Week of Thursday, February 16, 2012
Anamosa’s Bowers, Rundle advance through sectionals to 2A district wrestling tournament
by Daryl Schepanski
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MOUNT VERNON — Becoming one of the very few wrestlers in the history of Anamosa to earn a third trip to the state tournament, Raider senior Jason Bowers punched yet another ticket to Wells Fargo Arena Saturday, February 11, with a runner-up showing at 132-pounds during pressure-filled class 2A district action in Mount Vernon.
Anamosa senior Jason Bowers gets into scramble mode while controlling the leg of Central DeWitt’s Jordan Murray during 132-pound semi-final action from the class 2A district wrestling tournament in Mount Vernon Saturday, February 11. Bowers tallied an impressive 13-1 rout and earned a third-straight state tournament berth taking second overall at the pressure-filled meet. (Journal-Eureka photo by Daryl Schepanski)
“A lot of people feel there can be more pressure here than even at the state meet,” said Raider wrestling coach Dean Miller. “For someone like Jason, who has been here so many times, that’s not the case. He’s handled these situations well before, and he did again wrestling his way back to the state tournament.”
Bowers, ranked sixth in the state, opened with a convincing 13-1 rout over Central DeWitt’s Jordan Murray in the 132-pound semi-final, but was handed a 10-2 setback against Davenport Assumption’s No. 2 ranked Topher Carton in the title tilt.
“Jason was his usual aggressive self against the DeWitt kid,” said Miller. “But against the Assumption kid in the championship, I’m not sure what he was doing. He didn’t wrestle his match and seemed to give in to Carton too many times. I know Jason is more than capable of beating that kid. Maybe he’ll get another shot at him at the state meet?”
Bowers dominated Murray scoring a quick takedown before adding two, two-point nearfalls all in the first period.
“I knew I could beat Murray and wrestled my match,” said Bowers. “Against Carton, I didn’t wrestle well. When he got me on my back, the match just turned. Then I got tired and just ran out of gas at the end.”
Carton scored a first period takedown and led 2-0 after one frame before adding an escape, a three-point nearfall as well as a pair of two-point nearfalls, all in a dominating second period.
“He’s one of the best kids I’ve wrestled this year,” said Bowers. “I should have come out more aggressive and set a tone, but he was the one who did that, and won the match.”
Bowers will hit the mat at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines Thursday, February 16, and open against Dondurant-Farrar’s Alan Perry.
“I think I got a pretty decent draw at state,” said Bowers, who has three state-ranked wrestlers on his half of the bracket, and overall the 132-pound class 2A welcomes eight ranked wrestlers to Des Moines. “I’ve got a pretty simple goal coming in. I want to make it all the way to the finals. I want to take that next step up the podium. I think if I can wrestle to the best of my capabilities, it is possible to make it that far. That’s what I’ll be shooting for anyway, but I will take them one match at a time, like I always do.”
Cole Rundle also had a solid district showing at 138-pounds, coming just one win shy of earning a state bid of his own.
“Cole really impressed me with what he was able to accomplish not only at this meet and sectionals, but all season long,” said Miller. “For a kid in his first varsity season, and only third year of actual wrestling experience, he had a great run.”
Rundle opened his district journey with a 3:36 pin loss at the hands of Davenport Assumption’s No. 5 ranked Eric Clarke.
The senior rallied to pin Northeast’s Blake Tebbe in the 138-pound consolation round in 4:28, and earned a wrestle-back bid and chance for a state berth.
“That’s all I could ask for was a chance,” said Rundle, who was handed a 20-second pin setback against Wilton’s Kadmiel Smith, who advanced to Des Moines with the win. “I know a lot of people didn’t expect me to make it this far, myself included. But it has been a great ride this season. I felt like I was wrestling my best at the end of the year, and just happened to wrestle the right guys at sectionals to make it to this point. My only regret is I didn’t go out for wrestling sooner. It’s been a lot of fun, and I wish I had another year or two to see if I could make it to the state level.”
Anamosa boys send seniors out winners
by Daryl Schepanski
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ANAMOSA — It was exactly the kind of ending Anamosa boys basketball coach Kevin Barnes had envisioned for seniors Aaron Krapfl, Jacob Maruga and Tyler Crofoot Friday, February 10, as the Raiders hosted Waterloo Columbus in the last home game of the season, and of the careers of the three hoop stars.
Anamosa junior Josh Schulte slices between the Waterloo Columbus defense and scores a second half lay-up as the Raider boys rolled to a 52-41 triumph hosting the Sailors on Senior Night Friday, February 10. (Journal-Eureka photo by Daryl Schepanski)
“I have done this for a lot of years now, and for me personally, there is nothing more gratifying than getting to take your seniors off the floor on their final home game in front of a great crowd, to a standing ovation and win,” said Barnes, as Krapfl, Crofoot and Maruga were all key players in an impressive 52-41 triumph over the Sailors. “The only thing more gratifying is that all three seniors played major roles in our effort.”
Krapfl, Crofoot and Maruga all started, along with juniors Spencer Barnes and Josh Schulte, and helped the Raiders (7-13, 4-12) race to a huge 20-9 first quarter advantage, and never looked back in taking the 11-point triumph.
“Jacob was really good defensively and had an assist and four huge rebounds,” said Barnes. “Tyler hot some big jumpers and was also very active defensively leading the team in deflections. Aaron, man, he just keeps getting better and better. It has been so much fun to watch him gain confidence as the season has progressed. He is playing at a very high level for us right now.”
Waterloo Columbus made a run at the Raiders in the second quarter, closing to within four points after Anamosa had stretched the lead to as many as 14 points.
The Sailors held the Raiders without a point for more than five minutes in the stretch, but even with the long drought, which ended with a pair of Barnes free throws, the hosts still led 27-21 at the half.
The third quarter saw the hosts take control once again going on a 12-4 run to lead 39-25 entering the final frame.
“I couldn’t be happier for these three kids,” said Barnes, who called a timeout to allow the crowd to acknowledge Krapfl, Crofoot and Maruga with a standing ovation as the three came out of the game late in the fourth quarter. “They deserve a night like this.”
The Anamosa boys extended their lead to as much as 19 points in the fourth quarter going on a 10-2 run to start the frame before the Sailors closed with an 11-3 run at the end.
Krapfl was sensational, scoring 12 points while also adding team-best numbers with seven rebounds and five assists. He also chipped in with two steals completing a stellar all-around effort.
Barnes finished with 11 points as Anamosa’s 14-for-16 effort from the free throw line finished off the Sailors.
“I thought we played hard, but we did have a couple of spells where we didn’t shoot it very well,” said Barnes, as his team ripped the nets at a 47-percent clip overall and were 4-of-9 from 3-point range. “We need to continue to work on that.”
The Raiders traveled to Solon Tuesday, February 7, and dropped a 55-42 final against a talented Spartan squad.
“Tough night for us,” said Barnes. “We just didn’t shoot it well. We defended pretty well and took care of the ball for the most part, but this was a simple case of us not shooting it well and them shooting it very well.”
Anamosa hung tough early battling to a 9-9 tie at the first quarter horn, but a 15-5 Solon run in the second stanza put the hosts up 24-14 at the half.
“Solon did about as good a job as anyone has all season of denying Spencer the basketball,” said Barnes. “They picked him up at half court and just weren’t going to let him catch it. Aaron really stepped up in the first quarter. Then Solon did the same thing to him they were doing to Spencer.”
The Raiders kept within striking range the rest of the contest, but could make no serious run in the 13-point defeat.
Barnes finished with 14 points to lead the visitors. Anamosa shot just 36-percent as a team and were 3-of-17 from 3-point range.
“We made a little run at them in the third quarter,” said Barnes. “But Solon was just having one of those nights where they made their shots.”
Robbie Takes came off the bench and played well scoring eight points to go with six rebounds while Krapfl and Michael Maruga finished with eight points each.
Frustrating hoop finish for Anamosa girls
by Daryl Schepanski
ANAMOSA — Led by a sparkling performance from Nicole Sanborn, the Anamosa girls basketball team was right on target for their goal of winning the 2011-2012 season-finale hosting Clear Creek-Amana Thursday, February 9, and for senior Abi Tuetken. “Everyone was excited for senior night, and the girls were playing like they really wanted for Abi to go out with a win that she so deserves,” said Raider girls basketball coach Jack Leighty, as his team saw a double-digit fourth quarter lead evaporate dropping a frustrating 60-56 final. “Nicole was playing a great game, and then early in the fourth quarter she went down with a knee injury, and everything changed from there on out.”
