Progress 2025

progress: SPORTS & EDUCATION

CHARLES CITY PRESS | WWW.CHARLESCITYPRESS.COM | TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2025

Discipline trumps post- season for Comet boys

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com Sometimes we forget that scholastic sports are an exten- sion of the classroom. And sometimes these class- rooms yield some hard lessons. Perhaps there is no one who wants the Charles City Comets to return to the Boys Basket- ball State Championships for the fi rst time in nearly 70 years more than David Rottinghaus. That may be a given being that Rottinghaus is the head coach. But Rottinghaus, a former Comet standout who continued his career at the Division I level at the University of Wyoming, is perhaps even more motivated in ending that drought as he still has bad memories of playing for the No. 3-ranked Comets when they got upset by New Hampton in the early rounds of the 2000 postseason. Still, Rottinghaus stuck to his guns when he benched the ma- jority of his starters in the fi rst- round of the Class 3A Substate 4 quarter fi nal against Indepen- dence.

“We had some internal is- sues,” Rottinghaus said after his team was defeated by the Mus- tangs 71-63. “We had some mis- conduct on the team. We dealt with it, made our decision and prepared for the last three days for what we were going to do. “All I can say is we got a great effort from the guys we had in there in the fi rst half. A lot of those guys have been working hard on our jayvee team and haven’t got much playing time on varsity. I’m proud of those guys.” The loss to Independence capped Charles City’s record at 8-14 overall, concluding Rot- tinghaus’s fi rst season leading the Comet boys after coaching the Comet girls team in the pre- vious two school seasons. THE COMETS HAD A WINNING record (6-2) amid the fi nal season of play in the North- east Iowa Conference with their two league losses coming against NEIC champion and No. 2-ranked Decorah. Among those whose prep

hoops careers ended against In- dependence was senior co-cap- tain Jordin Ritter, who led the Comets in free-throw percent- age (80.9), rebounds (6.2) and assists (4.0) while averaging 11.7 points per game. Other departing seniors in- clude co-captain Nick Williams, who led the team in 3-point fi eld goal percentage (43.8%); Riley Perez, who led the team in 3-point FGs made (45); and Akil Knighten, who led the team in overall fi eld goal per- centage (54.5%). Among the top underclass players for the Comets were sophomore Henry Ruzicka, who led the team in scoring (13.2 ppg) and blocked shots (17 to- tal); and above-the-rim fl ying junior Victor Ward, who led the team in steals (44 total) and av- eraged 12.6 ppg. “It’s been a learning expe- rience, but I love these guys,” Rottinghaus said of his fi rst season leading the Comet boys. “We’ve got a lot to build on, but we still got a long way to go.”

Press photo by John Burbridge Charles City senior Jordin Ritter led the Comets in free-throw percentage (80.9), rebounds (6.2) and assists (4.0) while averaging 11.7 points per game.

Comets standout Carson Gallup was able to shoot the rarest of birds

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com Eagle sightings are not rare at Cedar Ridge Golf Course. Adjacent to the 18-hole course across the Ce- dar River is an eagle’s nest which occupants are often seen soaring high over the playing surface. There haven’t been any “albatross” sightings near Cedar Ridge, but there is a local golfer who has proven himself to be capable of scoring this rare bird. During the PGA Junior Golf Tour last sum- mer, Charles City standout golfer Carson Gallup – playing at the Okoboji Junior Open at Brooks Golf Course – aced the course’s 340-yard, Par-4 hole No. 3. Such a rare Par-4 “hole-in-one” can be referred to as a “Double Eagle” or as an “Al- batross.” Gallup had recently completed his junior sea- son with the Comet boys golf team where he shot a personal-low school varsity 18-hole score of 73 for medalist honors at the Northeast Iowa Conference boys golf meet at Oneota Golf and Country Club in Decorah. Comet Riley Perez also earned all-conference honors his junior season with what was then a personal-low 85 score. The following week at the Class 3A Boys Golf Sectional at Wildcat Golf Course in Shellsburg, Gallup continued to shoot well on the way to carding a 75 – but it was 2 strokes shy of ad- vancing to the district round. Gallup’s Comet teammates also shot well with their best 18-hole team score (327) of the season which included marked scores by sophomore Bryce Walker (83), junior Riley Perez (84) and senior Gabe Rogstad (85). “Bryce, Riley and Gabe shot their best scores of the season,” said Charles City head coach Dave Williams, whose team fi nished seventh behind Waverly-Shell Rock (299), Gilbert (311), Independence (311), Vinton-Shellsburg (314), South Tama (315) and Clear Creek-Amana (325); and ahead of Benton (337). “It was a tough sectional,” Williams said. * At the 2024 Northeast Iowa Conference girls golf meet at New Hampton Golf and Country Club, Charles City senior Shelby Ef fl e earned the distinction of being three-

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Press photo by John Burbridge Charles City standout Carson Gallup was a Northeast Iowa Conference Boys Golf Meet medalist last season before shooting a Par-4 hole-in-one during PGA Junior Golf Tour play last summer.

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Press photo by John Burbridge From left, Charles City golfers Mya Rimrod, Alex Wohlers and Shelby Ef fl e were All-Northeast Iowa Conference placers last season.

time all-conference golfer, Comet senior Alex Wohlers earned her second All-NEIC, and then junior Mya Rim- rod – relatively new to high school golf – also made the All-NEIC Top 15 cut. Eif fl e and Wohlers both shot 98s; Rimrod carded a 99. Wohlers’s and Rimrod’s scores were 18-hole person- al-records. 20 25 PROG RESS

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