DEWITT — With just two minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Anamosa boys basketball team seemed completely out of their class 3A district semi-final contest at Central DeWitt Monday, February 26, trailing the host Sabers by a whopping 17 points.

“We could have easily rolled over the quit right then and there, but that was just never an option for these kids,” said Raider boys basketball coach Kevin Barnes after his team rallied to close to within four points of the Sabers before being handed a season-ending 52-46 loss. “I couldn’t be more proud of a team than I am of this one right now. They have become fighters.”

With their season on life-support trailing 39-22 and with a little over 10 minutes remaining to be played, the Raiders responded and almost completed what would have been a comeback of epic proportions inside a filled to the rafters Central DeWitt gym that was rocking with noise all night long.

Andrew Peters started what eventually would become a huge 22-9 Anamosa run with a long 3-pointer and after a Colten Kelly 3-pointer at the third quarter horn, the Raiders boys had closed to within 39-28 with eight minutes remaining to be played.

Kelly immediately opened the fourth quarter grabbing a perfect alley-oop pass from Tony Lueken and scored the lay-up and all of a sudden, what appeared to be a blowout Central DeWitt triumph, had turned into a nail-biter.

After Kelly connected on another shot with 6:50 remaining in the final frame, Central DeWitt coach George Pickup was forced to call a time-out as the Raiders had reeled off 10 straight points to close to within 39-32.

Saber Brett Mangan swished a pair of free throws for the hosts, scoring their first points in almost six minutes, but Lueken came right back for the Raiders drilling a short jumper at the 4:30 mark of the fourth quarter.

After a Mangan field goal, Peters launched a long 3-pointer that bounced off the back rim but instead of bouncing away, fell straight through the net and with 3:56 left to be played, Anamosa trailed 43-37.

Central DeWitt’s Patrick Gerdes was sent to the free throw line with 3:25 remaining and missed the front end of a 1-and-1 but after the Raiders missed on their opportunities to score, Will Farrell connected on a pair of free throws with 2:29 left stretching the Saber lead back to eight points at 45-37.

DES MOINES— Coming into the class 2A state wrestling meet at Wells Fargo Arena in downtown Des Moines, Anamosa senior Robert Young knew he had his hands full as his side of the 152-pound bracket was loaded with ranked wrestlers.

“I knew the odds were against me but that’s what I’ve been dealing with most of my life,” said Young who became the first Raider wrestler ever to take to the mat in the state’s new venue Wednesday, February 21.

“I was going to have to wrestle better than I ever have before to advance but against the competition I had, even that probably wasn’t going to be good enough. As I look back at it now, I didn’t wrestle as good as I could have, but I am happy just to be here.”

Young, a first-time state wrestling participant, opened his 2007 experience against No. 2 ranked Andrew Sorenson, of Forest City.

DES MOINES— A year ago, Midland’s Spencer Bowen was a novice to what the state wrestling scene was all about.

But after earning a second straight class 1A state berth last week, Bowen’s 2006 experience helped him to an impressive eighth-place showing and Championship Saturday Night awards stand showing this time around after wrestling all four days on the Wells Fargo Arena mats in Des Moines.

“I think Spencer surprised a few people making it all the way to Saturday and placing at the state tournament,” said Midland wrestling coach Erik Wagler of his 125-pound star junior. “It didn’t surprise me, but I think the way Spencer wrestled here kind of put him on the map at the state level.

That’s quite an accomplishment to place at state. I know it was a goal of his at the start of the year and he got it done at the end.”

Bowen opened his 125-pound state wrestling tournament run with a narrow 8-7 decision over Lawton-Bronson’s Josh Benson.

“The first-round match is always big,” said Bowen after the one-point victory advanced him to the class 1A 125-pound quarter-finals Thursday, February 22. “It’s a big relief to get that first one and keep your hopes alive but it wasn’t easy.”

Benson scored a pair of first period takedowns of Bowen but the Midland junior kept things tight with a pair of escapes and a takedown of his own in the first two minutes to knot the score at 4-4.

The second period saw Bronson down and he scored an escape to take a 5-4 lead. Bowen added a takedown later in the period and led 6-5 entering the final period.

“I thought the key to this match was Spencer’s aggressiveness,” said Wagler. “He shot in time and again and at the end when things were really tight with the Benson kid scrambling to score, Spencer kept shooting in on him and that actually made things a lot tougher for the Benson kid to score. Sometimes a good offense is your best defense and Spencer used that perfectly at the end of this match.”

DES MOINES— Proving himself once again to be among the elite wrestlers in the state of Iowa, Midland senior Adam Gudenkauf faced the cream of the crop at the 2007 state wrestling tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, and never backed down from the considerable challenge in a loaded 215-pound class 1A bracket during his two-day stint Wednesday, February 21, and Thursday, February 22.

“I made it through the first day just like I did here a year ago, but that’s where the similarities ended,” said Gudenkauf who faced the No. 6 and No. 2 ranked wrestlers in his three state tournament bouts. “I gave it all I had in all three matches and only one of them went my way. But I guess that’s just the way it goes at state sometimes. Last year and match-ups were a little better for me and I placed. This year things were a little tougher. I wish I could have placed. That was my goal all season long after placing here last year, but I did the best I could.”

Gudenkauf, ranked 10th at 215 pounds, opened his 2007 state experience against No. 6 ranked Jadd Dithmart of Ogden, and in a wild match that saw plenty of scoring, was edged in a narrow 10-9 final Wednesday evening.

“Andrew is just so big and are probably the best defensive team in the league and we just struggled with that size and strength at the end,” said Uthoff. “We got some confidence going early hitting a pair of early 3-pointers, but their guards stepped up and hurt us and their ability to pound the boards getting second and third shots also took its toll too.”

Willimack and Dunne opened the Eagle scoring each hitting 3-pointers in the first quarter that ended with Midland trailing just 13-12. At the half the Hawks held a 29-23 lead and built their advantage to 44-33 after three frames and appeared ready to blow Midland right out of the gym.

“We were down by 15 points in the fourth quarter and made one last push at the end,” said Uthoff. “We closed it to within five points and had the ball but we made a couple of mistakes passing the basketball and Andrew took advantage and closed out the game at the free throw line.”

Willimack hit a huge basket during the Eagle fourth quarter flurry and Dunne had a big steal that also fueled the fire in Eagle fans.

“Things got pretty loud there late in the fourth quarter,” said Uthoff. “It was a great atmosphere and what high school basketball is all about. Our fans were loud and Andrew’s fans were trying to keep their team pumped up too.”

The Hawks were clutch at the charity stripe however sealing the Eagles’ fate in the final seconds of the nine-point triumph.

“We gave them a run for their money,” said Uthoff. “We had our chances and that’s all you can ask for.”

Willimack was phenomenal from the arc once again hitting five treys and scored 22 points to lead the Midland offense. Dunne added three 3-pointers and tallied 14 points overall.

The Eagle boys close the 2006-2007 campaign with an 8-15 record overall.