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High-school
Top Story
Record setting season for Clarinda Girls Wrestling
Bryan Clark
The Clarinda girls wrestling team celebrated its recently completed season Sunday, Feb. 15, at its annual end of season banquet.
The Clarinda girls wrestling team earned the Distinguished
Academic Achievement Award from the Iowa Girls High School Athletic
Union for achieving a 3.337 team GPA. Pictured, front row, from
left: Kenly Nuttlemann, Randi Welchans, Abi Lighty, Charlotte
Gerdts, Bella Johnston, Tara Akers and Jalon Olson. Back row, from
left: Kylar Downey, Lily Weinreich, Aliyah Payne, Jaiden Olson,
Kambry Gordon and Ashlyn Creveling.
courtesy photo
The Cardinals celebrated a fantastic season, which included multiple school records, two outstanding seniors, a 14-2 dual season and a 3.337 team GPA, which earned them the Distinguished Academic Achievement Award from the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.
The Cardinals finished the season with two state medalists in Lily Weinreich and Kylar Downey and three state qualifiers, which also included Aliyah Payne. They won 14 of their 16 duals during the season.
School records broken during the season now belong to Tara Akers (fastest fall, 9 seconds), Downey (season falls, 40) and Weinreich (season wins, 54 and season takedowns, 90).
Downey, as a junior, holds the program record with 123 career wins while Jalon Olson, one of the program’s two seniors, leaves the program with a program record 104 career falls.
Clarinda seniors Jalon Olson (left) and Kambry Gordon (right)
pose for a picture with their season posters Sunday, Feb. 15,
during their final wrestling banquet.
courtesy photo
The Cardinals were a young team with plenty of talent returning next year. Seniors Olson and Kambry Gordon, who was the program’s first two-time state qualifier as a sophomore and junior, exit the program.
High-school
Top Story
HIGH SCHOOL BOYS BOWLING
Shenandoah's Holmes earns all-district honors
Bryan Clark
Shenandoah's Matt Holmes rolls during the Hawkeye 10
Conference tournament at Bowlero on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026.
JOE SHEARER, THE NONPAREIL
Shenandoah sophomore Matt Holmes earned all-district honors.
The Iowa High School Bowling Coaches Association released all-state and all-district teams Tuesday, Feb. 17, for all three classes.
Holmes was one of six athletes named to the Class 1A West All-District First Team.
Holmes recently won the Hawkeye 10 Conference Tournament and averaged a 207 game over the course of the season.
High-school
Essex Boys Basketball
Bryan Clark
The season ended Monday, Feb. 16, for the Essex boys basketball team with an 80-17 loss at Boyer Valley in a Class 1A District 12 first round contest.
Essex’s season ends at 8-14, the most wins for the program in a single season in 10 years. Boyer Valley improved to 12-11 and advanced to a district semifinal.
Essex scored nearly half of its points in the first quarter and still trailed 22-8 after eight minutes of play. The Bulldog lead extended to 35-10 at halftime and 60-11 by the end of the third quarter.
Ashon Kline led Essex’s offense with 10 points, while adding two steals. Isaiah Sholes was held to six points, six rebounds and four blocks in the final game of his career, one that had him finish with more than 1,000 points and 750 rebounds.
Brody Kirchert had the final Essex point, while adding three steals and two rebounds. Will Roberts and Damien Aradanas collected four rebounds each while Rhys Chambers finished with two rebounds. Ben King recorded two steals.
Seniors Aradanas, Kline, Roberts and Sholes exit the program.
High-school
Shenandoah/Clarinda Boys Bowling
Bryan Clark
Shenandoah junior Clay Foutch won the Class 1A Individual
District championship Monday, Feb. 16, at Bowlero in Council
Bluffs.
courtesy photo
Shenandoah junior Clay Foutch won the Class 1A Individual State Qualifying Boys Bowling Tournament Monday, Feb. 16, at Bowlero in Council Bluffs, to qualify for his third straight individual state tournament.
He competed again at the Class 1A Individual State Tournament Tuesday, Feb. 24, at Cadillac XBC in Waterloo.
Foutch was the only Shenandoah or Clarinda athlete to qualify after athletes from St. Albert and Clarke earned the other three individual spots in the top four and Clarke beat out Clarinda and Shenandoah in the team tournament that took place earlier in the day.
Foutch needed a big final game just to get into the top four that qualify for state, as he was 25 pins out of fourth with two of three games complete. And he got it, posting a 278 for a 705 three-game series, beating runner-up Zayden Zuehlke of St. Albert by 25 pins.
“My first two shots were nine spares,” Foutch said on his big last game. “I knew I needed a big score to move on and I almost struck out from there by going back to the basics. Winning the district means a lot. All the work I have put in paid off.”
Clarinda’s Ryder Pullen finished fifth with a 651, missing the fourth and final qualifying spot by 21 pins. Shenandoah’s Matt Holmes was eighth with a 640.
Pullen and the Cardinals had a great start to the day, easily posting their best score of the season at the team tournament with a 3,070, but it wasn’t enough to beat Clarke’s 3,144.
Clarinda scored better than 200 in nine of the 15 games with a 258 seventh game and a 256 final game being their best. They were 200 or better in their final three games and rolled a 1,056 series over their final five games. Clarinda rolled a 1,013 for the first five-game set with three games above 200. The Cardinals were at 1,001 with three games above 200 in the final five-game set.
Clarinda’s score gave them second place in the eight-team field with Shenandoah following in third with a score of 2,907. Lenox and St. Albert completed the top five.
The Mustangs were above 200 in six of their 15 games. They opened with a 982 for their first five games, including two games above 200. They opened the second set of five with a 214 but that was their only game above 200 with a 945 series. The final five-game set was a 980 with three games above 200.
“We did pretty good as a team,” Foutch said. “We just couldn’t put very many strikes together, but I thought we did well.”
Foutch opened his individual three-game series with a 207. A 220 second game followed before the big finish, which was the day’s high game.
Holmes was also above 200 in all three of his games for Shenandoah with a 209, a 225 and a 206. Teammate Teagan Brunk had the lead after game one with a 256 but followed that up with a 178 and a 193 to shoot 627.
Caden Hodge was next for Shenandoah with a 546. Owen Nokes rolled a 541 and Luke Mather a 476. Nokes finished his three-game set with a 221.
Clarinda’s Pullen was in the top four after games one and two with a 238 and a 214 but finished with a 199. Parker Meyers was next for Clarinda with a 624 three-game series. That came after he opened with a 163 but a 240 and a 221 to end gave him the strong final score.
Carson Sunderman was Clarinda’s third best on the day with a 597. Ian Reyna-Willms scored a 592 and T.J. Sickler a 589. Reyna-Willms rolled a 224 opener and a 206 finisher. Sunderman’s second game was a 212 and Sickler bowled a 214 second game. Jac Fine was also in the lineup for Clarinda, rolling a 466 series.
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