Geography, Elite Competition Brings Out Top Iowa High School Rivalries
Feature Photo Cred: Sioux City Journal When it comes to rivalries, in Iowa you don’t have to travel far, especially with some of the smaller schools. Whether there are athletes who play on the same club team, or even participate…
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Continue ReadingFeature Photo Cred: Sioux City Journal
When it comes to rivalries, in Iowa you don’t have to travel far, especially with some of the smaller schools. Whether there are athletes who play on the same club team, or even participate in outside of school events together there is always going to be the fierce competition on court where they put the friendship aside for a couple of hours. Here are just a few that tend to end up being in big matches with plenty at stake whether it be for a conference title, a trip to the state tournament, or even a championship. For many of these teams, I would say there is much respect between all of them, they make each other better knowing the other teams are training to beat them. I also have to kudos to the IGHSAU and how they matchup some of these teams come postseason. In most states, very rarely teams from the same city or same county will have the chance to go to the state tournament or take a look at splitting up the top few teams and sending them different directions to get the most competitive state tournament possible. It would be a shame for the state to have Janesville and Tripoli play each other every year with one of them staying home or the unforgettable championship match of City High and West in 2011. Here are some of the top rivalries in the state.
Sioux County
It took me a couple RAGBRAI routes in Rock Valley, Sioux Center, and Orange City to truly understand how close some of these towns are in Sioux County. Some of the high schools in Sioux County have to be running out of trophy space. Hull Western Christian has always been top dogs, leader of the pack (no pun intended) with state titles stemming from one generation to the next, however Sheldon was able to dethrone the Wolfpack at the state tournament in 2010 after years of having to go through Western, Unity, or Sioux Center. MOC-Floyd Valley and Unity Christian, both out of Orange City have had post season battles in everysport for both girls and boys. MOC won a state title in 2013 with Alexis Conaway while Unity has been to state a multitude of times and a whole flury of state titles in the late 90s. This year Western Christian and Unity Christian are ranked in the top five of Class 2A, while MOC-Floyd Valley is ranked number 5 in 3A.
Sioux City Heelan and Sergeant Bluff – Luton
For years these teams have always had to beat one another to get to the state tournament. Sioux City Heelan has always been a perennial power and have made reservations for Cedar Rapids. However SBL has been coming on strong with a state runner-up appearance in 2018 and a number one ranking this season. They will once again be in the same region this year along with Le Mars who can be thrown into this same category where it’s usually a guarantee these teams will have to beat one another to get to the state tournament.
Ankeny, Ankeny Centennial, West Des Moines Valley
For the teams from Ankeny, the split of Ankeny High School and Ankeny Centennial is still relatively fresh. The metro area is growing extremely fast, but Ankeny High School behind coach Dave Whims was always the big team out of Central Iowa to compete for a state championship. Right now in Class 5A, Centennial is ranked 2nd, West Des Moines Valley 3rd (which Valley beat Centennial in the semifinals last year), and Ankeny 6th. All of these teams have multiple Division 1 players on them and luckily for the state, they will all be in separate regionals come tourney time.
Tripoli and Janesville
These two teams are about 20 miles apart and the number of state titles and tournament appearances are about the same. Tripoli kicked off their tradition with a run of titles in the early 2000s which dominated the decade and Janesville has been on fire the past few years. In the past ten years their hasn’t been a a state tournament without one of these teams here. This year Janesville is number one at 32-3 and Tripoli is 17-9 with a rigorous schedule. They will still be in different regions this fall and will both have a chance to stay away from each other until the state tournament if they were to advance.
NICL-East
In the North Iowa Cedar League – East Division there is Union, Waterloo Columbus, and Dike-New Hartford. Waterloo Columbus and Dike-New Hartford both won state titles last year while Union played Dike-New Hartford for a state title in 2016 with Dike coming out on top. For most small school conferences there may be one or two teams that are tough, but night in and night out you better come ready to play. Two years ago Hudson was a state runner-up, for years Sumner-Fred was always competing for state championships, and Wapsie Valley is always a tough out. On the other side of the league is Grundy Center who is currently the number one team in 2A.
West Delaware and Dyersville Beckman
This one goes way back, with both of these programs always having elite athletes and strong volleyball programs. I shouldn’t limit this to just volleyball, but overall their sports programs for boys and girls are very strong. This season Beckman is 35-2, ranked 2nd in 2A while West Delaware is 24-7 ranked 9th in 4A. West Delaware came on top this year, winning 15-11 in the 5th set.
The Cedar Valley
Cedar Falls seems to be the rival with everyone now, the Tigers who are in the top 20 in the nation haven’t dropped a set since September 16…of 2017. This all while playing in the tough Mississippi Valley Conference with schools out of the Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, and Dubuque area. Jefferson has come on strong the past couple years and always provides some fireworks when they play Dubuque Wahlert, Linn-Mar, and Xavier. This weekend at Iowa City West High School is when all the powers collide.