The snow didn’t stop the Pella athletic teams from competing on a busy Saturday of action on what marks the final Saturday of the winter sports regular season for the green and white.
Pella’s wrestlers opened the day with a split in their final regular season meet, defeating Des Moines North 66-10 and falling to Urbandale 36-25. Pella had pinfall wins in the opener by Logan Schroder (120), Ryan Van Donselaar (160), Christian Lubben (195), Jordan De Ruiter (220), and Kody Huisman (285). In the match against the J-Hawks, Huisman earned another pinfall victory, while Noah Parsons (182), Van Donselaar, Ryan Hancock (126), and Damion Clark (113) all earned decision victories. The Dutch wrestlers are next in action at the Class 3A Regional Wrestling duals, as No. 24 Pella travels to Linn-Mar high school to open against No. 10 Dubuque Hempstead.
There was no rest for the weary as the Pella girls basketball team made the trip to Ames for their final non-conference game of the regular season, falling by a 60-40 margin. Less than 24 hours removed from a tough loss to DCG, the Lady Dutch fell behind by 13 at the half, they cut the margin to six before hitting a wall, and the Cyclones pulled away late. Madison Naig scored 11 and Faith Diers and Anna Vander Waal each added eight points. Pella enters the final week of the regular season at 10-9 overall, with a return to league action Tuesday at home against Grinnell.
It was senior day for the Pella bowling teams as they finished the regular season against Bondurant-Farrar Saturday. Despite a school record total score, the Pella girls fell 2082-2050 to the Bluejays, while the boys fell 2700-2202. Anna DeNooy led Pella’s girls with a 302 two game series, followed by Emily Vander Molen at 281; the boys were paced by a 360 from Travis Ware and 306 from Nathan Grandia. Graduating Seniors Rosie Fuller, Kaina Gettings, Noelle Ruckman, Andrew Wogen, Braden Rowe, and Sierra Vander Weerdt were recognized before the game, and Sierra is the only four-year starter for the program this winter. The Pella bowling teams will compete at the Two Rivers Conference meet this Thursday at Great Escape in Pleasant Hill.