March 14, 2018 By Chris Varney
On to our WaMaC schools on this Wednesday as we look back at the Trojans, Bobcats and Raiders this past winter.
South Tama
Girls Basketball: Final Record 15-10, 3rd in WaMaC West. The Trojans surprised everybody and went to the state tournament, beating Roland Story and West Marshall in their 3A regional playoffs. South Tama had a huge advantage, playing a tough schedule in a tough conference before succumbing to Crestwood, the eventual champion in the first round at state. Junior Jessica Musgrave (21.8 ppg) was an all-state player who led the team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals. They only lose one senior (Sadie Smith) so this team will be definitely be a team to watch next year. They have had three coaches in the last three years but Todd Dale did a great job in letting this team come together as the season wore on and the adversity they faced brought everybody together. Freshmen Tylese Rosenberger and Carissa Musgrave will need to keep improving so it will not just be a one woman gang.
Boys Basketball: Final Record 15-9, WaMaC West Champions. After going over .500 last year for the first time in a long time, the Trojans took another step forward winning the conference in 2018 and just missing out on a state tournament berth, losing in the substate finals to Xavier. This was a veteran team with 8 total seniors led by Gabe Shields (14.3 ppg) and Sterling Tyon (13.3). Tyon scored 25 points against the Saints in the substate finals — Tama led most of the game and only lost 59-56. Other leaders were Kaiden Buffalo, Justus Ward, Nathan Lasley, Lane Koch, Jake Wilkerson and Shae Betz. The Trojans does have Junior Keith Keahna (8.8) returning but will have to reload after losing a ton of talent.
Wrestling: Its not easy to win a state title and even harder to win two in a row but that’s exactly what Isaac Judge did in 2017 and 2018. The Senior beat Kyler Rieck of Spirit Lake Park 5-0 in the finals at 152 pounds to go back-to-back. Judge finished his senior season at 48-2 and now heads to the Cyclones wrestling program as an Iowa State recruit. Senior Brady Fritz made it to the finals at 132 pounds but lost to Matt Robertson of Davenport Assumption 4-3. Fritz (46-4) goes out as a silver medalist. South Tama got 6 wrestlers into districts and all 6 made it to state with a total of 5 medals. Senior Tanner Probasco (30-1) battled injuries all season but finished in 3rd place at 138 pounds. Senior Colton Vest (42-13) finished 8th at 145. Senior Dalton Rosenberg (39-10) had some eventful matches at state and finished in 7th place at 182 pounds. Finally, Mario Moncada had a great season, going to state for the first time and finishing 31-21 at 285. South Tama finished third in the Class 2A team standings and had a memorable season. The Trojans lose 13 seniors so there will be a lot of uncertainty going into next season.
Benton
Girls Basketball: Final Record 5-17, 6th in the WaMaC West. The Bobcats are still trying to rebuild their girls program after losing their best player Leah Van Weeldon who transferred to Marion. Benton loses three seniors — Laura Maschino, Jesse Havlik and Shelby Kaestner — but there’s plenty of talent returning. Junior Kasi McWhorter (11.4 ppg) is an inside player who can also shoot from the outside and Freshman Alyse Harvey started to improve as the season wore on. Head Coach Laurie Donald is working hard to get this team back to the level of five years ago when they went to the state tournament.
Boys Basketball: Final Record 14-9, 3rd in the WaMaC West. It was another solid season for Head Coach Larry Carlson’s team but there was disappointment after losing to Xavier in the district finals. Senior Spencer Tuoro (17.1 ppg) had a spectacular season, finishing with 64 three pointers which ranked 6th in all of Class 3A. Junior Nathan Michels (13.5) also had a fine year and will be counted on to do more next year. Junior Dylan Spina (9.4) will also be a key returning player. Benton loses a total of 10 seniors but Carlson does a good job reloading every year.
Wrestling: It was an off-year for the Bobcat team this year with nobody from Benton qualifying for state. There were three district qualifiers this season: Freshman Austin Roos (23-29) at 132, Junior Zach Crawford (16-29) at 195 and Senior Bryce Timmerman (24-28) at 285. Senior Brody Scheer (33-13) led the Bobcats the wins.
Williamsburg
Girls Basketball: Final Record 6-17, 5th in the WaMaC West. Youth and inexperience hurt the Raiders this season. The team averaged 40 points a game and over 23 turnovers a game — two things that do not add up to success. Freshman Charlotte Wetjen (8.4 ppg) showed some promise this year, shooting over 40% from three point land. Junior Emily Jensen (6.1) and Sophomore Taylor Busch will also be counted on to do more next year. The Raiders lose 4 seniors — Lizzy Donohoe (8.1), Nicole Zuber, Kortni Gensley and Katie Montross.
Boys Basketball: Final Record 10-10, 7th in the WaMaC West. This team got off to a late start thanks to a late football season but still did some good things. Seniors Brandon Blythe (15.2 ppg) and Lucas Schlesselman (14.6)each had fine seasons for the Raiders. Ben Subbert wrapped a great career as well and will be headed to the University of Iowa to walk on the football team. Head Coach Adam Sanchez will have to do a little rebuilding after losing a total of seven seniors.
Wrestling: Head Coach Grant Eckenrod said it was the greatest season in Williamsburg wrestling history. While the Raiders did not have a state champ this year, the success of the team was tremendous. Williamsburg made it to the state dual tournament for the first time in school history, finishing in 4th place. There were five grapplers who made it to the state individual tournament, winning a total of 3 medals. Senior Grayson Kesterson was upset in the semifinals at 113 pounds but still finished in 3rd place, finishing his final year at 49-3. Sophomore Jalen Schropp (51-3) earned a 5th place medal at 126 and Senior Cavin Malloy (41-10) earned a 6th place finish at 160. Other state performers included Seniors Isaac Maser (42-13) and Josh Holub (42-6). The Raiders lose a total of 13 seniors so there will be a lot of opportunities for young wrestlers next season with Schropp having the most experience coming back.