November 24, 2022
Sports 7 The Bear
Bears fall to Van Meter in semifinals
Miley Shields
Staff Writer
The Bears continued their winning
streak in the quarterfinals of the playoffs on
Nov. 4 with a tough game against MFL Mar-
Mac. A very rainy night made the game a mud
bowl. After being behind most of the game,
the Bears pulled off the win with a final score
of 27-24.
That Friday night win led the Bears
to the UNI Dome with a place in the semi-
finals; they would take on Van Meter, last
year’s 1A State champion, on Nov. 11.
Alas, the Dome was not kind to the
Bears as they fell to a composed Van Meter
team, 17-48, ending their 11-0 season winning
streak.
It was an emotional day for the WB
players, especially seniors, and their fans.
Many players' goal of the season was to make
it to the Dome, and they can officially say
they achieved that goal.
The first time at the Dome since
Community pep rally prepares FB team for Dome
RIGHT. Peyton Brad-
dock and Jenie Gomez
groove with Abby
Noelck. Photo By Brook-
lyn Nash.
2011 was an important accomplishment for
many, and this team became another part of
this historic program.
The team’s leader in passing for the
season was senior quarterback Tye Huges
with a 66.4% pass completion rate and a total
of 1324 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 2 intercep-
tions.
Another team leader was senior
Andy Henson for both rushing and tackles.
For rushing, he had 218 carries for 1496 yards
and 30 touchdowns. He had a total of 62.5
tackles.
Senior Carver Boelk was the leader
in receiving; he totaled 27 receptions for 544
yards with a season total of six touchdowns.
Leader in sacks was junior Logan
Wright with six.
The final team leader was senior
Kinnick Boelk in interceptions with four; he
also led in kickoff returns (seven) for 143
yards with a 20.4 average, and he had 14 punt
returns for 135 yards and an average of 9.6.
LEFT. AD Jake Sten-
berg does a toe touch
with Miley Shields and
Lauren Keeler during
the teachers’ dance
with the cheerleaders.
Photo by Brooklyn
Nash.
RIGHT.
Aiden
Dingbaum
(72) blocks
for Cale
Seydel (3)
in the
semifinals.
Photo by
Brooklyn
Nash.
ABOVE. Connor Rios (7) receives ball in
preparation for the PAT. Photo by Brook-
lyn Nash.
BELOW. Michael Montgomery (77)
goes after a Van Meter foe to allow
quarterback Tye Hughes (1) time to
throw the ball. Photo by Brooklyn
Nash.
LEFT. Kinnick Boelk (5) and Trenton
Schutte (14) block for Carver Boelk
(2). Photo by Brooklyn Nash.
Peyton Braddoock
Co-Editor-in-Chief
On Thurs., Nov. 10, the football
and cheer teams hosted a community pep
rally in the HS auditorium as a send off for
the FB team to semifinal play at the UNI
Dome. The pep rally included many activ-
ities, which included a hype video for the
football team. Cheerleaders performed
multiple cheers with the football team and
the student section, and the cheerleaders
showed off a few dances, which included
some of the WBHS staff members.
The cheerleaders performed the
fan favorite cheer, “We’ve Got That Beat,”
which included the senior football players.
The crowd voted on the football player
who did the best, and the winner was sen-
ior Aiden Dingbaum. The crowd got really
loud and excited for the football players,
and the cheerleaders were very successful
at getting the crowd to be involved in the
pep rally.
The cheerleaders also performed
a few cheers during the pep rally, which in-
cluded, “Stand Up, and Cheer,” “Hey Hey,
Go Fight Win,” “Let me Hear That West
Branch Spirit” (this one was performed
with student section leaders Anna Water-
man and Alyse Klinkkammer), and finally,
“Big Bears, Eat Em’ Up.” The Bears’ Fight
Song dance for the opened and closing of
the pep rally.
Offensive Coordinator John
Hierseman was welcomed to the stage to
talk about the football season and their
goals for going into the UNI Dome.
Hierseman said, “You’ll re-
member this for the rest of your life. You’ll
remember this pep rally; you’ll remember
the firetrucks; you’ll remember the bus trip
up to the Dome. You’ll remember so many
things from this.”
Hierseman then shared his ex-
perience from 33 years ago about how he,
his fellow teammate Coach Kevin Brad-
dock, and their football team went to the
Dome his senior year. He said, “Just go up
there, let loose, and get after it.”
The cheerleaders performed their
80’s dance, which included the opening
theme song from the beloved movie Top
Gun, “Footloose,” “Hey, Mickey,” and
“It’s Tricky.” The cheerleaders also ex-
ecuted this dance at the halftime of the
West Branch vs. South Hardin first round
post-season playoff game.
Special Teams Coach Kevin
Braddock was welcomed onto the stage to
say a few words during the pep rally. Brad-
dock said, “Going back to August, the hard
work, all of the tough practices, we’ve
talked about this moment. Now we’re here,
and we’ve got one more week of practice.
We’ve had a really good week of prepara-
tion, and now we’re ready to go.” He was
very excited for the opening kickoff, and
Volleyball goes 17-17 on the season
Emily Coleman
Staff Writer
The girls volleyball team ended
its season with a 17-17 record. WB made
it to the second round of playoffs.
Seniors Iva Senio, Ava Finley,
and sophomore Maddy Falco were all
selected to be on All-Conference Teams:
Finley on First Team with Senio and
Falco on Second Team. Kylie Pickett
also received Honorable Mention.
Senio and Finley were both in-
vited to the All-Star Conference Game to
DONOR
DRIVE
For
Butch
Pedersen
Wed., Dec. 7
5-8 p.m.
in HS/MS Cafeteria
*Entails a short survey
on Match.org and a
mouth swab - looking
for a bone marrow
donor match.
said he and the Bears are ready to take on
their semifinal opponent Van Meter.
The highlight of the pep rally
was the supersonic dance, performed by
the cheerleaders and some of the staff
members. The performance trios were-
Maddie Reed and Emmersen Thomas with
Chris Reed, Rena Holmes and Scarlet Bar-
raclough with Ruth Farmer, Peyton Brad-
dock and Jenie Gomez with Abby Noelck,
Norina Zaugg and Tess Hammar with Sara
Oswald, Alison Gade and Brisa Carrillo
with Randy Robertson, Miley Shields and
Lauren Keeler with Jake Stenberg, Luca
Hahn and Kaylee Kettler with Renee
Thompson, Gabby Rushton and Karley
Staker with Annie Popkes, and Peyton
Braddock and Baylie Gallegos with Mi-
randa Schwickerath. Each group executed
a 16-count part of a dance, choreographed
by the cheerleaders, in front of the crowd.
The fans went wild!
Popkes said, “Thanks to Rhonda
Berry and all the girls for thinking of us
and helping us with the choreography! I
was scared about it, but it all turned out to
be pretty fun!”
Oswald said, “I always love
when our staff can support our students
loud and proud! I’m grateful that I was in-
cluded.”
Schwickerath said, “It was so
much fun! I couldn’t stop rewatching the
recording over the weekend. It got better
every time! Thanks to the cheerleaders for
putting this together and including us. Ev-
eryone rocked it!”
Robertson aadded, “I’m so glad I
was able to be a part of it. Now I have
Dancing with the Stars calling my name!”
Tony Senio was invited onto the
stage to say a few words of motivation for
the football team. He mentioned how im-
portant this moment is for the football team
and to enjoy it while it lasts. He talked for
a few minutes about how there will be a
heavy weight on their chest around the
third quarter, but he said, “Hold your head
high, and cherish your last moments out on
the field if the outcome is not not the way
we want it to be.”
Announcer Mike Quinlan
wrapped up the pep rally with a few thank
yous to the cheer coaches, cheerleaders,
Deb Fiderlein, and Chris Reed for putting
the pep rally together at the very las mi-
nute. He also gave a shout out to the West
Branch Fire Department for escorting the
football team to the high school.
If you were unable to attend the
pep rally on Thurs., Nov. 10, you can still
watch it on the West Branch Football You-
Tube page. The pep rally was streamed live
on YouTube for Butch Pedersen, who
couldn’t attend the pep rally due to his bat-
tler with cancer. The video on the West
Branch Football YouTube page is titled,
“Pep Rally: 2022 Semifinals.”
paly alongside other talented players
from other schools.
Coach Monica Tylee said, “I
had a lot of fun coaching this year with
Becky [Hosier]. We had a great group of
girls who worked together and improved
as the season went on. I’m so proud of
each and every one of them. I can’t wait
to gear up for next season!”
Even though there were some
tough battles throughout the season, the
team members say they can’t wait to
come back next year and take on the
challenges all over again!