MOUNT VERNON— Taking just five wrestlers to one of the most competitive tournaments in eastern Iowa, Anamosa wrestling coach Ron Timp came away impressed after his team’s performance at the Mount Vernon Invitational with four of his five wrestlers placing at the event.

“We only took five guys to Mount Vernon and we wound up with first, second, fourth and sixth-place finishes,” said Timp as his team placed ninth overall scoring 57.5 points.
“Even with all of that, we easily could have added a third-place finish in there too instead of the fourth as Mitch Hewitt had to give up a injury default in the third-fourth place match.”

Ryan Dolan claimed the lone championship on the day for the Raider wrestlers winning two impressive matches, including a huge title-winning triumph over a top-10 ranked wrestler.

“Ryan looked good, very, very good at this tournament,” said Timp. “He met a state qualifier and top-10 ranked wrestler in the finals and worked his way to a big win wrestling one of the best matches of his career.”

Dolan topped Louisa-Muscatine’s No. 6 ranked Caleb Bashore in the 119-pound championship bout taking a 4-3 final over the senior who finished seventh at the state meet in Des Moines a year ago and who was a two-time Mount Vernon tournament title winner.

Dolan, making his first-ever appearance in a title bout scored a reversal in the second period after the two wrestlers battled to a scoreless tie after the first two minutes of action.

ANAMOSA— Early on, it appeared the Anamosa boys basketball team was well on their way to a second impressive WaMaC Conference victory Friday, December 7, hosting Beckman.

That was before things got extremely tight at the end of regulation and into overtime in a contest that had Raider fans, who were already on the edge of their seats, eventually jumping out of them after an amazing 68-67 triumph over the Blazers.

“I couldn’t be more proud of a team,” said Anamosa boys basketball coach Kevin Barnes. “We gave up a nice lead, could have won in regulation, gave up an easy look for them to get it into overtime and trailed a lot of the overtime and yet we never gave in.”

Anamosa (3-1, 2-0) led 12-8 after one quarter and 29-24 at the half. The Raiders built their lead to as many as 10 points in the third quarter before settling in for a 45-38 lead entering the final frame.

The Blazers took their first lead since early in the first quarter when Josh Singsank connected for a field goal with 5:01 remaining in the fourth quarter giving the visitors a 47-45 lead.

The game went back-and-forth to the final seconds when Tony Lueken hit a free throw with 16.7 seconds left to give the hosts a 61-59 lead.

Singsank brought Beckman back hitting a game-tying shot as the buzzer sounded forcing overtime.

The Blazers scored first in the overtime when Zach Domeyer hit a free throw, but Kurt Vavricek scored a basket with 3:11 left giving the Raiders a 63-62 lead.

Singsank scored with 2:33 remaining putting Beckman up 64-63 before Michael Maiers hit 1-of-2 free throws giving the visitors a two-point lead.

Colten Kelly knotted the score again at 65-65 hitting a huge field goal with 1:40 remaining. After Domeyer missed two free throws, Singsank connected with 48 seconds left handing Beckman a 67-65 advantage.

“We battled and battled and battled,” said Barnes. “Then we had to battle some more, and in the end, we made just enough plays to win the game.”

With the contest on the line, Kelly rose to the pressure-filled occasion drilling a long 30-foot 3-pointer, just a few steps inside the half-court line and finding nothing but the bottom of the net with a mere 21-seconds remaining.

“There was not a lot of coaching involved there,” said Barnes of Kelly’s late heroics. “It was just a case of a senior who wanted to win.”

DYERSVILLE — On the brink of their first WaMaC Conference triumph at Beckman Friday, December 7, a series of dramatic events had Anamosa girls basketball fans going through a wide range of emotions in a thrilling contest against the Blazers.

“These girls just work and play so hard, it’s just great to watch them play,” said Raider girls basketball coach Jack Leighty as his team had the lead at Beckman with just seconds left on the clock before suffering a heartbreaking 36-35 defeat. “We’ve come so close so many times already this year. We just need to learn how to win right now. We make runs in the fourth quarter to get close but just can’t get over the top and get the win, yet.”

Anamosa (1-4, 0-3) led 35-34 as Lauren Buck scored on a put-back with nine seconds remaining putting the visitors ahead.

After Beckman called a timeout, Rachel Klaren raced up the court in the waning seconds and tripped and fell to the floor, prompting the referee to call Anamosa for a foul with five seconds remaining.

“I thought she just got her feet tangled with Lauren on that play who was playing good defense in that situation,” said Leighty. “With the game on the line, Klaren stepped to the line and hit to very big free throws.”

Klaren nailed the first shot, tying the score, and then after Leighty called a timeout, swished the second charity stripe shot to give the Blazers the lead.

Once again however, the Raiders didn’t quit as with just five seconds left, Maisie Timp threw a long in-bounds pass to Paige Goetz, who was fouled. Anamosa wasn’t yet in the bonus so the Raiders had to in-bounds again as the ball found its way to Jackie Engelbart, who was fouled attempting to put up a shot as time expired.

“I was so impressed with the way all our girls acted in that situation,” said Leighty. “No one panicked. They all kept their heads and gave us a chance to win at the end.”