Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The winter sports season came to a close more than a week ago with the completion of the boys state basketball tournament.

Your Prep Sports has spent the last week wrapping up winter sports with the publication of our all-area teams.

The final bow was put on the winter season on Monday with the release of the Your Prep Sports area wrestling squad.

With winter sports now fully in the past and the spring sports season in flux there was time to, organize the office and properly file away everything from the winter season.

Anyone associated with high school athletics can explain how hectic the postseason can get as state competitions across multiple sports fill the calendars.

During the winter season the stretch started with the state swimming meet and district wrestling on February 15.

Regional and substate basketball followed along with state wrestling February 19-21 and finally the girls and boys state basketball tournaments on the first two weeks of March.

For me that nearly month-long stretch featured enough trips to Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines and back to warrant an oil change and resulted in more stops at the McDonalds in Newton than I care to admit.

As I filed away my winter notes I realized this season also produced one of the more impressive postseason runs of area success I’ve ever witnessed.

Hopefully those that follow me know I’m positive and my favorite part of my job is to highlight accomplishments of area athletes.

However, as I ran over the results of the teams and athletes from Your Prep Sports area this winter there is no hyperbole required – they crushed it this winter and the proof is right there.

Start with area swimmers.

A state title team, a state relay champion and a pair of area individual state champs including a two-event champ that was named the meet’s most outstanding swimmer.

Yeah, that’s good.

West High got a state title from James Pinter in the backstroke and have five runner-up finish on its way to the team title.

City High state a state meet record while winning the 200 medley relay and senior Forrest Frazier set meet records in both the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke while earning most outstanding swimmer honors for the second time in three seasons.

The following Saturday at the state wrestling meet area wrestlers were equally impressive going 6-for-6 in state title matches.

I’ve been covering high school sports for a while and never had a state tournament with six state champions.

West High won three with Hunter Garvin, Graham Gambrall and Will Hoeft all winning the first titles of their careers.

City High freshman Ben Kueter capped an unbeaten season with a state title.

Solon had two champs in the same season for the first time ever as sophomore Hayden Taylor won his second straight and senior Jax Flynn capped an impressive state meet run with his first title.

Six of the 42 state wrestling champions crowned this season came from Johnson county. Impressive.

On top of the six champs six ADDITIONAL area wrestlers from four different schools earned medals and Solo and West High each posted top-five team finishes.

For a media outlet that covers only seven schools that is unheard of.

Between wrestling and basketball City High sophomore Nile Franz represented the Your Prep Sports area at the state bowling tournament.

The success continued to basketball.

Five of seven Your Prep Sports area girls basketball teams reached a regional final with three teams (City High, Clear Creek Amana and West Branch) advancing to the state tournament.

Six area girls basketball players earned all-state honors including a trio of first teamers.

West High and Clear Creek Amana both reached the boys state tournament and four area players from four separate teams earned all-state honors.

All of this has already been written about on Your Prep Sports and other media outlets but what has happened in this area in high school sports the last month deserved another mention.

It’s easy to take the success that Your Prep Sports programs have sustained for granted at times.

With high school sports currently at a standstill it seemed as good a time as any to give a final tip of the cap to the area coaches, athletes and teams for an unforgettable winter season.

It was well earned.

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