Sports briefs

Kucera hired

MANKATO, Minn. — Former Creston Community High School and Grand View University tennis player Ryan Kucera has been named head coach of the Minnesota State women’s tennis program.

Kucera, a May graduate of Grand View University, has served as a tennis professional at the Des Moines Golf and Country Club in West Des Moines for the past year and a half. He also served as the off-season tennis coach at a pair of Des Moines area high schools (West Des Moines Valley and Urbandale) and has been a student assistant coach with Grand View University since 2017.

The Creston native was a three-year varsity tennis captain at Grand View, playing both singles and doubles for the Vikings after spending his freshman year on the Luther College tennis team in Decorah.

Kucera graduated Magna Cum Laude with a psychology degree from Grand View this spring. He was a two-time state tennis qualifier for coach Kevin Cooper at Creston.

Doster signs with Central

MOUNT AYR — Mount Ayr’s Zach Doster has signed his letter of intent to play golf at Central College.

Doster will join a Division III program that had modest finishes for the 2019-20 season, placing third at the Atlantic Invitational and second at the Blue Tiger Invitational, both of which were in October.

Central won the Ryerson Fall Classic on Sept. 20 in Pella for the mens team’s only win of the season, which was shortened due to COVID-19.

The Central Dutch mens golf team is coached by Mel Blasi and is assisted by Tom Linton.

IHSAA announces rule changes

The IHSAA has made several changes to that will go into effect for the 2020-21 high school wrestling season.

Changes from the April meeting of the IHSAA’s wrestling advisory comittee were approved unanimously by the Board of Control last week. These changes are:

– Schools have an opportunity to opt out of dual team postseason events by the first date of compeition.

– To qualify 16 sectional champions and the next highest ranked teams (by the IWCOA) for the regional dual team tournament in Classes 1A and 2A. If a sectional chamion opted out of dual team postseason, the next highest-ranked team qualifies.

– Reduce the state traditional tournament seeding criteria in regards to common opponents from two points back to one point.

– Seed all 16 wrestlers in each bracket for the state traditional tournament.

– Allow host tournament directors to determine the length of subvarsity matches at local regular season events.

The wrestling advisory committee previously met in February to discuss the State Dual Tournament and wrestling postseason dates. No changes were recommended by the committee at that time.