Underdog Tigers’ title run tops 2008 stories

The year 2008 in Creston News Advertiser sports featured an unexpected state championship, and runner-up finishes by a pair of traditional powers. Lenox, unranked much of the season after a district loss to Lamoni, came on strong at the end of the season to claim its first state championship in Eight-Man football. The Creston/Orient-Macksburg wrestling team was prevented from gaining back-to-back state Class 2A titles by nationally-ranked Ballard of Huxley, but posted a strong runner-up performance with state finalists in four straight weight classes and four champions among five competitors in title matches. The Panthers also took second in state dual competition behind Ballard. Nodaway Valley’s girls cross country team made a run for the Class 1A title, finishing second. It was the fourth time in five years the Wolverine girls placed in the top three. Creston hurdlers Nicole Hunter and Meghin Krambeck finished second and fifth, respectively, in the state track finals. Former Creston athletes played prominent roles nationally. Wrestler Dylan Long, former NCAA runner-up at Northern Iowa, qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials. Northwest Missouri State University lineman Dane Wardenburg played in the Division II national championship game, the Bearcats’ fourth straight runner-up finish. Southwestern Community College also had an impact nationally, as coach Bill Huntington’s cross country team finished 14th, and Walter Bolingo was an All-American in ninth place. Those are just some of the highlights in looking back at region sports in 2008. 1) Lenox football. Eighth-ranked Lenox defeated No. 4 Armstrong-Ringsted 34-32 for the Iowa Eight-Man state football championship. It was the first title for the Lenox program that his 52-6 in the Eight-Man game, including a runner-up finish in 2005. The Tigers raced to a 22-0 lead and held on for the title when Ben Borland blocked an Armstrong-Ringsted field goal attempt with 46 seconds left. Tyler Peterson ran 34 times for 138 yards and three touchdowns. Eric Hensley added 133 yards and two TDs. Branden Cline had 11 tackles while also manning the quarterback position for the Tigers, and Lucas Dalton had 10 tackles. The win was Allen Dukes’ 100th as a high school football coach. The opposing coach, A-R’s Robert Zotz, is a 1996 graduate of East Union. Lenox got to the title game by beating Corwith-Wesley-Lu Verne, 40-20, in the state semifinals. Lenox was one of five area postseason football teams, beating sixth-ranked East Union 22-12 in the regular season final. Both advanced to postseason play, along with Corning in Class A and Mount Ayr and Nodaway Valley in Class 1A. Lenox also won the rematch with East Union, 32-6, while Prairie Valley topped both Nodaway Valley and Mount Ayr on the way to the UNI-Dome. Madrid defeated Corning, 56-28. 2) Creston/O-M wrestling. The Panthers took second in the state after winning the individual state tournament and dual state tournament in 2007. The Panthers had wrestlers in four consecutive weights in the state finals — 125 through 140 pounds — in addition to two-time 160-pound champ Kalab Evans. Andrew Long became Creston’s first three-time champ at 125 pounds, while Quin Leith (130) and Trent Tucker (140) also won titles. Bret Kautz became a two-time state runner-up at 135, battling back from a broken leg in the 2007 state baseball tournament. Also, Jesse Harris placed fourth at 171 pounds and Jared Bevins qualified for state at 189 as the Panthers scored 139 points, the third-highest ever in Class 2A. Ballard scored 181 points with three state champs. Ballard beat Creston/O-M 55-8 in the 2A dual state finals. The Panthers ended an incredible run of three state trophies since 2006 and five trophies since 2003. Creston/O-M seniors went 324-62 during the season, and collectively had 17 state medals in their careers. Evans and Long completed unbeaten seasons, including championships at the multi-state Midwest Classic at the KCI Expo Center in Kansas City. 3) Nodaway Valley girls cross country. The Wolverines finished second in the state cross country meet, placing in the top three for the fourth time in five years. Pekin won the 1A title with 54 points, while NV had 89 points. Team members were Bethni Johnson, Britni Johnson, Paige Jones, Lauren Bricker, Susan Herr, Kristin Kincaide and Rachel Held. Coach Darrell Burmeister was named National Federation of State High School Coaches Association Girls Cross Country Coach of the year. He had 10 state meet teams in 11 years, taking third in 2-4 and 2007, and second in 2005 and 2008, in addition to a boys title in 2002. Also, Corning’s Tabitha Shepherd was fourth, medaling for the fourth time. Orient-Macksburg’s Matt Carr was 85th. Shepherd and the Nodaway Valley girls won regional titles at Panora. 4) Lenox baseball. The Tigers returned to state, losing to Gilbertville Don Bosco 7-2 at Principal Park. Lenox beat Bedford 7-3 in a substate final at home. Coach Steve Westphal gained his 600th career victory in June in a 7-0 victory over Mount Ayr. 5) Dylan Long. After finishing fourth in the U.S. Nationals at 132.2 pounds, Dylan Long of Creston was invited to the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials. While not making the Olympic team, Long was still the first Creston wrestler ever to compete in the trials, and only the second Creston athlete ever. (Debbie Pendegraft Cass competed in taekwondo in the 1988 trials.) Long continues to serve as a graduate assistant coach at Iowa State, where his brother Andrew is a redshirted freshman. 6) Southwestern cross country. Southwestern’s Walter Bolingo was a ninth-place All-American at the NJCAA Cross Country Meet in Spartensburg, S.C., where the Spartans were 14th as a team. Other team members in the national finals were Peter Rotich, Jacob Bennett, Ethan Warrior, Kyle Selsor, Nick Newbury and Nick Koeppe. Bolingo, freshman from Kenya, won two races during the season. 7) Dane Wardenburg. Redshirt sophomore offensive tackle Dane Wardenburg of Creston became a fixture in the Northwest Missouri State University offensive line as the Bearcats made a fourth straight appearance in the Division II national championship game. During the season, Wardenburg started four games at left tackle as former All-American Reid Kirby recovered from arthroscopic knee surgery. During the playoffs, Wardenburg rotated at right tackle and played several series in each game, with the semifinals and finals telecast on ESPN2. Minnesota-Duluth defeated the Bearcats 21-14 in the title game in Florence, Ala. 8) Adams County Speedway. The Adams County Speedway in Corning underwent a turbulent year, with a record-tying nine events canceled by rain and floods. Also, there will be new management when the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series celebrates its silver anniversary of NASCAR sanctioning in 2009. ACS will be operated by the Adams County Fair and Racing Association and promoted by KMA Regional Radio of Shenandoah. Ray Houck will be the track manager. Nick Wetzel is KMA’s ACS track promoter. Longtime track operators Gail and Karen Hampel retired after the 2008 season. Their son Greg will serve as administrative consultant. The Hampels got NASCAR sanctioning to the facility in 1984. 9) Creston softball. The Panther softball program made a resurgence in the summer of 2008. On June 23, with a 21-6 record, Creston became ranked No. 14 in Class 3A. The Panthers won the Orient-Macksburg Tournament with a 9-1 victory over O-M. Creston went on to tie Lewis Central for second in the Hawkeye 10 at 14-4 behind Harlan. The 31-10 season was a 19-game turnaround from 12-29 in 2007, winning 30 games for only the fifth time in school history. State champion Winterset defeated Creston in the regional semifinals, 7-0. Eighth-grade pitcher Madison Frain had a school-record 317 strikeouts and made first-team all-conference along with eighth-grade shortstop Katlin Briley, who led the team in five offensive categories. Third baseman Aubrey Pendegraft and outfielders Morgan Evan and Jill Johnson were named to the conference second team and first baseman Dana Howe receive honorable mention. The entire team returns in 2009 for coach Mike McCabe. 10) Creston girls track and field. Coach Mike Gerleman’s track team had a major presence at the state meet, qualifying in seven events. Nicole Hunter was second in the Class 3A 100-meter hurdles and teammate Meghin Krambeck finished fifth after clipping a hurdle. Krambeck, now an Iowa State hurdler, competed at state in the high jump, 100 hurdles, sprint medley relay and shuttle hurdle relay. Hunter ran in the 100 meters, 100 hurdles, sprint medley relay and shuttle hurdle relay. Taylor Geary overcame a hamstring injury to run in the 400 meters and sprint med, while Josie Krings joined the sprint med and Jill Johnson and Megan Birchard filled out the shuttle hurdle relay. Aubrey Pendegraft qualified in the discus throw. Geary placed seventh in the 400 meters and anchored the eighth-place sprint medley. The shuttle hurdle unit won the Hawkeye 10 Conference. Creston ended up 20th in the 3A team scoring. —————— Larry Peterson can be reached at 782-2141, ext. 232 or lpeterson@crestonnews.com