An alum of WACO made headlines last month for his work in the classroom at the next level. 

Pietro Vannini, a 2020 graduate of WACO High School, plays for the Ellsworth Community College men’s basketball team and he received National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-Academic honors. Vannini carried a 4.0 GPA in his freshman year and that earned him all-academic first team distinction, the only player on his team to receive such award. In all, the college that is located in Iowa Falls had 28 student-athletes qualify for all-academic teams in the 2020-21 school year. 

Vannini played in 21 games this past winter for the Panthers averaging six minutes a game, scoring 2.9 points a night, and shot at a 36% clip.