREEin3

Des Moines, IA 515-246-5358

earn your

bachelor’sCheck out the new

Sports and EventManagement major

For most of us, any given moment we experienced in high school appeared, at the time, to be of no greater significance than any other moment. We lived in the now, not realizing at the time, we were experiencing things that were shaping our lives and leading us to the people we are today.

For AIB men’s basketball coach Tony Giannetto, he can remember being in a moment and knowing at the time it was going shape his life forever. In 1966, Giannetto’s Marshalltown High School Bobcats, led by hall of fame coach George Funk, won the Iowa state boys basketball championship, the last in school history.

“It was a very exciting time in my life, I still remember as if it was yesterday and I also remember thinking at the time that this was something big,” said Giannetto.

On the road to the championship the third-ranked Bobcats avenged their only regular-season loss to top-ranked Des Moines Roosevelt, defeating the Rough Riders, 67-60, in a sub-state game. That game in itself was a valuable lesson to Giannetto, “we had lost to Roosevelt earlier in the season and remembering that loss, the only one we had all season, fueled us.”

Entering the state tournament as the number one seed, Marshalltown routed Shenandoah, 100-54, in the quarterfinals and won a close one over Bishop Heelan-Sioux City,

68-67, in the semifinals.

With only Cedar Rapids Washington between Marshalltown and their fourth state championship in 11 years, the Bobcats took a 44-37 halftime lead that extended to a 60-41 lead by the end of the third quarter. When it was all said and done, in his second-year as head coach, Funk led Marshalltown to a 77-63 win over Cedar Rapids Washington in front of a crowd of 14,000 spectators.

“Playing in front of all those people, I remember thinking this is something

everyone should get to experience, the electricity and excitement of it all,” remembered Giannetto.

At the helm of the first AIB men’s basketball team in school history, Giannetto will have the opportunity to bring Eagle recruits that same feeling of electricity and excitement.Said Giannetto, “We are going to strive for the top from the beginning, just because we are a first-year program does not mean we can’t set high goals and do our very best to achieve them”

As the only junior on that state championship team, Giannetto remembers very dedicated and hard-working teammates who were committed to their head coach. An environment he plans on building at AIB.

“It was a requirement of coach Funk to put everything we had into the program,” said Giannetto. “He was a great coach, who demanded a lot from his players, who knew the value of hard work and the success it would breed.”

Those values are something that Giannetto has never forgotten, from his years playing basketball at Marshalltown Community College and University of Northern Iowa to the time he spent as an assistant coach to Funk at Marshalltown High School.

“You really don’t get something for nothing,” said Giannetto. “You have to work hard, do things right and commit and if you do all that, there is a good chance that success will follow.”Recently the 1966 Marshalltown boys basketball team celebrated the 45th anniversary of their state championship with coach Giannetto. He was no doubt thankful of how that moment so long ago brought him to where he is now – making history yet again as the AIB Eagles take the court for the first time in October.

22 Volume 12 Issue 12 Visit us on the web @ www.iowasportsconnection.com

CollegiateCorner

Vikings Win NAIA RegionalMolly Brown Grand View Univeristy Sports Information Director

The Grand View wrestling team made history in Marshall, Missouri, on Saturday. The Vikings won the NAIA Central Regional Qualifying Tournament for the first time in the program’s short three-year existence. No. 2 Grand View edged last year’s winner No. 7 Missouri Valley by one point, scoring 167.5 team points. Missouri Valley finished with 166.5 points, followed by Baker in third with 98.5 points. Six Vikings earned individual titles and head coach Nick Mitchell was named ‘Central Regional Coach of the Year’ for the second straight year. No. 5 Travis Evans (Ankeny, Iowa) scored a tournament high of 21-team points on his way to the 133 pound title. The top-seeded Evans went 3-0 throughout the tournament, pinning each opponent he faced. No. 9 Ty Knowler (Altoona, Iowa) racked up 17.5 team points on his way to the 165 pound title. Knowler recorded two technical falls in the tournament, out-scoring opponents 48-12. Returning national champion and No. 3 Glenn Rhees (Atascadero, California) won his second regional title, in as many tries, after going 3-0 at 174 pounds. Rhees recorded a fall in the quarterfinal round and shut out Oklahoma City’s No. 5 Derek Peperas with a 1-0 decision. Returning national champion and No. 3 Matt Burns (Urbandale, Iowa) outscored opponents 26-3 on his way to the 149 pound title. Burns recorded one technical fall and accumulated 16.5 team points. No. 5 Tommy Perez (Miami Gardens, Florida) earned his first regional title after going 3-0 at 184 pounds. Perez avoided all takedown attempts from opponents, beating Missouri Valley’s No. 6 Jesse Alter in overtime for the second time this season. No. 6 Nick Coffman (Huxley, Iowa) went 2-0 to reach the finals at 141 pounds. Coffman received a medical forfeit in the finals from fellow teammate, No. 11 Jeff Rau (Council Bluffs, Iowa). Both Coffman and Rau scored bonus points in their quarterfinal matches, winning by major decision and technical fall. No. 2 Bojan Djukic (Des Moines, Iowa) won three matches to reach the finals at heavyweight before falling to Missouri Valley’s No. 4 Travis Ewart. Bojan recorded one fall along the way, scoring 15 team points. No. 7 Alex Peitz (Perry, Iowa) and No. 10 Derek Nightser (Council Bluffs, Iowa) each went 3-1 to place 3rd at 125 and 197 pounds. No. 12 Adam Kurimski (Fairfield, Iowa) went 2-2, placing 5th at 149 pounds.

Grinnell College athletes and the coach claimed four of the six individual awards at the conclusion of the 2011 Midwest Conference Swimming and Diving Championships Sunday at Russell K. Osgood Pool. Imelda Wistey ’14 (West Des Moines, Valley HS) and Michael Brus ’14 (Davenport, North HS) were named the Women’s and Men’s Swimmers of the Year, Kelly Bruce ’12

earned Women’s Diver of the Year honors and Erin Hurley was tabbed Men’s Coach of the Year. Rounding out the award winners were Carroll University’s Alex Mishun as Men’s Diver of the Year and Lake Forest College’s Vadim Tashlitsky as Women’s Coach of the Year. Brus earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships in the 200 backstroke during the meet. He won all seven of his events (three individual and four relays), earning an NCAA “B” cut in three events, and set school and MWC records in every event in which he competed. Wistey earned automatic qualification to the NCAA Championships in both the 100 and 200 breaststrokes during the meet, while earning a “B” cut in another event.

She posted five wins (two individual and three relays) and set five school and MWC records. Bruce was named Women’s Diver of the Year for the third time in as many seasons while increasing her league title total to six. During the 2011 Championships, Bruce broke school records with wins in both one- and three-meter diving while earning NCAA B qualifying standards in both events. Hurley guided the Grinnell men’s team to its 10th MWC crown in a row as the Pioneers beat their nearest competitor by nearly 200 points. It’s the third time she’s been MWC Men’s Coach of the Year, also earning the honor in 2005 and 2009. She also coached Grinnell’s women’s team to its 13th MWC title in a row Sunday.

Grinnell Swimmers Do It AgainTed Schultz Grinnell College Sports Information Director

Imelda Wistey (Grinnell, WDM Valley)

Michael Brus (Grinnell, Davenport North)

Visit us on the web @ www.iowasportsconnection.com Volume 12 Issue 12 23

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Heath Grimm, Upper Iowa’s Head Wrestling Coach, earned his 100th victory at the helm of the Peacock wrestling program with a 34-12 win over Waldorf College on Tuesday night. The Osage, Iowa native is in his eleventh season as the head coach of UIU’s most successful athletic program. Following last season’s third place finish at the NCAA Division II Championships, Grimm was named the NCAA Division II Coach of the Year. The award marked the sixth Coach of the Year honor bestowed to the Grimm. This season Grimm and the Peacocks are 5-3 in dual meets and 3-1 against NSIC teams. Upper Iowa has three tough opponents left in conference action including #2 Augustana on the road, #3 St. Cloud State at home and #20 MSU Moorhead on the road to end the regular season. The Peacocks are currently ranked #11 in the country and have five individuals ranked in the national poll as well. They include Kyle Pedretti (#1, 133), Trevor Franklin (#2, 125), Zach Rosol (#4, 285), Mitch Schultz (#8, 184) and Carl Broghammer (#8, 197). In Grimm’s eleven seasons at the helm, the UIU wrestling program has an overall dual meet record of 100-35-2 including an NSIC record of 27-3, now in their fifth season. Peacock wrestlers have qualified for the NCAA Championships 42 times and have earned All American honors 25 times. Last season, Grimm’s squad qualified six for the national championship and saw four earn All American honors. Four Peacocks

have won National Titles including two since Upper Iowa’s move up to NCAA Division II.

The wrestling program’s best finish came at the 2002 NCAA Division III Championships when the Peacocks finished as the National Runner Up. Upper Iowa has finished inside the top 20 at the National Championships eight times in Grimm’s ten years and they have placed in the top 8 of the NWCA National Duals five times.

Grimm also emphasizes his wrestlers effort in the classroom. In more than a decade of coaching at Upper Iowa, Peacock wrestlers have been named NWCA Academic All Americans 23 times.

Since the Peacocks moved to NCAA Division II and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, the team has claimed the conference championships; 2006-07, 2007-08, and 2009-10. The team has won 13 duals in a season three different times and in each of the last two seasons.

Grimm was a 4 year starter at Luther College (1991-94). During his career, he qualified for the NCAA Championships three times, earning All American honors twice. Grimm was inducted into the Luther College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004.

The Osage, Iowa native earned his Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Luther College in 1994. He and his wife, Angela, have two daughters, Emma and Leah.

Grimm’s Coach of the Year Awards

• 2009-2010 Division II National Coach of the Year

• 2007-2008 NSIC Coach of the Year• 2006-2007 NSIC Coach of the Year• 2002-2003 NWCA Bob Bubb Division III

National Coach of the Year• 2001-2002 Division III National Coach of

the Year• 2000-2001 Division III Rookie Coach of the

Year

Upper Iowa Wrestling Coach Heath Grimm Reaches Victory No. 100Howie Thompson Upper Iowa University Sports Information Director

CollegiateCorner

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“ I transferred to UIU because it has a more personal environment than many other schools and I can be more one-on-one with professors and my advisor. The two-at-a-time class schedule gives me a healthy balance of class, athletics, and other extracurriculars.”Kirby Hovden, ‘12West Union, IA

Learn more at www.uiu.edu/thewholestory

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24 Volume 12 Issue 12 Visit us on the web @ www.iowasportsconnection.com

CollegiateCorner

It’s not easy for Grand View University sports teams to get noticed, as the school must compete with Iowa, Iowa State, Drake and even Northern Iowa for media coverage. But something is brewing at the small private university in Des Moines. A star has emerged on the Grand View Vikings women’s basketball team, and not just on the local level, but the national level, too. Sophomore 5’10” guard Jennifer Jorgensen has proven that last season, in which she was named an NAIA third-team all-American, was only the start of a tremendous career for the Vikings. Jorgensen was named NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Player of the Week Jan. 18 and 25 but her success has lasted all season. Jorgensen is among the top in the country in scoring, having averaged 23.68 points per game, and also in rebounding with 10.3 rebounds per game. She leads the team in those categories. She’s a likely selection for first team all-American this season. Jorgensen is a leader in every aspect for the Vikings. “I try to lead by example,” says Jorgensen. “With us being such a young group we need a leader and it’s kind of hard sometimes with all of us being so young, but that’s what I try to do and I try to help people out when I can.” One might think that with a player like Jorgensen, the team that advanced to the NAIA Elite Eight last season would be unstoppable again this time around. One would be wrong. The Vikings, although entering the season ranked No. 8 in the NAIA Preseason Coaches’ Poll, fell to No. 16 Iowa Wesleyan in the opening round of the Midwest Collegiate Conference tournament. Grand View finished with a record of 14-17 (9-7 in MCC games). Grand View fell off the stage of national players early in the season. “It’s not like we were out of games,” says Jorgensen of the team’s early struggles. “We were always in the games, and had chances to win in all but one so it was just a matter of we couldn’t get on that winning end.

Tim Weideman Editor

Jorgensen Excited to Lead Grand View Back to Success

People don’t really care how hard your schedule is. If you lose, you lose.” Jorgensen, says she felt like the team had to “pull a little extra” at times this season, especially after the team realized it probably wasn’t going to have the success it enjoyed last season. “It just got harder and our goals kind of shifted,” says Jorgensen. “We still wanted to win conference but when we knew we were going to be a lower seed (in the conference tournament), you know, it shifted to: ‘What can we do as a team? What can each individual do? How can we set ourselves up for the est chance of winning each game?’” She says she personally tried to always pull harder for the team. But that’s how she’s always been. “It’s kind of something I’m used to,” says Jorgensen about being a team leader. “It was kind of that way in high school. It fits my personality and, you know, the way I’ve always played basketball so I think that was a good fit at Grand View, to be able to have that opportunity and step right into that role. That definitely prepared me for college.” Originally from Dayton, Iowa, Jorgensen ended her prep career at Southeast Webster-Grand High School second in Iowa high school girls’ basketball history with 2,708 points, fourth in rebounds with 1,184 and fifth in assists with 621. “Obviously, I had supporting help, but there was a lot of pressure on my shoulders to produce big numbers every

night,” says Jorgensen. “I kind of just got used to that and pressure didn’t really bother me at all. I guess I was just used to having different defenses thrown at me. That definitely prepared me for college.” After high school, Jorgensen signed a letter of intent to play for NCAA Division I University of the Pacific, California. She was unhappy with certain parts of the program and so she decided to transfer to Grand View, while retaining her four years of athletic eligibility. Grand View now has one heck of an athlete in Jorgensen. Even though this season may not have gone as planned for the Vikings, Jorgensen says the team has made it a goal to return to the national tournament next season. She says she hopes her individual success can help the whole team. “Hopefully it kind of carries over to the team and we can all strive for that and can all get back to (success),” says Jorgensen. She adds

that should everybody’s goal. “It takes more than just me and hopefully everyone can work hard over the off-season and we can get back there.” Plus, the seasons are more fun, according to Jorgensen, when more people turn out for games. Because Grand View struggled this year, the seats in Sisam Arena, where the Vikings play, were much emptier. With some hard work put in during spring and summer, though, that environment could change quickly. The Vikings certainly have a solid foundation in Jorgensen, whom they can build around very easily.

at Grand View University

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Visit us on the web @ www.iowasportsconnection.com Volume 12 Issue 12 25

Former Central College soccer player Nate Weir, an assistant athletic trainer with the Green Bay Packers, celebrates a Super Bowl win with offensive guard Josh Sitton.

Weir and Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the Packers’ locker room following Green Bay’s NFC title game victory at Chicago Jan. 23.

From

To

CollegiateCorner

26 Volume 12 Issue 12 Visit us on the web @ www.iowasportsconnection.com

MinorBut Major

Zach Johnson Receives Double D Award from DrakeLauren P Smith Staff Writer

Drake alumnus and 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson was presented with the Double D Award on Tuesday Jan. 25, the highest award Drake has to offer it’s former student athletes. Many people showed up in support for John-son, including 2008 gold medalist Shawn Johnson.

Also receiving the award was alumna Lisa Behlmann Cannon. A graduate from 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in finance, Behlmann Cannon was a 4-year let-ter winner for Drake volleyball during the 1977-1980 season.

The Double D Award is given to former letter winners who have shown outstanding achievements and contri-butions to their profession and community.

A Cedar Rapids native, Zach Johnson graduated with degrees in business management and marketing in 1998. He was a member of the Bulldog men’s golf team from 1995-1998.

Upon graduating Drake, Johnson went pro, playing in the now-defunct Prairie Golf Tour, the Nationwide Tour (then the Buy.com tour) and the Hooters Tour. In 2003 he was promoted into the PGA Tour. Currently, Johnson is in his eight full-time season on the PGA Tour, has recorded 34 Top 10 finishes, and has won about $20 million. As member of the 2010 Ryder Cup team, Johnson has been able to give back to Drake University in a big

way. The Iowa Section PGA presented a $50,000 check, on behalf on Johnson to support Drake’s Play Golf America University program. The program, part of the 2010 Ryder Cup Outreach, has been in place since 1999.

Lisa Murphy is the program super-visor for this golf outreach program at Drake, dubbed Golf for Business and Life in the curri-cula. The program, which encourages new students to play golf, teaches them both through a tech-nical and business aspect. Students learn to play from professional golfers, and guest speakers are brought in to teach as well.

“I think it’s a really unique program,” Murphy states, “its more than just reading out of a book, it teaches [these students] real life skills.”

Programs like the one set up at Drake have a profound impact on the golfing world, something which professional golfers like Johnson are taking note of. In a quote to the Des Moines Register, he reflected on the rising talent of young golfers.

“The talent coming out … these kids are athletes now,” Johnson said. “Everybody hits it hard. Every-body has good fundamentals. Everybody is mentally tough. Kids attach themselves to golf at a young age. It’s great for the game. There’s a lot of depth

and parity. I know kids you haven’t even heard of who I’m going to be battling against. Unfortunately.’’

Whatever the future holds for Johnson, there’s no denying he has had a successful career. Aside from his Masters win, Johnson has totaled 7 PGA Tour wins, and has earned over $19 million. Not too bad for a Cedar Rapids boy.

Visit us on the web @ www.iowasportsconnection.com Volume 12 Issue 12 27

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As the college basketball post-season possibilities begin take the forefront for the Big 4 universities in the state of Iowa, lets take a look and see what some former standouts are doing these days.

University of Northern Iowa – Current: (18-8, 9-5)Jordan Egleseder (2006-2010) Houston Rockets / NBACollege Career: PPG: 9.0…RPG: 5.6…BPG: 1.0

Adam Koch (2006-2010) Bakersfield Jam / NBA Development LeagueCollege Career: PPG: 9.0…RPG: 4.5…APG: 1.4

Ali Farokhmanesh (2008-2010) SAM Massagno (Switzerland) / LNACollege Career: PPG: 9.7…3FG%: 37.5…FT%: 80.9

University of Iowa – Current: (10-14, 3-9)Greg Brunner (2002- 2006) Benetton Treviso (Italy)/ Serie ACollege Career: PPG 11.9…RBG 7.8

Reggie Evans (2000-2002)Toronto Raptors/NBACollege Career: PPG: 15.3…RPG: 11.5

Iowa State University – Current: (14-10, 1-8)Craig Brackins (2007-2010) Philadelphia 76er’s / NBACollege Career: PPG: 16.0…FG%: 44.5…RPG: 7.7

Curtis Stinson (2003-2006) Iowa Energy/ NBA Development LeagueCollege Career: PPG: 16.5…APG: 4.8…RPG: 5.6

Drake University – Current: (11-14, 6-8)Josh Young (2006-2010) Bayer Giants Leverkusen (Germany) / ProBCollege Career: PPG 14.1…APG 3.1…3P%: 36.1

The season is winding down to the home stretch and all of the Big 4 teams have a lot of work left to do. Iowa and Iowa State are going through similar rebuilding seasons with first year head coaches. The Hawks have shown improvement under Coach McCaffery, with big wins against conference rivals Michigan State and Indiana.

Iowa State has been experiencing a lot up in downs this season under Coach Hoiberg struggling as of late in conference play. Northern Iowa has been playing good basketball but are looking at a lot of work to do to make it back to the Big Dance. The Panthers might have lost their chance to get an at large berth with back to back conference losses. Drake has had a very up and down season but have played well as of late. They are looking to play their best ball in the conference tourney and try and make a Cinderella run for the NCAAs.

Where Are They Now? The Big 4Jackson Teeling Staff Writer

28 Volume 12 Issue 12 Visit us on the web @ www.iowasportsconnection.com

Former Heisman runner-up, Hawk-eye All-American returns to Iowa

In the franchise’s most high-profile off-season signing, the Iowa Barn-stormers today announced that for-mer University of Iowa All-American quarterback, Brad Banks, will join the Arena Football League team for the 2011 season. Banks, who led the Hawkeyes to a share of the 2002 Big Ten title, finished his collegiate career as one of the most decorated players in Iowa history. He won the Davey O’Brien Award

as the nation’s best quarterback, was named the Associ-ated Press College Football Player of the Year, and received All-American recogni-tion from numerous media organizations. Banks also finished second in the 2002 Heisman Trophy balloting to Southern California’s Carson Palmer. Following his tenure at Iowa, Banks signed a free agent contract with the NFL’s Washington Redskins. More recently, Banks comes to the Barnstormers following a five-year career in the Canadian Football League. “Brad is a great addition to the Barnstormers,” said Head Coach John Gregory. “His athleticism, ac-curacy and touch on the ball, are well-suited to arena football. I know a lot of Iowa fans will be excited to see him back on the field.” Gregory noted the Barnstormers starting quar-terback position remains open following the depar-ture of 2010 starter, Ryan Vena, to the Philadelphia

Soul. Gregory expects Banks to compete for the starting nod with arena football vet-erans BJ Hall and Matt Bassuener, as well as 6’4 newcomer Bryan Lee-Lauduski. The 2011 Barnstormers’ 35-man ros-ter reports for training camp on Sunday, February 20.

The ‘Stormers begin the 2011 regular season, Saturday, March 19 at Pittsburgh and return to Des Moines for a Friday, March 25 match-up against defending AFL champ Spokane Shock.

MinorBut Major

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Exercise related pain around the knees and heels in the adolescent athlete is pretty much epidemic. One question that the parents always have it, “Will they grown out of it?” The answer to that question is “Yes - and - No.”

As with any “overuse” type pain, these pains are due to the muscle and tendon having more stress placed on them then they are able to tolerate. During adolescents, the bones are rapidly converting from the cartilage model into mature one. This is particularly true at the locations that the tendons attach to the bones - the apophysis.

During this rapid transition from cartilage to bone, the area of the insertion of the tendon goes through a very weak stage. This makes it easy to “overuse” the tendon. In some instances it is so easy to do this that merely normal activities of daily living are too much strain on the tendon and apo-physis. Significant pain can then develop with merely walking up and down stairs, sitting with knees bent and otherwise gentle activities.

For this reason these painful conditions were initially labelled “diseases” such as Osgood-Schlat-

Lynn M. Lindaman, MD, P.L.C. Lindaman Orthopaedics Originally Published: Volume. 11 Issue 2

Will They Grow Out of It?

ter’s Disease and Sever’s Disease. We now realize that virtually any child can get these “diseases” if they are active enough. These conditions are now generally classified as an “apophysis.” That is, inflammation of the apophysis. This leads to the “Yes” part of the initial answer. Once the athlete stops growing and the apophyses have “Closed,” that is, they have converted completely into the bone, they are much stronger. There-fore, the insertion of the tendon can tolerate the stresses placed on it. YES -- The athlete will have outgrown these conditions!

Now to the “No” part of the answer. Now that the athlete has reached skeletal maturity the insertion point of the tendon can tolerate the stresses of athletics. The athlete can now push themselves harder to reach that “next level” of competition. Now the tendon itself becomes the weak link in the chain. The athlete now will develop true “tendonitis.” So as the athlete continues to push their con-ditioning and activity, these pains may persist or return, only now not as an apophysitis, but as a tendo-nitis. So from the standpoint of the athlete outgrowing these pains, NO, they won’t if they continue to push the limits of their body.

We can use ice, rest and nonsteroidal anti-inflam-matories to deal with the pain after it develops. The ultimate treatment is to reduce the stresses to the point that the apophysis or tendon can tolerate. In the majority of the patients I see with overuse inju-ries, the abnormal stresses are being placed on the tendons and apophyses due to errors in technique. This is particularly true with knee pain in hurdlers.

Muscles exert forces in two manners. The first is with a concentric contraction, where the muscles contract and shorten, such as when the quadriceps contract when one jumps up. The eccentric contrac-tion puts significantly more stress on the tendon and bone than a concentric contraction. All the knee pain that I’ve seen in hurdlers (with the exception of that from actually striking the hurdle with the knee or falling over a hurdle and landing on a knee) comes from poor technique where hurdler is ec-centrically loading the knee. This usually happens

if the hurdler is landing with the foot out ahead of the knee. The quadriceps and patella tendon then have to absorb the energy of landing. This not only places excessive force on the knee, but also slows the hurdler down. Cor-recting this technique error not only alleviates the hurdlers knee pain, but also speeds them up.

Health& Fitness

Volume 12 Issue 12 29 Visit us on the web @ www.iowasportsconnection.com

Visit us on the web @ www.iowasportsconnection.com Volume 12 Issue 12 29

Health& Fitness

After practice, your son says his knee is throbbing and swollen. He needs medical advice, but how can you as a parent fit that in your schedule—and safely get him back on the field or court?

Des Moines Orthopaedic Surgeons in partner-ship with Iowa Health – Des Moines offers a free Sports Injury Clinic for middle school, high school and college athletes who have an acute injury. With appointments available from 7:15 to 8 a.m. on weekdays, your child can receive care and limit the amount of time away from school—and sports. This clinic is located at DMOS - West, Suite 205, at 6001 Westown Parkway in West Des Moines. “A physical therapist or athletic trainer will evalu-ate the injury and make initial recommendations for home treatment” says Dan Sweet, MPT, Physical Therapist at Iowa Health. “Depending on the sever-

ity of the injury, patients may require x-rays and further evaluation by a DMOS physician. The initial visit and x-rays are at no cost; however, there will be a charge for further braces, crutches, diagnostic tests, etc.” “The clinic allows parents to identify whether their child suffers from a basic ache or a more extensive injury. This helps to put a parent’s mind at ease and determine if their child can safely return to competition” comments Amy Noble, Director of Marketing for DMOS.

“By getting immediate recommendations about how to treat the injury, physical therapists and physicians can help athletes prevent chronic condi-tions.” Appointments are preferred, but walk-ins are welcome. Call (515) 224-5225 today to schedule your appointment.

Additional information is also available at “http://www.dmos.com” www.dmos.com

DMOs offers Sports Injury Assessment ClinicBarron R.B. Bremner, D.O. Des Moines Orthopaedic Surgeons

30 Volume 12 Issue 12 Visit us on the web @ www.iowasportsconnection.com

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stUdent FocUsed – graduating students with less debt than any other private institution in Iowa

excellent FacIlItIes – completing $75 million in Phase I construction of classrooms, residence halls, and a student center

globally avaIlable – offering degrees through 16 U.S. educational centers and 3 international locations

onlIne excellence – nationally ranked among top online degree-granting universities by Online Education Database and

repeatedly rated for “best buy” programs by GetEducated.com

“ I transferred to UIU because it has a more personal environment than many other schools and I can be more one-on-one with professors and my advisor. The two-at-a-time class schedule gives me a healthy balance of class, athletics, and other extracurriculars.”

Kirby Hovden, ‘12West Union, IA

Learn more at www.uiu.edu/thewholestory

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