Sports

       Vinton-Shellsburg senior Ryan Webster, wrestling at the 160-lb level for the Vikings, pinned all five of his opponents during Saturday's meet. His successful weekend earned him a nomination for this week's Athlete of the Week honor at KCRG-TV. Voters on the TV station's web site chose Webster over two other nominees, earning Webster a place on an upcoming broadcast, as well as a unique competition against KCRG sports guy Scott Saville     Ryan accomplished all five pins in a total of 244 seconds, during the wrestling duals event Saturday, Dec.

    The Viking swim team participated in the annual Newton Invite last weekend in Newton, as the young team continued to make great improvements.  The meet included strong squads from Indianola, Grinnell, Decorah and host Newtonas the Vikings finished fifth overall at the meet.     The Vikings managed to earn several medals with top performances being first place finishes by senior John Levis in the 200 meter freestyle and the 400 meter freestyle and a second place finish by junior Brandon Tharp in the 100 meter breaststroke.

Scooter Dulin (right) earned the first track championship of his IMCA Sunoco Stock Car career this season at Benton County Speedway. Pictured with IMCA Vice President of Operations Brett Root, the Cedar Rapids speedster won two features at Vinton in 2011. (Photo by Bruce Badgley, Motorsports Photography) (right) earned the first track championship of his IMCA Sunoco Stock Car career this season at Benton County Speedway.

Nathan Chandler (right) topped Mach-1 Sport Compact point standings at West Liberty Raceway this season. The Norway driver, pictured with IMCA Vice President of Operations Brett Root, won 17 features, as well as the inaugural main event for the 4-cylinder class during the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Cenex in 2011. (Photo by B

Merv Chandler (right) of Vinton raced to both the Mach-1 Sport Compact championship at Benton County Speedway and the Allstar Performance Iowa State title in 2011. The winner of nine feature events at five different tracks this season, Chandler is pictured with IMCA Vice President of Operations Brett Root during the sanctioning organization's national awards banquet in Lincoln, Neb.

  Vinton Parks and Recreation Department 2011-12 Adult Volleyball Standings December 3, 2011   This Week's Results   Coed Division Fareway / Tharp Design 17--1 Ron-Da-Voo 15--6 PHHF 11--7 Dominant Dingoes 10--8 Diggers 9--9 Hummel's / Iron Shed 8--7 Team Truax 8--10 Coots Materials 3--15 Meet The Robinsons 0--18   Sunday, November 27   No Games Scheduled Thanksgiving Weekend     Men's Division Ron-Da-Voo 15--3 Blockheads 10--8 Neve's PFC 8--10 Terry's Gutter Service 3--15   Monday, November 28   Blockheads 21--21--25 vs Terry's Gutter Service 25--25--17 Neve's P.

  Vinton Aquatic Club members made an impressive showing at the recent Cedar Rapids Aquatic Association Harvest Invitational Swim Meet.  Club members competed against twelve other teams from around the state.  The 46 VAC athletes racked up an impressive list of wins, including two swimmers in the 8 and under categories who finished first in individual scores for their age group.

  The Vinton-Shellsburg men’s swim team team kicked off the 2011/12 season with a number of new faces Tuesday night at CoeCollegeas they battled large, talented squads from Linn-Mar and Cedar Rapids Kennedy.  While the Vikings have a relatively robust squad of 17 swimmers this year, injuries and illness left the team with only eleven competitors Tuesday night.

       After an All-Conference season in which she led the Vinton-Shellsburg volleyball team in kills, 2011 Vikette volleyball MVP Ashley Strong has accepted an offer to become a Spartan.       Strong, the daughter of Scott and Teresa Strong of Vinton, signed a National Letter of Intent to play volleyball for Southwest Community College.

       Wes Burnside of Union has been named the captain of the Iowa Newspaper Association's Class 3A All-State Football Team.      Joining Burnside on the Class 3A All-State First Team are Union teammates Trev Hadachek (defensive back) and Josh Clark (offensive lineman).      Benton Community offensive lineman Robert Rathje, a senior, was also named to the First Team.