Kuemper coach leads ranked girls team; Heelan faces Minnesota challenges; Long-standing rivalry ends.
By Bob Bakken
MaxPreps.com
Basketball: Kuemper Coach Inspires from Wheelchair
Good coaches know how to coach their sport and teach life lessons at the same time. Such is the case with the coach of the girls basketball team at Carroll Kuemper, which is ranked ninth in Class 2-A entering this weekend’s action.
Shelley Becker suffered a horse-riding injury 24 years ago that left her paralyzed from the hips down. Still, she continued to raise a family, go back to college, and work toward a goal of teaching and coaching.
Becker, a former high school athlete, is in her third year coaching at the school and has the Knights off to a 14-1 record.
Becker earned her teaching degree at Northwest Missouri State and began teaching speech. But, coaching basketball was another matter. Inspired by a coach from Corning working the sidelines in a wheelchair during one of her son’s basketball games, she told the Des Moines Register newspaper, "I probably watched that coach more in that game than I did my son. I thought maybe I can do this thing that I've always dreamed of doing."
She took a job teaching at Kuemper in 1998 and became an assistant coach for the Knights. Becker became a head coach three years ago and took her first team to the state tournament.
Becker hopes her experiences will inspire others to work through struggles, both on the basketball court and in life.
"You learn from the low times, they make you stronger, and you rejoice in the good times in your life and look forward to more," Becker said.
Basketball: Heelan Challenges Top Minnesota Teams
Sioux City Heelan’s boys’ basketball team will be road-tripping to the Gopher State this weekend, taking on two of Minnesota’s top teams on successive nights.
The Crusaders and head coach Tom Betz make the trip to the Twin Cities to play St. Paul Johnson and Osseo High School. The games this weekend are part of the East Metro Challenge at Johnson. The Governors’ coach is Vernon Simmons, a former player at Morningside College in Sioux City. He’s coached Johnson to a 50-10 record in the last two seasons. They’ll play Friday night at 8 p.m.
Next up will be unbeaten Osseo from the Minneapolis north suburbs, currently ranked second in Minnesota’s large school class and featuring 7-foot, 315-pound senior Zach Peterson and 6-9, 215-pound junior Sam Dower.
The Crusaders are 13-0 and ranked first in Iowa’s Class 3-A. Betz says he’s looking forward to the challenge, telling the Sioux City Journal newspaper, "You've got to gamble a little bit if you're going to get to where you want to go. We're going to see athleticism and pressure that hopefully will prepare us for down the road. But we're going up there to win two games."
Basketball: Manning Ends Rivalry With Victory
A 50-33 victory by Manning over I-K-M has ended a 96-year rivalry between the two schools. After nearly a century of playing against each other, a grade-sharing agreement will form the Manning-I-K-M Wolves and the former opponents will become teammates.
Manning coach Keith Wagner will become the head coach of the new team.
In the contest played on Manning’s floor, Jared Croghan scored 13 points and added 11 rebounds for the home team, which improved to 13-2 and 10-1 in the Boyer Valley Conference.
I-K-M was led by Corey Gaskill and Jarad Gaskill with 11 points each.
The series’ first recorded game was played on Dec. 2, 1911 with an 8-4 win for Manning over Irwin (the I in I-K-M). The game was played outdoors. The first Manning-I-K-M contest came in 1987.
In the series, Manning has bested I-K-M by a 30-18 victory margin.
Wrestling: Sioux City East Wins 400th Dual Meet
East's wrestling team made a historic milestone Thursday night. The Black Raiders defeated cross-town rival Heelan, marking the 400th dual meet victory for the program, which began in 1967 under Ralph Weaver, who coached the team for just one season.
Other coaches of the Black Raiders in the 41 years the program has been in existence have been Dick Wiederhold, Del Hughes, Phil Hamann and Vince Pederson. East has a record of 400-244-8, including an 11-8 mark in duals this season.
Wrestling: Mason City Claims First Conference Title Since 1994
A 40-20 victory over West Des Moines Valley has given Mason City its first CIML Iowa Conference dual meet wrestling title since 1994. The Mohawks improved to 20-3 in dual meets and finished the conference unbeaten in five duals.
Mason City last won a CIML league title when they claimed the National Conference crown 14 years ago.
