It was a great fall sports season, and that includes a very competitive year in volleyball. With that, the Iowa High School Girls Athletic Union has announced the All-State and All-District teams for all five classes.

For the All-State Second Team in Class 4A, Pella freshman Emily Holterhaus was named to the squad. She is the only freshman to be honored in Class 4A. She led the way as Pella qualified for the state tournament in Cedar Rapids this season. She was joined by senior teammate McKenna Bogaard, who was on the Honorable Mention list.

In Class 3A, Centerville’s Alyssa Barger was listed on the 3^rd Team. The senior was the top player for a Centerville squad that pushed top ranked West Liberty to four sets in the Region 8 Final in Donnellson.

In Class 2A, Karlie Taylor of Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont was honored on the 1^st Team. The senior had an outstanding career, helping lead the Rockets to the state tournament in Cedar Rapids each of her last three years on the team. She will continue her volleyball career in college at the University of Northern Iowa. Also in the mix was Pella Christian’s Andrea Horstman, who was named to the 3^rd Team. PC was a solid team in the Little Hawkeye Conference, but was eliminated from the regional tournament against Taylor and EBF in the quarterfinal round in Region 4. Pekin’s Beth Atwood was named to the Honorable Mention list after leading the Panthers to the Region 4 semifinals, where again, EBF ended their season.

On the All-District side of things, there were again several athletes that were honored in each class in our area.

In Class 4A, Pella’s Emily Holterhaus and McKenna Bogaard were both named to the Southeast District team, along with Fairfield’s Shelby Heston, who helped Fairfield get to the Regional Final against the Lady Dutch in Class 4A before falling.

In Class 3A, the Southeast District included Centerville’s Alyssa Barger. She was joined by teammate Amory Glosser, who had a great junior season for the Redettes. Davis County’s Mallory Wells was named to the team after an outstanding senior campaign, and Mid-Prairie’s freshman sensation Jaedynn Evans was the only underclassman named to the squad.

In Class 2A, the Pella Christian’s Andrea Horstman landed in the Central District, while EBF’s Karlie Taylor, Taylor Leffler, and Haegen Boyer were all named to the Southeast District team. Pekin’s Beth Atwood was also named to this team, as well as Cardinal senior Dakota Durflinger. EBF Head Coach Gladys Genskow was named Southeast District Coach of the Year in Class 2A.

Finally, in Class 1A, Lynnville-Sully’s Brenna Lanser was named to the South Central Team. In the Southeast District Sigourney senior Sierra Davis was honored, as well as Moravia senior Kendall Brown.

The All-State and All-District Teams were announced by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union on Wednesday.

The season ended two weeks ago with Ankeny Centennial winning the Class 5A Championship, West Delaware getting the title in Class 4A, Nevada winning the crown in Class 3A, Western Christian taking home the trophy in Class 2A, and Janesville coming out on top in Class 1A.

Oskaloosa–The William Penn women’s basketball team forced 28 turnovers and overcame poor free-throw shooting to defeat Avila 73-66 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play Saturday.

WPU (3-3, 1-1 Heart) was outshot 39.7{99cd714f394079a7f0ed2eb1518dd31342ff3ceb5b6c267c3ad8acd5b5a7d66b}-39.3{99cd714f394079a7f0ed2eb1518dd31342ff3ceb5b6c267c3ad8acd5b5a7d66b}, but produced 24 points off of those 28 Eagle mistakes.  The home squad fell behind 15-5 early, but finished the first quarter with an 18-6 run to lead 23-21.

Avila (1-6, 0-2 Heart) reclaimed the edge one final time at 25-24, but grabbed the advantage right back on a bucket by Alyssa Phillips (Jr., Gurnee, Ill., Communications), two of her 18 points in the contest.

The Statesmen led 39-29 at intermission, but the resilient Eagles rallied to within two points twice in the third period.  Fortunately, the navy and gold produced 12 straight points for a game-high 14-point edge at 56-42 with 2:01 on the clock in the third quarter.

AU had one more push, drawing within two at 67-65 with 2:20 remaining in regulation.  Vashti Nwagbaraocha (Fr., Milwaukee, Wis., Exercise Science) took over down the stretch, posting the next five points to seal the victory.  Nwagbaraocha was 7-for-8 from the field and 9-for-14 at the line for a game-high 23 points.  While her charity-stripe shooting was not exactly great, it was actually pretty amazing in comparison to how poorly the Statesmen shot overall, going 23-for-43 total.

William Penn was outrebounded 42-39, but a 15-12 offensive edge helped the victors to a 13-7 margin in second-chance points.  Phillips and Sabrina Avery (Fr., Riverside, Calif., Psychology and Sociology) both pulled down nine rebounds.

Ashlee Harper (Sr., Los Angeles, Calif., Education) contributed nine points, while Jenna Santi (Fr., Oak Creek, Wis., Elementary Education) had seven and Dezarea Duckworth (So., Bryant, Ark., Exercise Science) finished with six.

Phillips also stole four passes and blocked two shots, while Avery assisted on three field goals.

“I am very proud of our team tonight,” Head Coach Willie Scott said.  “We played with a sense of urgency.  The fact that we did not give up the lead late showed a lot of determination.  Hopefully, this will grow our confidence and we can build from here.”

Next Up: William Penn travels to Clinton next Saturday to face Mount Mercy as part of the Ashford Classic.  Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.Oskaloosa–The William Penn women’s basketball team forced 28 turnovers and overcame poor free-throw shooting to defeat Avila 73-66 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play Saturday.

WPU (3-3, 1-1 Heart) was outshot 39.7{99cd714f394079a7f0ed2eb1518dd31342ff3ceb5b6c267c3ad8acd5b5a7d66b}-39.3{99cd714f394079a7f0ed2eb1518dd31342ff3ceb5b6c267c3ad8acd5b5a7d66b}, but produced 24 points off of those 28 Eagle mistakes.  The home squad fell behind 15-5 early, but finished the first quarter with an 18-6 run to lead 23-21.

Avila (1-6, 0-2 Heart) reclaimed the edge one final time at 25-24, but grabbed the advantage right back on a bucket by Alyssa Phillips (Jr., Gurnee, Ill., Communications), two of her 18 points in the contest.

The Statesmen led 39-29 at intermission, but the resilient Eagles rallied to within two points twice in the third period.  Fortunately, the navy and gold produced 12 straight points for a game-high 14-point edge at 56-42 with 2:01 on the clock in the third quarter.

AU had one more push, drawing within two at 67-65 with 2:20 remaining in regulation.  Vashti Nwagbaraocha (Fr., Milwaukee, Wis., Exercise Science) took over down the stretch, posting the next five points to seal the victory.  Nwagbaraocha was 7-for-8 from the field and 9-for-14 at the line for a game-high 23 points.  While her charity-stripe shooting was not exactly great, it was actually pretty amazing in comparison to how poorly the Statesmen shot overall, going 23-for-43 total.

William Penn was outrebounded 42-39, but a 15-12 offensive edge helped the victors to a 13-7 margin in second-chance points.  Phillips and Sabrina Avery (Fr., Riverside, Calif., Psychology and Sociology) both pulled down nine rebounds.

Ashlee Harper (Sr., Los Angeles, Calif., Education) contributed nine points, while Jenna Santi (Fr., Oak Creek, Wis., Elementary Education) had seven and Dezarea Duckworth (So., Bryant, Ark., Exercise Science) finished with six.

Phillips also stole four passes and blocked two shots, while Avery assisted on three field goals.

“I am very proud of our team tonight,” Head Coach Willie Scott said.  “We played with a sense of urgency.  The fact that we did not give up the lead late showed a lot of determination.  Hopefully, this will grow our confidence and we can build from here.”

Next Up: William Penn travels to Clinton next Saturday to face Mount Mercy as part of the Ashford Classic.  Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.

MINNEAPOLIS — The Central College Wrestling team was able to come on top in two weight classes at the Auggie Adidas Open hosted by Augsburg College (Minn.)Saturday.

It’s the second time the Dutch have achieved the feat this year, having previously done it at the Platteville Invitational on November 7. The field at this tournament was loaded with talent, including members of Augsburg’s 2015 NCAA Division III Championship team.

“We’re really intentional about getting up to Augsburg just for the quality of competition,” coach Eric Van Kley said. “We not only want to wrestle great competition in the Iowa Conference but also outside the conference. To have success at a tournament like this reiterates the fact that the expectations level of our program continue to rise.”

At 125 pounds, the AJ Pestano (senior, Torrance, Calif.) and CJ Pestano (sophomore, Torrance, Calif.) shared the individual crown, both going 3-0 to reach the title match in the Gold Bracket. The brothers are able to push each other in practice on a regular basis and have spurred each other to high levels of success.

“There’s a little bit of a competitive rivalry with those two,” Van Kley said. “They both feed off the success that the other one has. There’s a really close relationship between the two and I think they’re success is contagious with each other.”

Ryan Vandall (junior, Phoenix, Ariz., Moon Valley HS) won his second title of the season at 165 pounds. Vandall went 3-0 and defeated Zak Benitz of Upper Iowa in the final. Vandall was the starter at 149 pounds last year, but the move up has been beneficial for the junior.

“Moving up two weight classes has been really good for him,” Van Kley said. “He put a tremendous amount of time and energy into the weight room over the summer and he’s wrestling with a lot of confidence. He’s winning hard-fought matches the right way.”

In the 285 pound silver bracket, Jaime Miranda (junior, Aberdeen, Wash.) went 3-1 to take second. He came up on the losing end of the title bout against Logan Linderbaum from Minnesota State, but Van Kley was pleased with Miranda’s effort.

“Jaime had a great day,” he said. “He lost a close match in the finals to a pretty talented guy. He’s wrestling with more composure and consistency each and every week.”

In total, nine Dutch wrestlers were place-winners on the day.

“We’re competing extremely hard and committed to the little things,” Van Kley said. “We’ve just got to continue to get better and stick to the process.”

Central returns to the mat for an 8 p.m. dual against Augustana (Ill.) in Indianola on December 3.

Story provided by  Joe Flaherty