Sports

A total of 43 young ladies have reported for early-season practices for the 2022 Waukon volleyball team, which will be headlined this season by the return of five varsity letterwinners from last season’s squad that produced one of the program’s best season records in recent years. The net Tribe played to a 15-20 overall mark on the year last fall, including a 2-3 mark in Northeast (NEIC) play that landed the Indians in fourth place in the final NEIC team standings, their best league finish since the 2009 season.

This season’s squad will be guided by a new but familiar face in the Waukon volleyball program, as Randy Nordheim will take up the head coaching reins for the Indians. Nordheim has had other stints at the helm of the Tribe’s net program, including a single season in 2017 and a previous much longer tenure in which he guided the Lady Indians to a State Tournament appearance in 2003, with Nordheim having served as a volunteer assistant coach last fall.

Waukon High School 2014 graduate Parker Hesse got the 2022 National Football League (NFL) pre-season off to a strong start in the Atlanta Falcons’ 27-23 pre-season victory at Detroit Friday, August 12. Listed as a starting tight end for the Falcons in their pre-season opener, Hesse caught the first touchdown pass of his NFL career in the second quarter of Atlanta’s win.

Capping off the Falcons’ second drive of that second quarter, the two passes thrown toward Hesse in the ballgame both came on that series. After not connecting with Falcon rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder on a 21-yard touchdown pass attempt late in the drive, the two did connect two plays later on first down and goal on a play-action pass where Hesse first went into blocking mode before edging out to the right to haul in a one-yard pass from Ridder for a 14-10 Falcon lead with 4:36 left before halftime.

The Waukon Swim Club made some recent history during its 2022 season, turning in a perfect regular season meet record of 8-0. That unblemished regular season record included a first win for the Waukon swim squad over the perennial power Decorah team in at least 20 years, with some believing that streak may have been as long as 30 years. However, that Decorah squad was able to counter that regular season win by topping second-place Waukon in the Northeast Iowa Swim Conference Meet, with those top two teams leaving the rest of the conference field well behind by more than 100 points.

A number of event records were broken by members of this season’s club once again. Among the greatest highlights of those new standards was a new Northeast Iowa Swim Conference record in the 8 & Under Boys Butterfly set by Theo Rausch.

Register for Waukon Park & Recreation Fall Recreation Youth Programs by the Friday, August 26 registration deadline. These programs include the following:

• 1st/2nd Grade Nerf Flag Football
• 3rd/4th Grade Flag Football
• 3rd/4th Grade Volleyball
• 5th/6th Grade Volleyball (Traveling).

Pick up registration forms at the Waukon Wellness Center or register online by visiting the City of Waukon Park & Recreation website or the Waukon Park & Rec Facebook page. Contact Jeremy Strub at director@waukonwellness.com or text/call 563-568-7131 with any questions.
 

Those who want to be active during the fall months should think about signing up an adult kickball team. The Waukon Park & Recreation league is open to sophomores (16 years old) in high school through adults.

Games will be played Monday nights (possibly some Tuesdays/Wednesdays if needed) at the Waukon Softball Complex (by the fairgrounds). The league will start either Monday, August 22 or August 29.

Those who would like to sign a team up or need questions answered should contact Jeremy Strub at director@waukonwellness.com or text/call 563-568-7131. Teams must be signed up by Wednesday, August 17.
 

The Waukon High School and Middle School football coaching staffs are planning to host the 2022 Waukon Indian Middle School Football Camp Monday through Wednesday, August 15-17. The camp, run by the Waukon football coaching staffs with help from current and former high school players, is a non-contact camp aimed at teaching those entering seventh and eighth grades this fall the fundamentals of offensive and defensive play for the Waukon football program.

Participants should plan to attend camp in shorts and a t-shirt, and should bring football cleats. Camp will take place at the middle school practice football field, which is located west of the Waukon High School parking lot.

The middle school camp for students entering seventh and eighth grades this fall will be held Monday-Wednesday, August 15-17. The camp will be held from 2:30-4:30 p.m. all three days.

For the second consecutive season, the Waukon baseball team played to 15 wins and hovered right around the .500 mark with its 2022 campaign of 15-17. Never losing more than three games in a row at any point in the season, the diamond Tribe had this summer’s campaign brought to a close in the second round of Class 2A district tournament play by a Dyersville Beckman squad ranked fourth that played its way to the Class 2A State Tournament, the Blazers having their season ended in the season grand finale semifinals by undefeated and now four-time Class 2A State Champion Van Meter.

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The 2022 Waukon softball season played out to an overall record of 8-16 for an overall young Lady Indian squad that didn’t have a single senior on this summer’s roster and most of the time had two-thirds of its players on the field be sophomores or younger, including as many as three freshmen and an eighth grader at certain points. The learning curve of this season’s squad seemed to be falling sharply as the season came to a close, as the diamond Tribe won three of its last four regular season games, but the Indians had their season brought to an early close in the opening round of their Class 3A regional tournament by a Dubuque Wahlert squad that eventually played its way to qualification for this season’s Class 3A State Tournament.

For more complete coverage, pick up this week's print edition or subscribe to our e-edition by clicking here.

Kee baseball senior Tyson Cota played for the Small Schools East squad in the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association (IHSBCA) Senior All-Star Series played at Roosevelt Field in Mason City this past weekend, Friday-Sunday, July 29-31. The Small Schools East squad consisting of players from Class 1A and 2A players from the east side of the state won the series as it posted two victories in its three games played in the series, handing the Large Schools West squad its only loss of the series to tie with that team at a 2-1 series record and winning a head-to-head match-up between the two teams.

Waukon football senior linebacker Lincoln Snitker (at left in photo above) and Kee football senior Alex Goetzinger (photo below) were two of the nearly 50 Iowa high school graduated seniors who played for the North Squad in the 2022 Iowa Shrine Bowl All-Star football game played Saturday, July 23 in the UNI-Dome at Cedar Falls. Although no official statistics were reported, both were in on several tackles in helping their North Squad defeat the South Squad by a 24-17 final result, with Waukon football head coach Chad Beermann serving as an assistant coach for the North Squad as well. Both players will continue their football careers at the collegiate level this fall, Snitker at Winona State University and Goetzinger at Wartburg College. Submitted photos.