With spring sports getting under way and the final grip of winter-like weather — people are hoping — this is a chance to give one last look to the Iola High winter sports seasons.
It was a season of winning at home, a late run and three-point shooting for Iola High’s Fillies. The 2010-2011 IHS girls’ basketball team posted the third-best ever three-point shooting percentage as a team.
The Iola High Mustangs had a tough go on the basketball court. They came close in ball games but only notched one win on the season. But the Mustangs were young, playing the 2010-2011 season with just one senior.
Iola High’s wrestling team put together a historic season in 2010-2011. The Mustangs had their first ever Kansas Class 4A regional individual champion wrestler, qualified three for the 4A state tournament plus had their first-ever undefeated wrestlers in Southeast Kansas League matches.
Iola High’s basketball and wrestling athletes warmed up a cold winter with strong performances throughout the season.
Fillies Basketball
The Fillies were undefeated at home in the regular season. The only loss at home was in the opening round of Class 4A substate play to Fort Scott.
The Fillies began Southeast Kansas League play 0-2 and ended up 5-3. They won five straight league games, ending up tied for third. They finished 11-10 overall.
Junior Kelsey Larson was named All-SEK first-team and junior Kendra Taiclet was All-SEK second team. The two juniors earned All-Class 4A honorable mention.
Taiclet led the team in scoring with 226 points, which put her 40th on the IHS girls’ season-scoring list. Taiclet scored 26 points against Columbus and 20 against Baldwin which put her tied for sixth on the most points in a game and tied for 12th, respectively.
Taiclet also had the best-ever three-point field goal shooting season by an individual. The Fillies had four players move into this list.
Taiclet shot from beyond the arc at a 45.4-percent clip. She hit 18 of 37 attempts from three-point range. She is tied for seventh in threes made in a season and 18th in threes attempted. She is eighth on the career threes-pointers list and 15th on career attempts from beyond the arc. Taiclet is 30th on the season rebounds after pulling down 114 this year.
Maggie Wilson, a senior guard, moved to second on the career three-point field goal percentage list at 37 percent. She was 8 of 21 on the season.
Senior Toni Taylor shot 28.3 percent from three-point range for her career, landing at sixth on the list. She and Taiclet each made three threes in a single game this season.
Taylor hit 15 of 52 threes this season. That puts her tied for eighth on threes made in a season and tied for ninth on attempts. She is 17 of 60 for her career.
Taylor scored 77 over her 91 career points this season. She finished her career with 50 rebounds 16 steals and 29 assists.
Senior Kayla Callahan was Iola’s second-leading scorer on the season with 162 points. She also pulled down 96 rebounds which pushed her career total to 231rebounds which is 23rd on the IHS list.
Larson fired in 141 points this year pushing her career total to 409, 24th on the all-time scoring list. She moved to 10th on the career assist list (195) and seventh on the career steals list (167).
Larson paced the Fillies in assists with 53 and steals with 69 this season. Larson had two games with seven steals each and two with six steals each. Wilson had two games with six steals each and Callahan had a six-steal game this season.
The Fillies were 57 of 168 from three-point range as a team, 33.93 percent. That’s the most made threes by a Fillies’ team. Larson made 10, Wilson had eight and senior Carly Mulsow had five threes to go along with Taiclet and Taylor.
Callahan finished her career with 309 points and 74 steals. Senior forward Kirstin McGuffin had 195 career rebounds after grabbing 94 this season. She scored 63 points to push her total to 109 and had 39 career steals and 34 assists.
Mulsow scored 58 of her career 64 points this season and 35 of her 45 rebounds.
Wilson ripped the cords for 102 points this season as she finished her career with 145 points and 88 steals — 44 came this season.
Mustang Basketball
Right in the middle of the long season, the Mustangs came up with a victory. The IHS boys broke a 17-game losing streak by beating Rossville 55-41 at the Burlington High Invitational on Jan. 21.
Unfortunately, the Mustangs weren’t able to put up another win the rest of the season, despite some close games. They were 1-20 overall and went 0-8 in SEK play.
Charles Apt was the lone senior on the squad. He was the team’s third-leading scorer with 113 points, plus had 52 rebounds and nine steals.
Apt sank 32 of 49 free throw attempts for the season for 65 percent. Apt ended his Mustang basketball career with 204 points and 122 rebounds.
Junior Jerrik Sigg led the Mustangs with 154 points. He cashed in on 53 of 80 free throws for 66 percent. Junior Braden Larson had 126 points and Christian Kauth, another junior, had 92 points.
Kauth shot 69 percent from the free-throw line, hitting 22 of 32. Larson was 24 of 43 for 56 percent.
Junior Clint Heffern shot 31 percent, 19 of 61, from three-point range. Sophomore Levi Ashmore hit 15 of 56 for 27 percent from behind the arc.
Ashmore led the Mustangs with 36 assists and 25 steals. Heffern had 33 assists and 21 steals while Sigg had 19 assists and 21 steals. The team had 128 steals for the season. Kauth made 18 steals.
Mustang Wrestling
Third year — three state qualifiers. Iola High’s wrestling program finished its third year of competition sending three wrest-lers to the 2011 Kansas Class 4A State Wrestling Tournament in February.
Iola had two state qualifiers last year in its first full year of varsity competition.
Seniors Marcus Sullivan and Lee Berg are “charter members” of the Mustang wrestling team. Both finished a three-year run on the wrestling mat this season.
Sullivan became Iola’s first 4A regional champion, winning the 160-pound weight class title. That earned his second straight trip to the state tournament, where he won a first-round match and then lost his next two matches, finishing 29-4.
Sullivan finished his three years of wrestling at 66-19 in varsity action. He was 20-4 in junior varsity matches as a sophomore and 6-6 in varsity.
Sullivan led the 2010-2011 wrestling team in takedowns with 74 and three-point near falls with 19. He recorded 10 major decisions, which was tops for the Mustangs. He was second in victories with 29 and first in team points scored with 1451⁄2 points.
Berg was the Mustangs’ 130-pound wrestler and went 14-14 this season. Berg recorded six two-point near falls, which was fifth on the team.
Berg scored 64 team points, which was fifth on the team. Berg finished his career at 23-39. He was 11-17 in junior varsity action as a sophomore.
Drew Shepherd was the other senior on the team but was sidelined most of the year with injuries. He was 3-6 as the team’s 171-pound wrestler. He wrestled two years with a 15-24 mark.
Sophomore Stephen McDonald led the team in wins and pins this season. McDonald went 32-16 in the 189-pound weight class. He won 23 matches by pins and six by point decisions, which was most for the team.
McDonald was third on the team in escapes while junior Devin Culler at 152 pounds led the team with 45 escapes.
McDonald was second in team points scored with 134, second in reversals with 22 and fourth in takedowns with 31.
McDonald became Iola High’s first-ever wrestler to go 8-0 in Southeast Kansas League matches. Sullivan was 6-0 this year and freshman Mike Armstrong went 7-1 in SEK action at 119 pounds.
All three qualified for the state wrestling tournament. Sullivan and Armstrong, who was 24-19 overall, earned All-SEK first-team honors while McDonald took honorable mention.
Freshman Cody Conner, 125 pounds, led the team in two-point near falls with nine. Freshman Bryce Misenhelter, 160, was the team’s leader in reversals with 26.
