TCT sports round-up: Ballard's Noel Boettger wins title at Colfax-Mingo girls wrestling tournament

The Ballard wrestling teams combined to crown four champions over the weekend and the Bomber girls basketball team swept a pair of Raccoon River Conference foes during the week.

The Ballard boys wrestling team produced three individual champions at the Rich Gray Invitational in Truro Saturday. The Bombers won the team championship with 184 points, finishing 19.5 points ahead of I-35 for first among 19 teams.

The Bomber girls put one wrestler on top of the podium and two others place at Colfax in taking 11th out of 17 teams with 71 points. The girls also produced two champions at the Panorama Scramble Jan. 16 in Panora.

The Collins-Maxwell boys wrestling team went 1-3 at the East Marshall/GMG Dual Tournament Saturday in Le Grand. The Spartans defeated Des Moines North-Hoover by a 30-18 score and they fell to East Marshall/GMG (57-12), South Tama County (82-0) and North Polk (72-0).

In area basketball action the Class 4A No. 5 Ballard girls went to 12-2 overall and 6-2 in the Raccoon River Conference with victories over Bondurant-Farrar (64-30) Jan. 17 in Bondurant and Boone (60-23) Friday in Huxley. The Bomber boys saw their losing streak grow to six games with losses to Bondurant-Farrar (67-58) and Boone (56-46) in dropping to 6-7 overall and 6-5 in the RRC.

The Collins-Maxwell girls suffered a 78-49 non-conference loss to Grand View Christian in Ankeny Monday and they defeated Meskwaki Friday in Maxwell, 68-26, to improve to 12-4 overall and 8-1 in the Iowa Star Conference South Division. The Spartan boys also pulled off a sweep, downing Cedar Valley Christian (86-39) Jan. 17 and Meskwaki (73-9) Friday in a pair of decisive routs that put them at 8-7 overall and 6-3 in the ISC South.

Here is what we learned from this week's Tri-County Times area high school sports action.

Ballard boys crown three individual champions at Truro

The Ballard boys wrestling team produced three champions at the Rich Gray Invite.

Brody Sampson, Gabe Christensen and Henry Christensen were the three Bombers to come out on top. Sampson took first at 182 pounds, Gabe Christensen at 195 and Henry at 220.

Sampson, ranked No. 3 at 182 in Class 2A by IAwrestle.com, improved to 36-2 on the season with a 4-0 showing at Truro. He pinned West Central Valley's Jathan Edgington in 1:28, won by tech fall over Albia's Devin Kimball (24-9), pulled off a 17-4 major decision over Southeast Warren's Logan Montgomery and won a 1-0 battle for the championship over No. 8 Jackson Boese of Van Meter.

Gabe Christensen, ranked No. 7 at 195, went 3-0 Saturday to improve his record to 33-1. Christensen received a bye then pinned Knoxville's Ruger Kendall in 1:01 and Treynor's Rafe Gayer in 1:17 to reach the finals, where he defeated No. 12 Jayden Allen-Winston of Chariton by a 9-3 decision.

Henry Christensen, ranked No. 5 at 220, pushed his season record to 31-5 with a 3-0 showing Saturday. Henry received a bye then pinned Pleasantville's Carson Ammons in 1:04 and Kuemper Catholic's Connor Hays in 44 seconds to earn a spot in the title match, where he defeated 1A No. 4 Evan Forman of I-35 by a 6-3 decision.

Tucker Vitzthum (132) and Rhett Hedrick (160) both finished second for Ballard.

Vitzthum pinned Boone's Jackson Warrick in 36 seconds, earned a 14-4 major decision over Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont's Tyler Schutt and pulled off a 6-3 decision over Pleasantville's Caleb Cook. In the finals Vitzthum dropped a 3-1 decision to Riley Parkis of Kuemper Catholic, putting him at 26-16 on the season.

Hedrick pinned Southeast Warren's Jarrett Davidson in 1:30, won a 7-1 decision over Treynor's Zach Robbins and a quick fall in just 17 seconds over Woodward-Granger's Brayden Simons to earn his spot in the finals. Hedrick dropped a close 6-4 decision to I-35's Bode Stanley in the championship match to put his season record at 30-9.

Luke Hartsook took fourth at 170, Daniel Hyman (152) and Alaric Whiteing (285) each placed fifth and Tony Horness (113) and Lane Kahler (145) each placed sixth for Ballard during the tournament. Hartsook was 2-2 with a tech fall and a pin, Hyman was 4-1 with two wins by decision, one by major decision and one by fall, Whiteing went 3-1 with one victory by fall and two by decision, Horness was 1-2 with a win by fall and two byes and Kahler finished 3-2 with two pins and a win by medical forfeit.

Ballard's Noel Boettger wins title at Colfax

Ballard senior Noel Boettger won an individual championship at 130 during the Colfax-Mingo Girls Wrestling Tournament Saturday.

Boettger, ranked seventh at 130, went 3-0 at Colfax to push her season record to 21-2. She received a bye then pinned Racoon River-Northwest's Emma Bektic in 49 seconds and BGM's Kyla Andrew in two minutes flat to reach the finals, where she scored a 7-0 victory over Pella's Jasey Olson.

Ally Baker placed second at 120 and Caleigh Rhiner third at 140 for the Bomber girls.

Baker went to 13-3 on the season after pinning West Des Moines Valley's Justus Buelow in 56 seconds and Colfax-Mingo's Amelia Strickland in 56 seconds, winning by medical forfeit over Chariton's Leah Chandler and then losing the title match by fall to Raccoon River-Northwest's Calista Rodish.

Rhiner went 2-2 to put her season record at 16-3. She pinned Ames' Cecilia Pelzer in 26 seconds, lost by fall to Ankeny's Irisa McCracken and Mid-Prairie's Grace Conway and won the third-place match over Iowa Valley's Grace Schlak by fall in 5:59.

Liberty Boettger also competed at Colfax for Ballard. Liberty moved her season record to 7-12 after going 1-2 at 135 Saturday with a 9-6 victory over Newton's Claire Breuer in the first round.

At the Panorama Scramble Noel Boettger and Baker both finished first, Rhiner third and Liberty Boettger fourth.

Boettger defeated Nevada's Gracie Leslie by a 4-0 decision, scored a fall over Pleasantville's Cassie Milner in just 14 seconds and earned a 17-1 tech fall over West Marshall's Lillian Fischer. Baker pinned Des Moines Public Schools' Avah Blakeman in 1:17, I-35's Cali Payette in 4:13 and Colfax-Mingo's Amelia Strickland in 2:38.

Rhiner lost by fall to Carroll's Kloee Jones, received a first-round consolation bye then pinned Panorama's Georgia Flanery in 1:27 and West Marshall's Elyn Bartine in 1:16. Liberty Boettger received a bye, lost by fall to Nevada's Miah Reichart, won by fall over Panorama's Kaycee Lynch in 1:42 and lost by fall to Carroll's Averi Burke.

Spartan boys earn two wins by fall at Le Grand

The Collins-Maxwell wrestling team picked up two victories by fall during the East Marshall/GMG Dual Tournament Saturday.

The Spartans' Marshall Day pinned Des Moines North-Hoover's Layden Stevens in 3:10 at 195. Collins-Maxwell received forfeit victories by Blake Huntrods (138), Hunter Lee (160), Nathan Smith (126) and Austin Boege (132) in the win over North-Hoover.

Lee gave Collins-Maxwell a win by fall against East Marshall/GMG. He stuck Javin Roberts in 53 seconds.

Boege received a forfeit victory for the Spartans' other points against East Marshall/GMG.

Ballard girls roll past two RRC foes

The Ballard girls basketball team easily disposed of both Bondurant-Farrar and Boone last week.

In the victory over Bondurant-Farrar the Bombers overcame a sluggish first half with a dominant final two quarters. They outscored the Bluejays 42-13 in the second half.

Ballard forced 26 turnovers, held Bondurant-Farrar to 26.5% shooting and posted a 32-24 rebounding advantage. On offense the Bombers made 10 3-pointers and shot 43.9% from the field.

Alliyah Thompson had 18 points, nine rebounds and seven steals for Ballard in the win. Paige Noe added 12 points and four assists, Raegan Loewe had 10 points and three rebounds off the bench, Lily Beall finished with 7 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists, Lily Hillebrand recorded 7 points and five assists and Kylie Calvert tallied 6 points, three rebounds and three assists.

The Bombers took care of Boone thanks in large part to a red-hot shooting night on offense. Ballard shot at a blistering 60.5% clip as a team.

The Bombers also had 17 steals on defense against the Toreadors.

Thompson went for 26 points on 12 of 16 shooting and she also had six steals versus Boone. Noe had 5 points and 10 assists, Hillebrand 9 points and two steals, Alise Van Pelt 6 points and three rebounds and assists apiece, Beall 5 points, four rebounds and two assists, Loewe 4 points, Calvert 3 plus two assists and Kasey Larson 2 points.

Ballard boys still searching for answers

The Ballard boys basketball team is still trying to break out of its funk.

After the Boone loss Bomber head coach Jeff Schertz said there are several little things his team must work on in order to turn the corner.

"We all need to be a little bit better," Schertz said. "We need to play well on every single possession. We can't have flashes where we show up and then don't show up. Our margin of error is not very big. It takes a little bit of something from everyone, starting with the coaches. We've got to keep fighting to give ourselves a chance to win a game."

Ballard was hurt by 19 turnovers in the loss to Boone. The Bombers shot 47.5% from the field, but only made 3 of 8 free throws compared to Boone's 18 of 27 showing at the line.

Leading Bomber scorer Mason Gorsh hit 5 of 10 3-pointers and ended up with 19 points in the loss. Sophomore Miles Mudd had a strong game, finishing with 11 points and eight rebounds.

"Miles does a little bit of everything for us and sometimes a lot of things," Schertz said. "It doesn't always show up in his points, but he really is a smart player. He rotates well and competes on the boards. He's usually making the right plays and he's only a sophomore. He's coming along nicely."

Jude Gibson chipped in 6 points, seven assists and five rebounds.

Ballard put up a great fight against top-ranked and undefeated Bondurant-Farrar Jan. 17.

The Bombers fell behind 37-20 at the half. But instead of letting the Bluejays pull away, Ballard outplayed them over the final two quarters to make things interesting.

Ballard only got to the line 13 times compared to 25 trips for Bondurant-Farrar. The Bombers were 9 of 13 and the Bluejays 19 of 25.

Ballard was also outrebounded, 33-23, but the Bombers did have a 15-12 edge in the turnover battle.

Gibson had 15 points, eight assists and three steals and Austin Shoen 15 points and six rebounds against Bondurant-Farrar. Jackson Brown chipped in 14 points off the bench, Mudd tallied 8 points and three rebounds and Eli Rouse finished with 6 points and seven boards.

Spartan girls rebound from loss with dominant performance

The Collins-Maxwell girls basketball team saw Erica Houge reach 1,000 points for her career in the loss to GVC.

Houge finished with 22 points and seven rebounds against the Thunder. Chloe Wierson added 12 points and seven boards.

The Spartans were hurt by a poor start in the loss. They were outscored 32-10 in the first quarter.

Collins-Maxwell bounced back with an impressive performance against Meskwaki. The Spartans shot 42.2% from the field, held the Warriors to 24.4% shooting, forced 21 turnovers and only committed six.

Houge went off for 36 points, eight rebounds and seven assists against Meskwaki. Wierson added a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds, Emma Pasquariello had 5 points and two assists and Mary Staudt 2 points and six boards.

Collins-Maxwell boys earn two decisive victories

The Collins-Maxwell boys basketball team faced no resistance during two lopsided victories.

The Spartans jumped out to a massive 63-12 halftime lead in their win over Cedar Valley Christian. They had 30 assists on 35 field goals and shot 55.4% from the field in the win.

Luke Huntrods had 18 points and four rebounds, Dane Beattie 16 points, four assists and four steals and Josef Dvorak 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists in the win. Austin Hennick added 14 points, Cooper Wierson 11 points and four assists and Ethan Haus 4 points, seven assists, six rebounds and four steals.

Collins-Maxwell also had a huge first half against Meskwaki. The Spartans outscored the Warriors 49-4 over the first two quarters to put the game away early.

Collins-Maxwell shot 50% from the field and had 23 steals and 17 offensive rebounds against Meskwaki. Luke Huntrods and Dvorak both had 12 points and five rebounds, Beattie 11 points, six boards and four steals, Jace Huntrods 11 points, Haus 5 points, eight rebounds, four steals and three assists and Ian Beattie 5 points, six rebounds and three assists.

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Ballard girls and boys wrestlers combine for four titles during week