Our top 10 countdown of the best sports stories from the 2020-21 school year continues today with number three on our list. The third best Washington story is split into two with a pair of athletes ending their season at state.
Coming off of a state appearance to end his sophomore cross country season, high expectations surrounded Lance Sobaski in the fall of 2020 and the junior lived up to it. One year wiser and a few inches taller translated to a breakout season that led to many meet wins including making history for the Demons. On October 15th in front of a home crowd, the junior became the first Southeast Conference champion in Demon boys’ cross country history by clocking in at 16:54, 10 seconds faster than second place. That momentum carried into an encore performance at a class 3A state qualifier where he was runner-up in Monticello and ran the fastest time ever by a Demon in 16:27. That broke a 22 year old record by Cesar Casteneda in 1998. Sobaski’s return trip to Fort Dodge resulted in a top 30 finish where he ranked 27th out of 134 runners.
The other athlete that ended his season at state was a senior wrestler competing at Wells Fargo Arena. Ayden Frazer was one win away from advancing to Des Moines in 2019 and that heartbreak motivated the senior to not let that happen again. Frazer missed much of the winter due to injury, but returned in late January for a memorable run. It all started with a pair of wins on senior night and that carried into a Southern Iowa Classic title for the 182 pounder. He placed second at sectionals and then found himself in similar territory at districts with one wrestle back match to decide his fate. A pin in 23 seconds of Eddyville-Blakesburg’s Clayton Young allowed Frazer to crack the top two and capture his first state berth. The senior missed out on the podium, but did get a 7-5 win in the first round of consolations. The graduate will continue his wrestling career this winter at Iowa Wesleyan University in Mount Pleasant.
Check back in tomorrow with number two on our countdown when we travel back to the spring on the track.