Vote: Des Moines Register Iowa Ortho Athletes of the Week for Jan. 22-28
This past week of Iowa high school sports saw action pick up across the state thanks to several makeup games and meets following winter weather that limited competition during the week of Jan. 8-14.
The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union hosted super regional meets in girls wrestling to set the field for this week's Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union girls state wrestling tournament at Xtream Arena in Coralville.
Boys wrestling saw several teams compete in their conference tournaments, and boys swimming wrapped up its regular season. Girls and boys basketball teams also picked up the pace with the postseason just around the corner.
Last week saw a number of outstanding team and individual performances in high school basketball, wrestling and swimming in the state of Iowa.
Here are the Iowa Ortho female and male Athlete of the Week candidates for the week of Jan. 22-28. Register readers vote to determine the winners, who will be announced at the end of the week.
Girls
Jasmine Luedtke, Ottumwa
Luetke, a defending girls state wrestling champion at 110 pounds, will be heading back to state to defend her title after placing first at 110 during the IGHSAU Region 3 Super Regional meet in Des Moines Friday.
Luetke went 3-0 during the tournament to improve to 33-0 on the season. She pinned No. 10 Nora Bockes of Ankeny in 2:59 during the finals.
Diana Gaie, Des Moines Public Schools
Gaie is headed to the girls state wrestling tournament after placing first at 140 during the IGHSAU Region 4 Super Regional meet in Des Moines Friday.
Gaie, ranked No. 8 at 140 by IAwrestle.com, will take a 21-1 record into state after going 3-0 at the qualifier tournament. All three of her victories came by fall, including a victory over Raccoon River-Northwest's Naomi Templeman in 5:17 during the finals.
Kacy Miller, Western Iowa
Miller remained perfect on the season after placing first at 105 pounds during the IGHSAU Region 2 Super Regional meet in Sioux City Friday.
Miller, who was ranked fifth at 110, pushed her season record to 31-0 after pinning Emmetsburg's Anika Stearns in 4:27 during the finals. She was 3-0 on the day, with all three victories coming by fall.
Kara VeDepo, Solon
VeDepo, ranked No. 10 at 100, took down No. 9 Olivia Hernandez of Bettendorf in impressive fashion during the IGHSAU Region 6 Super Qualifier girls wrestling meet Friday in Cedar Rapids.
VeDepo won the match by technical fall, 15-0 in 3:12, to take first at 100 and advance to state with a 33-6 record. VeDepo was 3-0 during the meet with a pair of wins by fall.
Maclayn Houston, West Harrison
Houston turned in a huge game for the West Harrison girls basketball team during a 68-40 victory over Whiting Jan. 25 at Mondamin.
Houston scored 46 points after making 13 of 18 field goals and 20 of 28 free throws. She also pulled down 12 rebounds and tallied five steals, three assists and two blocks.
Boys
Grant Uecker, Urbandale
Uecker came up big for the Urbandale boys basketball team during a 79-66 victory Southeast Polk Jan. 23 at Urbandale.
Uecker hit 13 of 21 field goals and he was an impressive 8 of 13 from 3-point range in scoring 34 points for the Jayhawks. He also pulled down seven rebounds.
Colton Rasmussen, Atlantic
Rasmussen went for 50 points, and the Atlantic boys basketball team needed all of them in a 75-73 victory at Creston on Jan. 22.
Rasmussen hit 16 of 28 field goals, 5 of 11 3-points and 13 of 14 free throws. He tacked on seven rebounds, three steals and two assists.
Travis Treyton, Baxter
Treyton nearly pulled off a quadruple-double for the Baxter boys basketball team during a 91-41 victory over Meskwaki Jan. 23 at Baxter.
Treyton finished with 19 points, 12 assists, nine rebounds and eight steals.
Matt Beem, Glenwood
Beem remained undefeated on the season for the Glenwood boys wrestling team after claiming a Hawkeye 10 Conference championship Saturday at the conference meet in Creston.
Beem, ranked No. 3 at 132 pounds by IAwrestle.com, improved to 28-0 on the season with three victories by fall at the Hawkeye 10 tournament. He pinned Lewis Central's Derrick Gregory in 1:04 during the finals.
Kane Naaktgeboren, Linn-Mar
Naaktgeboren, the top-ranked boys wrestler at 144 in 3A, turned in a dominant performance at the Mississippi Valley Conference boys wrestling tournament Saturday in Dubuque.
Naaktgeboren pinned sixth-ranked Joe Hirsch of Western Dubuque in just 44 seconds during the finals to improve to 33-0. He won his previous two matches of the tournament by fall in a combined total of just 31 seconds.
The Des Moines Register's Athlete of the Week is underwritten by Iowa Ortho, which is not involved in the writing or editing of this story.
Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at jrandleman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Vote: Des Moines Register Athletes of the Week for Jan. 22-28
