By Bob Bakken
MaxPreps.com
Football: Championships Set for Cedar Falls
Pairings are set for the Iowa high school football championships at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls this coming weekend. State champions will be determined in six classes over two days of action, five 11-man classes and eight-man football.
Play begins early Friday morning, when the eight-man title is determined between undefeated Stanton and once-beaten Armstrong-Ringstead. Both are in the finals for the first time.
The Class A finals will follow at 12:30 p.m., when unbeatens Lawton-Bronson and Fairbank-Wapsie Valley square off. A win for Lawton-Bronson would be its first state championship, while Wapsie Valley has won three previous titles, in 1986, 1987, and 1997.
The mid-afternoon championship game takes place at 3:30 p.m., when another matchup of unbeatens will take place between Council Bluffs St. Albert's and Iowa City Regina. St. Albert's will be coming into the game as defending champions, while Regina won the title in 2005.
The first day of action will end Friday night with the 4-A championship game between unbeaten Bettendorf and once-defeated Ankeny at 7:30 p.m. Bettendorf has won six state championships, with the last one coming three years ago. Ankeny is seeking its second title, having claimed the hardware in 1997.
In the second day of the state championships on Saturday, the Class 2-A final will feature defending state champion Central Lyon/George-Little Rock (12-0) against Solon (12-0) at 9:30 a.m. This will be a rematch of last year's championship game won by CL/G-LR over Solon 16-7.
The last state champion to be crowned will be in Class 3-A, where Sioux City Bishop Heelan faces Keokuk. Both teams will bring 11-1 records into the 12:30 p.m. contest. Heelan was a perennial Class 4-A power, but dropped to Class 3-A in recent years as its enrollment numbers fell. This will be the Crusaders' first attempt at a Class 3-A title. Meanwhile, this is Keokuk's first attempt at a state championship.
Volleyball: Western Christian Makes it Seven of Eight
Last weekend, state champions were crowned in Iowa high school volleyball at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids.
In a battle of squads with rich volleyball histories, Hull-Western Christian won its seventh title in the last eight years, besting Dike-New Hartford in the Class 2-A finals 25-22, 20-25, 25-20, and 25-13. It was Western's 11th state title overall and the Wolfpack made history by becoming the first Iowa school to win 50 matches in a single season. H-WC finished the year 50-2.
All-tournament team members in 2-A included captain Brandee Schaap, Jennifer DeStigter, and Kate Buyert of Western Christian, Jenny Willms and Hannah Willms of Dike-New Hartford, and Jana Van Zanten of Pella Christian.
The 1-A championship was won by Fairbank-Wapsie Valley over Holy Trinity Catholic in a five-game thriller. Scores of the games were 27-25, 26-24, 22-25, 10-25, and 15-13 in the deciding game. It was a repeat of last year's championship match, also won by Wapsie Valley, who has now won 36 straight matches.
All-tournament team members were captain Kamille Van Natta and Amber Boevers of Wapsie Valley, Jessica Panther and Emily Fullenkamp of Holy Trinity Catholic, Manning's Bailey Halbur and Murphye Olson of New London.
Sioux City Bishop Heelan claimed a four-game decision over Mount Vernon in the Class 3-A state championship match, 25-20, 20-25, 25-15, and 25-20. It was the third state championship for the Crusaders, who also won the title as a large school 1999.
Members of the Class 3-A all-tournament squad included captain Mindy Moody and Carli Tritz of Heelan, Emily Ryan and Shelby Kintzel of Mount Vernon, Emily Heffernan of West Delaware and Algona's Natalie Hackbarth.
In the Class 4-A finals, Johnston claimed a three-game sweep of Cedar Falls 25-18, 25-20, 25-21. It was the first-ever state championship for the Dragons.
All-tournament team members in 4-A were Johnston's Taylor Knuth and Abby Sonner, Brittany Ridenour of Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln, Caitlin Hagerty and Nina Savage of Cedar Falls, and Hannah Johnson of Ankeny. Savage was named the all-tournament team captain.