2024 MV Times-News Top-10 Sports Moments
by Matt Gengler, Sports Editor
sports@missourivalleytimes.com
My, Oh My, Time really does fly when we’re having this much fun. It’s once again time to take a look back at the 2024 MV Times-News sports pages, seeing what the student-athletes and coaches gave us a chance to write and photograph their favorite moments.
This is always a fun project to look back, sit around, and try to limit it to just the top-10 spots. Many say I should expand the list, I’ve thought about it, but it still remains 10 at this point.
Hoping you are enjoying the time with family and friends this holiday season, as Looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish in 2025.
xxxxxx
10) Running with the Best in Fort Dodge, State Cross Country, 2024:
It was another banner year for the area high school cross country squads, as both teams and individuals proved they belonged with the state’s best in Fort Dodge. Missouri Valley’s senior twin-tandem of Aiden and Xavier Rangel, and Lo-Ma’s Brodie Davis made their first state appearance.
Woodbine boys made their 25th appearance in school history, picking up their third straight Class 1A, Third place state finish. Individually, Woodbine’s Gunner Wagner earned State Runner-Up honors.
Logan-Magnolia’s girls made their eighth state appearance in school history, including their seventh since 2017. Seniors Ava Rowe, Ava Worley, Madison Sporrer and Haedyn Hall have been three-time state qualifyers in the past four seasons.
Woodbine’s Gunner Wagner, Adyson Lapel, and Logan-Magnolia’s Madison Sporrer finished their prep careers as four-time individual state cross country qualifyers.
9) Bucketmakers, 1,000 point scorers, School Career Leading Scorers:
If one of these four shot the ball the last four winter seasons, there was a 99% chance it was going in. Missouri Valley’s Brody Lager (3rd, 1,153 career points), West Harrison’s Maclayn Houston (5th, 1,328 career points), and Woodbine’s Charlie Pryor (1st, 1,096 career points, through March, 2024) became their school’s career leading scorers. Woodbine’s Carter Gruver (10th, 1,158 career points through March, 2024) also reached the 1,000 point career milestone, and is closing in on the Woodbine career scoring mark.
8) Area flexes muscle at 2024 State Wrestling Championships:
A total of 14 individuals finished their season at Well Fargo Arena. Missouri Valley (6 state qualifyers), was paced by Eli Becerra, who capped his outstanding career with his fourth state medal and over 150 career wins. Logan-Magnolia (7 state qualifyers) freshman Crosby Yoder found a way to the Saturday night awards stand with a sixth place finish. Woodbine’s Brenner Sullivan became the Tigers’ first state qualifyer since 2018. Footnote: The Woodbine Youth Wrestling Tournament held every January was changed to the Ron Meeker Wrestling Invite. Ronnie, an avid Tiger wrestling fan, tragically lost is life earlier this year. He was known for his smile, laugh and free ice cream after every match, win or lose. May he rest, peacefully.
7) Shining on the Diamonds, Summer Sports Recap:
Harrison County saw plenty of success on the diamonds this past summer, as five of the six area teams recorded winning records. Woodbine Baseball (22-4, District Final), Logan-Magnolia (19-8, Second Round) and Missouri Valley (9-14, District Semifinal) displayed a ton of improvement throughout the season.
Missouri Valley (22-8, Regional Semifinal), Woodbine (17-4, First Round) and Logan-Magnolia (15-10, Regional Semifinal) were dominant on the softball fields as well.
Footnote: West Harrison baseball shared with Missouri Valley; West Harrison softball shared with Logan-Magnolia.
6) Blitzing the Blue – State Track Recap
Harrison County sent 41 individuals to the Jim Duncan Track inside Drake Stadium. Missouri Valley’s Chris Dworak earned a third place finish in the Class 2A, 200 m dash, in his first appearance in Des Moines. Woodbine’s Adyson Lapel (8th place, 3000 m run) and Amanda Newton (5th place, shot put) also finished with state medals. Lo-Ma’s Will Anderson, who made his second appearance at the Drake Relays in April, picked up a sixth place finish in the Class 1A, 100 m dash.
5) MV Girls Soccer, 1st Winning Season in School History
Missouri Valley’s girls soccer team posted their first winning season (7-6) since it began the program (Spring, 2012). There were a total of 21 new single match, single season and career school records broken. Some team records include wins (7), winning streak (4), goals scored (56), assists (53), and fewest goals allowed (40). Some individual career records include Most Goals (Brooklyn Lange, 32), Most Assists (Devon Koyle, 24); Most Shots Taken (Brooklyn Lange, 242); and Most Shots on Goal (Brooklyn Lange, 137).
4) Woodbine Boys BB, first state trip since 1995-96 season
Woodbine boys (23-3) completed a magical run as they finished off the 2023-24 campaign, winning 11 of their last 12 games entering the post season. After a dominant opening round win, the Tigers edged Tri-Center (51-49), picked up a win over Exira/EHK (56-49) in the district final, as the Spartans swept the Tigers during the regular season. The Tigers captured their first trip to the Class 1A State Boys Basketball Championships with an upset over Class 1A, #2 Madrid (66-63) to earn their first trip to Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines since 1996. The Tigers gave eventual Class 1A State Champion, North Linn, their best game of the state tournament.
3) Woodbine Boys Track, State Runner-Up
It was another impressive effort by the Tigers at the State Level, this time, as Woodbine captured the Class 1A State Runner-Up honors during the State Track Championships in Des Moines. Head Coach Ryan Coenen’s squad was deep and talented this past spring, led by three-time state champion Landon Bendgen (800 m, 1600 m, 3200 m runs). The Tigers qualified in eight events, with four of them landing top-10 finishes. State medalist honors went to Gunner Wagner (3rd place, 3200 m run), and Landon Blum (5th place, high jump), as well as the state runner-up distance medley relay team (Adam Barry, Blum, Brody Pryor, Bendgen). Woodbine’s Adyson Lapel (8th place, 3000 m run) and Amanda Newton (5th place, shot put) also collected state medalist honors.
State Track also featured several individuals who earned state medalist honors (top-eight finish in their event), including Logan-Magnola’s Will Anderson (6th place, 100 m dash) and Missouri Valley’s Chris Dworak (3rd place, 200 m dash). Both Lo-Ma’s Will Anderson (2023, 2024) and Woodbine’s Landon Bendgen earned spots in the coveted 2024 Drake Relays (April, 2024).
2) LoMa’s Corbin Reisz captures State Title:
Logan-Magnolia’s Corbin Reisz earned his third state medal at the 2024 State Wrestling Championships, but this medal meant more. After earning two straight third place medals (2022, 2023), he finished off the ultimate dream by capturing the 2024 State Championship. He had one pin, and won three decisions on his way to a perfect 47-0 season. The Reisz family is known to finish strong in Des Moines, as Briar (four-time state finalists), Wyatt (three-time state champion) and Corbin (three-time state medalist, first state title) have finished on Saturday night, with their dad/coach (Doug) in their corner. Corbin picked up his 150th career win in early December.
OK, now for the pointless paragraph, as I know I can say just about anything here, as most have already skipped over this space-filler, looking to see what the top-story was for 2024. In my eyes, it was a pretty easy choice, and really, there was no debate.
1) MV’s Nicole Olson pins down State Championship:
This was an easy choice, as it was know since the first week of February, 2024. Missouri Valley senior standout Nicole Olson, a two-time state qualifyer, had only one goal during her final prep campaign, saying, ‘Im going to get whats mine’. She turned her State Championship Dreams into reality with an unmatched dominating two-day performance in Coralville. She registered five pins enroute to a 43-1 record, finishing her high school career with over 120 career wins, and capturing the school’s first girls state championship.
