Ankeny Centennial boys’ tennis standout Caleb Peterson is heading to Fort Dodge on Monday to begin his college career at Iowa Central Community College.
Peterson decided to go the junior college route after previously considering Drake.
“I feel like it was somewhat of an easy decision with my other option Drake losing their coach and Iowa Central being much cheaper,” Peterson said.
The Bulldogs had been recruiting Peterson, a three-time state placewinner, throughout the spring. However, Drake coach Davidson Kozlowski left earlier this summer to become the head coach at Florida Gulf Coast University.
Kozlowski led the Bulldogs’ program to historic success over the past 11 years. His teams won seven conference tournament championships and five regular season conference titles.
With Kozlowski’s departure, Peterson elected to go a different direction.
“I felt I would have the opportunity to improve a lot in this next year or two to build my academics and game to hopefully go to a bigger college in the future,” he said.
Peterson placed second in the boys’ Class 2A singles tournament as a senior. He finished with a 20-1 record.
Peterson closed out his high school career by winning the Class 2A state coed championship along with his sister, Abbie.