Freshman 106-pounder Ethan Maldonado works his way toward a pin in recent Warrior wrestling action. Maldonado fought his way to a second-place finish at Saturday’s District Tournament in Denver to advance to the State Wrestling Tournament this weekend. Maldonado will be joined by teammate Logan Schnuelle (152 pounds) on the mats in Des Moines. (Jerry Wadian photo)

South Winn sends two to State Wrestling!

Zakary Kriener

News Writer
zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

South Winneshiek will send a pair of wrestlers to the 2019 State Wrestling Tournament in Des Moines after 106-pounder Ethan Maldonaldo and 152-pounder Logan Schnuelle each placed second at Saturday’s District Tournament at Denver.

“Saturday was a great day of wrestling for us,” commented coach Jacob Elsbernd after the tournament. “All three boys wrestled very well and I couldn’t be more pleased with how they performed. Logan and Ethan both had outstanding opportunities and they took advantage of them.

NFV head bowling coach Leland Ellis (center) is surrounded by All-Conference bowlers. Both Colin Gavin (left) and Brian Roulson earned the distinction Saturday at Maple Lanes in Waterloo. Gavin was named All-Conference for the third consecutive year after placing second overall. Roulson was third overall, giving him All-Conference honors for all four of his years bowling for NFV. (submitted photo)

Gavin, Roulson All-Conference

By Jerry Wadian
jwadian@thefayettecountyunion.com

The NFV bowling team wrapped up the regular season with meets Friday and Saturday. 

Friday was Parents’ Night at Lilac Lanes in West Union as the TigerHawks ended the regular season against Independence.

Saturday was the Conference meet at Maple Lanes in Waterloo.

The conference meet saw NFV crown two All-Conference performers. Colin Gavin rolled his way to second place, earning All-Conference honors for the third time. Brian Roulson finished third to garner All-Conference honors for the fourth consecutive year. 

NFV senior Brooks Hovden misses a shot in the paint against the Osage Green Devils on Monday, Feb. 11, in New Hampton. The TigerHawks struggled offensively in the first half of the first round of the Class 2A District 4 playoffs scoring only nine points on their way to a 67-37 loss.  Chris DeBack photo

Osage stuns TigerHawks, 67-37

By Jerry Wadian
jwadian@thefayettecountyunion.com

By Chris Deback
cdeback@thefayettecountyunion.com

The NFV boys’ basketball season came to an end at the hands of the Osage Green Devils on Monday, Feb. 11, in New Hampton. 

The TigerHawks fell, 67-37, in the first round of the Class 2A District 4 tournament. 

It was all Osage from the very beginning as the Green Devils hit a pair of 3-pointers to open the first quarter. Trey Darnell answered with a 3-pointer of his own to make the game 6-3. However, the Green Devils ended the first quarter on an 11-2 run and were up 34-9 at halftime. 

Alyssa Bohr leaps by an Anamosa defender during the final quarter of Saturday’s Regional basketball opener in West Union. The NFV freshman was able to get open because of great pass from teammate Emma Ney. The TigerHawks went on to win their first-ever Regional game, 42-37, over the Blue Raiders. (Jerry Wadian photo)

NFV girls win first-ever Regional game

By Jerry Wadian
jwadian@thefayettecountyunion.com

All it took was a   line-drive trey and six free throws for the TigerHawk girl’s to win their first Regional basketball game in NFV history. 

The big win propelled the girls into the Class 3A Regional semifinals in Waukon Wednesday, Feb. 13. There, the 11-10 TigerHawks will face ninth-ranked Waukon, currently 16-3, in a 7 p.m. ballgame. “We look forward to the challenge of playing Waukon,” noted head coach Jim Calkins.

Weston Fantz lifts the leg of Cameron Reising into the air before driving the New Hampton/Turkey Valley grappler to the mat during their wrestleback at 160. Fantz went on to get the throw in 1:45.

Tweaks work; Rodgers, Fantz to State

By Jerry Wadian
jwadian@thefayettecountyunion.com

Last week, after Gunner Rodgers and Weston Fantz lost their final matches at Sectional wrestling in Decorah, NFV head coach Jacob Pedersen stated, “There are some things that we can tweak; if the kids listen and remember, we can do some things at Districts.”

  Well, the kids did listen and remember. Saturday in Independence, the TigerHawk duo punched their tickets to the State Wrestling Meet in Des Moines this week by throwing the grapplers they lost to the week before.

South Winn junior Logan Schnuelle sizes up his opponent during Saturday’s Sectional Wrestling Tournament in Monona. Schnuelle was one of three Warriors to take second and advance to this weekend’s District Wrestling Tournament in Denver. (Zakary Kriener photo)

Warriors send 3 to districts

Zakary Kriener

News Writer
zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The South Winneshiek wrestling team competed in the Class 1A Sectional 2 wrestling tournament Saturday at MFL/MarMac High School in Monona.

The Warriors will send three wrestlers on to the next round of postseason action next weekend at Denver, including 106-pounder Ethan Maldonado, 113-pounder Phillip French, and 152-pounder Logan Schnuelle.

South Winn junior Liz Tieskoetter releases a mid-range shot during recent girls’ basketball action in Calmar. Tieskoetter and the Warriors went 1-1 last week, picking up a win over Clayton Ridge on Saturday night. (Zakary Kriener photo)

Warrior girls split UIC matchups

The South Winn girls’ basketball team split a pair of contests last week, picking up a win over Clayton Ridge and suffering a loss to Turkey Valley.

Friday, the Warriors hosted the Turkey Valley Trojans in Calmar, losing 66-52.

Sophomore Collin Wiltgen boxes out an opponent during recent South Winn basketball action. The Warriors dropped a pair of Upper Iowa Conference games last week, giving them a 9-7 record on the season. (Zakary Kriener photo)

SW boys fall in pair of UIC matchups

Zakary Kriener

News Writer
zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The South Winneshiek boys’ basketball team dropped a pair of Upper Iowa Conference contests last week, dropping it to 9-7 on the season.

The Warriors began the week at home on Friday night, hosting cross-county rival Turkey Valley.

NFV sophomore Kole Johnson slices between a pair of Clayton Ridge defenders to put in the left-handed layup during Friday’s 71-39 pounding of the Eagles. (Jerry Wadian photo)

Keglers upset by Cougars

By Jerry Wadian
jwadian@thefayettecountyunion.com

The week before, NFV boys beat Waterloo Columbus, one of the best teams in the state. Friday, the boys were upset in Sumner as the Cougars celebrated Senior Night with a 14-pin victory, 2457-2443.

Brian Roulson had the high game and series for the NFV boys with a 216-190-406. Colin Gavin rolled a 202-185-387 Hunter Kelly had the final 300 series for the TigerHawks with his 190-159-349.

Emma Ney gets the hard foul on this drive against Clayton Ridge, Friday, in West Union. The NFV sophomore hit both free throws as she scored 15 points in the 59-43 win. The next night she had three treys and nine points in the 43-38 win in Elkader. (Jerry Wadian photo)

NFV girls back to .500

The North Fayette Valley girl’s basketball team moved back to the .500 mark at 9-9 with a pair of wins last week. NFV is 8-4 in the UIC.

Friday at home, the TigerHawks soundly defeated Clayton Ridge, 59-43. Saturday in Elkader was closer, but NFV prevailed, 43-38.