116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
IHSAA releases first official boys rankings of the season
Waukee Northwest, Huxley Ballard, Orange City Unity Christian and Fort Dodge St. Edmond are your No. 1 teams; Cedar Rapids Xavier is second in Class 3A
Dec. 22, 2025 5:14 pm
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
CEDAR RAPIDS - Question: Who are the top-ranked teams in their respective classes in the first Iowa High School Athletic Association boys basketball poll?
Answer: Waukee Northwest, Huxley Ballard, Orange City Unity Christian and Fort Dodge St. Edmond.
All four clubs were state tournament qualifiers last season, with Northwest losing in the Class 4A championship game to West Des Moines Valley. The Wolves are 7-0, their closest game a 10-point win over Johnston.
Cedar Falls (5-0) is second in 4A, followed by West Des Moines Dowling (7-0), Dubuque Senior (4-0) and Muscatine (6-0). CF is the only team from Mississippi Valley Conference in the top 10.
That’s in 4A. Cedar Rapids Xavier (4-0) is No. 2 in Class 3A, behind only Ballard (6-0).
The Saints lost in the 3A state tourney semifinals last season but returned a strong nucleus. Xavier’s closest game has been a 10-point win over Cedar Rapids Washington, coming without top player A.J. Evans, a 6-foot-8 center who has signed with Division I James Madison.
Solon (7-0) comes in seventh in the initial 3A rankings, with Center Point-Urbana (6-1) coming in at 10th. Solon beat CP-U last week, 59-56.
Unity Christian (7-0) is followed in the top five of 2A by Carroll Kuemper (5-1), Treynor (7-0), Iowa City Regina (5-1) and Western Christian (4-1). Regina’s lone loss is to Solon.
LaPorte City Union Community (6-1) and Mid-Prairie (5-0) are ninth and 10th, respectively.
There are no Gazette-area teams in the Class 1A rankings. St. Edmond (5-0) is joined in the top five by Wapsie Valley (7-0), Marcus MMCRU (6-0), Burlington Notre Dame (8-0) and Boyden-Hull (5-1) in that order.
The second IHSAA rankings, which are used to help determine postseason pairings, will not come until the new year. The Gazette’s Jeff Johnson is a member of the 4A rankings committee.
Below are the entire first rankings, with record through Sunday in parentheses:
CLASS 4A
- 1. Waukee Northwest (7-0)
- 2. Cedar Falls (5-0)
- 3. West Des Moines Dowling (7-0)
- 4. Dubuque Senior (4-0)
- 5. Muscatine (6-0)
- 6. Waukee (5-2)
- 7. Ames (6-0)
- 8. Bettendorf (6-0)
- 9. Pleasant Valley (5-1)
- 10. Des Moines Roosevelt (5-2)
CLASS 3A
- 1. Huxley Ballard (6-0)
- 2. Cedar Rapids Xavier (4-0)
- 3. Clear Lake (4-0)
- 4. Storm Lake (6-0)
- 5. Pella (6-1)
- 6. Adel-DeSoto-Minburn (5-1)
- 7. Solon (7-0)
- 8. Nevada (5-0)
- 9. Knoxville (5-0)
- 10. Center Point-Urbana (6-1)
CLASS 2A
- 1. Orange City Unity Christian (7-0)
- 2. Carroll Kuemper (5-1)
- 3. Treynor (7-0)
- 4. Iowa City Regina (5-1)
- 5. Western Christian (4-1)
- 6. Denver (6-1)
- 7. Cherokee (5-1)
- 8. Tri-Center (6-0)
- 9. Union Community (6-1)
- 10. Mid-Prairie (5-0)
CLASS 1A
- 1. Fort Dodge St. Edmond (5-0)
- 2. Wapsie Valley (7-0)
- 3. Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn-Remsen-Union (6-0)
- 4. Burlington Notre Dame (8-0)
- 5. Boyden-Hull (5-1)
- 6. Bellevue Marquette (6-0)
- 7. Algona Garrigan (5-1)
- 8. Coon Rapids-Bayard (6-0)
- 9. Woodbine (6-1)
- 10. Bellevue (7-1)
Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com
Daily Newsletters