By Bob Bakken
MaxPreps.com
Wrestling: Nation's Best to Grapple In Iowa
Iowa City West High School will be hosting a battle between the nation’s top high school senior wrestlers this month.
The 12th annual Dream Team Classic, matching the nation’s top prep grapplers against Iowa counterparts, will be held April 12. The meet will have 13 of the 14 top-ranked seniors in the nation. Ten will be on the national team and the remaining three will be on the Iowa squad.
The Dream Team Classic concept pits all-stars from across the country against standouts from a selected state. This is the fifth time the Classic has been held in Iowa. The Hawkeye State wrestlers have never beaten the national Dream Team, but the Iowans gave them one of their best tests in 2001 when they lost 39-21.
The Iowa team will consist of wrestlers who have won a total of 23 individual state championships, including 13 2008 champions.
Top-ranked wrestlers Andrew Long of Creston/Orient-Macksburg (119 pounds), Nate Moore of Iowa City West (125), and Eric Thompson of Waverly-Shell Rock (heavyweight) are among those filling out the Iowa roster. Only one of the Dream Team members will not be either a No. 1 or No. 2 wrestler in their weight division nationally.
Girls Basketball: Poppens Heads to Iowa State
Iowa State has received the verbal commitment from Aplington-Parkersburg standout Chelsea Poppens. She chose to stay home and play in-state, instead of going to Wisconsin, which was also high on her list of schools to play for.
The 6-foot-2 Poppens averaged nearly 15 points per game for the Falcons this past season and added 12.5 rebounds a contest, earning Iowa Newspaper Association second-team all-state honors.
"My family and friends can come and watch me anytime, and that was a major key," Poppens told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.
Poppens will also be reunited with AAU teammate Amanda Zimmerman of Ballard, who has also committed to Iowa State.
Basketball: West Named Southwest Iowa’s Top Player
This year’s statewide leading scorer has been named the top player in southwest Iowa.
Orient-Macksburg’s Michael West averaged nearly 31 points per game and 10.6 rebounds a contest for the Bulldogs of head coach Steve Tussey. His 740 points accounted for over 50 percent of his team’s scoring output. The total was the most number of points scored by any player in the state, regardless of classification. It was the ninth highest total of points scored by an Iowa prepster ever.
West led the Bulldogs to a 19-5 mark this season, losing in the district finals to Bedford, who went on the state tournament.
The Bulldogs’ sensation hit for 49 points in a 78-73 loss to Adair-Casey last December and scored more than 40 points on three other occasions.
"Everything I threw up was going in. I didn't even know I had 49 until (Tussey) told me after the game. It was amazing to me. I was kind of shocked," West told the Council Bluffs Nonpareil.
The Southwest Iowa Player of the Year is named by the Council Bluffs newspaper.
West is still undecided on a college, but Central College in Pella is high on his list of possibilities.
Basketball: Lyons to Coach Denison Boys’ Program
The girls basketball coach in Denison will become the new coach of the boys’ program at the western Iowa school.
Pending school board approval, Don Lyons will leave the Monarch girls’ program after 20 years on that bench, to coach the Monarch boys’ team next season. Lyons will also continue coaching the school’s baseball team.
"This is a great opportunity. Maybe it's my last hurrah. Maybe it's my dream, after 24 years, to be a boys’ basketball coach," Lyons told the Omaha World-Herald.
Scot Aden resigned last month after five seasons and a 33-55 record. Denison has not earned a bid to the state basketball tournament in over 20 years.
In 20 years in Denison with the girls’ team, Lyons has posted a 322-121 record, taking seven teams to the state tournament. His 1998 squad finished second in the Class 4-A state event.
