By Bob Bakken
MaxPreps.com
Football: Thirty State Playoff Spots Up For Grabs This Weekend
There are 96 playoff tickets to the Iowa high school football post-season dance. Over two-thirds of those ducats have been claimed and the remaining 30 spots will be determined after this weekend's schedule of games.
Among the group of teams already in position to play on after week nine this week are defending state champions Central Lyon/George-Little Rock (Class 2-A), Council Bluffs St. Albert's (Class 1-A), and Blairsburg-Northeast Hamilton (Eight-Man).
Meanwhile, three teams are in the playoffs for the first time ever. They are Grandview Park Baptist of Des Moines, Harris-Lake Park, and Eagle Grove.
Eight-man football playoff action begins on October 30th. Eleven-man action starts on October 31st. Finals in all classes will be in mid-November at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.
Basketball: East Waterloo Court to Be Named After Coaching Legends
East Waterloo athletic director Mike Allen is into naming facilities lately. He wants to place two names on his basketball court at the venerable Fred J. Miller Gymnasium located on Waterloo's east side.
However, Allen is not in need of naming rights money. He's doing it to make sure two legendary coaches are made a more permanent part of Trojan basketball history and lore.
The two coaches are former coach Murray Wier, and the current head of the East High program, Steve McGraw. Their names will be affixed on the basketball court during a special ceremony on December 1st, when Decorah will call on the Trojans for a non-conference contest.
Special ceremonies will dedicate the Wier-McGraw Court and it's expected that plenty of former players will be in attendance to honor the two most successful coaches in East Waterloo basketball history. Fans and former players will be invited to a social event as part of the activities that evening.
During Wier's coaching history at East, from 1953 to 1976, his teams won 372 games and a state championship in 1974.
Five years later, Steve McGraw took over the program and has never let it go since. While several major moments in McGraw's coaching history may have occurred on the soon-to-be-named Wier-McGraw Court, it was the Vets Auditorium floor in Des Moines that became a second home for Trojan basketball teams. In the nearly three decades since he arrived in Waterloo, McGraw's teams have been at Vets for the state tournament 13 times, and have won two state championships (1990 and 2003). In 36 years of coaching, McGraw has led his teams to 553 victories.
Allen told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier that it was a natural to name the floor after the two legends. "We should not - could not - have a Murray Wier floor without having Steve McGraw."
Wier, 80, now lives in Georgetown, Texas and his health won't allow him to attend the festivities on December 1. McGraw will be on the bench that night, leading his team against Decorah.
But, their names are now connected, as their longevity has helped East Waterloo become one of the legendary boys' basketball programs in Iowa. Between them, they have coached East High basketball for 52 of the last 55 years, won over 900 games, and claimed three state titles.
Athletic director Allen says, "I don't know why it took so long."
Wrestling: Go-Hawk Wrestler Commits to Iowa State
Blood was not thicker than water as far where Waverly-Shell Rock wrestler Eric Thompson would go to continue his schooling and wrestling career. Thompson's cousin Tolly is an assistant coach at Northern Iowa, but Eric has announced that he plans to wrestle for Iowa State University, starting with the 2008-09 season.
A Class 3-A state champion at 215 pounds last year, Thompson is the nation's top heavyweight in the Amateur Wrestling News' pre-season rankings. He brings a 132-13 varsity career record into his final prep season at Waverly-Shell Rock this winter.
Go-Hawk coach Rick Caldwell told the Des Moines Register newspaper that Thompson chose Iowa State over Northern Iowa, Iowa, and Tennessee-Chattanooga.
"It was a really tough decision with Tolly at UNI, but I think he feels he fits better in Ames. Part of it is a style thing. He feels it will give him the best opportunity to pursue a national championship."
In the pre-season team rankings from the Amateur Wrestling News, Waverly-Shell Rock is ranked fifth in the country, Iowa City West is ranked eighth, and Gilbertville-Don Bosco is rated 28th.
By the way, Iowa City West handed W-SR all three of its dual meet losses last year and claimed both the traditional and team-dual state titles.
Baseball: Meyer to Swing For Northern Iowa Fences
Cascade High School all-state second baseman Nate Meyer has given a verbal commitment to play next season at Northern Iowa. Meyer is the 11th player from the far eastern Iowa high school to play Division One collegiate baseball. He'll also join Cascade teammate Colin Rea at UNI.
Last summer in his junior campaign, Meyer earned first-team all-state honors while hitting .434 with 13 extra-base hits and 23 RBI's. Cascade used his leadership to a number-three ranking in Class 2-A and came within two tournament wins of making the state tournament in Des Moines.
Cougars coach Pat Weber told the Dubuque Telegraph-Herald newspaper, "He has the speed, the quick hands, the overall quickness and the baseball instincts to make it. But, most of all, he has the drive to make himself better and he's the kind of kid who absolutely hates to lose."
