Vote: Des Moines Register Iowa Ortho Athletes of the Week for Feb. 5-11
This past week saw West Des Moines Valley claim the boys state swimming championship and the boys state wrestling field was set.
There were some outstanding individual performances in the pool and on the wrestling mat. There were several impressive outings on the basketball court as well, with girls beginning regional play in Classes 1A, 2A and 3A and boys' teams in the smaller classes wrapping up regular season play.
Here are the Iowa Ortho female and male Athlete of the Week candidates for the week of Feb. 5-11. Register readers vote to determine the winners, who will be announced at the end of the week.
Girls
Bailey Birmingham, Norwalk
Birmingham continued her red-hot junior season with 40 points during the Norwalk girls basketball team's 72-69 victory over Class 4A No. 13 Pella Feb. 5 at Norwalk.
Birmingham made 12 of 23 field goals, 3 of 4 3-ponters and 13 of 20 free throws. She added 11 rebounds, four assists and five steals.
Kyla Wright, Cedar Rapids Kennedy
Wright came up clutch for the Cedar Rapids girls basketball team during a 79-78 victory over 4A No. 11 Marion Saturday in Cedar Rapids.
Wright finished the night with 30 points after making 10 of 20 field goals, including 4 of 6 3-pointers, and six free throws. She also was a force on defense, recording six steals during the game.
Ella Sharar, Iowa Falls-Alden
Sharar went for 42 points during the Iowa Falls-Alden girls basketball team's 75-52 victory over Webster City on Feb. 2 at Iowa Falls.
Sharar made 14 of 26 field goals, including 6 of 11 3-pointers, and 8 of 12 free throws. She also pulled down 12 rebounds during the Cadet victory.
Tyme Boettcher, Panorama
Boettcher went off for 35 points during the Panora girls basketball team's 90-16 victory at Ogden on Feb. 6.
Boettcher made 8 of 17 3-pointers during the lopsided win. She tacked on 13 rebounds, four assists, four steals and three blocks.
Lauren Walker, Central DeWitt
Walker had a big night in a losing effort for the Central DeWitt girls basketball team during the Sabers' 69-62 home loss to Davenport North on Feb. 6.
DeWitt hit seven 3-pointers and finished with 34 points. She added nine rebounds.
Boys
Owen Chiles, Pleasant Valley
Chiles won four gold medals for Pleasant Valley during the boys state swimming meet finals Saturday in Iowa City.
Chiles took first individually in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 43.32 seconds and the 100 backstroke in 47.64. Chiles also swam the lead leg on Pleasant Valley's winning 200 freestyle relay team that finished in 1:22.95 and he anchored the Spartans to a win the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:03.06.
Holden Carter, Iowa City West
Carter also had a big day at the boys state swimming meet.
Carter placed first in the 100 butterfly with a time of 48.57 and he swam the lead leg on Iowa City West's winning 200 medley relay team that swam a time of 1:30.31. Carter also swam the third leg on the Trojans' runner-up 400 freestyle relay team that finished in 3:06.79 and he took fourth in the 100 backstroke after touching the wall in 50.55.
Jacob Pins, West Des Moines Valley
Pins played a key role in Valley winning the team championship at the boys state swimming meet.
Pins placed first in both the 200 and 500 freestyle races with respective times of 1:37.78 and 4:20.86. He also anchored Valley to a fourth-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay and a sixth-place effort in the 400 freestyle relay.
Aiden Smith, Atlantic
Smith placed first at 126 pounds during the Class 2A District 1 boys wrestling meet Saturday in Atlantic.
Smith, ranked No. 2 at 126 in 2A by IAwrestle.com, went 3-0 during the district meet to improve his season record to 47-1. All three victories came by fall, with the final coming in 1:09 over Creston's Broderick Phillips during the championship match.
Hayden Schwab, Don Bosco
Schwab improved to 34-0 at 106 pounds by placing first at the 1A District 1 boys wrestling meet in Denver Saturday.
Schwab, ranked No. 1 at 106 in 1A, scored a fall and a technical fall in his two matches. He pinned North Linn's Jacob Rauch in 2:35 during the semifinals and he defeated Wapsie Valley's Kaiden Belinsky by technical fall, winning 17-2 in 4:18, during the finals.
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 Feb. 5-11
