High school sports, activities on hold

Following Sunday’s announcements from Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, all spring activities of Iowa’s high school Unified Activities partners – the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, the Iowa High School Athletic Association, the Iowa High School Music Association, and the Iowa High School Speech Association – will be prohibited through the state’s K-12 school recommended closure of four weeks.

Gov. Reynolds announced the recommended closure in collaboration with the Iowa Department of Public Health, in response to community spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iowa.

This recommended closure date currently extends through Friday, April 10 and would mean a school return of April 13. Prior to April 10, the schedule will be assessed as necessary with information from the Governor, Iowa Department of Public Health, Iowa Department of Education, and activity partners at the IGHSAU, IHSAA, IHSMA, and IHSSA.

NFV track and field teams off and running

Zakary Kriener

News Writer
zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

North Fayette Valley got its 2020 track and field season started with an indoor meet held at Wartburg on Tuesday, March 10.

“It was good to get an early competition in. We had several very good performances,” said coach Mark Nuss. “We do have a lot of freshman and newcomers that got experience at this meet.”

The TigerHawk girls were led by two first-place finishers and two more runners-up on the day. Sophomore Alyssa Bohr claimed the 400-meter dash title with a time of 1:02.73 while junior Abby Boehm took first in the shot put with a throw of 34’01”.

Senior Jaron Todd looks for an open teammate to pass to during last week’s season-ending loss to the Trojans of Turkey Valley. In his final game, Todd had 10 points, five rebounds, and three assists. (Zakary Kriener photo)

Warriors fall in district semifinal

Zakary Kriener

News Writer
zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The Warrior boys’ basketball team saw its season come to an end Tuesday night, Feb. 25, as Turkey Valley’s strong fourth quarter propelled it over South Winn and into the District final.

“This was a tough one to take in for our guys and a tough way to end the season,” said coach Blake Moen, who’s team fell by a score of 57-44. “We struggled a little too much against Turkey Valley’s pressure defense the last five minutes of the game and had some costly turnovers that led to their run late in the game, which made the difference.”

Senior Jaron Todd went for 12 points and six rebounds in the Warriors’ District win over Nashua-Plainfield on Thursday. The win propels South Winn into the semifinals where they will take on Turkey Valley this week (Tuesday). (Zakary Kriener photo)

Warriors hold on, pick up postseason win

Zakary Kriener

News Writer
zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The Warrior boys picked up a win in the second round of the District 4 playoffs last week as South Winn held off a feisty Nashua-Plainfield team, 51-46.

“This game really tested us in a lot of ways and I am really proud of our guys in battling to the end to get the win,” said coach Blake Moen after the Thursday night victory. “Our offense was very slow for most of the game and we struggled to get the ball through the hoop, but I am very ecstatic for our guys in how they answered to a tough N-P team and found a way to win a postseason basketball game.”

South Winn junior Damon Meyer uses a strong headlock to put his opponent to his back during first round action at the Iowa High School State Wrestling Tournament last week in Des Moines. Meyer went on to take sixth at 195 pounds. (submitted photo)

South Winn wrestlers compete at State

Zakary Kriener

News Writer
zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

With three wrestlers in competition last week at the State Wrestling Tournament in Des Moines, the Warriors were quite busy on the mats.

“What a great week of wrestling!” said coach Jacob Elsbernd after the tournament. “We are very proud of the way these boys competed.”

South Winn was led by junior Damon Meyer who brought home sixth-place honors at 195 pounds.

Trey Darnall looks for an open teammate during Thursday’s season-ending loss to Beckman Catholic. Darnall had six points, four rebounds and three assists in the 66-32 loss. (Zakary Kriener photo)

Blazers too much for TigerHawks

Zakary Kriener

News Writer
zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The TigerHawk boys’ basketball team saw its season come to an end Thursday as the Trailblazers of Beckman Catholic downed them, 66-32.

“Dyersville just really got after us defensively and it bothered us, especially in the first quarter,” said coach Matt Krambeer after the season ending loss. “We turned it over 10 times and only got five shot attempts in the first quarter and were down 16-2 after that blitz. When you dig yourself in a hole like that, it makes it tough to come back against a team like Beckman.”

The TigerHawks were able to generate some offense in the second quarter as they cut the lead to 33-12 at the half, but the Blazers proved to be too much for NFV.

TigerHawk senior Joel Grimes gets an upper hand on his first-round opponent at the Iowa High School State Wrestling Tournament last week in Des Moines. Grimes went 1-2 in the tournament with a win over Osage’s Ryan Adams. (submitted photo)

Two NFV grapplers compete at State

Zakary Kriener

News Writer
zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The TigerHawk wrestling team sent a pair of wrestlers down to Des Moines last week to compete at the 2020 Iowa High School State Wrestling Tournament.

Senior Joel Grimes qualified at 138 pounds and fell in his first match by a 4-0 decision to eventual seventh-place finisher Payton Drake of PCM-Monroe. In the consolation bracket, Grimes earned a 7-3 decision over Osage’s Ryan Adams.

In round two of the consolation bracket, Grimes fell to Iowa Falls-Aiden’s Alberto Salmeron, 7-1. Salmeron finished sixth at 170 pounds.

South Winneshiek’s Janessa Zweibohmer looks for an open teammate during a recent Warrior basketball contest. Zweibohmer and the Warriors saw their season come to an end Thursday as they fell to Kee. (Zakary Kriener photo)

SW girls fall to Kee in Regionals

Zakary Kriener

News Writer
zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The South Winneshiek girls’ basketball team saw its 2019-2020 season come to an end last week as the Warriors were defeated by Kee, 52-18, in the first round of Regionals.

Coaches comments and statistics were unavailable at press time. 

The Warrior girls end their season with a 2-18 record. The team was led by lone senior Liz Tieskoetter who averaged 10.9 points per game.

Jacob Herold leans in for a shot during recent South Winneshiek basketball action. Last week, Herold and the Warriors went 1-1 as he combined for 31 points and seven assists in the two games. (Zakary Kriener photo)

SW lights up scoreboards to close out regular season

Zakary Kriener

News Writer
zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The South Winn boys closed out their 2019-2020 regular season basketball season last week as the team split its two games on back-to-back nights to improve to 13-8 on the season. The Warriors dropped their Monday night (Feb. 10) non-conference matchup against Waukon, but rebounded with a win over Central on Tuesday (Feb. 11) to secure a runner-up finish in the Upper Iowa Conference.

South Winneshiek sophomore Ethan Maldonado became a two-time State qualifier Saturday as he took second place at 113 pounds at Districts in Starmont. Maldonado will face Braden Graff of West Sioux in the first round on Thursday evening. (LeAnn Larson photo)

Warriors send three to State!

Zakary Kriener

News Writer
zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

It was a bit of a rollercoaster ride for the South Winneshiek wrestling team Saturday as it competed at Districts at Starmont, but when the dust settled, three Warriors punched their tickets to the 2020 Iowa High School State Wrestling Tournament in Des Moines.

“A lot of different emotions are felt in a short time. We had some great wins and some devastating losses,” said coach Jacob Elsbernd after Saturday’s action. “Ethan Maldonado started off the day with a big win vs. Don Bosco, which was about as exciting as it gets. But then Phillip lost a tight match to bring us right back down. It went that way all day back and forth – a big win and then a tough loss. As coaches, we are excited for our State Qualifiers but also feel the pain of our wrestlers who didn’t make it.”