progress: SPORTS & EDUCATION
B7
CHARLES CITY PRESS | WWW.CHARLESCITYPRESS.COM | TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2025
Trap team now caters to shooters from three different schools
By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com The Charles City/Nash- ua-Plain fi eld trap shooting team has recently expanded its pro- gram to include a junior high squad. It also has expanded its reach to include shooters from Rock- ford High School, also known as Rockford/Rudd/Marble Rock High School. During last year’s Scholas- tic Clay Target Program State Trap Shooting Meet at the Cedar Falls Gun Club, a RRMR shoot- er paced the Charles City No. 1 squad, which placed 18th with a team score of 938. Rockford graduate Cole Cross hit 196 out of 200 targets to lead the squad, and placed 19th
among the varsity male shooters. Rounding out the CC1 scores were Nicolas Bormann (187), Carter Burkhardt (187), Taylor Quade (185) and Ali Blickender- fer (183). Quade’s marksmanship placed her 34th among varsity females; Blickenderfer placed 40th among varsity females. CC/NP also had a group shoot handicap at state shoot – partic- ipants shoot from 25 yards from the trap house instead of the standard 16 yards. Cross placed 84th after hitting 84 out of 100. Among female handicap shooters, Blickenderfer placed 16th after hitting 81 out of 100; Quade placed 35th after hitting 76 out of 100. Avery Schoeck placed 36th
among junior varsity females when she hit 186 out of 200; and Abby Groesbeck placed 31st among junior high females when she hit 168 out of 200. Before the start of last season, several CC/NP/RRMR trap team members signed on to continue their sport shooting careers at Hawkeye Community College. They include Cross, Charles City graduate Burkhardt, and Nash- ua-Plain fi eld graduates Dawson Demro and Micaiah Groothuis. “This is the most we recruited from one program,” said Red- Tails head coach Troy Emley, who credited CC/NP head coach Mike Oleson for his help making it happen.
Press photo by John Burbridge Charles City graduate Hayden Heyer takes aim during a trap shooting meet hosted by the Charles City/Nashua-Plain fi eld trap shooting team at the Nashua Fish and Game Club.
Soccer still trying to get a foothold in Charles City
By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com The Charles City Comets boys soccer team only managed to fi nd the net 16 times last season. And Carter Haberkorn nearly had 40% of those goals. The then-junior forward led the team with six goals, one of which was from about 40 yards away during an 8-7 loss to New Hampton in last sea- son’s opener at NH. The Comets later avenged the loss with a 3-1 win over the Chickasaws at Comet Field. Then sophomore Jackson Kowalski had 2 goals, and keeper Sullivan Gerleman – also amid his sopho- more season where he started in all 12 of Charles City’s matches – stopped 80% of the shots on goal. It proved to be only win of the season for the Comets, who fi nished at 1-11. Charles City’s fi rst high school season was in 2018. Longtime YMCA soccer coach Brad McK- enzie took the helm as the Comets’ fi rst soccer
head coach after a group of students – includ- ing McKenzie’s daughter Mariah – petitioned the school board to form a team. In 2022, Hayley Jo Fransen was hired as Charles City’s fi rst girls soccer coach while also being a teaching position in the school district. During her playing days, Fransen was a standout defender for North Iowa Area Community College’s women’s soccer team. The Comets functioned as a coed team during their formative seasons. Charles City fi elded its fi rst team exclusively for females for the 2023, but only played a handful of junior varsity matches. Last season, the Comet girls team had a good initial turnout during the preseason, but didn’t play a varsity schedule. “But if we can keep our numbers in the 20s, we should be ready to play varsity next season [2025],” Fransen said before the beginning of last season.
Photo by Kelly Terpstra
Charles City forward Carter Haberkorn led the Comets with 6 goals last season.
fi nal against Mount Vernon se- nior standout Libby Dix, the 190-pound champion from last season. The wrestlers battled to a lit- eral standstill in the fi rst period as Stewart seemed on the verge of attaining the leverage need- ed to bring Dix to the mat for a takedown, but Dix managed to stay on her feet. When Stewart was granted the option for the second period, she chose the neutral position but again nei- ther wrestler was able to score a TD. Dix took the down position to start the third period and was able to get to her feet and turn to face Stewart for the 1-point es-
cape. That proved to be the mar- gin of victory as Dix was able to keep Stewart from getting the match-winning TD while re- maining active enough to avoid any stalling warning or penalty to keep her from a back-to-back title. Dix fi nished her fi nal prep season undefeated (45-0). Stewart, who picked up her 100th career victory several weeks before the state tourna- ment, fi nished her senior season at 40-2 with both losses coming from Dix. “The last time she faced her was at the Don Gable Donny- brook” on Dec. 7, Charles City head coach Rob Pittman said
of Stewart’s previous meeting against Dix, who pinned Stew- art with 2 seconds left in the second period. “So you can see how much she has closed the gap since then. “That was by far (Dix’s) toughest match of the season, and this is from a girl who start- ed wrestling just three years ago,” Stewart placed fi fth at 190-pounds at the 2024 state tournament. CHARLES CITY BOASTED ONE quali fi er for the Boys State Wrestling Tournament with 120-pound senior Carter Haber- korn earning his second trip to
Des Moines after qualifying at 106 pounds his sophomore year. Last season, Haberkorn didn’t go out for wrestling. He decid- ed to return his senior season in part to help new Comet boys coach Ryan Schmalen rebuild a program that had drastically shrunk in numbers, and to pro- vide leadership to a young and inexperienced team. “I’m glad I came back,” said Haberkorn, who went 1-2 at the state tournament to conclude his senior record at 23-15. “After a season away, I feel more com- mitted to the sport. “We’re a small team, but we have some good young wres- tlers who improved throughout
the season,” said Haberkorn, who mentioned the likes of Comet junior heavyweight Jack- son Warnke, a 20-win wrestler who took fourth in his bracket at districts. “We had (215-pound senior) Trevor Carolan, who went out for wrestling for the fi rst time yet still had a winning record,” Haberkorn said. “We have a lot of good mid- dle school wrestlers coming up, and we have a great coaching staff. It’s just a matter of getting more kids out for wrestling. I truly believe that Charles City wrestling is going to make a comeback.”
much more than that. So I was con fi dent going into the match,” Kolheim said. Kolheim’s fi rst high school-sanctioned wrestling ti- tle is the second title in the past three seasons for the Comets, with the former being Lilly Luft’s third state title at Charles City before continuing her ca- reer at the University of Iowa. Charles City senior Leah Stewart, the other half of the Comets’ state-qualifying duo, almost pulled off an upset of her own in the Class 1A 190-pound WRESTLING Continued from page B6
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