What a start to the 2023 season for the Ridge View football squad! The Raptors traveled to Akron-Westfield for their season opener and came home victorious, edging the Westerners 7-6 in a defensive battle.
The contest stayed scoreless for most of the first half. Then, with seconds remaining until halftime, Ridge View quarterback Blake Myrtue found Asher Endrulat in the endzone for a 12-yard touchdown pass, and the Raptors took a 7-0 lead into the break.
The Ridge View cross country squads braved the heat to participate in the Deb Hankens Cross Country Meet in Cherokee on Thursday. In girls results, Jaycie Vohs captured 2nd place out of 29 runners with a time of 22:24.01. Teammate Addy Tesch was close behind in 5th place with a time of 23:15.13. Regan Ruble finished 12th in a time of 26:00.65. Kinzie Hagen turned in a time of 30:28.05, while Xaria Rojas clocked in at 31:29.39. Molly Reisz and Tess Pacza were close behind with times of 35:05.11 and 35:27.74.
The OABCIG football squad has some big shoes to fill this fall. Lost to graduation is a talented group of seniors who advanced to the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls last season. Coach Larry Allen and his staff are looking for some returning athletes to step up and play bigger roles this season. Allen shared his thoughts on replacing last year’s seniors.
Ridge View football co-head coach Brian Bode listed the Raptors’ returning starters from last year’s team, which sported a record of 4-5 overall and 2-2 in the district. Returning starters include OL - Cayden Clausen (All district last year), OL - Kody Jacobson, WR - Asher Endrulat, WR - Isaac Goettsch, DL - Cayden Clausen, DB - Zach Kolpin, DB - Ethan Mason, LB - Asher Endrulat, LB - Gavin Vohs (who will also play running back), and LB - Austin Wood (who will play some offensive line this year too.
The Ridge View volleyball team enters the 2023 season at #7 in Iowa’s Class 2A preseason rankings. The Raptors, who finished with a record of 30-8 last season, return a talented group of players from that squad. Ridge View did lose some fine seniors to graduation in Kiara Dutler, Beth Mentzer, Chloe Gottschalk and Shania Graybill.
Raptors coach Monica Brandhorst listed her returning players.
The OABCIG Cross Country runners are ready to hit the trail once again this fall. The Falcons lost some good competitors from last year’s squad, but have some determined young runners ready to step up. The team is made up of five boys and seven girls, including two seniors, two juniors, four sophomores, and four freshmen. Cross Country Coach Caleb Wood talked about who the team lost to graduation.
Raptors Cross Country coach Katie Tesch has a strong group of runners back for the 2023 season. Tesch, who is assisted by coach Chance Downs, has returning letterwinners on the girls team in seniors Kinzie Hagen, Tess Pacza, Molly Reiss, Madison Stowater, and Jaycie Vohs, junior Xaria Rojas, and sophomore Addy Tesch.
Returning letterwinners for the boys are seniors Adrian Altena and Matthew Forristal, junior Brody Bisenius, and sophomores Odin Hanson and Tristan Werner.
The Falcon volleyball team lost some quality athletes to graduation, but head coach Holly Conover has some good players ready to fill their shoes. OABCIG has 38 girls out for volleyball this year - eight seniors, eight juniors, nine sophomores, and 13 freshmen.
“We lost five seniors from our squad last year,” said Conover, “and all were starters. We do have five letterwinners from last year that saw a lot of playing time; Karter Hemer, Olivia Schroeder, Kylie Schluter, Josilynn Pritchard, and Abby Winterrowd.”
The Western Valley Conference has released its 1st and 2nd team honorees for baseball and softball. In baseball, 1st team honors went to OABCIG junior Myles Beck, Ridge View seniors Cael Myrtue and Caden Biede, and Ridge View freshmen Blake Myrtue and Kinnick Jensen. Named to the 2nd team were Falcons senior Treyten Kolar, sophomore Brysen Kolar, and eighth-grader Jaxx DeJean. Raptors senior Tracin Price and freshman Owen Worthan also earned 2nd team honors.
The Falcon softball squad couldn’t have asked for a better start to their Class 3A opening round playoff game at Southeast Valley, as Abby Winterrowd stepped to the plate and blasted a solo home run. The 1-0 lead was short-lived, however, as the Jaguars plated four runs in their half of the inning to reclaim the lead at 4-1. In the second inning, Southeast Valley took control of the game, scoring eight runs to build a 12-1 advantage. OABCIG kept battling, scoring three times in the third inning to cut into the lead at 12-4.
