November 2017
Volume 92
Issue 3
Bond of brothers shapes TJ into a wrestling powerhouse Jordan McAlpine Reporter Monday, November, 13th, 2017. 3:30 pm. The 2017 Iowa High School Wrestling season is officially underway. Wrestling is not just a mere sport here in Iowa, to many in this state of just over 3.1 million people, it’s a way of life. The Bill Smith wrestling room, the home away from home for Thomas Jefferson wrestlers over the course of the next threeand-a-half months. Workouts, practices, cutting weight, it all starts here, all with an end goal in mind of the Wells Fargo Arena in the state capital city of Des Moines. Don Gugler, 1934. Bob Nusser, 1950. Cuck Jerkovich, 1977. Scott Peak, 1993. Colton Clingenpeel, 2016. McGwire Midkiff, 2017. The names of state champions and finalist read up and down the walls, which begs the question. Who’s next? Day one. Head coach August Manz peers over his clipboard,
whistle in hand, and looks upon his group of wrestlers for this upcoming winter. For Manz he’s established quite the coaching resume. He’s been the man at the head of Jackets wrestling program for 13 seasons, and has coached wrestling for a total of 18 years. During his tenure at Thomas
Jefferson he’s sent 38 wrestlers to state, seen 13 of them place and has had two state champions in Clingenpeel and Midkiff. In addition, Manz produced the first two wrestlers to place at State all four years of their high school career. TJ has also finished in the top ten for the first time since 1950. Although Manz is very hum-
ble when it comes to his coaching, he is very proud of what he has to show for his time at TJ, and it goes beyond the results on the mat. “We have a great wrestling room named after one of the most recognizable athletic alumni to ever come through here in Olympic champion Bill Smith;
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and to know that [the room name dedication] happened during my tenure is pretty cool. “But, then you look back and think about what else, and I’d say the bonds that I’ve made with my wrestlers. We have alumni practices, now and alumni luncheons in the summer, and we meet and get to reminisce. I get to find out how their lives are going and it’s just a good time to get to see those guys again. It’s one of the best parts of getting to coach at TJ.” Across the room stands assistant coach Adam Manz, the younger brother of the man at the helm of the Thomas Jefferson wrestling program; and the person the older Manz holds one of the most special bonds with. For these two, wrestling is not only a sport, but has truly become a special bond for their family.
Story continued online at bit.ly/SignalNews Coach Manz going over the basics of wrestling. Photo by: Jordan McAlpine
Mayoral Election
The Odd Couple
Seniors Patience Cave and Raylynn Nelson bicker during a dress rehearsal. Photo by: Cami Wagaman
Voting booths were set up all over town for citizens to vote for the new mayor. Photo by: Morgan Jacobson Walsh was not happy saying Adriana Ibarra that his opponents supports were the reason for so much negativReporter ity but put the frustration on Matt Walsh was re-elected himself. for a second term as the Mayor Walsh admitted that he was of Council Bluffs. This term will nervous about the results until add another four year to Walsh’s they were finalized. years in office. Moving forward walsh plans Within the campaign there to keep on working on the ecowas a lot of negativity floating nomic development of the city. around.
Cami Wagaman Editor-in-Chief The Thomas Jefferson drama department has been hard at work for the past month in order to prepare for the fall play, The Odd Couple, written by Neil Simon. The Odd Couple starred two seniors, Raylynn Nelson and Patience Cave. “I have a notebook that I write in about my characters when I'm
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in a production,” said Nelson. “I write about their age, appearance, and personality and try to imitate that as much as I can.” For a high school cast, some of the biggest challenges they face come up while trying to memorize lines, all while putting on the best performance possible. “Some of the biggest challenges were my cast learning all of their lines and even me learning lines for a part three days before opening night,” explained Custer. “In the end, it all came together like it always does!” Throughout the performance,
the cast and crew both faced many obstacles, but worked together as a team to overcome them and put on the best show possible. “One of our cast members got sick and Ms. Custer had to fill in for her,” Nelson states. “It was really weird and it was hard to adapt but eventually it felt more natural and she helped bring energy to the performances.” Overall, the cast and crew did a fantastic job putting on the production, and we cannot wait to see what else they have in store for this school year.