Top 5 local sports stories of 2019

Following the lead of our parent newspaper, The Gazette, we at the Union have our own Top 10 end-of-the-year list of the top sports stories in the Golden Triangle area.

The merging of the Fairfield Ledger, the Mt. Pleasant News and the Washington Evening Journal may have been the top story of the year, but we will call that a news item. It does give us a wider array of stories to choose from. We welcome feedback from the public on our list and how we are doing as we move forward as the Union.

Tuesday, we offered our picks for the sixth through 10th places of our Top 10 and today we offer our choices for the top five sports stories of 2019.

State champions, state titleists, state tournament winners and a first-time state participant made the top five stories easy choosing.

5. New name equals first trip - Van Buren Community changed its name to Van Buren County and had never been to the state volleyball tournament until 2019, but with a senior-led group and a coach aiming to go out in style, the Warriors were ready to make history. The Warriors did suffer a bit of a hiccup in their Class 2A regional quarterfinal game against rival Cardinal, sneaking past the Comets in five sets, but the Warriors turned it on in the last two regional tournament games.

Van Buren took down Pella Christian in a four-set regional semifinal, getting 23 kills from Grace Davidson in the win. Then, in the final against Nodaway Valley, the Warriors won their state qualifier banner with a three-game sweep, led by a 21-kill game from Selena Sayre.

The Warriors were finally upended in the state tournament, falling in three sets to eventual state runner-up Beckman Catholic.

4. Two track crowns - Southeast Iowa always brings its game to the state track and field championships, and this year was no different. Area big schools saw loads of success in 2019, particularly in field events.

Thursday's Class 3A boys high jump competition was one of the most anticipated events of the weekend for Union area fans. Fairfield's Landon Kooiker and Mt. Pleasant's Sam Beatty entered as two of the best leapers in the class.

When the time came, it was Kooiker who shined, eclipsing 6-foot-7 in his first attempt to take the state championship. Both Beatty and Charles City's Ian Collins cleared 6-7 in their second attempts to tie for seconds.

Then on a rainy Friday, Mt. Pleasant's Lexie Magnani dominated the Class 3A girls shot put competition. Magnani could have won the state championship with just one throw, hitting 39 feet, 4.25 inches in her opening hurl. Just for good measure, Magnani threw 42-5.25 in her third throw and finished with the four best throws of the day, earning a herself a state title.

Kooiker and Magnani, both juniors in the 2018-19 season, will be looking for back-to-back titles in their respective events this spring.

3. Three consecutive state champions - At the University of Iowa Tennis Center, Fairfield's Anatta Charoenkul and Yana Gaskell have a dynasty of their own. In singles, Class 1A two-time defending state champion Anatta Charoenkul, who was seeded second this season at the state tournament behind teammate Gaskell, met in the state final for the second year in a row, but the result was different with Gaskell's victory. Gaskell won three matches at state, all by the same score of 6-0, 6-0. Her semifinal match was a 6-2, 6-0 win. Charoenkul also faced little competition while advancing with a 6-1, 6-0 victory in the opening round, 6-0, 6-0 in the quarters, and a tough 6-3, 6-4 semifinal win.

2. Two state wrestling titles - At the Iowa High School Athletic Association state wrestling tournament Feb. 14-16, two Union area wrestlers claimed the honor of best in class.

Washington's Tristin Westphal-Edwards did not lose a single match during his senior season and capped it with a 6-5 win over the top seed at 182 pounds in Class 2A. New London's Marcel Lopez busted onto the scene in his freshman year, taking no prisoners from Day 1.

The 106-pound Tiger dominated Iowa's lightest Class 1A class, going into state with a 44-3 record. When he got to the big stage, Lopez made New London proud, going 4-0 en route to a state tournament title. He finished off his magical run with a 4-0 decision in the championship match, outlasting fellow freshman Stevie Barnes of Underwood to take the crown.

Westphal-Edwards, who was the No. 2 seed, entered the state final with a 29-second pin, a 6-2 decision and a 6-4 win in sudden victory, his toughest match which was against ADM Adel's Nolan Harsh during the Class 2A semifinals at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Harsh brought a 39-3 record into the bout and a new problem for Westphal-Edwards, height. The match went to overtime but the Demon won. Westphal-Edwards faced many obstacles and overcame them all.

1. Mid-Prairie distance running dynasty - It could also be called a Hostetler dynasty because the Golden Hawks have established their name statewide as a force to be reckoned with. Mid-Prairie was the state track and field team champion in Class 2A in May for the second consecutive year. One don't get much better than Mid-Prairie girls cross-country, and the Golden Hawks had yet another great year, taking a team state title and an individual state title in 2019.

Anna Hostetler was winning state titles in both cross-country and track and then younger sister Marie has continued the trend. Cross-country coach Mark Hostetler has built a powerhouse with the talent on the Golden Hawks. He was once again named Coach of the Year by the Iowa High School Track and Field and Cross-country coaches organization. While Hostetler had the state champion in his daughter Marie, he fashioned a team together that withstood a challenge from Williamsburg. The Raiders won the state qualifying meet over Mid-Prairie 37-43, but the Golden Hawks won the Class 2A state title by a single point over Williamsburg, 60-61. The previous year was a 89-118 win over the Raiders. It was the third consecutive title for Mid-Prairie. Marie Hostetler won her third consecutive individual title. She was ranked first throughout the season in Class 2A and backed up that ranking with a large win at state. She finished more than 41 seconds ahead of second place with a time of 17 minutes, 58 seconds. She holds the record at the state meet of 17:51, set when she was a sophomore. She placed second as a freshman behind sister Anna with a time of 18:15. Her winning time last year was 18:02.

At Drake Stadium in May, Hostetler finished with three titles (3,000, distance medley relay, 1,500) in 2019 to lead the Golden Hawks to their second consecutive Class 2A girls' title at the state track and field meet under Coach Chris Tyler. They were second in 2017.