Columbus comes in at No. 5 in Class A Gazette preseason poll

The Gazette released its Iowa High School football Class A rankings on Friday night, and some familiar faces grace the top of the rankings.

For one Union area squad, it’s a new home inside the top five of the rankings.

Coming in at No. 5 in the early season rankings is none other than the Wildcats of Columbus Community.

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Columbus enters with a top five ranking in the Gazette poll after putting together a very nice 2022 campaign, which ended after running into Grundy Center in the second-round of the playoffs.

Prior to that, Columbus had just one loss to a tough Alburnett team in overtime.

The Wildcats return a plethora of talent as standout rusher Kaden Amigon returns. A year ago, Amigon ran for just south of 2,000 yards, finishing with 1,872 yards and 26 touchdowns at 11.8 yards per carry.

Amigon isn’t the only weapon with the ball in his hands. Riley Kaalberg, Trenton Hoback and Cole Storm all ran for over 200 yards with four or more touchdowns.

The Wildcats also bring a ton back defensively, as eight of the top 10 tacklers from a year ago are back with Kaalberg, Russell Coil, Amigon and Storm all tallying over 50 tackles for the season.

Coil headlines the defensive line for Columbus as he finished with 13 tackles for a loss and five sacks a year ago.

For the last four years, the Class A state championship game as been an exclusive event for a pair of teams, Grundy Center and West Hancock. West Hancock downed West Hancock downed Grundy Center to win titles in 2019 and 2021 before their defeat at the hands of the Spartans last season.

Prior to the championship in 2022, Grundy Center had three consecutive runner-up finishes in the state title game. This time around, Grundy Center won’t be featured in the Class A field as the Spartans have made the move to Class 1A.

With the move, West Hancock comes in at No. 1 in The Gazette’s Class A preseason poll.

State qualifying teams are frequent in the preseason rankings. West Hancock holds the top spot, followed by 2022 state semifinal Woodbury Central, state quarterfinalist East Buchanan and state semifinalist Lynnville-Sully.

The full list of Class A rankings can be found below, with a team’s number of poll points and its 2022 record and playoff finish:

1) West Hancock, 12-1, state runner-up, 58 poll points (4 first-place)

2) Woodbury Central, 11-1, state semifinalist, 50 (2)

3) East Buchanan, 9-2, state quarterfinalist, 48

4) Lynnville-Sully, 11-1, state semifinalist, 41

5) Columbus Community, 8-2, second-round playoff qualifier, 36

6) Southwest Valley, 7-3, second-round playoff qualifier, 18

7) Madrid, 6-3, playoff qualifier, 13

8) Nashua-Plainfield, 5-4, playoff qualifier, 12

9) Le Mars Gehlen, 8-2, second-round playoff qualifier, 9

10) Saint Ansgar, 5-4, playoff qualifier, 8

Others receiving votes: Maquoketa Valley 6, South Central Calhoun 6, Bellevue 5, Logan-Magnolia 5, Mason City Newman 5, Hartley HMS 3, Mount Ayr 3, Wapsie Valley 2, Lake Mills 1, North Linn .