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The Gazette’s K.J. Pilcher reveals his top five sports moments for 2025
Dec. 30, 2025 6:00 am
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The year was filled with extraordinary games and feats. High school athletes and teams continue to inspire and amaze through their accomplishments. The state is also fortunate to have the type of college programs it does. Here are my top-five memorable moments.
Coe’s Brady Kelly posts record-setting season
Coe quarterback Brady Kelly posted an impressive season in his first season as a full-time starter. With a tough-to-cover receiving corps and an experienced offensive line, Kelly had all the elements for a break-out season and he delivered. Kelly passed for 3,046 yards and 32 touchdowns, completing 196 of 286 passes (68.53 percent). He set Coe single-season records in yardage and 32 TDs. His breakout game came against NCAA Division IIII finalist University of Wisconsin-River Falls in Week 2. Kelly threw for 519 yards and six TDs, rushing for 108 yards. He followed that with five TD passes and 291 yards against Nebraska Wesleyan the next game. He passed for four TDs in two other games, earning American Rivers Conference Offensive Player of the Year and four conference Offensive Player of the Week honors.
Jase Jaspers captures state wrestling title
Third time was the charm for Mount Vernon’s Jase Jaspers. In his third, and unfortunately last due to injury that kept him from competing this season, state championship match, Jasper finally claimed the gold medal that eluded his freshman and sophomore seasons. He overcame that heartbreak that accompanied two finals losses by a total of three points, giving up a takedown in the final 10 seconds when he became the Mustangs first freshman finalist since Greg Randall in 1979. Jaspers capped an incredible unbeaten season, beating Independence’s Tyler Wieland, 10-0, for the Class 2A 144-pound crown and finishing with a 47-0 record. He gave a small fist pump, rising to his feet and walking straight to the coaches’ corner for a brief celebration. Jaspers claimed Mount Vernon’s 19th individual title.
Iowa City High wins state baseball title
The Little Hawks made school history, beating Bettendorf, 4-1, in an all-Eastern Iowa Class 4A final. City High entered as the No. 3 seed and produced some big innings each round at Sioux City, the one-year host of the 3A and 4A championships. In the quarterfinals, the Little Hawks needed a three-run sixth to overcome Waukee. It was a five-run third that powered them past Cedar Rapids Prairie. The Little Hawks tallied three runs in the first inning, thanks to a Drew Nye two-run single, to take control early against the Bulldogs. Jaxton Schroeder, who scored the game’s first run, tossed a complete-game four-hitter with eight strikeouts. This marked the fourth finals appearance and first state baseball crown for the Little Hawks, who were runners-up in 1959, 1992 and 1995. City High Coach Brian Mitchell was a member of the 1995 team. Mitchell, in his 14th season as head coach, has bled City High red for decades and elevated the program to a level it hadn’t reached.
Iowa State snaps 20-dual Cy-Hawk Series dual streak
Iowa State hadn’t beaten University of Iowa since 2004, dropping 20 straight CyHawk Series wrestling duals. To add to the streak, the Hawkeyes hadn’t lost a dual to the Cyclones during the tenure of Coach Tom Brands and they had clutched the Dan Gable Traveling Trophy from its inception. Cyclone fans had endured the anguish of never misses and what seemed like the inevitable quirky match outcome that would go in Iowa’s favor. It seemed like it could be that way with Iowa’s Dean Peterson avenging a loss to Stevo Poulin at 125 with a late takedown and Ryder Block’s win over Iowa State All-American Paniro Johnson without a takedown. But the weight start allowed Cyclones Coach Kevin Dresser to start with heavyweight Yonger Bastida and end with Missouri transfer Rocky Elam at 197. Both came through, as did Evan Frost at 133, Vinny Zerban at 157 and 174-pounder M.J. Gaitan to sway things to Iowa State. The Hilton Coliseum crowd erupted after the Cyclones ripped the albatross from around their necks and threw it down on center mat. It proved to be a marquee win for former Hawkeye Dresser at Iowa State, and allowed Iowa State to sweep football, wrestling and both basketball games of the CyHawk Series for the first time in the same year.
A softball season to remember
My apologies for the self-serving list topper, but it would be disingenuous to cap it with anything other than our daughter’s senior softball season. Katie and her Cedar Rapids Xavier teammates entered the season with almost everyone back from the previous year and two straight regional finals appearance, losing to the eventual state champion and state runner-up in 2024 and 2023. The Saints won their first 26 games, a Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division title and reached the 4A state tournament at Fort Dodge for the first time since 2018. We watched hours of hard work culminate into an unforgettable season for Katie and her teammates, beginning with three home runs in the season-opening doubleheader and including first-inning home runs in each doubleheader game at 3A No. 1 Dubuque Wahlert and a walk-off two-run home run in extra innings after a two-run shot to tie it against Iowa City Liberty that clinched the division title. The team set a record for season wins. Katie finished with 21 home runs, tying for second in the state and leading all of 4A and getting a chance to play at the Iowa Girls Coaches Association Senior All-Star. We watched her break the school’s single-season and career home run records. I’ve covered numerous state tournaments but getting to watch her on that stage, getting to squeeze the final strike from battery mate Braylen Conlon to close all the seniors’ careers with a win over Dallas Center-Grimes was special.
Comments: kj.pilcher@thegazette.com
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