Sports

Facing a second consecutive State Play-Off team from last season in another road contest Friday, September 1, the Kee football team once again paid little heed to anything its opponent had accomplished in previous years and continued to prove what it can do this year. Getting a full taste of just what this year’s grid Hawks can do in Friday’s Eight-Player District 3 opener was a Turkey Valley host squad the Hawks have plenty of grid iron history with, including some classic State Play-Off battles, as the two teams waged war to what turned out to be a 68-56 Kee triumph.

The Hawks are scheduled to play their first home game of the season when they remain in Eight-Player District 3 to host Waterloo Christian in a rare Thursday evening contest September 7. The Regents are in their first year of eight-player football and have opened their 2023 campaign with consecutive losses, 57-14 at Springville and 44-39 at West Central this past Thursday, August 31.

Dan Mohn of Lansing caught a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 15 ounces Saturday, August 19 to win the Major League Fishing (MLF) Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) presented by T-H Marine on the Mississippi River at Prairie du Chien, WI. The tournament was the fourth event of the season for the BFL Great Lakes Division. Mohn, who had also won a BFL tournament at Prairie du Chien, WI five years ago to the day, earned $4,514 for his most recent victory.

“I locked up to Pool 9 with a big group,” said Mohn. “I ran around to a bunch of different spots and caught two early and just chipped away and kept culling. I added three others that I weighed throughout the day.”

September 23 ceremony will honor one of the fiercest defenders to wear a Kohawk football uniform

The Coe College Athletic Hall of Fame committee has announced its 2023 Hall of Fame class and among those honored former Kohawk athletes is 2008 Waukon High School graduate Frank Weymiller. He will be one of five Coe stand-out athletes who will be inducted into the Coe College Athletic Hall of Fame during Homecoming weekend Saturday, September 23 in Cedar Rapids.

n addition to Weymiller, the 51st Hall of Fame class for Coe College Athletics includes Nick LeClere, a Kohawk wrestler who graduated in 2012; Ashlee Simon Rush, who played softball for Coe and is a 2012 graduate; Keelie Finnel Schroeder, a 2012 graduate and Kohawk track & field and cross country athlete; and baseball player Nick Stein, who graduated in 2013.

The Waukon volleyball team opened its 2023 season with a split of its first two matches of this fall, coming up just a bit shy in a comeback effort on the road before taking care of business at home against two early-season non-conference foes. The Lady Indians first fell at North Fayette Valley in West Union Tuesday, August 22 in a five-set marathon before sweeping through Postville at home in three straight sets Thursday, August 24.

The Indians were next scheduled to host both Riceville and Kee Monday, August 28 before playing in another multiple team event at South Winneshiek Thursday, August 31. The net Tribe will then travel to Waverly-Shell Rock Tuesday, September 5 before playing in the Kepros Tournament hosted by Crestwood High School in Cresco Saturday, September 9.

The 2023 Waukon football team will have an overall young look to it, as the program will have to overcome the graduation of nearly two dozen seniors from last fall’s squad that played to a 6-4 season record, a fifth consecutive undefeated Class 2A District championship and a sixth consecutive qualification for the Class 2A State Play-Offs. A group of just eight players with letterwinning experience return to lead an overall collection of 52 players working to try and extend those streaks this fall.

Those eight returning veterans include the senior half-dozen of Brody Berns, Jacob Courtney, Isaac Ericson, Dylan Hogan, Kole McCormick and Jack O’Neill. The junior pair of Graine Curtin and Carson Hager also return as underclassman veterans who gained letterwinning experience last fall.

The 2023 Kee football team will have half of its players returning with varsity letterwinning experience from last season’s result of a 2-6 overall record. Eleven of this season’s 22 players return from that squad that battled through injury and other challenges to also piece together a 1-4 mark in Eight-Player District 5.

“We return a nucleus of junior and senior guys that have been tossed into the fire and had to grow up quickly,” Kee football coach Chad Winters said. “Hopefully that experience they gained last year will be beneficial for us on both sides of the ball. We return four of our top six tacklers, our starting QB, and two of our top three receiving threats from a year ago.”

A number of new faces will be featured within the 2023 Waukon volleyball campaign this fall, including at the very top of that totem pole as 2018 Waukon High School graduate Carley Sweeney takes over the head coaching reins of the Tribe’s net program. Greeting Coach Sweeney in her debut season will be a number of new varsity faces this season, as just three letterwinners return from last fall’s 16-19 season result.

Sweeney played her senior season with the volleyball Indians in 2017, one of the three sports she participated in for the Tribe during her high school career. Since then she has been a volunteer assistant coach for the Waukon volleyball, girls basketball and golf programs.

The three varsity veterans headlining this season’s experience include the senior pair of Kloe Hemmersbach and Lynsey Houg, along with sophomore Willa Troendle. Each of them will provide their own bit of leadership to this season’s team, according to Coach Sweeney.

The 2023 Waukon girls cross country season will not only benefit from returning nearly all of its competitors from last season but will also have the added bonus of fielding its largest participation numbers in more than a decade as the Lady Indians take to the course this fall. Having graduated just one senior from last season’s squad, head coach Tyler Scholl has welcomed 30 young ladies so far to this fall’s early-season practices.

“We have the largest group of kids out for girls cross country within the last 10 years,” Coach Scholl explained. “It’s been fun seeing 30 girls in grades 7-12 out for the sport and seeing how the team continues to mature and grow because of our leadership from the upperclassmen. We have new runners on our squad that have put in the work this summer and proved they can run on the heels of our veterans. Our freshman class will have a significant impact on our squad and I’m excited to see them grow into the sport.”

The Kee cross country program will field two teams heading in opposite directions for 2023, as far as participation numbers. The Lady Hawks have had their squad dwindle to just one runner this season, while the Kee boys should be able to consistently tally a team score as their participation has grown to six athletes this fall.

“We had a good first week of practice,” Kee cross country coach Pat Wagner said. “All the athletes came in physically fit and all seven of them did good work.  I am looking forward to our season.”

The Hawks were scheduled to get their 2023 season underway at the Edgewood-Colesburg Invitational Tuesday, August 22 before wrapping up the month of August at the MFL/MarMac Invitational Thursday, August 31. The month of September will open with two meets in the first week of that month, beginning with the Clayton Ridge Invitational at Guttenberg Tuesday, September 5 and then the Luther Invitational in Decorah Saturday, September 9.

Those involved with the 2023 Waukon Men’s Invitational Golf Tournament held July 29-30 at the Waukon Golf & Country Club say this year’s tournament will be one of the most memorable for a number of reasons. Several feats of notoriety made this year’s tournament stand out, including some scoring records, a couple hole-in-one feats and a new generation being adding to the championship plaque.

Owen Sawyer, a graduate of Cedar Falls High School this past spring who was playing in the event for the first time, won the tournament by shooting a 65 in Round 1 and following that tally with what is believed to be a tournament record 59 in Round 2. His back 9 score of 28 is believed to have tied a course record as well.