The Warrior girls’ varsity squad captured an Upper Iowa Conference title last week with an impressive 29 points, which included six all-conference performances. Making up the first-place squad was (l-r) Maddy Jansen, Annie Hageman, Josie Tieskoeter, Ava Franzen, Izzy Kuboushek, Karissa Wenthold, and Lauren Ondrashek. (Zakary Kriener photo)

SW girls earn UIC gold, while boys finish on podium

By Zakary Kriener

zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The 2023 Upper Iowa Conference Cross Country Meet was held on Wednesday (Oct. 11) afternoon in Ossian, and it was a great day for the Warrior runners.

Earlier in the week, the meet was moved ahead a day to Wednesday to help avoid the forecasted rainy weather on Thursday, but the slight change of plans had no effect on the South Winn athletes as the No. 3-ranked Warrior girls captured the conference title and the SW boys placed third.

The North Fayette Valley offensive line, including Kenny Kerr (51), Gavyn Grove (58), and Layne Kleppe (76), and position players Tate Germann (9), Decklyn Heins (behind center), Cael Reichter (25), and Ayden Turner (behind Heins) line up for the first play of the second half on Thursday night. The TigerHawks marched down the field on the drive, finishing it off with a Germann touchdown run. (Zakary Kriener photo)

Cadets top TigerHawks in final district matchup

by Zakary Kriener

zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

It wasn’t necessarily the way that Coach Justin Heins and the TigerHawks wanted to close out the regular season, but the ultimate goal was reached as North Fayette Valley is headed back to the playoffs on Friday night.

In a rare Thursday night game last week, NFV traveled to Crestwood to take on the Cadets on a rainy and windy night.

The North Fayette Valley TigerHawks were crowned the 2023 Upper Iowa Conference champions on Thursday night in Elkader. Members of the 8-0 team include (front, l-r) head coach Billie Cowley, Kaelyn Nuss, Kassie Tilleraas, Kierra Alexander, Ella Sieck, Olivia Kleppe, Lily Holthaus, Ali Torkelson; (back) assistant coach Jade Daughton, Sarah Dean, Lila Moore, Jayla Cowley, Alex Kent, Hannah Schroeder, Brooklyn Hoey, Brianna Davis, Hailey Hackmann, and assistant coach Jared Tilleraas. (photo by Emma Kovarik)

TigerHawks finish alone atop UIC in volleyball

By Zakary Kriener

zkrienr@fayettepublishing.com

The TigerHawks are Upper Iowa Conference volleyball champs! With a 3-0 win over Central on Thursday night, North Fayette Valley secured its second undefeated conference season in the last three years and will head into the postseason on a high note!

“Winning the conference was one of our team goals, and it was great to accomplish that undefeated,” said coach Billie Cowley after the win.

The North Fayette Valley boys captured the Upper Iowa Conference title on Wednesday afternoon (Oct. 11) in Ossian. Members of the varsity squad included (l-r) Peyton Elliot, Robert Huck, Lukas McGowan, Zach McLellan, Gabe Stansbery, Nick Hohenbrink, and Ryan Putney. (Zakary Kriener photo)

NFV boys 1st at UIC meet, girls take runner-up

By Zakary Kriener

zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The 2023 Upper Iowa Conference Cross Country Meet was held on Wednesday (Oct. 11) afternoon in Ossian, and the North Fayette Valley runners had a stellar day with the boys taking first place and the girls earning runner-up honors.

South Winn’s Brady Ohrt avoids a North Tama defender on his way to the endzone on one of his two touchdowns on Friday night. Ohrt’s two rushing scores helped propel the Warriors to a 34-28 win over the Redhawks, which secured a playoff spot for South Winn for the first time since 2019. (photo by Cathy Sabelka)

Warriors down N. Tama 34-28 to secure playoff spot

By Zakary Kriener

zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The Warrior football team is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2019! After a 34-28 win over North Tama on Friday night, South Winn has now won four straight games and holds a 3-2 mark in district play.

“We came out and established a great opening drive,” said coach Jason Ohrt after the big win. “We were able to control the pace of the game through the third quarter and built a solid lead at 28-6.”

Warrior runners Maddy Jansen and Karissa Wenthold (l-r) run side-by-side during recent cross country action. Last week, Jansen helped lead South Winn to a first place finish at the South Winn Invitational in Calmar, while Wenthold was not in the lineup for the Warriors . (photo by Marie Conway)

Warrior girls defend home turf at SW Invite, boys 5th

by Zakary Kriener

zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

South Winneshiek hosted its annual invitational cross country meet on Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 3, at South Winneshiek Golf Course, as 18 area teams – including five ranked squads – were in action. The Class 1A No. 5-ranked Warrior girls successfully defended their home turf as they scored 47 points to take first place, while the SW boys also had a strong performance, taking fifth with 163 points.

In a recent road volleyball match, South Winn’s Ivey Franzen goes up for a kill attempt to earn another point for the Warriors. Last week, Franzen had four kills and a team-high two blocks in the team’s conference win over the Eagles of Clayton Ridge. (Zakary Kriener photo)

SW maintains spot near top of UIC with win over CR

by Zakary Kriener

zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The Warrior volleyball team improved its conference mark to 6-1 on Tuesday night (Oct. 3) thanks to a 3-0 win over Clayton Ridge on the road.

“We were clicking on offense with a number of players having solid nights,” said coach Alex Smith following the win. “We continue to make some strides on the offsneive side of the game and a lot of that is credited to our cinsistent passing on defense and in serve receive, along with quality setting from Avery (Luzum) and Ella (Theis).”

North Fayette Valley senior cross country runners Mady Ney and Grace Feldman (l-r) run side-by-side during a recent meet. Last week, the TigerHawks competed at West Delaware and this week, both the NFV girls’ and boys’ squads will head to Ossian for the Upper Iowa Conference Meet. (photo by Emma Kovarik)

TigerHawks run at West Delaware Invite

by Zakary Kriener

zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The North Fayette Valley cross country teams were in action Tuesday, Oct. 3, for their final regular season meet of the fall. The TigerHawks competed at West Delaware against a talent-filled field of schools from northeast Iowa.

There was seemingly some confusion in the final results posted by West Delaware meet officials, as NFV results had runners from the boys’ and girls’ squads mixed up, so final results and times are unofficial. During the busy Homecoming week, NFV head coach Jon Kullen was not available for comment on the matter.

With no sponsor, NFV football went without a cheerleading squad this season. However, four students took it upon themselves to lead the student section in cheering. Here, the four L-r) Grace Feldman, Emma Kovarik, Alex Kent, and Ally Torkelson, hold the sign the team will run-through before the game in front of the student section before the game. (Photo by Jerry Wadian)

TigerHawks trounce Huskies to secure postseason

by Zakary Kriener

zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

Friday night was Homecoming for the North Fayette Valley football team and the TigerHawks took care of business, picking up win No. 3 of the season and locking up a playoff spot with a 50-8 dismantling of Oelwein.