Posted on

Jackson Molstead named to All-State basketball team

Press photo by John Burbridge Charles City junior Jackson Molstead, shown at far right shooting a runner in the lane, was named to the Class 3A All-State boys basketball second team by the newly formed Iowa Print Sports Writers Association.
Press photo by John Burbridge
Charles City junior Jackson Molstead, shown at far right shooting a runner in the lane, was named to the Class 3A All-State boys basketball second team by the newly formed Iowa Print Sports Writers Association.

Comet junior part of inaugural IPSWA class

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

Charles City junior Jackson Molstead was honored by the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association when he was named to its inaugural boys basketball all-state team this week.

After leading the Comets in scoring for the third season in a row, Molstead received Class 3A second-team distinction.

After his sophomore season last year, Molstead was named to the Iowa Newspaper Association Class 3A third team.

While reaching the 1,000-point milestone this past season, Molstead averaged an even 19 points per game and led the team in assists (167) and steals (37).

With a nose for a loose ball, Molstead “retrieved” more than 100 rebounds, and at times during the season and postseason was called on to be a lock-down defender to thwart the opposition’s top or hot-handed scorer.

Molstead helped the Comets to an 18-win season, which included a road victory against Waverly-Shell Rock — the first since 2010.

With Charles City one win away from making its first state tournament appearance since 1956, Molstead managed to manufacture offense from a bad shooting night to lead his team with 14 points, but it wasn’t enough as Waverly-Shell Rock advanced to the State Basketball Championships by winning the substate final, 55-41.

Molstead was one of two Northeast Iowa Conference players to be named IPSWA all-state.

Waverly-Shell Rock junior Luke Velky made the Class 3A third team.

Velky led the Go-Hawks in scoring while averaging 12.3 ppg. He was also second on the team in assists and steals.

Shooting just under 48 percent from the floor and better than 36 percent from beyond the 3-point arc, Velky more than proved he can connect in the clutch as his waning-seconds 3-pointer against the Comets in the aforementioned first meeting last season between the two teams forced overtime before Charles City pulled out the victory.

After vanquishing Charles City in the substate final, Velky and the Go-Hawks went on to eliminate No. 2 seed Mount Pleasant in the quarterfinals before eventually finishing fourth in the Class 3A bracket.

Muscatine senior Joe Wieskamp was selected as Mr. Basketball by the IPSWA. The University of Iowa signee averaged 33.5 points and 13.5 rebounds per game as the Muskies reached the Class 4A state tournament for the first time in 16 years.

Wieskamp, who accounted for nearly 60 percent of his team’s scoring, shot 56 percent from the field and almost 85 percent from the free-throw line. He finished his career with an Iowa Class 4A-record 2,376 points, sixth on the all-time scoring list. A consensus top-75 recruit in the 2018 class, Wieskamp tallied double-figure points in 88 of his 91 career games, including the last 62, and registered 46 double-doubles.

To be selected as Mr. Basketball, a player must be a senior and must have been selected to first-team all-state in their respective class. After a nomination process, discussion takes place and a vote is taken of sports writers and coaches in attendance. The player receiving a majority of the votes is declared Mr. Basketball.

The IPSWA was formed last month to take over the media/coach-based all-state voting process in the wake of last fall’s INA all-state football fiasco that feted several players in their wrong classes and positions, and had glaring omissions of more-deserving players.

The IPSWA board of directors voted to change the team format to eliminate positions. Formerly, each all-state team was comprised of three front-court, three back-court, and two utility positions. This year’s teams included the top-8 for each team, regardless of the position the players play. The players were decided by sports writers voting in each class.

Class 1A first team

Jake Hilmer (North Linn) jr.; Nicholas Ruden (St. Mary’s-Remsen) sr.; Brady Gavin (Martensdale-St. Mary’s) sr.; Ryan Miller (North Linn) sr.; Grant DeMeulenaere (Grand View Christian) sr.; Jake Carley (St. Albert, Council Bluffs) sr.; Zach Martinek (West Fork) jr.; Jesse Van Wyk (Lynnville-Sully) sr.

Class 1A second team

Paul Rundquist (Wapsie Valley, Fairbank) jr.; TJ Schnurr (Bishop Garrigan) jr.; Peyton Brasser (South O’Brien) sr.; Joe Weber (Boyer Valley) sr.; Carter Boothe (Central Decatur) sr.; Caleb Terhard (George-Little Rock) jr.; Brett Givens (Lisbon) sr.; Brady Happel (Dunkerton) jr.

Class 1A third team

Caden Kickbush (Gladbrook-Reinbeck) sr.; Codey Hicks (Janesville) jr.; Brennan Sefrit (Bedford) soph.; Keontae Luckett (New London) jr.; Andrew Gibb (St. Edmond) jr.; Thomas Hensley (CAM, Anita) sr.; Jack Kelley (Don Bosco) jr.; Bryce Coppock (Newell-Fonda) soph.

Class 2A first team

Trenton Massner (Wapello) sr.; Parker Badding (Kuemper Catholic) sr.; Alec Oberhauser (Aplington-Parkersburg) sr.; Jacob Vis (Western Christian) jr.; Dillon Faubel (Treynor) sr.; Isaac Prewitt (Des Moines Christian) sr.; Carter Cuvelier (Aplington-Parkersburg) jr.; Haris Hoffman (Cascade) jr.

Class 2A second team

Marco Balderas (South Hamilton) sr.; Zaine Leedom (East Marshall) sr.; Luke Empen (Northeast, Goose Lake) sr.; Tyrus Arends (Sioux Center) sr.; Jarod Nichols (Colfax-Mingo) sr.; Ryan Schmitt (Van Meter) jr.; Luke Clausen (Treynor) sr.; James Betz (Garner-Hayfield-Ventura) jr.

Class 2A third team

Dev Patel (Camanche) sr.; Beau Cornwell (West Branch) jr.; Sam Snyder (Forest City) sr.; R.J. Harris (AHSTW) sr.; Mitch Gehling (Beckman Catholic) sr.; Jace Davidson (Pocahontas Area) jr.; Drew Olson (Osage) sr.; Kyle Boerhave (Sheldon) sr.

Class 3A first team

Brady Sartorius (Mount Pleasant) sr.; Luke Vaske (Norwalk) sr.; Zach Lester (Clear Lake) sr.; Elijah Hazekamp (Bishop Heelan) sr.; Jarad Kruse (Oskaloosa) sr.; Nate Mohr (Glenwood) sr.; Andrew Blum (Glenwood) sr.; Matthew Mims (Xavier) sr.

Class 3A second team

Cole Henry (Oskaloosa) jr.; Derek Krogmann (West Delaware) jr.; Jackson Molstead (Charles City) jr.; Cooper Ross (Carroll) sr.; Xavier Foster (Oskaloosa) soph.; Bowen Born (Norwalk) soph.; Steve Borneman (Dallas Center Grimes) sr.; Owen Coburn (Spirit Lake) jr.

Class 3A third team

Connor Groves (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) jr.; Spencer Touro (Benton Community) sr.; Scott Leonard (Atlantic) sr.; Chase Zielke (Marion) sr.; Luke Velky (Waverly-Shell Rock) jr.; Jackson Joens (Xavier) sr.; Gabe Shields (South Tama) sr.; Shane Chamberlain (Harlan) sr.

Class 4A first team

Joe Wieskamp (Muscatine) sr.; AJ Green (Cedar Falls) sr.; Patrick McCaffrey (Iowa City, West) jr.; D.J. Carton (Bettendorf) jr.; Tyreke Locure (Des Moines, North) jr.; Garrett Sturtz (Newton) sr.; Corvon Seales (North Scott, Eldridge) sr.; Devonte Thedford (Des Moines, Hoover) sr.

Class 4A second team

Nathan Johnson (Waukee) sr.; CaRondis Harris-Anderson (Waterloo, West) sr.; Carter Stevens (Dubuque, Senior) sr; Lucas Duax (Dubuque, Hempstead) sr.; Luke Appel (Marshalltown) sr.; Trey Hutcheson (Linn-Mar, Marion) jr.; Sam Ingoli (Dowling Catholic) sr.; Boston Grimes (Johnston) sr.

Class 4A third team

Aidan Vanderloo (Sioux City, East) jr.; Seybian Sims (Iowa City, West) sr.; Malcolm Clayton (Fort Dodge) sr.; Hunter Strait (Ankeny Centennial) sr.; Troy Houghton (Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln) sr.; Van Rees (Sioux City, East) sr.; Brian Dayman (Pleasant Valley) sr.

Social Share

LATEST NEWS