There were no real surprises when it came to who won the player of the year honors. Herculaneum senior Paige Fowler won the JCAA small-schools girls basketball award for the third year in a row after finishing as the Blackcats’ all-time leading scorer with 1,427 points. This season she averaged 14.9 points and 3.6 assists per game.
Season after season you can count on the Festus girls basketball team to feature a superb guard worthy of all-conference recognition. In the past, Abby Rickermann and Jordan Oetting were first-team players for the Tigers. This season, sophomore Josie Allen burst onto the scene, leading Festus in scoring (17.2 points), rebounding (7.7), assists (2.78) and steals (2.94). Allen was named the large-schools girls POY.
De Soto senior Jordan Mertens put together a monster season that was four years in the making and led the Dragons to a share of the JCAA large-schools title after swatting away 96 shots to go with almost 12 points and seven rebounds per game. De Soto ousted archrival Hillsboro from the Class 5 District 2 tournament and Mertens, the large-schools boys POY, made 12 of 13 shots from the field and finished with a season-high 24 points in a 58-55 win.
Perhaps no player in the JCAA had more skill with the ball in his hands than Crystal City senior Donovan Tullock, the small-schools boys POY. Tullock led the Hornets to the county’s only district championship (boys or girls) this season and was one of the St. Louis area’s leading scorers with 21.5 points per game. Tullock launched 284 shots this season and made exactly half of them.
No other athlete in the county dominated his or her sport like De Soto senior Jaycee Foeller, one of only two three-time undefeated state wrestling champions on the girls side. Foeller is the JCAA female wrestler of the year after compiling a career record of 121-0 that included more pins than a dozen bowling alleys.
He never reached the state’s mountaintop, but Festus senior Luke Shaver got close enough to grab Class 3 third-place medals the last two seasons and light the way for future Tigers on how to prepare for a long, grueling season. In a conference ruled by Hillsboro – third place at state Class 3 – Shaver stood out as the boys wrestler of the year.
Here are this winter’s top performers. Enjoy.
JCAA large-schools basketball
BOYS
First team
Jordan Mertens, De Soto
Arhmad Branch, Festus
Sonny Amabile, Windsor
Aidan Blair, De Soto
Collin Reando, Festus
Second team
Cole Rickermann, Festus
Zach Whaley, Hillsboro
Noah Holland, Hillsboro
Nick Krodinger, De Soto
Logan Chaney, Windsor
Honorable mention
Levi Fischer, De Soto
Collin Weinhaus, Festus
Eric Schneider, Hillsboro
Dawson Camden, Perryville
Player of the year: Jordan Mertens, De Soto
Coach of the year: Zeb Hammond, De Soto
GIRLS
First team
Josie Allen, Festus
Leah Buerck, Perryville
Kamryn Pehle, De Soto
Kyla Schnurbush, Perryville
Piper Montgomery, Windsor
Second team
Symphoni Schodroski, Windsor
Ciara Ehlers, Perryville
Kayla Van Horn, Hillsboro
Emily Holt, Festus
Taylor Jones, De Soto
Reagan Daly, Windsor
Honorable mention
Dillon Day, Hillsboro
Mya Courtois, Festus
Trista Grobe, De Soto
Zoe Wood, Hillsboro
Elizabeth Spurgeon, Windsor
Player of the year: Josie Allen, Festus
Coach of the year: Angela Fulton, Perryville
JCAA small-schools basketball
BOYS
First team
Donovan Tullock, Crystal City
John Wibbenmeyer, St. Vincent
Colby Ott, Jefferson
Nathan Ruble, St. Pius X
Phillip Ernst, St. Vincent
Second team
Chase Wilson, Grandview
Dallin Fuller, Herculaneum
Zander Parson, St. Pius X
Isaiah Bracey, Herculaneum
Carson Short, Crystal City
Honorable mention
Drew Breeze, Jefferson
Evan DeWilde, St. Vincent
Colton Richardson, Jefferson
Mike Bollinger, St. Pius X
Chase Marnin, St. Pius X
Player of the year: Donovan Tullock, Crystal City
Coach of the year: Bruce Valleroy, St. Vincent
GIRLS
First team
Paige Fowler, Herculaneum
A.J. Agers, St. Pius X
Anna Belle Wakeland, Grandview
Emily Wiese, Herculaneum
Annie Waites, Crystal City
Second team
Macey Pilliard, Herculaneum
Laney Smith, Jefferson
Catryn Cattoor, Jefferson
Riley Cappozzo, St. Pius X
Genevieve Lipe, St. Vincent
Honorable mention
Molly Clemmons, Crystal City
Mary Schwartz, St. Vincent
Colleen Flanagan, St. Pius X
Natalee Moore, Grandview
Player of the year: Paige Fowler, Herculaneum
Coach of the year: Riley Blair, Herculaneum
Wrestling
BOYS
106 pounds First team: Austin Neff, Festus; second team: Aidan Black, Hillsboro; honorable mention: Brayden Belding, Windsor
113 First team: Gavin Alexander, Hillsboro; second team: C.J. Asinger, Herculaneum
120 First team: Aidan Haggard, Hillsboro; Joseph Hirst, Windsor; honorable mention: Carter Wallace, Festus
126 First team: Sam Richardson, Hillsboro; second team: Andrew Nahlik, Festus; honorable mention: Damon Khoury, De Soto
132 First team: Evan Morris, Hillsboro; second team: Dalton Castens, Herculaneum; honorable mention: Nick Pruett, Festus
138 First team: Dalton Litzsinger, Hillsboro; second team: Blake Sexton, Festus; honorable mention: Logan Petri, Herculaneum
145 First team: Nate Barnett, Hillsboro; second team: Lucas Mercurio, Festus; honorable mention: Chase Payne, Herculaneum
152 First team: Seth Winkelmann, Windsor, Griffin Ray, Hillsboro; second team: Bobby Buehre, Festus; honorable mention: Aaron Payne, Herculaneum
160 First team: Luke Longtin, Windsor; second team: Asa Foeller, De Soto; honorable mention: Eddie Hines, Hillsboro
170 First team: Luke Bradley, De Soto; second team: Dominic Pona, Windsor; honorable mention: John Bennett, Hillsboro
182 First team: Luke Shaver, Festus; second team: Nick Green, Hillsboro; honorable mention: Nick Jansen, Windsor
195 First team: Zach McNees, Hillsboro; second team: Gavin Watson, De Soto
220 First team: Hunter Rhodes, Hillsboro; second team: Isaac Foeller, De Soto; honorable mention: Shea Eberhardt, Herculaneum
285 First team: Jordan Jarvis, Hillsboro; second team: Timothy Harmon, De Soto; honorable mention: Clay Scott, Windsor
Wrestler of the year: Luke Shaver, Festus
Coach of the year: Matt Mitchell, Hillsboro
GIRLS
107 First team: Leann Dobbs, Festus
112 First team: Kirsten Klein, Festus; Mika Barciszewski, Hillsboro
117 First team: Isabella Hartwell, De Soto; Sarah Gazaway, Festus
122 First team: Lauren Mills, Festus; Hannah Kamp, De Soto
127 First team: Eddyson Reeves, Herculaneum
132 First team: Ashlynn Dean, Hillsboro
137 First team: Katie Hendrix, Hillsboro; Riley Coleman, De Soto
151 First team: Ella Bradley, De Soto
159 First team: Madison Patrick, Windsor
174 First team: Jaycee Foeller, De Soto; Alleigh Culley, Hillsboro
195 First team: Hannah Eberhardt, De Soto; Jada Green, Hillsboro
235 First team: Marissa Hudman, Hillsboro
Wrestler of the year: Jaycee Foeller, De Soto
Coaches of the year: Don Minx, Rich Zimmermann, De Soto