Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Alec Wick boasts a resume that ranks among the most impressive in Regina history.

Wick has the statistics and accolades to stake the claim as one of the best players in program history and one of the most productive pass catchers ever in Iowa.

The one thing that Wick doesn’t have in an otherwise astonishing career is the same thing the senior standout wants to the most – a state title.
Wick will get one final chance to add that missing piece to his brilliant prep career on Thursday when third-ranked Regina (10-1) takes on top-ranked Grundy Center (11-0) in the Class A championship game at 2 p.m. at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.

“I haven’t ever thought too much about (stats) or any of that other stuff,” Wick said. “When you have a good team you focus on winning and that’s what my focus has always been on.”

While Wick has focused on winning his teammates and coaches have focused on finding ways to get the football to the 6-foot-1, 180-pound playmaker.

“He’s fun to watch,” Regina coach Marv Cook said. “He’s fun to watch play, he’s fun to watch practice. He’s a fun kid to coach and he’s just a playmaker all over the field.”

A four-year, two-way starter Wick is a rare combination of talent.

He’s an all-state soccer player that is one of the most dynamic scorers in the state. Wick is a starter on the Regina basketball team and joined the baseball team for the first time as a prep last season and earned a starting spot in the outfield.

Not surprisingly Wick does it all on the football field.

In addition to leading Class A in every major receiving category Wick has rushed for two touchdowns, leads Regina in interceptions and has 35 tackles and a sack.

Wick is equally valuable in special teams where he has returned punts and kickoffs, made 40 extra points and averaged 35 yards per punt.

“You drop a football on the field he’ll kick it 50 yards for a field goal,” Cook said. “He has that kind of skill set that he can do darn near everything out there.”

Wick may do it all but what he does better than almost anyone in state history is catch the football.

Wick enters the state title game sixth in 11-player state history with 3,429 receiving yards and needs 21 yards to move into the top five all-time.

His 233 career receptions rank third all-time and are just six off the state record and his 37 career touchdown grabs are tied for eighth most in state history.

“He goes and gets the ball, when the ball is in the air he knows how to fade to it. He’ll stack guys so he can get to the ball,” Cook said. “It’s a bunch of kind of innate skill sets that he carries and at the end of the day he’s just a massive competitor.”

It is the competitive streak that drives Wick.

He earned all-state honors last season after catching 79 passes for 1,161 yards but missed the Regals return to the UNI-Dome after suffering a dislocated hip in a quarterfinal win over West Branch.

Wick could do nothing but watch as Regina fell to Van Meter 49-17 in its return to the state semifinals after missing the playoffs in 2018.

“It was great we got the W (in the quarterfinals) but the season ending like that when we had a pretty good team it was tough to end it that way,” Wick said. “Having to watch that was really hard.”

Wick missed basketball season rehabbing the injury but returned better than ever this summer.

He hasn’t skipped a beat as a senior leading Class A with 66 receptions for 1,175 yards and 15 touchdowns.

“Just being sharp on my routes and timing with me and Ashton all of those has improved,” Wick said. “All of that helps.”

After missing last year’s semifinal Wick made the most of his return to the UNI-Dome catching a team-high nine passes for 128 yards in a 49-28 semifinal win over Saint Ansgar.

“It’s a great feeling to be able to play in the dome to end your career and be in that atmosphere,” Wick said. “I’m just excited to be able to play with my teammates.”

Among those nine receptions were a pair of highlight reel grabs, one of which went for 36 yards down the sideline as Wick made a juggling catch over a defender while going to the turf.

Over four years those types of catches have become almost routine for Wick.

He’ll do things like he did (in the state semifinal) and he does that stuff routinely, that’s what he does,” Cook said. “He’s a playmaker.”

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