PELLA — Junior forward Ryan Kunkel (Solon) notched his third consecutive double-double Saturday in a 78-58 win over Wis.-La Crosse.

Kunkel scored 10 points and brought down 11 rebounds in the contest, bringing his season averages to 12.3 points and 10.5 boards.

“Ryan is off to a great start this season,” coach Craig Douma said. “He’s all in for us right now and it’s fun to see that pay off for him.”

Kunkel added four blocks and now has 18 in six games.

“Ryan’s biggest attribute to this team right now is his defense,” Douma said. “He changes so many shots and causes other teams to miss because of his presence inside.”

The Dutch (6-1) held Wis.-La Crosse (3-5) to 33 percent shooting, including 22 percent in the first half, and forced 13 turnovers.

“I’m really pleased with the defensive effort tonight,” Douma said. “We played really good defensive basketball for 40 minutes.”

Central led 37-18 at halftime but knew better than to let up after seeing a 19-point lead slip away in its previous game.

“We were very cautious in talking about the last game,” Douma said. “Our team had a different mentality coming out of the break this time and did a great job executing the game plan down the stretch.”

Central assisted on 18 of its 25 made shots and had four players score in double figures.

“We played unselfish basketball tonight,” Douma said. “We kept making the extra pass to get more open looks and it paid off.”

Junior forward Colby Taylor (Creston) led the Dutch with 18 points, adding nine rebounds and two assists.

The first big man off the bench for Central was junior forward Austin Glawe (Aurelia/Sioux Central HS), notching 12 points.

“We have a really good combination at the five spot right now,” Douma said. “Glawe and Kunkel have different strengths and play a completely different style and its working. That inside play is important to us and that’s why we are off to a good start.”

Junior guard Pete Walker (Red Oak) notched a career-high 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including a perfect 2-for-2 from behind the arc.

“Pete did a good job getting some transition baskets,” Douma said. “We need Pete to continue to play at this level for us to be successful.”

Douma knows now is not the time to settle.

“Our confidence is on the rise but we have to keep getting better,” he said. “We can’t relax. We are going to keep working.”

The Dutch will take the court Tuesday for a 7 p.m. tilt at P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium with Westminster (Mo.). Central defeated the Blue Jays 91-68 in Missouri last season. A video webcast and live stats will be available at www.central.edu/athletics.

“We will have to come out with a good defensive mindset and try to keep the tempo in our favor if we want to win,” Douma said.

Story provided by Sports Information Office|

Pella–All of that preseason training paid off big dividends for the William Penn track and field teams as they opened the indoor campaign at the Central Dutch Holiday PreviewSaturday.

The men were first out of 12 squads with 92 points, holding off Graceland by one point.  The women placed seventh out of 13 teams with 17 points, while Truman (Mo.) and Central Methodist (Mo.) shared the title with 98 points.

On the opening day of the season, three competitors locked up berths to nationals in four separate events.

Derek Seddon (Jr., Knoxville, Iowa, Physical Education) was the navy and gold’s trailblazer, finishing first in both the weight throw and shot put.  Seddon’s weight toss of 55-8 broke his old school record of 54-10.25 and eclipsed the NAIA’s automatic standard, while his shot put mark of 49-9.75 met the provisional-qualifying standard.

Cornelius McCastle (Jr., McKinney, Texas, Industrial Technology) also hit the ‘A’ standard in the high jump as his mark of 6-8.25 placed him first in the event.  Meaghan Foster (Sr., Centerville, Iowa, Physical Education) will join her male teammates in March in Johnson City, Tenn. as her runner-up throw of 42-5.5 in the shot put met the ‘B’ standard.

Foster was also fourth in the weight throw at 46-6.

Chris Gossett (Sr., Park Forest, Ill., Mechanical Engineering) was an event champion as well, winning the triple jump at 43-4.25.

Led by CJ Watts (Sr., Rockville, Md., Physical Education) and his second-place time of 1:24.87, four Statesmen were in the top 10 in the men’s 600-meter run.  Neiman Thompson (Sr., Rockville, Md., Physical Education) was fourth (1:25.48), Stepfon Williams (Jr., St. Louis, Mo., Industrial Technology) was fifth (1:25.67), and Charles Hurtwas sixth (1:25.86).

Three men were also high finishers in the 1,000-meter run with Payton Busch (Jr., Centerville, Iowa, Secondary Education) crossing the line in third (2:37.90), Zach Johnson(So., Decatur, Ill., Mechanical Engineering) in seventh (2:45.90), and Garrett Heckman (So., New Virginia, Iowa, Mechanical Engineering) in 10th (2:52.91).

Kalob Gist (Sr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Business Management) was runner-up to Seddon in the shot put at 45-7.75, while the 4×400-meter relay team claimed bronze with a time of 3:29.19.

Earl George collected a pair of strong showings, taking sixth in the long jump at 20-1 and 10th in the high jump at 5-8.75.

Markenson Charles (Jr., Lehigh Acres, Fla., Industrial Technology) headlined a list of other top-10 finishers as he was fifth in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.70 seconds.  Aaron Seddon (Jr., Knoxville, Iowa, Physical Education) took home sixth-place honors in the weight throw (43-7) and Ochaung Akway (Sr., St. Paul, Minn., Physical Education) was ninth in the 3,000-meter run (9:23.23).

Foster was not alone as a productive Statesmen female as Kristin Lastovka (Sr., Brooklyn, Iowa, Business Management) placed fifth in the shot put at 37-10 and Taylor Richardson (Fr., Oskaloosa, Iowa) finished ninth in the 300-meter run in 45.29 seconds.

Next Up: William Penn is off until after semester break, returning to action the weekend of January 15-16.  Some individuals will compete at the Wartburg Relays in Waverly on the 15th and some will compete at the Dubuque Sol Butler Classic in Dubuque on the 16th.

Story provided by Wade Steinlage

Scholar-Athlete Honor to Creeger

Oskaloosa–Ben Creeger (Sr., Phoenix, Ariz., Business Management) was honored for his excellence in the classroom as he was named a 2015 Daktronics-NAIA Men’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete Friday.

Creeger, who owned a 3.54 Grade Point Average entering this fall, joined a list of 382 men’s soccer players from within the NAIA to be awarded the laurel.

To be eligible for the award, athletes must be of at least junior academic standing, maintain a cumulative Grade Point Average of 3.5 or above on a 4.0 scale, and have attended the nominating institution for at least one full academic year.

For a complete list of all the NAIA Men’s Soccer Scholar-Athletes, go to http://www.naia.org/fls/27900/1NAIA/SportsInfo/Championships/2015MSoc/2015_MSoccer_SA.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=27900

Getz, Wills Tabbed for Scholar Accolades

Oskaloosa–Erika Getz (Sr., Parsons, Kan., Physical Education) and Shawni Wills (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Biology) were honored for their excellence in the classroom as they were named 2015 Daktronics-NAIA Volleyball Scholar-Athletes Friday.

The duo joined a list of 428 volleyball players from within the NAIA to be awarded the laurel.  Getz owned a 3.61 Grade Point Average entering this fall, while Wills was right up there as well with a 3.60 GPA.

To be eligible for the award, athletes must be of at least junior academic standing, maintain a cumulative Grade Point Average of 3.5 or above on a 4.0 scale, and have attended the nominating institution for at least one full academic year.

For a complete list of all the NAIA Volleyball Scholar-Athletes, go to http://naia.org/pdf9/4217406.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=27900

Story provided by Wade Steinlage

The Oskaloosa Indian Boys Swim Team traveled to Des Moines Lincoln high school to take on the Rail Splitters and the Newton/Pella squad.  Lincoln continued their unbeaten streak for the year and the crowd got to see Isaac Webb from Newton swim who is going to the University of Michigan to swim next year.  The Indians continued to show improvement as they are scoring more team points and continue to improve on their personal best times.  So far this year, they have managed to break 8 out of the 11 Indian swimming records from the last 2 years and the season is still young.

One of those records that was broken on the night was the 200 Medley Relay as the group of Jack Miller, Jarod Miller, Carter Huyser and Dawson Sarver swam a 1:57.21 to take third place and then they were followed by John Hammes, Nik Dykstra, Connor Swim and Colton Berg who swam a 2:06.04.

John Hammes was up next as he started the individual events as he swam the 200 Free in 2:27.09.

The 200 IM Event was next and Jack Miller broke an Indian record here with a time of 2:20.55 and earned a second place finish.  Dawson Sarver followed closely behind with a 2:22.72 and earned a 4^th place finish.

The Indians sent 7 swimmers into the 50 Free Event to see where they were at during the early part of the season.  Nik Dykstra led the Indians and earned a fourth place finish swimming a 25.35, Carter Huyser a 25.63, Connor Swim a 26.81, Ean Beenken 27.81, Colton Berg 27.86, Sam Carmichael a 30.96, and Jacob Spears a 32.30.  It will be interesting to see how much these swimmers improve their times by the end of the season.

The next race was the 100 Fly and Carter Huyser led the way here with a fourth place finish in a time of 1:05.81 and was followed by Connor Swim with a time of 1:12.25.

The 100 Free came next and the Indians put 4 swimmers into the race as Jarod Miller came away a fourth place finish with the best time for the Indians with a 59.17, and was followed by Nik Dykstra 59.80, Ean Beenken 1:03.26 and Colton Berg with a 1:05.81.

Next event was the 200 Free Relay and the Indians sent Jarod Miller, Colton Berg, Jacob Spears, and Dawson Sarver to the blocks and they came away with a 1:52.14.

The 100 Back was next and Jack Miller led the way here with a 1:04.85 for a 4^th place finish and was followed by John Hammes who had a 1:10.87.

The next event was the 100 Breast and it was a fun event to watch as Dawson Sarver was in a tight battle for first but just missed by .57 seconds as he swam a 1:07.83 for a second place finish and was followed by Jarod Miller with a 1:17.66.

The night was capped off with the 400 Free Relay as Connor Swim, Carter Huyser Nik Dykstra and Jack Miller went to the blocks and broke another school record with a time of 3:59.43.

PELLA — Central College women’s soccer goalkeeper Sydney Lunardi (junior, Bettendorf/Davenport Assumption HS) was named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Women’s NCAA Division III All-North Region third team Wednesday.

This is the third-consecutive season the Dutch put a player on the all-region squad. Lunardi follows Alayna Bailey in 2013 and Liz Daniels a year ago.

“Putting a player on the all-region team three years in a row says a lot about where our program is headed,” coach Mike Kobylinski said.

Lunardi, an all-Iowa Conference second-team selection this season, started 16 games for Central and played over 1,315 minutes in goal, notching three shutouts. Her 99 saves and .846 save percentage both ranked third in the league and she was named conference defensive player of the week twice.

“She has been a stalwart for us, not only this season, but since her freshman year,” Kobylinski said. “I’m absolutely delighted that she is receiving this award. She has been doing great things for this program and I couldn’t be more proud of her.”

The first-team all-conference selection in 2013 and 2014 has 293 career saves and her 7-6-1 record this year brings her career mark to 27-16-7. Lunardi was named the team’s Most Outstanding Newcomer as a freshman in 2013.

Kobylinski doesn’t take all the credit for Lunardi’s success in net.

“Our goalkeeper coach Russ Goodman has worked absolute wonders with our goalies,” he said. “He’s put players on all-conference teams before and this is his first goalie to be named all-region.”

Central (9-6-2 overall, 3-2-2 conference) grabbed the four-seed in the league tourney before bowing out in the quarterfinals.

Story provided by the Central Sports Information Department

In boys’ basketball scores from last night:

Centerville 57, Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 52

Chariton 88, Davis County 59

Keota 66, Belle Plaine 63

Lynnville-Sully 54, BGM 33

Montezuma 53, HLV 11

Newton 75, Boone 55

PCM 55, South Hamilton 54

Pella Christian 60, ADM 59

Pleasantville 82, Melcher-Dallas 22

Sigourney 67, Iowa Valley 34

Tipton 70, Mid-Prairie 40

Tri-County 54, English Valleys 44

Wayne 53, Twin Cedars 36

Winfield-Mount Union 51, Pekin 48 (OT)

We will be talking all things basketball and wrestling tonight on the debut of Winter Sports Weekly on 104.9 FM KBOE, 99.5 FM and AM 740 KMZN, the KBOE and KMZN mobile apps, and kboeradio.com and radiokmzn.com. Winter Sports Weekly will air at 6 PM every Wednesday night during the season, and there will be interviews involving wrestling and basketball coaches from several schools from around the area.

For tonight’s show, we’ll be previewing wrestling and girls and boys basketball around the area, and we’ll have interviews with Sigourney Wrestling Coach JJ Cooper, Moravia Girls basketball coach Clint Woodward, and Montezuma boys basketball coach Derek Schulte. That is Winter Sports Weekly, debuting tonight on the Mahaska Zone Network at 6 PM.

Tomorrow night, tune in for live wrestling coverage on 99.5 FM and AM 740 KMZN, the KMZN mobile app and radiokmzn.com as Jamie Brockman and Paul Foster will be in Victor to cover the quadrangular between host HLV, Sigourney, English Valleys and BGM. That will begin around 5:45 Thursday night.

Friday night is our first big Friday of basketball coverage, and it all begins with the Brown’s Shoe Fit Basketball Countdown at 5:30 PM on both KBOE and KMZN. George Henry will break down some of the matchups for the games on Friday night, which will lead right into both of our broadcasts. Jamie Brockman will be in New Sharon for the Mahaska Zone Network Game of the Week, a doubleheader between North Mahaska and Lynnville-Sully on KBOE. I will be in Knoxville as the Panthers host the Oskaloosa Indians for a doubleheader.

Finally, tune in on Saturday morning for another edition of the Fifth Quarter Show as we’ll break down the scores from Friday and talk more basketball at William Penn University. That begins at 8:30 AM on both KBOE and KMZN this Saturday morning.

Last night was the first doubleheader of the Oskaloosa basketball season on the Mahaska Zone Network, and there were two very different results for the Indian teams.

The girls team got the action started, and faced a Fairfield team that is ranked #5 in the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union rankings to start the season. They showed why, using their athleticism in the full-court press to force 33 Oskaloosa turnovers, including 26 steals that led to easy baskets, en route to a school record in a 103-43 victory. The 103 points is an all-time best in 5-on-5 basketball for the Trojan girls.

Oskaloosa was led by junior Alexis Westercamp, who had 14 points and 6 rebounds, although she was battling foul trouble throughout the game.

Fairfield had three players in double figures, led by sophomore Nicole Buch with 21 and junior Sami Fritz with 20. Oskaloosa is 0-2 to start the season.

In the boys’ game, Oskaloosa started very sluggish with a young and inexperienced group, trailing 17-11 after the first quarter. But in the second quarter, sophomore point guard Spencer Tucker caught fire, pouring in 12 points in the first half to help the Indians take a 31-24 lead into the locker room.

The second half was up and down, but Oskaloosa was able to make free throws down the stretch and hold off a late Fairfield rally to get a 58-54 victory in their first game of the season.

Four Indians were in double figures, led by Tucker who finished with 16. Wade Votroubek scored 13 for the Indians down low. Jack Moore finished strong with 12 after scoring only 2 points in the first half, plagued with foul trouble. Tanner DeKock finished with 10 for Osky.

The Indian defense held Jordan Reid to only 7 points, and zero after the first quarter. Reid was the leading scorer for the Trojans last season and put up 22 points against Osky last season in the opener. Freshman Austin Simpson led the way for Fairfield, scoring 20 points and grabbing 9 rebounds in his debut.

Oskaloosa is back in action Friday against Knoxville, in a game you can hear on 99.5 FM and AM 740 KMZN, the KMZN mobile app, and radiokmzn.com. Coverage starts with the Brown’s Shoe Fit Basketball Countdown at 5:30 PM Friday evening.

In other boys’ scores from last night, Moravia beat Tri-County 61-53, Keota fell to Lone Tree 68-63, Pella Christian took out West Marshall 71-36, and Twin Cedars got a win over Southeast Warren 68-44.

Girls basketball scores from around the state are not available at this time.

Oskaloosa–A tougher opponent entered Penn Gymnasium Saturday, but basically the same result was produced as the Statesmen men’s basketball team dominated Crossroads (Minn.) 123-75 in non-conference play.

For the second night in a row, seven players surpassed the double-digit mark for William Penn (8-1), which has now won eight-straight contests.  It is the fourth time this year, and the third-consecutive matchup, in which the Statesmen have scored over 100 points.

The hosts started slowly, playing even with Crossroads (0-8) at 2-2 through the first three minutes of action.  The navy and gold caught fire quickly thereafter with a 9-0 run and never led by less than nine points again.

William Penn was up 65-38 over the Knights at halftime and slowly pushed the advantage to as high as 48 points late in the matchup.

WPU outshot the Knights 59.0%-46.9% and held a 43-28 rebounding margin.  The home squad also forced 23 turnovers (14 by WPU), leading the victors to a 27-17 edge in points off mistakes.

Dondre Alexander (Jr., Iowa City, Iowa, Physical Education) was electric from the field, going 10-for-13 (6-for-9 3-PT) for a game-high 27 points.

All 10 Statesmen cagers who scored shot at least 50% from the field, including Steven Roundtree (Sr., Jacksonville, Fla., Physical Education) who was 7-for-9 for 18 points.  The senior also pulled down a game-best nine rebounds in addition to four steals.

Josh Caldwell (Sr., Denver, Colo., Physical Education) was next with 14 points, while Brady Burford (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) finished with 13.  The trio ofJessie Pernell (Sr., North Augusta, Ga., Physical Education), Antonio Levy (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education), and Shane Bosek (Sr., Lowry, Minn., Physical Education) were in double figures as well with 11 points each.

Pernell just missed a double-double with nine assists.  Charles Knowles (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) added nine points and Kevin Smith (Jr., Baltimore, Md., Physical Education) concluded the win with seven points.

WPU was 46.7% (14-for-30) from the perimeter and 77.3% (17-for-22) from the free-throw line.

Next Up: William Penn travels to Des Moines Wednesday to face Grand View in Heart of America Athletic Conference action at 7:30 p.m.

Story provided by Wade Steinlage

Clinton–The shots just would not fall for the William Penn women’s basketball team as it dropped a 61-50 non-conference decision to host Ashford as part of the Ashford Classic Sunday.

The Statesmen (3-5) made only 22.4% of their field goals, while the Saints (1-7) shot 37.5% on the afternoon.

Already trailing 13-10 after the first 10 minutes of play, WPU took it on the chin in the second quarter to fall behind 34-21 at halftime.

Despite winning the third (13-12) and fourth periods (16-15), the navy and gold could never get closer than a nine-point deficit in the second half.  The Statesmen were also outrebounded 38-36 and lost the free-throw battle (20-11 in made attempts).  The team’s lone saving grace was its ball control as it had just 13 turnovers compared to 17 for AU.

Vashti Nwagbaraocha (Fr., Milwaukee, Wis., Exercise Science) took advantage of numerous trips to the charity stripe, going 10-for-14 at the line en route to a team-high 16 points.  She also paced all participants with 13 rebounds in addition to two blocks and two steals.

Ashlee Harper (Sr., Los Angeles, Calif., Education) was also in double digits with 10 points, while Alyssa Phillips (Jr., Gurnee, Ill., Communications) added eight andKadejah Young (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn., Physical Education) posted four with three assists.

“We did not make shots tonight, but at least we attempted them from the outside,” Head Coach Willie Scott said.  “We now need to get our players to shoot with confidence.  Ashford’s 2-3 zone was very effective against us.  Our strength is in the blocks and we have to make shots on the perimeter and did not do that.”

Next Up: William Penn travels to Des Moines Wednesday to face Grand View in Heart of America Athletic Conference action at 5:30 p.m.

Story provided by Wade Steinlage

Oskaloosa–Paced by six individuals on the first team, the Statesmen football program was rewarded handsomely as the 2015 all-Heart of America Athletic Conference North Division teams were announced Wednesday.

A total of 15 members of the navy and gold were honored, including six on the first team, six on the second squad, and three on the honorable-mention list.  Seven players collected their first recognition.

WPU Offensive Coordinator Chris Stutzriem also took home honors by being named Heart North Assistant Coach of the Year.  Grand View claimed the rest of the top accolades as quarterback Derek Fulton was named North Offensive Player of the Year, lineman Mike Erpelding was Defensive POY, and Mike Woodley was Coach of the Year.

Stutzriem guided the Statesmen (7-4, 3-2 North) to one of the program’s best offensive campaigns ever, including leading the NAIA with 352.2 rushing yards per game.

(Note: Any previous honors by William Penn athletes came in its time in the MSFA Midwest League)

First Team

Despite playing in the run-oriented offensive scheme, wide receiver Jatavius Stewart (Sr., Rock Hill, S.C., Biology) had a superb year.  The now two-time first-teamer, Stewart caught 28 passes for 660 yards and nine touchdowns–all team highs.  He was once named a Heart Offensive Player of the Week.

Senior offensive linemen Hea Tuifua (Salt Lake City, Utah, Industrial Technology) and J.T. Dotson (Jenks, Okla., Business Management) headlined the men in the offensive trenches; they helped the Statesmen average 37.5 points and 448.1 yards per game.  Tuifua’s award is his third (second time on the first team), while Dotson is lauded for the second time (first nod on the top squad).

Defensive lineman Hunter Barry (Jr., Morris, Ill., Physical Education) joined Stewart and Tuifua with his second selection to the first team.  Barry notched 27 tackles (10 solos, 17 assists), including 3.5 for a loss.  He sacked the opposing quarterback twice and forced a fumble.

Seniors Isaac Samek (Bolivar, Mo., Industrial Technology) and Kevin Shrauger (Nixa, Mo., Physical Education) represented the linebacking corps as they returned to the all-conference teams; both are on the first team for the first time.  Samek, who ends his career as a three-time pick, topped WPU with 86 tackles (46 solos, 40 assists) (six for loss), one sack, three interceptions, and two pass breakups.  A two-time honoree (first time on the best group), Shrauger finished 2015 with 74 tackles (26 solos, 54 assists) (9.5 for loss) in addition to two sacks, a pick, and two pass breakups.

Second Team

Quarterback Tyler Hafner (Sr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Communications) put up the best numbers on the offensive side, recording team highs in rushing (742 yards, 13 touchdowns) and passing (909 yards, 11 TDs).  The signal-caller was a one-time Heart Offensive POW.

Running back Nathan Tvedt (Sr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Business Management) led four other Statesmen who garnered their first accolades.  Tvedt notched 410 yards and four scores in the WPU running game.

Kalob Gist (Sr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Business Management) was a versatile offensive lineman, starting at both the left tackle and left guard position this fall.

Cornerback Antonio Brown (Jr., Midwest City, Okla., Undecided) and punter Aaron Allen (Jr., Bolivar, Mo., Secondary Education) were also second-team picks.  Brown posted 41 stops (29 solos, 12 assists) (1.5 for loss) and tied for the squad lead with four interceptions (four pass breakups as well).  Allen punted 38 times for an average of 34.5 yards (long of 63).

Stewart doubled his awards season fun as a second-team Athlete.  In addition to his receiving success, he also rushed for 70 yards (four TDs) and had 457 return yards (431 on kickoffs, 26 on punts).

Honorable Mention

Jarrett Rogers (Sr., Ozark, Mo., Business Management), who is a first-time honoree, gave William Penn its the fourth offensive lineman on the postseason teams, while on the other side of the ball, defensive linemen Taylan Ybarra (Sr., Wellington, Kan., Education) and Clayton Temaat (Sr., Alba, Mo., Industrial Technology) were also acknowledged.

Ybarra, selected for his first laurel, stopped 27 ball carriers (10 solos, 17 assists) (five for loss) along with 2.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries, a forced fumble, and a pass breakup.  Selected for his second career honor (both HMs), Temaat tallied 32 tackles (17 solos, 15 assists) (5.5 for loss), one sack, and two pass breakups.

For a complete list of the all-North Heart teams, go to http://www.haacsports.com/d/2015-16/2015%20All%20HeartNorth.pdf

Story provided by Wade Steinlage