We wrap up our review of the last decade for Mid-Prairie athletics with a look at the 2019-20 school year.

Fall saw another big cross country season at Mid-Prairie High School and another state title. Coming off of team state championships in 2017 and 2018, the Golden Hawk girls were looking to make it three state titles at Fort Dodge, while Marie Hostetler was on her own personal quest for a three-peat, returning as the reigning 2017 and 2018 individual champ.

Mid-Prairie was ranked in the top two in class 2A all year by the Iowa High School Track and Field Coaches Association. The Hawks captured their second straight River Valley Conference championship, besting 13 other schools in Iowa City. The Golden Hawks won the team championship going away, beating second place Iowa City Regina by 48 points. Marie Hostetler took the individual title and Mitzi Evans was conference runner-up.

Adversity found the top ranked Golden Hawks in the state qualifier meet where they finished as team runners-up to No. 2 ranked Williamsburg 37-43, despite Hostetler’s individual championship and top ten finishes from Mitzi and Abbagail Evans. The second place team finish got the Hawks through to the state meet where they took advantage of their next shot at the Raiders in Fort Dodge.

Mid-Prairie claimed their third straight state team title, avenging their loss to Williamsburg by a single point 61-62. Marie Hostetler brought home her third consecutive individual title in 17:58.

Other finishers for the Golden Hawks included Ana Fleming 15th, Mitzi Evans 18th, Abbagail Evans 22nd, Sydney Yoder 33rd, Angelina Evans 49th and Jaden Yoder 63rd.

The Mid-Prairie boys team finished in fifth place as a team at the state qualifier with a score of 107 points, just missing a team spot at state. However, a pair of Mid-Prairie runners qualified for Fort Dodge as individuals.

Jamison Stutzman, a junior, advanced to state with a ninth place finish in a time of 17:37. Freshman Nathan Wallington also punched his ticket to state taking 14th in a time of 17:47. Other Mid-Prairie finishers at Williamsburg included Lucas Bontrager 16th, Chandler Hershberger 25th, Mose Yoder 46th, Robert Nagy 69th and Jordan Stock 73rd.

In Fort Dodge at state, Wallington finished 60th in a time of 17:47, Stutzman was 129th in 19:42.

The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk baseball team put together their best season in more than a decade in 2020. The Golden Hawks won the south division of the River Valley Conference, shared the overall RVC championship with Camanche, their first overall share of a conference title in 20 years, and advanced to the state tournament for the first time since 2007. Mid-Prairie put together a 12-3 regular season. In the playoffs, they knocked out West Branch 12-2 in the opening round, West Liberty 7-5 to claim their first district title in 13 years, and Central Lee at substate to advance to Des Moines for the first time in 13 seasons.

Once at state, Mid-Prairie was eliminated in the quarterfinal round by West Lyon 13-3. Aidan Rath led the way at the plate for Mid-Prairie who hit .329 as a team, seventh best in class 2A. The Golden Hawk first baseman was third in the state with a .562 average. His 29 RBI were second best as were his five home runs. Brad Tornow scored 31 runs, third most in 2A. Mid-Prairie finished with a 2.66 team ERA on the mound. The Hawks were led there by Tornow with a 5-0 overall record for his senior year with a sparkling 0.91 ERA across 23 innings of work, while striking out 43.The Golden Hawks had nine players selected to all River Valley teams including Brad Tornow, Aidan Rath, Chris Miller, Kayden Reinier, Vinny Bowlin, Karson Grout, Keegan Gingerich, Monte Slabaugh and Will Cavangh. Tornow, Rath and Bowlin were named all-state.

Sectional Saturday was a big one for the Golden Hawk wrestling team. Overall, the Hawks were third in the team standings at Williamsburg with 169 points.

Individually, a school record six Mid-Prairie wrestlers moved on to the district meet. The Golden Hawks had two champions on the day with junior Vinnie Bowlin at 152 and senior Isaac Boucher at 195 both reaching the top of the podium.

Four other Golden Hawks advanced as runners-up including Mason Hartley, Cael Garvey, Ben Meader and Cory Allen.

Boucher joined the 100-win club at Mid-Prairie on December 21st of 2019 with a pin over Nathan Rechkemmer of North Linn in just 30 seconds.

At the district meet, while battling influenza, he beat Lane Stender of Maquoketa by major decision to open the day and would best Clark Younggreen of Mount Vernon by fall in a wrestleback to advance to the state tournament for the second straight season.

Once in Des Moines, he opened with a pin over Zavion McMurran of Estherville Lincoln Central before dropping a quarterfinal match and a consolation bout to end his tournament.

The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk football team capped off their first winning season since 2016 with an emphatic pounding of Albia on the Blue Demon’s senior night 77-13. Mid-Prairie scored touchdowns on their first five drives of the game, opening up a 21-7 lead after one quarter and holding a 49-7 advantage at the half. The Hawks would find the end zone twice more in each of the third and fourth quarters. In total, Mid-Prairie had 13 possessions in the game, scoring 11 touchdowns, punting just once, and turning the ball over once.

The 77 points scored breaks the previous record of 72 points, set in a 1997 win over Wilton. The 11 touchdowns in one contest ties a school record, set in the same game against the Beavers. On scoring plays alone, Mid-Prairie posted 269 total yards. In total, they finished with 645 yards, including 537 on the ground. Both of those numbers are new school records. The previous record for total yards in a game was 630 in a win over Colfax-Mingo in 2006 and the previous mark for rushing yards was 495, also set in the Colfax-Mingo game. The Hawks outgained the Blue Demons 645-223 in total and 537-43 on the ground. Mid-Prairie was six of six scoring in the red zone.

Individually, Kayden Reinier scored five touchdowns on the ground, on runs of 93, 22, five, three and two yards. The five total touchdowns is fourth most in a single game in school history, tying him with Adam Kos, Sean Thornton, Josh Berry, Josh Boone, Tanner Miller, Brody Barthelman and Ricky Vargas. His 93 yard scoring run is the second longest rush in school history, matching a Kos run from 1999. His 270 yards in the game is the seventh highest total in program history for a single game and also pushed him over the 1,000 yard mark for the season, he ended the year with 1,127 yards and 21 touchdowns on 159 carries. Vinny Bowlin had a trio of touchdowns, scoring on runs of 80, 29, and one yard. His 80 yard romp is the 10th longest rush in school history. Nathan Quinby added two rushing touchdowns, one of seven and one of six yards. His six yard scoring run was the record breaker with five minutes left in the game.

Through the air, quarterback Brad Tornow found Chris Miller with a 22-yard touchdown pass. Tornow finished the game six of nine through the air for 108 yards and the one score. The Mid-Prairie special teams pitched in with a safety on a botched punt snap.

The Golden Hawks ended the season with a 6-3 overall record.