Statesmen and Indians Share The Stage For Winter Sports

William Penn’s Wade Steinlage (left) talks with Oskaloosa Boys Basketball Head Coach Ryan Parker (center) and Jarad Kruse during the preview night at Smokey Row.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – The stage at Smokey Row is often filled with politicians who are sharing their vision for the future, or answering the tough questions from constituents.

On Monday night, the community got to see and hear from the coaches and student-athletes who will be taking center stage at area sporting events.

There are many winter sports to follow locally; indoor track and field, wrestling, bowling, swimming, and basketball.

The Oskaloosa boys swimming team was the first onto the stage. Head Coach Grant Bolibaugh knows they don’t have the numbers to compete for team wins against the larger schools, but measures success for the team by the individual event wins.

Practice has just gotten underway, and Bolibaugh says he’s seen significant improvement already this year with his swimmers. “I’ll be interested to see what they can do when we get to a meet.”

Head Coach Grant Bolibaugh spoke about the excitement of hosting their first home meet on Thursday, December 14th at 5 pm. They will take on Keokuk and Williamsburg at the Oskaloosa YMCA.

Tony Witt is the head bowling coach for Oskaloosa. He said that practice for the boys and girls is underway.

Both the boys and girls teams have been in the mix as contenders to move on to state, and Witt says the goal this year is to become conference champions and make a run at state.

The first bowling meeting at home will be December 9th at Mahaska Bowl, as the Indians will take on Centerville, and Pella Christian.

William Penn Men’s Wrestling Coach Eric Reed was next on the stage. He said that his team has many young guys that are figuring out “the college style of wrestling,” and making the adjustments.

The team traveled to Grand View recently, where Reed called the meet a learning experience, “especially for the young guys.”

William Penn Wrestling returns home on January 16th, at 7 pm, when they will once again square off against Grand View.

Oskaloosa Wrestling Head Coach Chase Weber gave some insight into the Indians program for the upcoming year.

Weber is happy with how things have started off for the Indians. He has a good size group of wrestlers, which includes 15 first-year students, which join four letter winners. Weber was happy about the excitement and work ethic he observed in the early practices.

The Indians host their first home meet on November 30th, beginning at 5:30 pm at the Oskaloosa High School. They will be facing Chariton, Grinnell, and Saydel Community.

The William Penn Indoor Track and Field Head Coach Allen Friesen was next to take the stage.

The Statesmen have seen some success in the past years, not only in the Heart of America Conference but also the Midwest Collegiate Conference.

The Statesmen will be in Pella for the Central Holiday Preview on December 9th.

Many eyes locally are on the Indians and Statesmen basketball teams this year.

The women’s basketball team at William Penn is under the direction of Steve Williamson. Williamson is in his first year at the helm of the Statesmen.

The Statesmen are hoping to build on their national tournament appearance last year.

Williamson said that he will be moving the team forward, and trying to build their own destiny, “and not just living on the glory of past programs.”

Williamson has lead teams to the national tournament nine times in his career and says this year is about working “as hard as we can every single night and whatever happens, happens from there.”

The Statesmen return home to start Heart of America Conference play against Mount Mercy on November 29th, beginning at 5:30 pm.

Oskaloosa Boys Basketball Head Coach Ryan Parker spoke about the team, and the pressure they are under this year.

That pressure is in place after a strong season last year, coming up one game short of making it to state. The advantage is that seven out of eight key players returning this year.

External distractions also increase pressure to perform at a high level. Those external pressures come from a watchful media and collegiate scouts.

Jarad Kruse was the student-athlete on stage with Parker, and he’s being tasked to help provide senior leadership for the team.

Xavier Foster and Cole Henry will be joining Kruse in the height department for the Indians, while senior Tanner DeKock will continue to show why he’s been a key player for the team since his freshman year.

“Trying to play three bigs at any one time, Jared, Cole, and Xavier, those guys are going to have to guard the perimeter as well,” said Parker.

Spencer Tucker has grown since last season and still promises to be a weapon from three-point land for the Indians.

Parker said that setting goals and understanding what it will take to get to a state championship level was part of the team meetings before practice started. “Practicing hard every day and not taking any moments for granted,” said Parker.

Parker says that the national attention members of his team are getting is a positive for the team, and makes everyone hungrier to perform. ‘It’s an absolutely positive thing, and you have to cherish it and relish in it and understand some of those players only come around once in a lifetime.”

That attention also puts the Indians in the crosshairs of other teams. The Indians will have to play their best every outing, as their opponents will bring their best to upset the Indians.

When it comes to the pressure, Parker isn’t shying away.

At William Penn, the pressure these days is not to be mediocre.

The community has gotten used to Coach Henry and his winning ways for the Statesmen, who are more often than not, at the national tournament, going 33-4, falling to the eventual national champions in the semi-finals.

The Statesmen are already into their season, winning the first five outings so far in their young season.

The team is filled with several talented players who get to make their mark in Statesmen history. Several of those players joining Penn for their senior year of eligibility.

Those one-year teams have become a trademark of Henry, and the recruiting ability of assistant head coach Blake Sandquist. Henry said Sandquist does, “a phenomenal job of recruiting.”

Henry said he reminds his team that they are all there for the same reason, and to “bring it all together for March.”

When it comes to the expectations, many coaches and teams will shy away from the talk of winning a conference, or the national championship, but Henry says he and his team have embraced that this year, “They want that. That’s why everybody came here.”

When the team was ranked #1 in the preseason, Henry said, “We took that, and we enjoyed it. How many times in a lifetime that you can say you were preseason ranked number one in anything. Kind of like Coach Parker said, ‘I’d rather be ranked number 1 than number 100’. Expectation is a good thing.”

William Penn’s Corbin Medley, who plays for Henry, said the number one ranking, “put a target on our back. Every game we’ve got to bring it, but I like it personally. I feel like we’re the best team in the country. We feel, as a team, we can win the national championship this year.”

The Statesmen will kick off Heart of America Conference play against Mount Mercy on November 29th, beginning at 7:30 pm.