|
| 
The
Official Newspaper of Anamosa, located in Jones County, Iowa
Anamosa News
Since 1855
 Thursday, March 27, 2008 |
Fay earns all-American status
By
Daryl Schepanski - Sports Editor |
ST. LOUIS, MO — Feeling so comfortable like he was wrestling back at Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines during his high school days, University of Northern Iowa junior Moza Fay turned comfort into confidence rolling through a memorable three-day Division-I National wrestling tournament.
“Having had a year of experience wrestling at this level really helped me this time around,” said the former Anamosa High School two-time state champion and all-time wins leader as he marched through the 165-pound bracket at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. “Coming into the tournament, I wanted to be an all-American and win a National Championship. I was at least able to accomplish one of my goals this time around.”
Fay, who missed earning all-American status a year ago by a mere match as a sophomore, attained the high honor Friday, March 21, when he defeated Arizona State senior Patrick Pitsch 8-2 in a fifth-round consolation round bout.
“This was probably the most nerve-racking match of my life,” said Fay knowing a win would secure all-American status and a loss would send him home one match short once again. “I stuck to my game plan and worked a few takedowns. Once it was over I celebrated a bit. I just couldn’t help it.”
|
Anamosa’s all-American wrestler
Former Anamosa High School superstar Moza Fay, here wrestling Iowa State’s Jon Reader earlier this season in Cedar Falls, competed at the NCAA Division-I National Wrestling Championships Thursday, March 20, through Saturday, March 22, in St. Louis, Missouri. Fay, a University of Northern Iowa junior, finished fifth in the nation at 165-pounds while also securing all-American status for the Panthers’ wrestling team becoming the first UNI wrestler in two years to capture the honor. (Journal-Eureka photo by Daryl Schepanski) |
Fay did a fist-pump and pointed to the sky as one of his life-long dreams had been amazingly accomplished in front of a sellout Scottrade Center crowd.
“This is just an incredible feeling,” he said. “I can’t really put it into words. Being an all-American is something I’ve worked so hard for so long for this and to finally actually have it happen is incredible. It was well worth the wait and all the work.”
Fay, ranked sixth in the nation and seeded eighth in the tournament, scored a first period takedown against Pitsch then added another in the second to take a 4-0 lead. After a reversal early in the third period, Fay was in control leading 6-0 with a huge edge in riding time rolling to the six-point rout of the 14th-ranked wrestler in America.
The win advanced Fay to the sixth-round consolation Friday night where he pinned Nebraska’s fifth-seeded and fifth-ranked Stephen Dwyer at the 2:41 mark of the first period.
“This was my favorite match of the tournament,” said Fay. “It’s pretty motivating to pin the No. 5 seed. I felt relaxed coming in and took control early on and never let up.”
The win advanced the former Raider to the final day of the tournament Saturday, March 22, where he opened against Missouri’s No. 3 ranked and seeded Nick Marable.
“I had beaten Marable twice last year,” said Fay who was handed a 7-4 defeat. “I didn’t feel he was the better wrestler, but he was the smarter one this time around.”
Fay scored four escapes in the match as Marable tallied three key takedowns to win.
The defeat placed Fay in the 165-pound fifth-place bout against 11th-ranked and 10th-seeded Mike Cannon, of American, and in a dominating season-ending performance, Fay rolled to a 13-6 rout.
“Cannon is a tough kid,” said Fay who scored an escape, takedown and two-point nearfall all in the first period. “He had beaten up Jon Reader (Iowa State) the day before so I knew I was going to have to be ready, and I was.”
Fay added an escape and a reversal in the second period before closing out the match with a takedown, two-point nearfall and a riding time point in the third.
“When Moza won, my thoughts went directly to Nick Baima and to all the hard work he put in and didn’t make all-American,” said UNI wrestling coach Brad Penrith of Fay’s former roomate who graduated a year ago. “Besides being proud of Moza and how good a guy he is, I got overwhelmed and had tears in my eyes.”
Fay opened the NCAA National wrestling championships Thursday, March 20, against Virginia Tech’s Matt Epperly and in dominating fashion rolled to a convincing 9-0 shutout.
“It felt good just to get out there and get that first one out of the way,” said Fay who was the long Panther wrestler to advance in the championship bracket. “I was focused and didn’t look ahead. Things went just as planned.”
Leading 2-0 in the second period, Fay landed a takedown and a two-point nearfall to take a 6-0 lead into the final period.
In the second-round Thursday evening, Fay battled No. 9 ranked an seeded Trevor Stewart of Central Michigan and posted a huge 5:53 pin triumph.
“I almost pinned him in the first period and couldn’t quite finish,” said Fay. “In the second period, I got him on his back again and this time finished the job.”
Fay started the scoring with a reversal in the opening three-minute period but Stewart answered with a reversal to knot the score at 2-2. The Panther junior came back with a reversal of his own to lead 4-2 and added a three-point nearfall before the period ended.
“That match was a big confidence booster too,” said Fay. “I felt like I was wrestling my best right when I needed it.”
The win advanced Fay to a huge bout against No. 1 seed and No. 1 ranked Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan.
“When I wrestled Tannenbaum at the National Duals earlier this year, I wasn’t feeling too well so coming into this match I was sort of looking at it like the first time I was wrestling him,” said Fay who gave the top-ranked wrestler all he could handle in the 165-pound quarter-final match before succumbing to a 7-4 defeat. “I thought I wrestled hard, but he wrestled the match the way he wanted it to be, and that made the difference in the end.”
Fay managed three escapes and a penalty point while Tannenbaum advanced to the semi-finals scoring takedowns in the first, second and third periods while also adding a riding time point.
Tannenbaum went on to finish second in the nation being handed a defeat against Iowa’s Mark Perry in the championship match.
“I’m an all-American, now I want that National Championship,” said Fay who is considering working towards qualifying for the Olympics over the next few weeks and months. “I’m still not sure if taking part at the U.S. Open (first Olympic qualifying tournament) is something I’m going to do. I’ve got a banged up knee that might need some rest. We’ll just have to see what plays out as far as the Olympics go.”
With Fay leading the way, UNI placed 20th in the nation as a team scoring 27 points at the tournament. |
Olin boys close season strong
By
Daryl Schepanski - Sports Editor |
OLIN — For much of the 2007-2008 campaign, the Olin boys basketball team struggled putting the complete game together.
“Sometimes we’d shoot the ball well but we wouldn’t rebound or play good defense,” said Lion boys basketball coach Kahm Sauer after guiding his team through a 3-20 winter that also included an 0-11 mark in Big East Conference play. “Then other times we’d rebound, but struggled scoring. It always seemed to be something that would keep us from getting that big win. Then at the end of the season we finally started to string some nice games together and got a few wins.”
The Olin boys closed the season strong winning three of their final six contests after opening the winter with 17 straight losses.
“Some of those 17 were blowout losses where we really didn’t have a chance to win in the fourth quarter,” said Sauer. “But in quite a few of those we were right there all the way to the end but just couldn’t make the big play or big shot to be able to win.”
The Lions suffered narrow heartbreaking losses against Calamus-Wheatland (60-51 and 60-57), Bellevue (57-54), Central City (57-53) and Midland (58-57), but each proved to be a building block for the future.
“That Midland game was one of our better games of the year and really got us going for our year-end run,” said Sauer as his Lions battled back from 20 points down to take a late fourth quarter lead. “I really wish we could have found a way to have hung onto that one. The kids worked so hard coming back from so far behind. They deserved the win, it just didn’t work out for us.”
|
Sensational senior
Olin’s Dan Inglis was sensational for the Lions during the 2007-2008 campaign leading the team averaging 15.7 points and 13.5 rebounds per game. (Journal-Eureka photo by Daryl Schepanski) |
What did work out for Olin were big wins over Rivermont Collegiate (75-32) and Scattergood Friends (50-33) on back-to-back nights to give the Lions their lone winning streak of the campaign.
“Those were two teams we were better than and played like it,” said Sauer. “It was finally our time and we finished on both occasions.”
While the Lions were handed a pair of lopsided losses to end the regular season, another date with Rivermont Collegiate in a class 1A first-round contest gave the team another chance to shine while also continuing their season.
“We took care of business against Rivermont and wanted to surprise everyone and give Preston a game in the district quarter-final,” said Sauer. “We played them tough for a half too, then in the second half just couldn’t get anything to fall for us while everything fell for them.”
After a season that saw a 1-20 record in 2006-2007, a three-win campaign is another step in the right direction according to Sauer.
“There’s still a lot of things we need to improve on, but I do think we can be even better next year,” he said. “We loses quite a few talented players we’ll have to somehow replace, but I’m confident in the group we have coming back.”
Sauer lose the services of seniors Dan Inglis, Kevin Kistler and Zach Brecht, three of his top four scorers and rebounders.
Inglis turned in a sensational season topping the Lions scoring 15.7 points per game to go with a whopping 13.5 rebounds a game while shooting a solid 47-percent from the floor.
|
Instant energy
Olin’s Kevin Kistler was an instant spark for the Lion offense this past season averaging 10.0 points per game. (Journal-Eureka photo by Daryl Schepanski) |
“Dan was our double-double guy all year,” said Sauer. “We always knew what we were going to get from him and he always delivered”
Kistler scored 10.0 points per game and was always instant energy on the floor.
“When he wanted to, he could score against just about anybody,” said Sauer. “He’s a very smart player who knew when to attack the basket or when to sit back and hit the outside shot, which he could also do.”
Brecht scored 5.1 points a game and was among Olin’s leaders in rebounding, assists and steals offensively, but on the other end of the floor was a harassing defender who never back down from a challenge.
“Zach played his role on this team to perfection,” said Sauer. “Defense was his thing and he took great pride in guarding the other team’s top player.”
While the Olin program loses the three talented seniors, it does return Jordan Cress, Mason Smith, Josh Heinsius, Nathan Sawyer, Logan Hansen, Josh Rouse and Travis McAtee as players who saw considerable time on the floor this past season.
“We need to find a post presence, but I feel we can be a good perimeter shooting team next year,” said Sauer. “These kids coming back like to run and that’s something we’ll do a lot of next year being a bit on the smaller side size-wise. We’ll need consistent shooters and that was something we struggled with this year, but with a year under their belt, I’m confident these guys will come back even better basketball players next year and take us up another level.” |
End of an amazing basketball era
By
Daryl Schepanski - Sports Editor |
ANAMOSA — Over the last three years, Anamosa varsity boys basketball fans have been treated to some of the most amazing hoop talent the school has ever seen in the long and rich history of the sport.
Raider seniors Colten Kelly and Tony Lueken walked off the floor in Mount Vernon as Anamosa High School basketball players for the final time February 19, and with them, closed the books on an era of hoops that will be looked back upon as some of the most exciting, heartbreaking, thrilling and mind-boggling ever.
“It was a great ride while it lasted,” said Anamosa boys basketball coach Kevin Barnes, who himself ended another era at the school resigning after 13 successful seasons on the Raider bench. “Colten and Tony have been three-year starters at the varsity level and have been two of the best guards this school has ever seen. I know they’ve been two of the best I’ve ever coached. I couldn’t have asked for anything more out of them than what they gave me and the team every single night. Basketball played at its highest level.”
Only one other player in the history of Anamosa High School boys basketball has eclipsed the career point total achieved by Kelly over the last three years, and the superstar guard also became the first Raider ever named first-team all-state after the Iowa Newspaper Association honored Kelly with the huge distinction in class 3A recently.
Kelly’s graduation marks the end for the once in a generation type talent in Anamosa who excelled at everything from basketball, to football, golf and track.
|
Once in a generation type talent
Anamosa senior Colten Kelly makes a move around an Independence defender on his way to the basket last winter. Kelly, a first-team all-state selection, leaves the Raider boys basketball program as arguably the school’s all-time top player. (Journal-Eureka photo by Daryl Schepanski) |
He earned all-state honors in all four sports during his unbelievable athletic career, which isn’t over yet as he plans to defend his class 3A state high jump championship in track this spring as well as lead the golf team back to state as the Raiders’ No. 1 scorer.
Not only does the Anamosa boys basketball program lose the services of Kelly and Lueken as premier three-year players, but also starting seniors Skyler Miell and Josh English along with reserve role player Josh Hora.
“This senior class was a big part of the success we had on the court this year,” said Barnes. “But I do not believe the cupboard is bare here though. The Anamosa boys basketball program has some talented kid returning and some more coming up through the system. Things might look a little different next year, but that’s something a lot of other teams in the league will be experiencing as well.”
Kelly leaves the Raider boys basketball program as arguably the school’s top all-time player after a season that not only saw him score 20.7 points per game shooting 48-percent from the field and 79-percent from the free throw line, but also lead Anamosa in rebounding (7.6 per game), assists (3.52) steals (1.81) and just about every other statistical category possible.
“What can you say about Colten that hasn’t already been said, written about or you couldn’t see with your own eyes,” said Barnes of his first-team class 3A all-state star who also became just the second player in school history to top the 1,000 career point plateau doing so in a memorable 32-point winning performance at state-ranked and WaMaC leading Marion. “He’s an amazing talent, and that had very little to do with our coaching and had a lot to do with the incredible abilities he was blessed with. He could do it all and just did it all so well it almost looked effortless most of the time.”
Kelly also becomes the first Raider boys basketball player named to an all-state first team and continues to mull his collegiate options, which are several including North Dakota State and the University of Northern Iowa as front-runners for his services at the Division-I college basketball level.
“Colten will have a very big decision to make here in a few weeks regarding his future in basketball,” said Barnes. “Whatever team is lucky enough to get his services is getting one great basketball player.”
Anamosa also loses Kelly’s backcourt teammate in Lueken who scored 10.5 points per game while also dishing out 2.86 assists and swiping 1.29 steals a night.
“Tony has worked so hard on his game and has become so strong, he just never backed down from any challenge that faced him,” said Barnes. “He was so adept running the point and getting his teammates involved, but he could also create on his own and get a good look at the basket by driving the lane or shooting a 3-pointer.”
Lueken tied with Kelly as the team’s top 3-point shooters each drilling 32-percent from beyond the arc.
“When Tony went down with that ankle injury in the district game at Mount Vernon, I knew we were in trouble,” said Barnes. “Tony is so important to the success of this team and you could just see us struggle on the floor without him. Like Colten, he’ll be sorely missed next year.”
Miell leaves the program after averaging 6.8 points per game while also drilling 30-percent of his 3-pointers (14-of-46).
“Skyler did a nice job of adapting to the role we needed out of him this year,” said Barnes. “He’s another kid with a lot of ability to shoot the basketball from the perimeter or take it to the hoop. His versatility will also be missed.”
English closed out a stellar senior campaign that made fans (and coaches) want more and wonder what could have been for the Raider big man who scored 3.5 points per game but also ripped away 5.0 rebounds while playing inspired defense every night.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen at any level and at any school a player who hadn’t been out for basketball the year before make an impact like Josh did for us this year,” said Barnes. “Normally it takes too much time for them to learn the system to make an impact at the varsity level, but with Josh, it was different. We wouldn’t have had the success we had this year without him. I just wish we could have had him all four years but I’m glad we at least got him for the one we did at the high school level.”
Hora played in seven games and scored six points in a role capacity.
“Josh was great in practice and stuck it out all four years,” said Barnes. “While he didn’t get to see a whole lot of the floor at the varsity level, it says a lot about him coming back and working hard and never complaining, just knowing his role on this team.”
While Anamosa loses their five seniors and head coach next winter, they do return Kurt Vavricek, Jason Breon, Richie Dirks, Lenny Rhomberg and Nic Jansen as players who saw considerable time on the floor this past season.
Vavricek, just a sophomore, finished second on the team pulling down 5.4 rebounds a game and also scored 5.4 points on the offensive end. Dirks adds power and a strong defensive presence while Jansen’s hustle and will to battle with post players will prove valuable.
Breon leads the backcourt returnees and will run the point next season after finishing third on the team with 21 assists this past winter. Rhomberg is a quality deep threat who is also adept to passing the basketball.
The Raider boys finished 9-12 overall and were 8-8 in the WaMaC finishing in a tie for 6th overall in the league and were tied for second in the East Division with a 5-5 mark.
Marion claimed the overall WaMaC team title posting a 14-1 record followed by West Delaware (13-3), Waterloo Columbus (11-4), Central DeWitt (9-7), Beckman (9-7), Anamosa (8-8), Maquoketa (8-8), Benton Community (5-10), Independence (5-11), Western Dubuque (5-11), Center Point-Urbana (4-11) and Vinton-Shellsburg (3-12).
West Delaware claimed the WaMaC’s East Division crown tallying an 8-2 mark against division foes followed by the Raiders (5-5), Central DeWitt (5-5), Beckman (5-5), Maquoketa (4-6) and Western Dubuque (3-7).
“We accomplished some nice things this year,” said Barnes of his team. “In 18 of our 21 games we were within three points with a minute to play. This group always competed. We had some big wins over some good teams, but most of all, this was probably the most enjoyable group of kids I’ve ever worked with. This was a season I will never forget.” |
PO
Box 108, 208 W. Main Street, Anamosa, IA 52205
319-462-3511,
FAX 319-462-4540
Copyright
Anamosa Publications
Anamosa Journal-Eureka / Town Crier 2005-2008
Thede Web
Works - Website
Questions
|