|
Bears-Regina rivalry ends; Regals football now 2A
by Gregory R. Norfleet · Sports · February 27, 2008
Both West Branch and Iowa City-Regina school officials expressed mixed emotions about the Regals’ football team bumping up to Class 2A last week and effectively ending its rivalry with the Bears.
The Iowa High School Athletic Association on Wednesday, Feb. 20, issued new classifications and schedules for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 football seasons. The IHSAA deemed that Regina’s enrollment had grown to the point that it could no longer compete in Class 1A.
Though West Branch usually plays two 2A teams for season-starting non-district games, the IHSAA selected Tipton High School to fill one of those slots, reigniting the Bears-Tigers rivalry that has laid dormant since the 1990s. Tipton is actually replacing Durant, which dropped from 2A to 1A last week, putting it in the same district as West Branch.
Also, Montezuma and BGM (Brooklyn) dropped from 1A to A, so the IHSAA replaced them with Eddyville-Blakesburg and Iowa Valley (Marengo). E-B dropped from 2A to 1A; and Iowa Valley bumped up from A to 1A.
Bears Head Coach Butch Pedersen, who spoke from a hospital bed a day after receiving hip replacement surgery, said he was disappointed about losing Regina, but believes the changes left West Branch with yet another tough schedule.
“I think the addition of Tipton gives us a lot longer rivalry than Regina,” he said. “We played Tipton for like 50 years in a row until the late 1990s when they abolished the series. That addition right there will definitely compensate for Regina’s loss.”
He said he’s excited about a “Cedar County battle.”
Regina Head Coach Marv Cook called the Bears-Regals matchup “a great tradition, a great rivalry,” and a “great boost as far as the gate.”
“We always have great crowds,” he said.
He said he, too, was disappointed West Branch would not be on Regina’s schedule this year. Cook said he heard his team might go up to 2A but was not informed in time to submit his “Top 10” list for non-district games, so West Branch got left out.
“It would have been a great game,” he said. “I think those types of games prepare you to see how good you are.”
However, Cook, a West Branch native and standout player who went pro, sees a bright side to it.
“Now I get to root for West Branch every week of the year,” he chuckled.
WBHS Athletic Director Lynette Poula said Regina has always been “a good gate, good competition and a good rivalry.”
She said the school could easily see an additional $1,000 in revenues when Regina’s football team came to town. Poula said that more out-of-town fans will make the trip when the teams are more evenly matched.
“A lot of people just don’t travel especially when they come against a team like ours,” she said.
Regina Athletic Director Chet Wisniewski said he was “very, very disappointed” that West Branch is not on Regina’s schedule next season.
“But the state made out the schedule and we have to play the cards dealt us,” he said. “It was a tremendous rivalry and a tremendous tradition — and one of the biggest gates of the year.”
Wisniewski said he did not have exact numbers, but said the gate receipts of a Bears-Regals game was an “ample amount” higher than average.
Regina and Pekin were the only two teams to beat the Bears in 2007. Pedersen said he views this schedule “as the toughest district we’ve had in the last six years.”
Pekin remains on the schedule this year, hosting the Bears again on their home field.
Wilton, coached by Pedersen’s son, Lance, remains as one of West Branch’s non-district games.
Pedersen noted that Iowa Valley is Lance’s wife’s alma mater and said the school has one of the best teams today that it had in years. Lance coached there before moving to Wilton. And Pedersen said that one of Iowa Valley’s top players, Cam York, is related to him through marriage.
The 2008-09 schedule also only gives the Bears four home games — Wilton, Wapello, Belle Plaine and Durant.
“I don’t like that, but there’s not much I can do about that,” Pedersen said.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
