The winter athletic season is officially over for Waterloo West. We experienced some of the highest highs and lowest lows throughout the season, with some unforgettable moments. Let’s go over some of the most memorable moments we witnessed this winter.
To start things off, the West High boys’ bowling team was looking to capture a state championship early in the season, as it has seemingly become tradition to make a push. While things didn’t go exactly to plan, a loss to Cedar Rapids Kennedy would be the first and last of the regular season. After that moment, the team didn’t look back, putting on cruise control while steamrolling opponents. The state championship didn’t quite go according to plan, with the Wahawks claiming runner-up for the second consecutive year out of their last four state championship appearances.
The girls’ team also aimed for a state championship with their recent success, but suffered a similar fate with a heartbreaking loss, finishing fourth at the state championship. The boys and girls seasons were eerily similar, both claiming a 9-1 record while sitting atop the conference, with that singular loss being to Kennedy.
Up next, the basketball season for both boys and girls teams went better than expected in some ways. Both teams finished with the exact same conference record at 5-9. While this may not look impressive at first glance, when looking at the Mississippi Valley Conference, you must realize that the conference is full of state competitors, and the boys have to deal with the undefeated number one-ranked Cedar Falls who won the state championship.
Speaking of the boys, they were highlighted for four of their players averaging ten plus points per game. The surprise of the season was freshman Pernell Grover, averaging 13.4 points per game in his debut season, along with sophomore Oliver Beckman making a statement leading the team in rebounds and blocks per game.
The girls’ team was quite different, with senior Nakia Ollivierre putting up amazing numbers, averaging 26 points per game and leading Class 5A. Even though the girls had a better overall record than the boys at 11-12, they only finished seventh in the conference. Senior Agum Matit improved significantly as she became the second-highest scorer this season, averaging 7.3 points per game.
The boys’ swim team was highlighted by freshman Simon Kline punching his ticket to state, where he competed in two events, the 100 butterfly, along with the 200 individual medley. Kline placed 25th in the 100 yard butterfly and 32nd in the individual medley.
The wrestling teams both competed at extremely high levels this year. The girls were set for a pretty average season but got hot at the right time winning their final six duels of the season. The girls wrestling team was highlighted by Daniesha Watson, a Senior from Waterloo East who fought her way through the state tournament as an underdog to win the class 2A state championship at 130 pounds.
The boys team would struggle early on due to some unfortunate circumstances where they suffered multiple injuries sidelining wrestlers. In similar fashion, the boys team picked up steam at substate, sending four wrestlers to the Class 3A state tournament. Junior Luke Lindaman at 144 lbs, Sophomore Perignon Holmes at 190 lbs, Sophomore Isaiah Shepard at 165 lbs and Freshman Pershavion Holmes at 285 lbs all competed in the state wrestling tournament, this was the most wrestlers to qualify from west in the past ten years.
With the end of the winter season the weather starts to warm up as we start to head outside for the upcoming spring season.
