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Jaguars

‘It felt so relieving’: Smith’s late 3-pointers seal Jaguars’ victory over Ankeny girls

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The shots weren't falling on Tuesday night for Tillie Smith. But her teammates on the Ankeny Centennial girls' basketball squad told her to keep shooting, and the advice paid off. The senior guard made just 2-of-9 shots from the field and went 2-of-8 from behind the arc, but she connected on a pair of 3-point goals in the final 3 minutes as the … [Read more...] about ‘It felt so relieving’: Smith’s late 3-pointers seal Jaguars’ victory over Ankeny girls

‘This was not our night’: Ankeny swimmers drop 92-78 decision to Dowling Catholic

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The Ankeny boys' swimming team won't have any time to dwell on Tuesday's loss to visiting Dowling Catholic. The 11th-ranked Maroons won eight of the 11 events, including all three relays, and posted a 92-78 victory over No. 6 Ankeny at Trail Point Aquatics Center. The loss dropped the Hawks' records to 1-3 in the CIML Conference and 2-3 overall. "This … [Read more...] about ‘This was not our night’: Ankeny swimmers drop 92-78 decision to Dowling Catholic

Ankeny Fanatic Prep of the Week: Isaac Bruhl, Ankeny Centennial wrestling

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Senior Isaac Bruhl has helped the sixth-ranked Ankeny Centennial wrestling team to an 8-3 record, including a 3-1 mark in the CIML Conference. The fourth-ranked Bruhl won all four of his matches on Saturday at the Valley Duals, including a 9-4 decision over No. 5 Elijah Blewitt of Indianola. He also recorded two pins and a technical fall at 150 pounds … [Read more...] about Ankeny Fanatic Prep of the Week: Isaac Bruhl, Ankeny Centennial wrestling

‘We’ve got a lot of work to do’: Centennial wrestlers post 2-2 record at Valley Duals

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Eight Ankeny Centennial wrestlers won at least three matches on the day as the Jaguars went 2-2 overall Saturday at the Valley Duals. Sixth-ranked Centennial opened the tournament with a 54-21 win over Valley that raised its record to 3-1 in the CIML Conference. The Jaguars began that dual with seven consecutive victories, including falls in the first six … [Read more...] about ‘We’ve got a lot of work to do’: Centennial wrestlers post 2-2 record at Valley Duals

‘Things just snowballed on us’: Slow start dooms Jaguars in 52-37 loss to Johnston

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The Ankeny Centennial boys' basketball team is still seeking its first conference victory. A slow start on Friday doomed the Jaguars' hopes of pulling off an upset against visiting Johnston. The Dragons jumped out to a 20-3 lead in the first quarter, extended the margin to 33-11 at halftime and then held on for a 52-37 road victory. "We were not … [Read more...] about ‘Things just snowballed on us’: Slow start dooms Jaguars in 52-37 loss to Johnston

‘Johnston is a great team’: Dragons build huge lead, then hold off Centennial girls

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This year's version of the Johnston girls' basketball team might be even better than last year's state championship squad. That was the assessment by Ankeny Centennial coach Scott DeJong prior to the holiday break, and the top-ranked Dragons showed on Friday that the gap between them and the rest of the teams in Class 5A is still significant. Johnston … [Read more...] about ‘Johnston is a great team’: Dragons build huge lead, then hold off Centennial girls

Ankeny girls’ team extends winning streak to 13 matches before falling to S.E. Polk

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(Story by Stephen McDaniel) The new year didn’t quite start with the bang that the Ankeny girls' wrestling team was hoping for. Ankeny bolstered an 11-0 record to close out the 2024 portion of its schedule, but a 2-1 mark during a quadrangular meet on Thursday at Southeast Polk snapped its undefeated streak to open up the new year. Coach Dustin … [Read more...] about Ankeny girls’ team extends winning streak to 13 matches before falling to S.E. Polk

‘We had a good night’: Ankeny swimmers win 9 events in 112-58 victory at Johnston

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Any win in the Central Iowa Metropolitan League is a good one. Ankeny boys' swimming coach Dustin Rhoads certainly didn't take his team's victory at Johnston on Thursday for granted. "We had a good night at the pool," Rhoads said after his squad posted a 112-58 triumph over the Dragons at Summit Middle School. "It was fun to see the guys compete hard … [Read more...] about ‘We had a good night’: Ankeny swimmers win 9 events in 112-58 victory at Johnston

Ankeny Fanatic Prep of the Week: Tillie Smith, Ankeny Centennial girls’ basketball

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Senior guard Tillie Smith has helped the fourth-ranked Ankeny Centennial girls' basketball team to a 6-2 record and a four-game winning streak heading into 2025. Smith is averaging 4.0 points per game. She leads the Jaguars with 10 3-point goals and is shooting 28.6 percent from behind the arc. Here is some inside info on Smith: Congratulations on a … [Read more...] about Ankeny Fanatic Prep of the Week: Tillie Smith, Ankeny Centennial girls’ basketball

‘We had a great meet’: Ankeny swimmers capture 3rd straight Little Hawk Invite title

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If the Ankeny boys' swimming team needed a shot of momentum heading into the holiday break, the Hawks certainly got one on Saturday. Seventh-ranked Ankeny won four events and easily captured its third consecutive title in the Little Hawk Invitational at Iowa City. The Hawks racked up 442 points to finish 63 points ahead of No. 6 Iowa City West, which took … [Read more...] about ‘We had a great meet’: Ankeny swimmers capture 3rd straight Little Hawk Invite title

Ankeny Fanatic Prep of the Week: Cabryn Klingner, Centennial boys’ basketball

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Senior guard Cabryn Klingner scored a career-high 19 points as the Ankeny Centennial boys' basketball team posted a 64-59 victory at Iowa City Liberty in a non-conference game last Monday. He also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out three assists as the Jaguars (1-5) earned their first win of the season. Klingner is averaging 9.3 points, 3.3 rebounds … [Read more...] about Ankeny Fanatic Prep of the Week: Cabryn Klingner, Centennial boys’ basketball

Vandermark wins 3rd consecutive Miller crown, earns outstanding wrestler award

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Ankeny Centennial's Cale Vandermark exercised a few demons on Saturday. The fourth-ranked junior won the 120-pound title in the Don Miller Invitational at Fort Dodge and earned the Tim Ascherl/Brent Helmkamp outstanding wrestler award after leading the Jaguars to a fifth-place finish in the 14-team field. "I was honored to have earned such an esteemed … [Read more...] about Vandermark wins 3rd consecutive Miller crown, earns outstanding wrestler award

‘It was a great win’: Surging Centennial girls win top-5 showdown vs. C.R. Prairie

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Last December, the Ankeny Centennial girls' basketball team suffered through a five-game losing streak and limped into the holiday break with a pedestrian 5-5 record. With everyone back from that squad, the Jaguars are in a much better position 12 months later. Fourth-ranked Centennial raised its overall mark to 6-2 by defeating No. 5 Cedar Rapids … [Read more...] about ‘It was a great win’: Surging Centennial girls win top-5 showdown vs. C.R. Prairie

Ankeny girls win Holiday Duals crown at DC-G to remain unbeaten on season

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Saturday was another amazing day for the Ankeny girls' wrestling program. Third-ranked Ankeny remained unbeaten by defeating four opponents to win the Holiday Duals at Dallas Center-Grimes. Coach Dustin Roland's team improved to 11-0 on the season. Ankeny posted wins over Woodward-Granger (42-36), Valley (54-24), Vinton-Shellsburg (51-24) and Dallas … [Read more...] about Ankeny girls win Holiday Duals crown at DC-G to remain unbeaten on season

Centennial boys hang with two-time defending champs until 4th quarter

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(Story by Stephen McDaniel) If there’s one point of emphasis the Centennial boys' basketball team wants to focus on heading into the holiday break, it’s working on closing out games. The Jaguars went out on the road Friday and stuck with two-time reigning Class 4A champion Valley through three quarters, but the wheels fell off for Centennial in the … [Read more...] about Centennial boys hang with two-time defending champs until 4th quarter

‘I was kind of shocked by it’: Pratt scores career-high 30 in Jaguars’ rout at Valley

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(Story by Stephen McDaniel) Jaeden Pratt is playing with a lot of confidence, and it helps when she’s got the perfect team around her. It was just a pair of free throws to begin Friday night’s contest that broke open the floodgates to a career-high 30-point outing for the Illinois State commit and a dominant 73-42 road win for the Ankeny Centennial … [Read more...] about ‘I was kind of shocked by it’: Pratt scores career-high 30 in Jaguars’ rout at Valley

Jaguars top Urbandale again, allow Groth to reach 450-victory career milestone

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Behind every successful wrestling coach is a group of talented assistant coaches. At least that's what Ankeny Centennial coach Jay Groth believes. Groth paid credit to his assistants on Thursday after earning his 450th career victory when the Jaguars defeated visiting Urbandale, 42-30, in a CIML Conference dual meet. "Like I've said before, my best … [Read more...] about Jaguars top Urbandale again, allow Groth to reach 450-victory career milestone

Ankeny swimmers drop 99-71 decision at Valley, will head to Iowa City Saturday

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Ankeny boys' swimming coach Dustin Rhoads wasn't too concerned about his team's 99-71 loss at Valley on Thursday. "We had a fun meet with them," Rhoads said. "They are always tough especially at their home pool, but I thought my guys swam pretty well at our final dual meet of 2024. We were missing one of our best swimmers tonight, but I thought a lot … [Read more...] about Ankeny swimmers drop 99-71 decision at Valley, will head to Iowa City Saturday