(Area) The boys basketball records are so vast we’ve opted to split this portion of our “History Books” series into two parts. Today you’ll find a rundown of state qualifying teams. Harlan and Nodaway Valley are the lone schools that have hoisted state championship trophies. The Cyclones won it all in 2004 and 2006 in Class 3A with the Wolverines earning top honors in Class 2A in 2006. All-Tournament team selections from area teams are also listed in this post. Harlan’s 18 appearances lead the pack while Atlantic has qualified 11 times. Nodaway Valley’s six trips have all come since 2005. They are 4-2 in first round games and have been to the finals twice. Adair-Casey and Guthrie Center each went to state four times.
Coming up tomorrow is a list of all-state basketball players for each school as well as Hall of Fame members and coaching wins leaders.
Previous sports can be viewed by clicking on the following links:
Boys Basketball State Qualifiers
ACGC: None (Scroll down for information on Adair-Casey and Guthrie Center which each made four appearances)
Adair-Casey: 4 (1979, 89, 92, 09)
Best finish: 2nd in 1979
The Bombers were a state runner-up in 1979 under head coach Glenn Anderson. They had a 26-1 record and lost 83-48 to 25-0 Iowa City Regina in the finals. Chuck Littler and Doug Schmelling both made the all-tournament team in ’79. Kurt Gress was among the stars of that team, but got injured before the championship game. Sig Wood and Terry Hutchings each coached together in 1989 while it was Wood on the sideline as the head man in ’92. Mark Emgarten coached the 2009 team which featured Zack Leeper, Josh Harris, Alex Bireline, Ryan Moon, Michael Christofferson, and Chris Walhovd as their top five scorers. They took a 25-0 record into the state tourney and lost in the first round to NU High (Cedar Falls). Some of the team members also made the dome that season in football along with state appearances in golf and baseball. Leeper averaged 21.8 points per game and Harris 16.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks. Both shot over 60% from the field. Leeper went on to a successful career at Northwestern College and eventually spent some time playing professionally overseas.
AHSTW: None (Scroll down for information on Shelby’s three and Walnut’s one appearance)
Atlantic: 11 (30, 42, 47, 50, 51, 64, 65, 76, 77, 02, 17)
State Tourney Record: 7-12
Best Finish: 2nd in 1977
A 1977 runner-up was Atlantic’s best ever showing at state. They had a 3rd place finish in 2002 and were 4th in 1976. Jerry Quick made the all-tournament in 1977. That ’77 squad was 21-2 and lost to unbeaten Roland-Story in the championship by a score of 70-56. Jerry Waugh coached the back-to-back state placing teams in the ’70’s. In 2002 they lost in the semi’s by one point to a Bishop Heelan team led by future Creighton standout Nate Funk. Tom Schmeling led the tournament in rebounding that year. Other starters were Alan Jenkins, Davy Thomsen, Bret Meyer, and Drew Osborne. Key reserves included Dustin Schelling, Morgan Schuler, and James Schelling. Steve Blazek coached the team in 2002. He won 541 career games. Current SE Polk head coach Alan Jenkins led Atlantic to state as head coach in 2017. The team’s leading scorer was Garrett Franken who has gone on to be a first team all-conference player at Dordt. Scott Leonard and Austin Alexander both had double figure scoring averages while Chase Mullenix and Grand Podhajsky rounded out the starting lineup. They lost to an Austin Phyfe (UNI) led Waverly-Shell Rock team in the first round. Ed Freese coached teams to state in 1950 and 1951 while Arne Gaarde got them there in 1964 and 1965. Russel Ruff coached the 1942 trip to state, Doc Yates in 1947, and P.G. Russell was at the helm in 1930.
Audubon: 3 (1987, 1999, 2000)
Best Finish: 3rd in 1987
The Wheelers placed 3rd in Class 2A in 1987 under head coach Bill Henkenius. They posted a 70-49 decision over Perry in the consolation matchup. Mark Olenius was selected to the all-tourney team. Bob Monahan oversaw back-to-back appearances in 1999 and 2000.
CAM: None (Scroll down for information on Cumberland, Massena, and Cumberland-Massena)
Cumberland: 1 (1933)
Bob Moore was the head coach of Demon’s 1933 state tourney team. They beat Lone Tree 35-21 in the first round, but lost to Dunkerton 23-13 in the 2nd round.
Cumberland-Massena: 2 (1995 and 1998)
Steve Pelzer coached the Rockets in their two state trips. In 1995 they had a starting lineup of Andy Cullen, Doug Venteicher, Courtney Bower, Aaron Greenwalt, and Aaron Pelzer. Subs were Eric Hartman, Micah Lee, and Joe Platt. The ’98 team featured starters Nate McLaren, Zak Kennedy, Nick Carr, Mitch Kennedy, and Casey Pelzer. Both Tyson Greenwalt and Nate Downer saw time off the bench. In the first round of the ’95 state tourney they lost to eventual 3rd place finisher Boyden-Hull 75-54. The 1998 state tournament saw a 43-40 loss in the first round to eventual runner-up Iowa Mennonite.
Elk Horn-Kimballton: 3 (1989, 1990, 2000)
Best Finish: 3rd in 1990
A young coach named Mitch Osborn was on his path to stardom and guided a couple of very high scoring Dane teams to state in 1989 and 1990. They were undefeated in the regular season in both of those years. The 1989 group included seniors Mark White and Matt Christofferson, juniors Josh Nelson, Joel Juelsgaard, Chad Jacobsen, Jay Johnson, and Tom Petersen. New additions in 1990 were Aaron Poldberg, Brian Ingerslev, Eric Hjelle, Craig Smith, and Adam Andersen. Josh Nelsen made the all-tournament team in 1990, scoring 73 points over three games at state. In 1989 they lost to eventual champ Keota in the first round 78-76. In 1990 they placed 3rd with wins over Mallard and Aplington along with a semifinal loss to eventual champ Colo-NESCO. Warren Watson was the head man in 2000. Brett Watson starred for that team, joined by Blair Paulsen, Chris Petersen, Derek Niklasen, and Brandon Rold. Reserves on the 2000 team were Jamie Petersen, Heath Paulsen, Kent Gries, Nick Petersen, and Seth Poldberg.
Exira-EHK: 1 (2011)
It was Exira and Elk Horn-Kimballton’s first season as one program and they rode some late season momentum all the way to the state tournament. Coach Doug Newton’s squad ousted AHST, Walnut, Boyer Valley, and Riverside along the way. Zach Himmelberg went for 20 points in the team’s substate final victory. Tony Santisteban was an all-state player for the Spartans. Other key contributors were Taylor Nelson, Preston Waymire, Charlie Godwin, Spencer Smith, Dayton Rasmussen, Ryon Rasmussen, and Reid Zimmerman. They finished the year with a 22-4 record after losing to St. Mary’s, Storm Lake in the first round.
Fontanelle: 1 (1948)
The Charles Kuchan coached team lost a 34-31 tussle with Loras.
Griswold: 1 (1981)
Kent Gade took Griswold to state in 1981. On the roster were Kevin Wallace, Jon Mosier, Paul Zellmer, Tom Lovell, Jim Herzberg, Alan Schaberg, Steve Billings, Roelof Onvlee, Jeff Herzberg, Tim Ward, Brian Zimmerman, Joel Conn, Bob Lewis, Brian Wallace, Mike Wohlenhaus, and Byron Petry. Serving as an assistant coach was Mark Worth.
Guthrie Center: 4 (1988, 1996, 2008, 2011)
Best Finish: 3rd in 2011
The Tigers won their first round game in three of their four appearances. 2011 was their highest finish at 3rd while they were 4th in both ’88 and ’96. The 2011 starting lineup featured Dustin Clark, Adam Courtney, Brandon Clark, Kolton Schreck, and Sean Flanery. Marcus Bolton played a key roll of the bench. Dustin Clark averaged 22 points and 13 rebounds per game at state. Brett Smith averaged 27.3 points per game over three games in the ’96 state tourney. Curt Gunnick coached the 1988 team, Randy Mohnin led the squad in 1996 and 2008, and Seth Poldberg was the head coach in 2011. Guthrie Center’s all-tournament team selections include Mark Densmore (1988), Brett Smith (1996), and Dustin Clark (2011).
Harlan: 18 (44, 46, 68, 72, 73, 74, 84, 98, 01, 03, 04, 06, 07, 08, 09, 13, 14, 20)
State Tourney Record: 23-20
State Championships: 2 (2004 and 2006)
Runner-up: 4 (98, 03, 09, 13)
3rd Place: 2 (1968 and 2007)
4th Place: 5 (44, 74, 2001, 09, 14)
Joel Osborn, Jeff Bissen, Heath Stein, Bill Miller, and Greg Applegate were starters on the ’04 title team with Joel Osborn being named all-tournament team captain. Their championship matchup brought a 60-54 win over Crestwood, Cresco. Others that saw action were Michael Kaufman, Sam Arentsen, and Ben Arentsen. The 2006 title team had starters Kevin Osborn, AJ Arkfeld, Jared Boysen, Adam Leinen, and Neil Gross. Arkfeld was the all-tourney captain and Kevin Osborn also received all-tournament recognition. Dan Hoch, Brad Blum, Mark Blum, and Zach Kaufman were reserves on the 2006 championship team which topped MOC-Floyd Valley 86-79 in a dramatic overtime final. Each championship team for Harlan went a perfect 27-0 on the season. Harlan is 10-1 at the state tournament in the first round under coach Mitch Osborn. Eleven of coach Osborn’s 19 appearances have been at Harlan. His 19 total trips are a state record. Other finals appearances in the Osborn era came in 1998, 2003, 2008, and 2013. They were 3rd in 2007 and finished 4th in 2001, 2009, and 2014. Additional all-tournament selections have been Billy Cundiff (1998), Kyle Gross (2001), Jeff Deren (2003), Joel Osborn (2003), Kyle Haake (2007 and 2008), Jeff Hastert (2009), Adam Juhl (2013), Trey Lansman (2013 and 2014). Don Gruenwald coached the teams in the ’68 (3rd place), ’72, ’73, and ’74 (4th place) state trips. Dave Lansing guided the 1984 team to the tourney. FN “Brick” Mason was the leader in 1946. Don Wolfe led a 4th place trip in 1944.
Massena: 1 (1951)
L.C. “Chuck” Steinhoff was the Massena coach in 1951. Grinnell got a first round win over the Eagles 58-26.
Nodaway Valley: 6 (05, 06, 07, 12, 13, 15)
State Tourney Record: 8-6
State Championships: 1 (2006)
Runner-up: 1 (2005)
3rd Place: 1 (2007)
4th Place: 1 (2012)
In 2006 Coach Darrell Burmeister’s squad beat St. Edmond, Fort Dodge 46-39 for a Class 2A title. Starters were Mark Holan, Tyler Raasch, James Larson, Lance McFarland, and Kenny Lentz. The 2005 state tourney ended in a finals loss to Unity Christian, 62-54. That squad had starters Mark Holan, Eric Raasch, Billy Baudler, Lance McFarland, and Kenny Lentz. The team was 27-1 in both ’05 and ’06. Their 2007 team beat Tri-Center in a 2A consolation game to place 3rd. James Larson, who is no the program’s co-head coach, led the 2A field in rebounding in 2007 with 31 boards in three games. Other starters from the 2007 team were Tyler Raasch, Justen Shannon, Kirk Sidey, and Derek Laughery. The 2012 team placed 4th. Alex Welsch had 32 rebounds at the 2012 state tourney, most of any 1A player. Joining Welsch as starters in 2012 were Brad Baudler, Kyle Thompson, Dan Ehrsam, TJ Bower, and Alex Welsch. Dean Frank started several games that year, but was nursing an injury at state. The 2012 group was 23-4. All-tournament team selections have been Billy Baudler (2005), Mark Holan (2005), Eric Raasch (2005), Tyler Raasch (2006), James Larson (2006 Captain and 2007). Starters in the 2013 teams were Welsch, Brad Baudler, Frank, Ehrsam, and Bower. The 2015 team was led by Jackon Lamb who averaged 25.2 points per game and made 83 3’s on the season. He was surrounded by Nathan Andrews, Nate Venteicher, David Schweitzer, and Tanner Armstrong.
Oakland: 2 (1985 and 1986)
Highest Finish: 3rd in 1986
Daryl Nelson was the head coach for each of Oakland’s trips to state. They lost 57-45 to Palmer in their first appearance. The following year they downed Charter Oak-Ute (61-45) in the first round, lost to Palmer (72-61) in the semi’s, and beat Lynnville-Sully (69-61) in the consolation game.
Riverside: 1 (2013)
Jason Shelangouski helped the Bulldogs punch their ticket to their first state tournament as Riverside. Oakland’s trips in 1985 and 1986 had been the only prior appearances. Ricky Williams was the big star, averaging 26.7 points and 14.7 rebounds as a senior. Ean Patrick, Brady Ryun, Tanner Ford, and Garrett Graves were in the starting lineup. Malachi Dillon, Kyle Myers, and David Andersen also played regular varsity minutes.
Shelby: 3 (1950, 1956, 1957)
Charles Hess was the head coach in 1950. Dallas McLaughlin coached the ’56 and ’57 tourney teams which had all-stater Ralph Peterson. Their lone state tourney win came in 1950 when they beat Keokuk 52-48.
Wiota: 1 (1946)
JJ “Joe” O’connor was the head coach of the team that lost to Waverly 38-26.
