A year in review: Sports
Jan. 4—A year for change, 2022 welcomed the addition of multiple sports, a new ticket booth and a new feature for basketball.
Amidst the ever-adapting landscape, local athletes prevailed, performing at the playoffs, state and national level.
"We saw a lot of great things in 2022," Creston School District Activities Director Scott Driskell said. "We had wrestling win a regular season Hawkeye 10 Championship. Softball went 25-5 and won a Hawkeye 10 championship. Football went to playoffs and was successful."
While Driskell acknowledges starting the girls wrestling program has been a learning process, he said the addition of the sport added to the success in 2022.
"We saw a lot of great things in 2022, and the great part is those teams that excelled have a lot of those key players back in 2023," he said. "So we should see success in nearly all of our activities."
Additions
In January, the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) Board of Directors voted unanimously to sanction girls wrestling as the organization's 11th sport.
Driskell said conversations started happening in the spring about a team of Creston, Lenox and East Union in response to January's announcement. Creston School Board approved the partnership at their board meeting in July.
The team is known as the Highway 34 team in a nod to the highway connecting the three cities.
In October, Jacob Lister, former middle school wrestling coach, was named head coach for the team, and in November, the first girls wrestling meet was held in Nodaway Valley.
— — — — —
In June, Southwestern Community College (SWCC) announced the launch of a competitive bass fishing team in an effort to increase their sports offerings.
By July, they had hired Cory Dorsey as head coach.
SWCC will host its own smaller tournaments and scrimmages throughout the seasons, but the three major events in the central division are in April, July and October. The team wasn't ready until August.
— — — — —
In July, the Creston School Board voted to go cashless at the gate for activities, using an app or credit/debit card instead.
The Hawkeye 10 Board of Directors unanimously voted to use Varsity Bound as the online ticket agent, and the Creston School Board approved Varsity Bound and new admission prices.
— — — — —
In August, both the Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) and IGHSAU announced Wednesday that high school student-athletes are able to earn compensation, monetary included, on the use of their Name, Image and Likeness (NIL).
An athlete can participate in NIL with the regulations set out by both the IHSAA and the IGHSAU.
The student and his/her family should seek guidance from his/her member school. The student and his/her family should seek their own legal counsel when considering any NIL activity.
The student and his/her family should contact the NCAA, NJCAA, and/or NAIA to ensure any NIL activity does not jeopardize collegiate eligibility.
— — — — —
In November, fans noticed a new feature to Iowa high school basketball with a 35-second shot clock erected above each basket. It is mandatory only for varsity competition, but may be used in other levels of high school basketball.
Creston coach Tony Neubauer said his team scrimmaged with use of the clock at a summer team camp and practiced with it in the preseason.
Performance
In January, Creston sophomore Savannah Sistad had a very successful outing at the Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association (IWCOA) State Championships in which she only allowed one point over the two day weekend.
With her victory in the 220 weight class Saturday evening, Sistad becomes the first Creston wrestler to be a state champion since Chase Shiltz won in 2017.
— — — — —
In February, the Panthers wrestling team put a bow on their season at the state meet.
Creston's three wrestlers Austin Evans (138 pounds), Triston Barncastle (145) and Quinten Fuller (285) competed at the 2022 IHSAA State Wrestling Championships at Wells Fargo Arena.
All three wrestlers lost their first-round match and consolation match.
Creston won the Hawkeye 10 dual championships, were runner-up at the Hawkeye 10 tournament and the team qualified for the regional duals.
— — — — —
In May, Avery Fuller was announced as Creston's Outstanding Male Athlete from the class of 2022.
Fuller received second team all-state recognition in football from the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association. He was also the No. 1 singles player on the tennis team this spring, and one of the top rebounders as a starting forward for Creston basketball.
A four-sport athlete, Fuller competed in basketball, tennis, baseball and his favorite sport — football.
— — — — —
In May, area track and field athletes competed at the Iowa State Track and Field Meet.
Creston's lone qualifier was the boys distance medley relay, comprised of Casen Dryden, Payton Conley, Xander Drake and Brandon Briley, which finished sixth in their heat and 21st overall with a time of 3:50.06.
Lenox's "Bleached Boyz" quartet of Gabe Funk, Conner Fitzgerald, Trenton Beck and Johnathan Weaver placed third in their Shuttle Hurdle Preliminary and won it all on Saturday with a time of 1:00.39.
Lenox junior Cadence Douglas, who won the state title last year, won a silver medal after a seven round jump off to North Union's Sam Nielsen.
Lenox freshman Sadie Cox had a busy weekend with a 27.88 200 meter dash, a PR of 1:01.51 in the 400 meter dash, 15-9.75 in the long jump and a 1:58.19 in the sprint medley relay with her teammates Gabby Robles, Zoey Reed and Brooklyn Ecklin.
Ecklin also ran in the 100 Meter Dash, where she finished 21st with a time of 13.879.
Lenox's Samson Adams tied for 14th in the high jump with Southwest Valley's Marshall Knapp with a height of 5-10, and Tiger Devin Whipple finished 17th in the discus throw, and had a best toss of 133-8.
Mount Ayr's Ryce Reynolds won the Class 1A state title for the 400 meter dash with a time of 49.22. That was both a school record and a personal record for the sophomore.
Senior Wyatt Carlson of East Union placed fifth in the long jump for Class 1A.
Southwest Valley Timberwolf sophomore Emma Cooper finished sixth place in the long jump. Her best jump was 16-03.75.
Brooklyn Ecklin, a senior at Lenox, ran the 100 meter dash and finished in 13.88 seconds.
Murray Lady Mustang Leksi Gannon finished .12 seconds from qualifying for the finals in the 200 meter dash.
Diagonal junior Taylor Lumbard, in the shot put, was the first Diagonal student at state track since 2016. Lumbard finished 19th with a best toss of 33-03.
— — — — —
In June, University of Iowa associate head baseball coach and recruiting coordinator Marty Sutherland called Mount Ayr's Jaixon Frost with some good news.
The 2023 prospect quickly agreed to play for his dream school, the Hawkeyes, and has since signed a letter of intent.
Frost says they've talked with him about playing third base at the next level, but he says he will do anything they ask him to do.
— — — — —
In July, the 25-5 Panthers softball team was upset 5-3 by the Glenwood Rams to finish a successful season.
Winning the Hawkeye Ten Conference with a 19-1 league mark, this Panther team posted the fourth-highest winning percentage in program history of .833.
The only ones ahead of it are 2009 (31-5, .861), 1978 (33-6, .846) and 2011 (32-6, .842).
Creston hit 33 home runs in 30 games, led by Randall's 10 followed by Driskell with six and five each by freshmen Foote and Adamson. Nevaeh Randall continued to increase her career record with each blast, sitting at 26. Her 43 RBIs ranks in a third-place tie in school history, and Morgan Driskell's 33 RBIs is tied for seventh. Randall also hit .465 this year, which is the ninth-best season average in school history.
— — — — —
In August, twins Caelen DeVault and Maddax DeVault of Nodaway Valley were named the 2022 South Central Iowa Male and Female Athletes of the Year.
Caelen, valedictorian of the 2022 Wolverine class, has moved to Warrensburg, Missouri, where he plays football at the University of Central Missouri. The Mules are NCAA Division II.
Caelen, who was also the 2022 Iowa Governor's Scholar, was an IPSWA all-state first team defensive back in 2020 and second team in 2021. His defensive stats his junior and senior season included 150 total tackles (81 solo), four interceptions and one fumble recovery.
Maddax will be taking her athletic and academic talents to Simpson College in Indianola where she will play basketball. She took part in four sports while wearing Wolverine wear, volleyball, basketball, track and softball.
She was a unanimous first team all-Pride of Iowa volleyball player in 2021 and a first team setter in 2020, and she was named a Class 2A first team girl's basketball player by the IPSWA this spring.
In her senior year of track, Maddax won the state title in 100 meter hurdles with a personal record of 14.69 seconds.Finally, this summer, Maddax led the Wolverines' in batting average and hits with a .391 and 25 respectively. She was the salutatorian of Nodaway Valley's class of 2022.
— — — — —
In October, area athletes competed at the Iowa State Cross Country Meet in Fort Dodge.
Nodaway Valley's Doug Berg finished 24th with a time of 17:09.91.
East Union's Jacob Driskell finished 84th with a time of 18:14.88.
Bedford freshman Eli Johnson was the sole competition in the 5K wheelchair race, earning a state championship title with a time of 23:41.08.
Johnson's time was a new personal best, lowering from 25:04 to 23:41.
Driskell's time came just three seconds shy of his 18:11 personal best set Sept. 1 at the Wayne XC Invitational. As a junior, Driskell will have another chance next year to compete at the state meet.
Berg got out to a quick start, finding himself running in the top 20 out of the 154-runner field. His 24th place finish put him in the top 15% of runners.
— — — — —
In November, SWCC runner Chase Oates finished his cross country career at the NJCAA National Championships, hosted on Florida State University's cross country course at Appalachee Regional Park.
Oates finished 109th overall out of 194 finishers with his time of 29:21.2 over the 8K course in the men's Division I race.
The Division I men's race saw seven athletes DNF, as the 80-degree heat and humidity played a major factor in the race. Overall, times were slower across the board in the race from what competitors had been running throughout the season.
Oates came through the first split marker on the course (1,170 meters) in 157th place. At the next marker (2,170 meters), he sat in 158th place. From that point forward, Oates steadily moved up through the field, gaining 49 places by the finish line.
— — — — —
In November, area football teams competed in the state football playoffs in a variety of classes.
The Panthers made it to the Class 3A playoffs in the first postseason appearance for Creston since the 2016 season. The North Polk Comets won the game 52-20 to conclude Creston's overall season record at 6-4.
A key to the playoff qualification was a 4-0 non-district start, including a come-from-behind 40-36 win at Gilbert. Atlantic edged Creston for third place in the district behind Harlan and ADM with a 26-21 win on Creston's senior night. But, Creston gained a postseason berth in the state's RPI rankings as Atlantic finished 5-4 overall in the regular season.
The Lenox Tigers made it all the way to the state semi-finals at the UNI Dome where they fell to state champions Remsen St. Mary's 42-20.
The Tigers proved their toughest battle of the year, as coming into the state semi-final matchup, undefeated Remsen St. Mary's had outscored their opponents 665-62 in their 11 games, averaging more than 60 points per game while allowing an average of less than six points.
The Mount Ayr Raiders beat Ogden in the first round of the playoffs, but fell to Lynnville-Sully 62-33 in the second round.
The Southwest Valley Timberwolves beat Madrid in the first round of playoffs, but fell to AHSTW 35-14 in the second round.
Alumni
In February two former South Central Iowa Athletes of the Year were honored as major contributors to the best women's basketball season in more than a decade at Northwest Missouri State University.
Kelsey Fields of Creston, the 2021 recipient of the South Central Iowa award presented by the Creston News Advertiser and Osceola Sentinel-Tribune, was a 6-2 freshman forward for the Bearcats.
Fields averaged 4.2 points and 5.9 rebounds and is a starter this season for the Bearcats, contributing 7.5 points and a team-high 8.7 rebounds per game.
Redshirt freshman Emma Atwood of Central Decatur, the 2019 South Central Iowa Athlete of the Year, also contributed to Northwest basketball in 2021-22.
Atwood, an explosive athlete who was a three-time all-state basketball player and won a state hurdles championship at CD, has had tough injury luck as a Bearcat. She was redshirted in 2019-20, then started four games in 2020-21 before suffering a season-ending knee injury. She was averaging 10.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game at the time.
Northwest had a 17-12 record, marking the program's highest win total in 11 years.
— — — — —
In March, Simpson College graduate student Jenna Taylor of Creston was recently named to both the D3hoops.com and WBCA All-American basketball teams for the second time in her career.
Taylor was also selected to the 2022 WBCA Women's Collegiate All-Star Team.
On the All-American teams, Taylor was tabbed first team by D3hoops.com and honorable mention by the WBCA.
Along with these honors, Taylor's postseason accolades include CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year, D3hoops.com first team all-region; American Rivers Conference Most Valuable Player, Josten's Trophy finalist, CoSIDA Academic All-District Team and American Rivers Conference All-Academic Team.Taylor was named USBWA National Player of the Week on Jan. 2 and earned four A-R-C Player of the Week honors during the season.
— — — — —
In March, Brielle Baker of Creston was a member of the Iowa Wesleyan women's basketball team that lost to Morningside 94-71 in the first round of the NAIA national tournament on March 11.
Baker, transfer from Southwestern Community College, averaged 9.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists as Iowa Wesleyan ended a 19-6 season.
Baker is a senior starting guard on this year's 9-5 Tiger squad.
— — — — —
In September, two legendary Creston athletes from the early 1960s were recently honored as part of a University of Northern Iowa Hall of Fame basketball team.
The late Ron Jessen, 1961 Creston graduate, and Larry Goodrich from the 1962 Creston class were both part of the 1963-64 UNI men's basketball team inducted into the university's Hall of Fame on Sept. 16. Their induction was also announced as attending team members were introduced at halftime of the home football game the following day.
— — — — —
In November, a celebration of 50 years of high school girls basketball in Creston was held Nov. 15 in the Creston Community High School gym. A scrimmage of the original Iowa girls 6-on-6 basketball game was held between alumni and members of the current Panther squad.
— — — — —
In November, the Creston Wrestling Hall of Fame inducted new members in November. Honored were two-time state champion (1975-76) and former assistant coach Dennis "Smitty" Smith; undefeated state champion (1983) and two-time state semifinalist Roger Baker; and the five Abel brothers, one of the first Creston brother combinations and owners of eight state appearances and five state medals from the mid-1960s through 1979.
Also recognized were the 1962, 1972, 1982, 1992, 2002 and 2012 teams. The 1961-62 team was Creston's first wrestling squad.
— — — — —
In December, Creston alumnus Trevor Downing played his last game as the starting center for the Iowa State Cyclones.
He earned 2nd team All-Big Eight and Academic All-Big Eight honors. He signed with Ascend Athletics agency in preparation for the 2023 NFL Draft.
