North Fayette Valley will be represented as (l-r) Braelyn Meyer and Ava Bilden both advanced to Friday’s State Cross Country Meet in Fort Dodge. The Class 2A girls’ race is slated to begin at 2 p.m. (submitted photo)

Meyer and Bilden headed to State XC

By Zakary Kriener

zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

North Fayette Valley’s Braelyn Meyer and Ava Bilden are headed to the State Cross Country Meet on Friday! The TigerHawk girls’ and boys’ teams were both in action Thursday afternoon in Oelwein as they competed at their State Qualifier Meet.

The NFV girls were led by sophomore Braelyn Meyer who finished 10^th with a time of 20:38.37 and junior Ava Bilden who finished 14^th in a time of 20:42.51.

TigerHawk senior Nick Koch hurdles a tackler on the second half kickoff on Friday night in Cresco. The drive would end with a North Fayette Valley touchdown and Koch would go on to 61 receiving yards, 20 rushing yards, a team-high six tackles, and a big interception to shut down a potential Crestwood scoring attempt at the end of the first half. (Zakary Kriener photo)

NFV takes Crestwood to the wire in playoff opener

By Zakary Kriener

zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The TigerHawks left it all on the field Friday night as they opened up postseason play with a road matchup against Crestwood, but they came up just short. With a chance to even the score in the final seconds, the Cadets prevailed with an interception to put an end to NFV’s season with a 28-20 final.

“I’m proud of each and every one of you. You faced adversity all season long and all game long, and never gave up,” said coach Justin Heins as he addressed his team in the postgame huddle. “You have nothing to hang your heads about.”

Warriors close out season with tough oss to #7 Bucs

By Zakary Kriener

zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The Warrior football team closed out its 2022 season with a 69-13 loss to No. 7-ranked and district champion East Buchanan on Friday night.

“This was a tough way to end the season,” said coach Jason Ohrt. “The entire coaching staff is very proud of our kids for hanging in there, despite all the injuries to their teammates.”

A total of eight South Winn runners, including all seven varsity girls, earned All-UIC honors at the 2022 Upper Iowa Conference Championship Meet in Luana, including (l-r) Megan Hageman, Karissa Wenthold, Billie Wagner, Josie Tieskoetter, Ella Willey, Anna Dietzenbach, Maddi Jansen, and Hunter Wagner (being held). (Zakary Kriener photo)

All 7SW girls and Wagner earn All-UIC honors

By Zakary Kriener

zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The Warrior cross country teams were in action Thursday as they competed at the Upper Iowa Conference Championship Meet at Tri-City Golf Club in Luana. The Class 1A No. 3-ranked South Winn girls scored 32 points and claimed the top spot, while the boys scored 77 to take fifth.

In the girls’ race, all seven runners in the varsity lineup earned All-UIC honors (top 15), including champion Billie Wagner who crossed the finish line in 20:24.9 – 22 seconds ahead of the runner-up.

South Winn senior Gabby Becker puts over one of her three kills in Monday night’s victory over Postville as the Warriors advanced to the second round of their Regional tournament. (Zakary Kriener photo)

Warriors shut out Pirates in Regional opener

By Zakary Kriener

zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The South Winneshiek volleyball team took care of business Monday night in Calmar, getting a Regional opener win over Postville. 

“It’s always an accomplishment to get a home playoff match, and it was fun for our players to get one last night with the home court advantage,” said coach Alex Smith, who’s team beat the Pirates for the eighth straight time. “I thought we connected well offensively and our serving was up from where it had been in our previous match.”

TigerHawk senior Reagan Wymer had five kills in a tough, 3-2, loss to Clayton Ridge on Thursday night. (Zakary Kriener photo)

TigerHawks fall to high-powered Osage squad

By Zakary Kriener

zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The NFV volleyball saw its season come to an end on Monday night as the TigerHawks fell to No. 7-ranked Osage, 3-0 in their Regional quarterfinal matchup.

West Central’s Abby Squires gets low to return a serve during recent Blue Devil volleyball action. In last week’s 3-2 loss to Turkey Valley, Squires led the team with 10 kills, two aces, and four blocks. (Zakary Kriener photo)

WC finishes 4-4 in UIC play with loss to Trojans

By Zakary Kriener

zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The West Central volleyball team dropped its final match of the 2022 regular season on Tuesday night, Oct. 11, as Turkey Valley defeated the Blue Devils, 3-2.

Blue Devils fall to district champion TV  in finale

By Zakary Kriener

zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

West Central closed out its 2022 season with a 73-32 loss to district champion Turkey Valley on Friday night. The loss drops the Blue Devils’ record to 4-5 on the season.

Ava Bilden battles for position as she approaches the finish line at the Upper Iowa Conference Championship Meet last week at Tri-City Golf Club in Luana. Bilden finished fifth with a time of 21:47.0 to earn all-conference honors and help the NFV girls to a runner-up finish. (Zakary Kriener photo)

TigerHawk girls 2nd, boys 3rd at UIC Meet

By Zakary Kriener

zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

A total of six North Fayette Valley cross country runners earned all-conference honors on Thursday as the TigerHawks competed at the Upper Iowa Conference Championship Meet at Tri-City Golf Club in Luana.

The NFV girls impressed with a runner-up finish in the team standings, scoring 50 points and finishing behind only Class 1A No. 3-ranked South Winneshiek with 32 points.

Ayden Burrow, NFV’s rushing leader this season, directs lead blocker Clay Moser on a rushing attempt during Friday night’s 48-0 victory over Oelwein. Burrow had 60 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns in the win. (Zakary Kriener photo)

TigerHawks unleash on Huskies, headed to playoffs

By Zakary Kriener

zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

For the second straight season, the NFV football team closed out its regular season with a shutout win over Oelwein. After beating the Huskies 39-0 last season, the TigerHawks one-upped that performance by getting a 48-0 win on Friday night.

In a dominating performance on both sides of the ball, North Fayette Valley held their cross-county rival to just 72 total yards of offense, including just nine rushing yards. Offensively, the TigerHawks put up an impressive 344 yards of offense, including 177 yards through the air!