February 2015
STATE WRESTLING PREVIEW
It’s Go Time Bettendorf’s two-time state champion Fredy Stroker is ready.
Are You?
Family Connection Michael and Reilly Jacobson lead elite Waukee squads. P. 10
CONTRIBUTORS Rush Nigut President
rush@sportsspotlight.com
John Streets Business Operations john@sportsspotlight.com
Tony Atzeni Programming Director tony@sportsspotlight.com
Tork Mason Editor-In-Chief
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BE A SPORT
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UNSTOPPABLE FORCE
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NO LETTING UP
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A FAMILY AFFAIR
editor@sportsspotlight.com
Peter Tarpey Sales Director peter@sportsspotlight.com
Giuliana lamantia Graphics art@sportsspotlight.com
Darrin Cline Reporter
Sports Spotlight U.S.A. Inc. 1063 14th Pl Suite C Des Moines, IA 50314 515.244.1118
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The Rundown
Is the emphasis on winning starting too early?
Bettendorf’s Fredy Stroker seems invincible on the mat.
Southeast Polk’s wrestling team has had a great run the past few years, but the Rams aren’t complacent. And they’ve got the depth to possibly make history.
Waukee is enjoying fine basketball seasons, thanks to the brother-sister duo of Michael and Reilly Jacobson.
LAST CHANCE
North Scott star Cortez Seales has one final chance to lead the Lancers to the state basketball tournament.
THE DECISION
Amanda Ollinger faced a tough choice this winter and now wears different colors.
HOW IS YOUR ATHLETE’S MENTAL GAME?
Sponsored article from Ignit on the mental aspect of sports.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Larry Cotlar highlights former Ventura 6-on-6 basketball star Lynne Lorenzen.
NEWS & NOTES
Some of the top performances and news from around the state.
Youth
BE A SPORT
Is the emphasis on winning starting too early? Nancy Justis | Contributor
In this column I am not going to debate the pros and cons of travel teams in youth sports at young ages. I’m not going to argue whether emphasizing winning instead of having fun is happening at too young an age. I’m going to cite studies proving that youth sports can have long-term positive effects on those who participate -- how youth sports can change lives and energize a community. The most recent example is from the 2014 Little League World Series. The Jackie Robinson West All Stars from the South Side of Chicago advanced to the championship game against a team from South Korea. Though the All Stars lost, their experience will flourish forever in the lives of the players and the city of Chicago. Called the “pride of Chicago” by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the team consisted of all black players from areas struggling with poverty and gang violence. They overcame the negatives in their lives and became a unifying force, bridging those neighborhoods divided by violence, hopefully for longer than a day. Nelson Mandela once said, “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to unite in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they can understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination.” The Olympics are another example of bridging neighborhoods, though on a much larger scale. I don’t expect that event to cure all the ills of the world but at least for a month, a few thousand athletes put aside governmental and religious differences to parade together in the name of sportsmanship. More data is needed to prove a link between sport and future skills development, but sport is increasingly being recognized for its ability to grow skills that help not only on the field but in life skills as well. Stephanie Vozza, who writes about business and time management, found that collegiate athletes
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make some of the best employees. She quoted Vincent McCaffrey, CEO of Game Theory Group, a Greenville, N.C.-based recruiting and career services firm that focuses on placing athletes in their first jobs. “Most 22-year-olds have no track record from an employment standpoint, but the experience a student athlete has developed bodes well in the workplace,” he said. He said that some of his best co-workers were former athletes. He gives several reasons why former athletes prove to be valuable in the workplace. *”You can train an employee on the day-to-day job requirements, but you can’t change work ethics. Athletes already have that dedication.” *Athletes already have had some of the toughest bosses around -- their coach. “Athletes know how to handle hard conversations in the workforce.” *Athletes have the ability to work with others toward a common goal. “Athletes know how to be a good follower as well as how to take control of a situation. They understand roles...they are comfortable taking the lead as well as providing support.” *They manage time well. “(They) learn how to juggle everything...This translates into a highly organized employee.” Can getting a dream job really start at age six? A recent study by Kevin Kniffin, a behavioral science professor at Cornell University, also shows that athletes who played youth and high school sports make better employees and have better career opportunities. In “Sports at Work: Anticipated and Persistent Correlations of Participation in High School Athletics”, he says, “People expect former studentathletes to display significantly more leadership, self-confidence, and self respect than those who were active outside of sports -- such as being in the band or on the yearbook staff.” Not to bash music and high school journalism, but he also found that “men who participated in varsity-level high school sports on an average of 60 years earlier appeared to demonstrate higher levels of leadership and enjoyed high-status careers.
“...there are certain prosocial activities and traits that are prized within sports teams, and they seem to spill over into working relationships.” So, when you encourage your child to go out there and kick the ball and throw the pass, not only look at it from a play-for-fun exercise, but also that youth sports help cultivate “Better Athletes, Better People” (www.positivecoaching.org). Tell us what you think by emailing me at njustis@ cfu.net.
Nancy Justis is a former competitive swimmer and collegiate sports information director. She is coowner of Justis Creative Communications and a state “Champion” for “Positive Coaching Alliance”.
SportsSpotlight.com
An Unstoppable Force Bettendorf ’s Fredy Stroker has been all but unbeatable in his career. Now, he’s taking aim at his third state title. By Tork Mason
Fredy Stroker has only been in Iowa for a few years, but he’s left a very clear mark on both the Bettendorf wrestling program and the state. The senior boasted a career record of 181-6 as of Jan. 28 and has won a pair of state championships in three trips to the finals. Now, he’s hunting a third title in his final season. Stroker, who moved to Bettendorf from western Pennsylvania when his father was transferred to the Rock Island (Ill.) Arsenal, has been a nearly invincible force for the Bulldogs. Last season, he was taken down only one time, and had yet to surrender a takedown this season as of Jan. 29. When asked what his secret to fending off opposing shots was, Stroker said he prefers to not give his opponents the opportunity to get him on the mat. “It’s not necessarily my defense, it’s my offense,” he said. “I try to get my shots in early and I take him down before he has a chance to take me down.” Bettendorf head coach Dan Knight struggled to pinpoint just one attribute that he could call Stroker’s best. “To be honest, he’s got a lot,” Knight said. “He’s a kid that, when you think of it from the college standpoint, is the complete package. He loves to wrestle and he has a lot of the intangible things you look for.” Among those intangibles, Knight said, was an ability to simply find a way to win matches, even when it gets tough. That ability was on full display at last year’s state tournament. Stroker recorded pins in each of his first three matches to reach the 132-pound final, but he injured his right knee in the semifinals. Once he rose up from the mat, Stroker could tell something was wrong. “I just got up and it didn’t feel right — it didn’t look right, either,” he said. SportsSpotlight.com
It turned out to be a meniscus tear. Trainers told him they would put a brace on his knee and do whatever they could to help him be ready for his championship match against Valley’s Jake Koethe the next night. But Stroker wasn’t so sure that everything was going to work out. “I went to the hotel, cut my weight, went to bed and when I woke up, it was tough to walk,” Stroker said. “I remember trying to hide my limp when I walked up to the scales, having trouble walking to breakfast and lunch. I was really starting to get nervous.” Stroker said during his championship match against Koethe — who he’d defeated, 3-0, earlier in the season — he found that he couldn’t drive off of his leg the same way. It forced him to adjust from his usual strategy and focus less on being aggressive the entire match and more on just getting enough points to win and holding on. He came away with a 3-1 victory and his second state title, giving him the chance to become the first three-time champion and four-time finalist in Bettendorf history. Knight, who said he knew from Day One of Stroker’s freshman year that he’d be something special, doesn’t think Stroker will soon be forgotten. “He’s going to rewrite our record books, both from a career and single season standpoint,” Knight said. “Career wins, career pins, potential three-time champ and four-time finalist. He’s set the bar pretty high. He can probably come back in 10 years, 20 years, and his name is still going up there.” But toughness isn’t the only intangible asset that Stroker boasts. He’s also a team player. A year ago, he was the top-ranked wrestler at 138 pounds when the coaches asked if he’d be willing to drop down a class
to let then-senior Logan Ryan step into the 138 pound spot in the lineup. Stroker said he was initially reluctant to make the move because he was the No. 1-ranked wrestler in his weight class and was already a heavy 138-pounder. But he eventually came to agree with his coaches, and it provided an important lesson that could pay dividends for Stroker, not just in what’s left of his prep career, but also his collegiate career at the University of Minnesota. “But, talking with coaches, I finally decided to make the cut and really started dieting during Christmas break to get my weight down,” Stroker said. “Looking back, it really taught me something, just being disciplined about my food, being a team player and being mentally tough. It was definitely a learning experience. I’m in a similar situation right now at 145. My weight’s a little bit heavy, but the team’s better with me at 145 and Jacob Woodard at 152. I’ve just got to make it another month, and then I can start getting bigger for college.” With his career in black and gold winding down, Stroker reflected on what he’s accomplished over the past four years and what he hopes to see his teammates accomplish in the future. “If you would have told me I’d be wrestling in the state of Iowa when I was 13 years old and living in Pennsylvania, I’d have said you were crazy,” he said. “It’s been a fun time here, I gelled with the team and the coaches pretty well. I’ve had great partners throughout my career here. I’ve been a three-time finalist and two-time champion, and I’m really just looking for that third title. Hopefully, when I come back next year, Jack Wagner will be going for his third.” Volume 3 Issue 5
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No Letting Up Southeast Polk looks poised for a potentially historic run through the state stournament. Southeast Polk junior Ethan Andersen is the defending state champion at 220 pounds and will look to add another title this month. (Photo courtesy of The Des Moines Register)
By Bob Selby
Southeast Polk has enjoyed a very nice run in wrestling over the past decade. One of the best programs in Iowa over that time, they have won conference team titles, district titles, prestigious out-of-state tournaments, state dual titles and a traditional team state title. The program has produced numerous individual state champions, including a rare four-time titlist in Cory Clark. But, as it is with many great teams, they have not gotten complacent. There are always new challenges and goals to strive for as a team and individually. This season started out with great optimism for another banner year for the Rams. With 11 state qualifiers back from last year’s 3A runner-up team, they knew they would be good. Very good, in fact. So good that talk started to circulate that this team might just have enough firepower to take aim at the team scoring record for the traditional state tournament. Jump right past ‘might have a chance of winning a team tournament title’ and fastforward to breaking the scoring record. Confidence and numbers will do that. In 2008, Waverly-Shell Rock won the Class 3A team title with a whopping 225 points. Ballard in 2A came close with 220 points in 2009, and then the scores dropped back down to more ‘average’ totals. For the start of this season, one of the SEP assistant coaches had t-shirts made with the image of a mountain that had a flag on the top of it. On the flag was the number 226. A new goal and an example of what potential this team held. “I didn’t even think about it until the t-shirts came out,” said senior Aaron Meyer, currently ranked #2 @145lbs and a three-time state qualifier who has placed twice and was last year’s runner-up at 138. “We knew we would be good with all the returning qualifiers, but until it was brought up, it wasn’t our focus. If we can get most of our guys
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through to state, we have a great chance of scoring enough to break the record, but it’s not something we talk about. Our coaches stress that wrestling is an individual sport, and if you wrestle for yourself and take care of your business and do your job, then things will work out for the team.” Meyer also stressed that the team has a lot of ‘gamers’ who always seem to step up big and win important matches. Something that will help score points at state. Nine Rams on this year’s roster placed at state last year, so they definitely have the numbers to back their expectations. On top of that, newcomers and shakeups in the lower weights have led to two talented, ranked freshmen excelling at 106 and 113, as well as the addition of transfer Zach Barnes from Waukee at 120lbs. Barnes placed 6th at 113lbs last year as a freshman with a 40-win season, and has been a welcome addition to the already potent lineup. So potent that two qualifiers from last year’s squad have been unable to crack the lineup this year. One of them is sophomore Adam Brown, who placed 5th last year at 106lbs. Some of that has been due to illness, so Brown continues to contend. But, if you have a returning place-winner who cannot automatically nail down a spot, it should indicate the strength of your lineup. Assistant Coach Jessman Smith has been an integral part of the Rams’ mat success, and knows what makes this team unique and special. “What stands out is how hard these guys work and how they fight for each other. Like scoring important backside points in tournament brackets and never giving up after tough losses.” Smith says the key to the Rams’ success is largely due to the fact the staff insists that they develop all the kids in the room, not just the regular starters. “Every kid in that room serves a purpose that is
vital to the program, one way or another, no matter how many times he steps on the mat for a varsity match,” Smith said. “Everything we do makes us better because of all the kids competing and pushing each other in various ways.” It certainly seems to have paid off so far this season. The Rams have been winning all the tournaments they won in 2012-13 on their way to the Class 3A state team title and doing the things needed to distance themselves from the pack. And they have had 13 wrestlers ranked in the 14 weight classes for most of the season. As for the lone unranked wrestler in the lineup, Kameron Padavich at 182 pounds, don’t be quick to write him off. He was a whisker away from qualifying for state last season, and should have a great shot this year. In fact, aside from aiming for the scoring record, the Rams may have a legitimate shot at another bit of history. The last team to qualify all of their wrestlers for the state tournament was the 1979 Don Bosco team that sent all 12 of their wrestlers to state. Since there are 14 weight classes now, the feat has proven to be somewhat of an unreachable star. Southeast Polk has qualified double-digit numbers for the last four seasons, with a high of 13 in 2013 when they won their lone state team title. A pair of runner-up team finishes bookend that championship, along with a fourth place showing included in 2011. Five current Rams were state qualifiers on that 2013 squad. If they can keep healthy and wrestle to their expected levels, this team could get all 14 through districts and be intact as a full squad for Wells Fargo. As for the scoring record, getting the bodies there is one thing. Scoring points and winning matches once you get there is the hard part. It will take preparation and execution for all of this to
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Southeast Polk’s Aaron Meyer took second place at 138 pounds in 2014. He’s ranked No. 2 at 145 pounds this year and figures prominently in the Rams’ team points race. (Photo courtesy of The Des Moines Register)
come to fruition. One of the key things to focus on in this equation is the fact that a team can win the title with only a few wrestlers if they all either win titles or at least reach the finals. To break a scoring record, even for 14 wrestlers, there have to be some upsets and some finishes above expectations. Bettendorf may have the most say in what happens with that scoring mark this season. The Bulldogs may not have the numbers Southeast Polk can bring, but they certainly have the ability to score heavy with their big guns. The can honestly say that they could have six or seven guys compete for titles. If Southeast Polk actually breaks that scoring mark, with every other team hoping to stop them, they will have earned it. Keep in mind though, if Southeast Polk wins the team title, it won’t really matter what the margin was or how many points they scored. The program and their followers would covet the trophy and the season’s accomplishments no matter what. But it certainly makes for an exciting storyline at Wells Fargo. Southeast Polk’s Nolan Hellickson lost in the 120 pound semifinals before finishing third at the state tournament in 2014. He’s now the top-ranked grappler at 126 pounds. (Photo courtesy of The Des Moines Register)
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Volume 3 Issue 5
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A Family Affair
Photo courtesy of the Des Moines Register
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SportsSpotlight.com
Photo courtesy of the Des Moines Register
By Dar Danielson
Waukee basketball fans are enjoying a lot of double-header wins this season, thanks in part to a unique duo leading the two teams. Senior forward Michael Jacobson is the leading scorer on the fifth-ranked Warriors’ boys’ team, averaging around 16 points a game and pulling down nearly 10 rebounds. His sister, junior forward Reilly Jacobson, is the leading scorer for the top-rated Waukee girls’ team. She’s averaging around 18 points a game, while hitting 60 percent of her shots from the floor. She also grabs nearly 11 rebounds a game Michael said his dad Bill’s background as a basketball player -- he played at the University of Nebraska Omaha -- is a huge reason he got into the sport. He says the basketball roots run deep, as an uncle played at Morningside and many of his cousins played basketball too. His cousin Ben Jacobson played college ball at Northern Iowa and then played pro overseas. “It was just kind of a natural thing for me to get into the sport,” Michael says. He said his sister didn’t immediately follow that same path, as she didn’t get into athletics much until junior high. She tried softball and volleyball and then decided to SportsSpotlight.com
try basketball and stuck with it. They aren’t twins, but they have a lot of things in common. Both were born in April, with Reilly’s birthday one year and two days after her big brother’s. There’s a lot of similarities when it comes to their skills on the basketball floor too. “He’s a versatile 6-8 athletic forward, shoots the ball well, rebounds it really well and he can dribble, pass, and shoot, so that makes him a tough matchup,” coach Justin Ohl said in describing Michael. On defense, Michael has the ability to move away from the basket and guard a smaller player, or he can use his size to defend in the post. Chris Guess coaches Reilly and the girls’ team, and he highlighted what makes her such a special player. “She’s very athletic; seldom do you have the combination of someone who is 6-1, she can run the floor, she can go outside and shoot the three-pointer, she can go inside and bang with people,” Guess said. “She set a school record with 19 rebounds, she’s had 9 double-doubles this year it’s a unique stretch-four skillset that not a lot of people have.”
He added that Reilly is “busting her tail” year round to get better. “Her work ethic is exceptional, she’s in here all the time, stays late, does all the things you have to do, not to mention the stuff she does in the summer,” Guess said. Guess said Reilly still has a “monster upside” as she gains more experience. Ohl calls them both high achievers, not only in athletics, but also in the classroom. Ohl played high school and college basketball and says having a brother and sister combination like this is something that’s unusual. “No, I probably haven’t seen a whole lot of that, it’s a unique situation,” Ohl says. It would seem that a brother and sister who are both very skilled basketball players might go after each other in some heated one-on-one games. While they do have an indoor court in their back yard, it hasn’t been the scene of any knock-down, drag-out family grudge matches. “We go out there and push each other and kind of play every once in a while, not usually during the season so we don’t get hurt,” Reilly explained. She said it’s fun to go up against her Volume 3 Issue 5
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brother and he keeps her motivated. Michael agreed that when they play against each other in the offseason, it’s “nothing too rough.” Their mother Katie said they both like the same pregame meal before a game, a sub sandwich. After the games, they get together as a family and talk about how things went and ways to improve. Mom, by the way, is the one responsible for the home basketball court. She calls it the Lake House. “Bill wanted a lake house and I said, no we need a gym with four kids,” Katie said with a laugh. Both players are students of the game and, when asked to analyze each other’s strengths and weaknesses, they reached similar conclusions. “Just her skill and touch around the rim; he’s able to use both hands and works really hard to get open under the basket and has a nice set of post moves,” said Michael on Reilly’s game. “If I could tell her to work on one thing it would probably be just her outside game, being comfortable on the perimeter, taking threes, and driving to the hole from the outside.” Reilly said Michael’s greatest attribute is “how athletic that he is, how quick he is, it’s pretty cool he can dunk.” When asked to
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identify the area where he could use some improvement, she laughed before offering up her take. “Maybe his three-point shot,” she said. An assistant coach told Michael about his sister’s assessment, and he was disappointed. “I was a little upset, I would like to think I was a little better three-point shooter than that,” he said. The kidding aside, Michael said they are really enjoying having both teams do so well this season. “Being her older brother and getting to see her play is cool, and seeing her have success, it’s definitely an awesome thing. And being a year older I know what she’s going through and it is fun to kind of help her out.” They would like nothing better than to get to see each other playing in the state tournament this year. Reilly said the girls have good team chemistry and “they just play and have fun,” and that could help them reach the ultimate goal. “I hope we make it this year and get to win it all, I think we can do it this year; we have the players and we have the ability, and we have been really playing well together,” Reilly said. The Waukee boys were upset by
Urbandale last season and denied a trip to the state tournament. That is something Michael said they want to change this time around. “Last year we were 18-5 and obviously a pretty good squad but it didn’t end the way we wanted,” Michael said. “We went into this year with some high goals, and not having been to the state tournament since my freshman year, I definitely want to get back.” Their mother would like to see that as well, and she said it’s been fun so far. “I’m very proud of them both, I think sometimes there’s pressure, but they handle it very well.” She said the parents of both teams get along well, and that also makes it a fun experience. It’s sort of a double-double this season for the coaches having both Waukee teams playing at such a high level. “Anytime you have one program doing well the other team wants to do the same. And I think we both feed off of each other because of the success, and the kids get along so well,” Ohl said. ‘It’s phenomenal, it’s fun to be at school every day, it’s a great atmosphere, the boys come and support us in our games, the girls do the same for them,” Guess said. ☐ SportsSpotlight.com
Photo courtesy of The Des Moines Register
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Volume 3 Issue 4
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As of Jan. 27, Jacobson ranked in the top 10 of Class 5A in scoring (18.2 points per game) and third in rebounding (10.5 rebounds per game). She’s the driving force behind a 14-1 and top-ranked Waukee squad.
As of Jan. 27, Staver owned the state’s top time in the 100-yard breaststroke (58.38 seconds), as well as top-five times in the 500-yard freestyle, 200yard individual medley and the 100yard butterfly.
Spencer Haldeman
Photo by Tork Mason
Reitz is leads the state in assists at 8.7 dimes per game, and he’s tied for first in Class 1A in steals with 4.6 steals per game. He’s been a model of efficiency, as he’s shooting 44 percent from the floor and a 4.9 assist-to-turnover ratio for the 14-3 Spartans.
As of Jan. 27, Vander Weide ranked seventh in Class 5A in scoring (19.4 points per game) and was hitting on 46 percent of her shots from behind the arc. She also leads the 14-1 Tigers in rebounding (7.4 rebounds per game) and assists (6.3 assists per game).
Jay Wolfe Wolfe is among the Class 3A leaders in scoring (21.9 points per game) and rebounding (9.9 rebounds per game), ranking fifth and fourth, respectively, in those categories. The senior has posted eight doubledoubles this season and also leads the team with 24 steals.
Blair Klostermann
Senior | Dyersville Beckman
Grace Vander Weide
Senior | Western Dubuque
Senior | WDM Valley
Senior | West Monona
Austin Reitz
Ftizpatrick is among the leaders in Class 2A in scoring (19.9 points per game). She also leads the state in rebounding (14.8 rebounds per game) and leads her team in assists (48), steals (42) and blocked shots (17).
Senior | Creston
Kari Fitzpatrick
Photo courtesy of The Des Moines Register
Senior | Edgewood-Colesburg
Senior | Pleasant Valley
Junior | Waukee
Nick Staver
Reilly Jacobson
Photo courtesy of Lisa Klostermann
Haldeman is currently second in Class 4A in scoring at 22.9 points per game, and is tied for first with 63 assists on the year. He also leads the 10-2 Bobcats in steals (36) and is second on the team in rebounding (5.8 rebounds per game).
Klostermann broker the Beckman scoring record in back-to-back games, scoring 34 points against Mount Vernon on Jan. 9 and 38 points against Anamosa on Jan. 13. She has scored 20 points or more in five games since the start of the new year.
In the
Spotlight high school This page presented to you by:
Each month we publish youth and high school action photos from around the state. We would love to get yours! Send us your photos at support@sportsspotlight.com West Central Valley’s Bryce Kearns goes up for two points against Woodward-Granger on Jan. 13. Kearns scored 20 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in a 64-55 loss. (Photo courtesy of Jay Calvert)
West Central Valley’s Alex Couver takes a charge from Woodward-Granger’s Michael Connor on Jan. 13. (Photo courtesy of Jay Calvert)
Green County’s Mark Kendall tries to break out of a takedown attempt by South Hamilton’s Noah Lutter. (Photo courtesy of Jay Calvert)
Woodward-Granger’s Mary Hansen puts up a shot against West Central Valley on Jan. 13. Hansen scored 16 points to lead the Hawks to a 52-39 victory. (Photo courtesy of Jay Calvert)
Woodward-Granger’s Tori Manning goes up for a shot against West Central Valley on Jan. 13. The Hawks won the game, 52-39. (Photo courtesy of Jay Calvert)
West Central Valley’s Bailee Amburg dribbles against Woodward-Granger on Jan. 13. The Wildcats lost the game, 52-39. (Photo courtesy of Jay Calvert)
The referee leans in for a better point of view as South Hamilton’s Keaton Hamilton goes for a pin against North Polk’s Chase Erickson. (Photo courtesy of Jay Calvert)
Ankeny Centennial’s Byron Harp drives against Linn-Mar on Jan. 17. The Jaguars won a 56-55 thriller. (Photo by Tork Mason)
T
ime is running out for Cortez Seales and the North Scott Lancers. A great individual career is near its end and the window to reach the state tournament for the first time in over a decade is about to close. For Seales, playing at Wells Fargo Arena in March is one of the few accomplishments that have eluded him. The 6-5 senior has been a fixture for the Lancers from Day One, leading the team in scoring and rebounding every year. As of Jan. 29, he was on pace to repeat the feat for a fourth time, scoring at an 18.7 points per game clip and pulling down 6.4 boards a night. Head coach Shamus Budde said Seales has shown his value in a variety of ways, and not always in ways that show up in a box score. “Cortez has been the heart and soul of our program for the last two to three years,” Budde told the Quad City Times upon Seales’ commitment to play for the University of North Dakota on Sept. 24. “I’ve witnessed him growing as a player and a young man. There is so much more than basketball. “He’s one of the most unselfish kids in our program. He’s played three different positions the last three years just based on what we needed at that time.” Lancers point guard Marlon Stewart, who transferred to North Scott from Davenport West before the 2013-14 season, said Seales’ combination of athleticism and basketball skill allows him to wear so many different hats within the offense. “He’s really versatile,” Stewart said. “He’s gotten a lot better with his shot the past couple years, he’s really long and more athletic than people think he is. He can score in a variety of ways; he can score with his back to the basket and score from the outside. “His jumper is just now coming into play. He’s been a lot bigger than everybody growing up, so he’s always been good around the rim. I think he’s always been able to shoot, but hasn’t necessarily had to shoot. I think he’s just now starting to understand that he can shoot and he’s pretty good at it.” Seales said he can make adjustments to his approach on the fly, based on who’s defending him. He’ll post up a smaller defender or take an opposing big man to the perimeter and beat him to the rim off the dribble. It’s all about not forcing the issue, Seales said. “I just take what the defense gives me, play to my strengths and don’t let them control how I want to play my game,” he said.
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But despite the elite performances from Seales and Stewart, who is the team’s second-leading scorer at 15.4 points per game and accepted a scholarship offer to play at Creighton University, the Lancers haven’t made it to Des Moines for the state tournament. In each of the past three seasons, the team has lost in the Class 4A substate finals. The 2012-13 season ended in a 59-51 loss to eventual runner-up Bettendorf, and last season came to a close with a heartbreaking 46-43 upset loss to Cedar Rapids Kennedy. Instead of getting discouraged, Seales said he prefers to take those setbacks as learning experiences. “That just showed that we had a lot to work on and that we’re not all the way there yet,” he said. “We’ve got to learn how to play in big games. We’ve just got to play how we practice and treat it like it’s any other game. Don’t get caught up in how everyone’s pumping it up as a big game, just go out and play our game.” To get more experience playing in big games, the Lancers traveled to take on elite out-of-state competition. They’ve played DeLaSalle (Minn.), Rock Island (Ill.) and Cretin-Durham Hall (Minn.), all teams that either are or have been ranked in their respective states. Seales was spectacular in all three games, averaging 25.3 points, 11 rebounds and 2 assists per game. The Lancers were 1-2 against those teams, but Stewart said that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing as the team prepares for the postseason. “Playing teams that are tougher and playing teams from different states, that helps us going into the playoffs,” Stewart said. “And I think we needed to face a little adversity this year before we got to the playoffs. And it has helped us a lot.” All five North Scott starters are seniors, and all seven players to see action in more than eight games are seniors. And the fact that this is their final chance to get to Wells Fargo Arena isn’t lost on Seales and the rest of the seniors, Stewart said. He said a year ago, Seales was a guy who was pretty loose, but he’s different this year. He’s more serious, Stewart said. The goal hasn’t changed, but being down to the last opportunity to play for a state title has instilled a greater sense of urgency. “It’s very important to us,” Seales said. “We haven’t made it, even though we’ve been very close the last few years. “We’ve got to get over that hump and then we can show everyone how good we can be.”
Last Chance North Scott’s Cortez Seales has accomplished nearly everything a prep basketball player can in Iowa. But there is one goal that has eluded him, and he has one more opportunity to achieve it. By Tork Mason
Photo courtesy of Scott Campbell/The North Scott Press
The Decision Amanda Ollinger was faced with a tough choice this winter and now wears new colors. By Darrin Cline
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henever an elite athlete changes schools, questions and rumors are soon to follow. Such was the case for Amanda Ollinger this past December. Seemingly out of the nowhere, the two-sport star transferred to Linn-Mar from Cedar Rapids Jefferson during the winter break, but the move had nothing to do with sports. Despite being only a junior, Ollinger has already asserted her place as one of the top dual-sport athletes in the state. Ollinger began playing both volleyball and basketball during middle school, and by her freshman year at Cedar Rapids Jefferson, she had already caught the attention of college scouts. Standing 6-foot-2, Ollinger is an imposing presence for opposing volleyball and basketball teams. She’s a two-time All-State selection in volleyball, but for as good as Ollinger has been on the volleyball court, she has been even better on the basketball hardwood. Currently, she’s ranked as a fourstar prospect and the No. 30 recruit in the nation on ESPN.com. As a freshman with the J-Hawks, she was a role player on senior-laden team and averaged only seven points a game; nonetheless, even as a point guard, she led the team in blocks and rebounds. As a sophomore, her role increased exponentially. Ollinger’s 18.6 points-pergame was good enough for fifth in Class 5A. Her height and length, as well as top-flight shooting prowess made her an attractive recruit for Division I colleges. Schools from across the country came calling, some for volleyball, some basketball, and some for both. Ultimately, she chose to stay local and suit up for Iowa in 2016. Ollinger’s parents, Scott and Bonnie, spent years working in the construction business, steadily adjusting their focus to custom tile work. With the burgeoning home building market in Marion, the work kept piling SportsSpotlight.com
up and the pair would make drive from southwest Cedar Rapids to their jobsites in Marion every day. With the prospect of moving closer and having enough work in their own neighborhood to sustain the family business for years to come, the couple decided to capitalize on the opportunity. “We landed some jobs in the Marion area for about four or five years. And the street we live on now, we can walk outside and for the next five years we could almost walk to work,” Scott said. “We’ve been travelling for a few years, 35 to 40 minutes each way on a good day, and then trying to keep up with Amanda’s schedule, we just decided to do something different.” With the future of the family business in mind, Amanda’s parents made the decision to move the family to Marion. While Amanda was given the option to choose whether or not to stay at Jefferson or transfer to Linn-Mar, her parents were strongly in favor of her going to the neighborhood high school. “We talked about it for a few years, and knew we couldn’t pass it up,” Scott said. “And for as busy as Amanda’s schedule has become, I wasn’t comfortable with her driving that far every day. She’s had to make some tough decisions. We didn’t want to force her, but we weren’t comfortable as parents with her making that trip every day,” Ollinger’s dad says. The change was not only hard on the family, but also their friends and Amanda’s classmates. While they may have been on the other side of the coin, Ollinger’s new peers and teammates also had a period of adjustment and wonder. “People were shocked; it was completely out of the blue and it took people a little while to get adjusted,” Linn-Mar senior Nikita Sharma said. “It’s a big change. We had to gameplan around her when she was at Jefferson. Now it’s just great having her and trying to work her into our team.”
The Linn-Mar players have credited much of their success to the exceptional team chemistry they have fostered, a trait that was evident to Ollinger in just a few days with the team. “Our team chemistry has been good,” Sharma said. “We get along great, on the court and off. Everybody gets a chance; it’s not just one person. We need to continue to try to come together as a complete team going forward.” The person tasked with balancing the desire to get one of the nation’s best players on the floor without upsetting the team’s chemistry was head coach Jaime Printy Brandt. After one year as assistant for her alma mater, Printy Brandt took over as head coach. Printy Brandt was a three-time first team all-state performer at Linn-Mar and earned a number of accolades at Iowa, including being the youngest All-American in Iowa women’s basketball history. Printy Brandt has implemented her own style and strategy for the team, with a heavy influence from her Hawkeye coach and fellow LinnMar alum Lisa Bluder. “She runs a defense similar to Iowa where you run players toward the middle instead of to the baseline, and that’s just different than what I’m used to,” Ollinger said. “So I’ve had to learn to be in a gap.” Ollinger has steadily enhanced her role with her new team, and is looking to pick up right where she left off after two-and-a-half years with the J-Hawks. “The team is really unselfish,” Ollinger said. “We all move the ball well and no one cares who scores the most points. If someone is on fire or having a really good game, we just keep giving them the ball. “I’m really competitive and I’ll do whatever it takes to win. I’m surrounded by really good people and when you have those people around who are good influences, you’ll excel at what you do.” Volume 3 Issue 5
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Student
Athlete
of the
MONTH
Presented by the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau- IowaGTSB.org
CLICK IT OR TICKET Audrey’s Q & A What’s your favorite sport to play? Why? Basketball, because I have been playing it my whole life, and my family members have played. What’s your favorite sports memory? Winning state in 2014. Do you have any fun pre-game “rituals” that prepare you for an event? Team pasta dinners the night before a game, and I have to eat a Snickers and an apple before every game. What’s your favorite subject in school and why? Math, because I enjoy solving problems. Who inspires you? Why? My family, because they have always been so supportive of me through any activity I participate in. What was the best movie you saw in the last year? American Sniper What is your dream job? Chiropractor
Achievements Sports: Basketball, track Academic Achievements/Honors: Honor Roll College or post-high school plans: Attend Creighton University to play basketball Athletic Achievements/Honors: First team All-State (2014); All-District (2014); All-CIML (2014); All-Tournament team (2014); CIML Player of the Year (2014) Photo by Tork Mason
Audrey Faber
Volume 3 Issue 4
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SportsSpotlight.com Dowling
Catholic High School, Class of 2015, 3.85 GPA
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Youth
HOW IS YOUR ATHLETE’S MENTAL GAME? By Brian and Chad O’Meara
If you have read any of our previous articles you know we have consistently discussed holistic, well rounded preparation for athletes. One area we haven’t touched on is the importance for the athlete to stay fit mentally. Being strong mentally is key for every athlete regardless of your level and supports other aspects of life as well. Mental preparation for the big games or for day to day training is not just something that happens. Developing your mental capabilities is very similar to developing any of your skill or techniques. It takes preparation, dedication and the right environment/mindset. There is both a short term, getting ready for the game and long term, setting the stage though goals objectives and evaluation. Getting in the right zone mentally requires you to create the right type of environment for yourself to do great things. The right environment supports you both while training/developing and before/
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after games. You want this environment to support being positive and to be able to keep things in perspective. After all this is preparing for playing a game. You should be able to feel relaxed and have fun. The environment should support you and your family by instilling confidence and focus. If you are not currently in an environment like this something needs to change! Let’s put into context why it is so important to develop a longer term framework for mental preparation. The longer term frame work is so key because it helps give perspective on where you have been and where you are going. You do this by setting different range goals and objectives. “This year I want to make the team” or this year “I want to help the team win a state championship”. Also add the how you can achieve this. “I want to help the team win a state championship by completing over 70% of my passes and being the team leader in assists”. By adding
the how it allows you to measure personal progress of helping your team. It also helps you ask how can I become a better passer and how can I become the assists leader. You can then set workout goals to help you achieve your overall goals. “I want to make 50 passes every day after my workout” or “I want to study game films of the best assist leaders in the league”. This frame work also give you more to measure yourself against than just the game or season outcome. The first time my son played in a state championship game his team lost. He didn’t like losing, but he was able to see the process and preparation he went through and concluded that he did the best he could and wanted to work harder for the next season. Especially when we are so young it is more about the journey than the outcome. Now let’s talk specifically about shorter term game preparation. On an ongoing basis when working out project yourself
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Youth onto the field or court visualizing as you are doing your exercises how they will help you in a game. During end of workout sprints, pretend you are running your route or beating someone to the ball. The day before the game, visualize yourself doing well and competing hard, doing all the things in the game that you have trained yourself to do. See yourself succeeding making the baskets or getting the game winning hit. Replay over and over again in your mind all of the things you have done to prepare and that you are ready. Everyone wants to do well in games but try to stay loose as too much pressure on winning or over emphasizing how important the game is does not help. Learn your visual and physical queues that get you into the zone while you are playing. For my son he learned that if he run’s hard and emphasizes defense early in a game it will help him play better offense as well. You need to repeat this over and over again throughout the game. Also, any athlete needs to learn how to forgive themselves. We are all human, the greatest athletes of all time make mistakes. What makes them great is they forgive themselves after a big mistake and go on to do fantastic things
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later in the game! Mental preparation is not discussed or emphasized enough and can be the biggest differentiator for many athletes. Optimize all your other hard work by becoming stronger mentally.
Volume 3 Issue 5
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Where Are They Now?
Lynne Lorenzen By Larry Cotlar
On February 17, 1987, a girl from the tiny town of Ventura, Iowa made a name for herself by becoming the all-time leading scorer in high school basketball history — boys or girls. That night, a standing room-only crowd of 4,000 shoe-horned their way into the Mason City High School gym to watch Lynne Lorenzen surpass Denise Long’s record of 6,250 points, amassed during her career at Union-Whitten High School from 1965-69. Ventura’s first-round sectional game with Meservey-Thornton was originally scheduled to be played in Sheffield. However, the game was moved to Mason City to accommodate the anticipated crowd and media which would be covering the game. Lorenzen scored 54 points in Ventura’s victory and would go on to close out her spectacular career with 6,736 points. She averaged 63 points per game during her senior year and capped it off with a 58-point effort in a 90-69 rout of Southeast Polk in the 1987 Girls State Championship game. Lorenzen finished the season and her career with a total of 6,736 points and was named recipient of the 1987 Naismith national women’s high school basketball player of the year award. She was also selected to seven All-America teams. Later, she would be inducted into the Iowa Girls High School Athletic
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Association Hall of Fame. Lorenzen grew up on a farm in Ventura. Her mother, Frances and aunt, Francine, helped Reinbeck claim a state title in 1952. Lorenzen claims she first became interested in basketball by listening to Jim Zabel call Iowa Hawkeye games on WHO Radio on her mother’s transistor radio. She then started practicing on a hoop put up on her family’s barn. Lorenzen said when she was going after the scoring record, everything was “a blur of activity”. She said she appreciated having a support system around her to keep her focused on winning another game en route to her real goal of winning a state championship. She recalls feeling relieved when she set the scoring record. “It’s over,” she said. “Setting the record was never, ever a focus for me. In fact, it isolated me into just a name. [But] if setting the record gave the six-player game more publicity, that was good.” Winning the 1987 Girls State basketball title was clearly the highlight of her basketball career, even more so than setting the all-time scoring record. When asked how that moment felt, all Lorenzen could say “wow!” over and over. After graduating from Ventura, Lorenzen went on to play at Iowa State from 1987-91, leading the Cyclones in scoring during her senior season. She also SportsSpotlight.com
toured what was then-Czechoslovakia as part of a Big Eight select team. Her path took a different turn, however, when she had an opportunity to study abroad in Spain. After a short stint, Lorenzen returned to the U.S. and began her teaching career in Illinois. Eventually, she relocated to Alaska, where she met her future husband, Richard Ward. The Wards moved to Coos Bay, Oregon in 1998 and have lived there ever since. Lynne taught parenting classes for twelve years, dealing with neglect and abuse within families. However, she has now taken on another challenge involving an issue which has become a firestorm during the past year. Lorenzen is working as a co-facilitator at the Women’s Safety Resource Center in Coos Bay. She is involved with the Men’s Batters Intervention Program which is divided into two groups. Lorenzen teaches a 36-week class entitled “men’s alternative to violence”, which is mandatory for those convicted of domestic violence. She also teaches a 16-week curriculum entitled “men’s building relationships”, a volunteer class for those men who want to improve their relationships in all phases of their lives, both personal and professional. Lorenzen, who graduated with a degree in education from Iowa State, said she gained experience and was prepared to work with those who commit violence within the home when she worked at the Shutter Creek Correctional Institution SportsSpotlight.com
in Coos Bay from 1998-2001. “It was a military boot camp style facility modeled after the Attica prison in New York”, she said. “The camp was designed to help people through the Summit Program (Success Using Motivation Morale, Intensity and Treatment).” Lorenzen said her goal is to be able to bring love and joy to others. “When you are raised in Iowa, you are surrounded by love and community,” she said. “You realize life is not the same when you get outside of Iowa. I just want to help people and lift them up.” Lorenzen looks back fondly at her time spent in Iowa playing basketball. “It was an opportunity to find and express love,” she remembered. “I was part of something amazing. It was a way for the community to show how much love it had for one another. Meanwhile, the entire state truly embraced the sport. There were kids out there living their dreams. It was an amazing opportunity to experience goodness.” It’s been 27 years since Lynne Lorenzen’s miraculous run to the top of the high school scoring charts. However, she continues to spread “goodness and joy” even as she battles one of society’s toughest issues. Lorenzen has always been and will continue to be a winner, and someone of whom the state of Iowa can always be proud. Volume 3 Issue 5
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High School
NEWS AND NOTES Klostermann Goes Off
Dyersville Beckman may be sub-.500, but it’s not for lack of effort by senior Blair Klostermann. Klostermann, whose twin sister Brooke suffered a season-ending knee injury earlier this season, has been electrifying since the end of winter break. She scored 20 points or more in five of the Blazers’ first seven games of the new year, including two school record-breaking performances in back-to-back games. Klosterman scored 34 points against Mount Vernon on Jan. 9 and 38 points against Anamosa on Jan. 13. She shot 60 percent from the floor in those games, as well as 67 percent from behind the arc and 90 percent from the free throw line. She also averaged 8.5 rebounds, 4.5 steals and 3 assists in the two dominant performances.
from 3-point range, and both marks rank among state leaders in all classes.
Notre Dame Hunting Record
Burlington Notre Dame entered this season as the defending Class 1A state champs and the heavy favorite to repeat, but even the team might have had a hard time believing just how prolific they can be on offense. The Nikes were averaging 85.0 points per game as of Jan. 29, which is just .85 points per game off the single-season scoring record set by Cedar Falls in 1998-99. The Nikes boast six players who average at least 8.1 points per game, headlined by Taylor Hickey and Riley Killbride, who average 19.3 and 15.4 points per game, respectively. As a team, the Nikes have shot nearly 48 percent from the floor and 39 percent
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Burlington Notre Dame’s Taylor Hickey. (Photo by Tork Mason)
Big Performances in Big Meets
There was a pair of big tournaments on the weekend of Jan. 24, as both the Ed Winger Classic and John J. Harris Invitational took place in Urbandale and Corning, respectively. And there were some impressive performances at both events. Southeast Polk asserted its dominance in Class 3A at the Ed Winger, winning the event by a 40-point margin over defending state champion Bettendorf. The Rams posted a pair of champions in Zach Barnes at 126 pounds and Keegan Shaw at 138 pounds, as well as runner-up finishes in four other weight classes. Creston/Orient-Macksburg has been one of Class 2A’s more consistent programs over the years and, despite being unranked by The Predicament as of Jan. 29, the Panthers claimed their fourth-straight title at the John J. Harris. They dominated the field, winning by a 237-170.5 margin over New Hampton, and crowned five champions and a runner-up finish. Pella on Hot Streak Pella is coming off a state football title in 2014, and now the boys basketball team is playing as well as anyone in Class 3A. The 12-2 Little Dutch haven’t lost since Dec. 12 and own some impressive wins since that time. That includes an 89-48 drubbing of 11-4 Dallas Center-Grimes. Leading the charge is Isaac Naaktgeboren, who is averaging 17.1 points per game, and Will Warner, who averages 10.8 points per game and steers the ship at point guard. He’s among state leaders with 4.4 assists per game.
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