Marion High School - Marion, Iowa

Kasey Semler picks Kirkwood

Kasey Semler likes the tradition, coaching staff and location of Kirkwood Community College, so he stopped sifting through his college offers on Friday and picked the Eagles.

Semler also likes what might happen if he continues to improve and has a good career at Kirkwood. He'd like to play for an NCAA Division I school some day, and he thinks Kirkwood Coach Doug Wagemester can help him get there.

"That was a big part of it," Semler said Sunday. "I could have gone to a Division II or an NAIA school, (but) I was told by a lot of people that I had the chance to play at the Division I level and it kind of excited me.

"Coach Wags seems to think the same, and he'll do everything he can, he said, to help me reach my full potential, wherever that may take me."

Semler, an all-state guard, enjoyed a successful career at Marion High School. He set the school record for career 3-pointers (137) and finished fourth in career scoring (1,122 points). The Indians compiled a 56-17 record during his three years on the varsity and made two trips to the Class 3A state tournament in 2009 and 2011.

Semler will be joining one of the top junior college basketball programs in the country at Kirkwood. Wagemester has compiled a 360-88 overall record in 13 seasons with the Eagles, including a 169-22 mark in conference games with 10 league titles.

"He's a great guy," Semler said. "I've heard a lot of good things about him and I'm excited to get the chance to play for him. It's a good opportunity for me to reach my full potential."

Kirkwood has played in nine national tournaments during the past 13 years under Wagemester, including a fifth-place finish this season and three second-place showings.

"They always compete for a national title. That's pretty cool, something that would be fun to be a part of," Semler said.

Semler said he picked Kirkwood over Mount Mercy University, an NAIA school, and DMACC, a junior college.

Semler plans to play baseball for Marion High School this season before enrolling at Kirkwood. He also plans to work on basketball this spring and summer.

"I think the big thing is getting my shot shot quicker, because obviously in college ball, wherever you play you have to have a quick jump shot. I plan on getting my jump shot a lot better," he said.

"Defensively, I need to improve that big-time. I'm really excited for that, actually. It's kind of cool to know you have a lot of room for improvement. I'm just really excited to get started on it."

A 'Hippleman' enters the Hall of Fame

DES MOINES -- It's been nearly 50 years since Gordon Rundquist played basketball for Coach Les Hipple at Marion High School, but he'll always be a "Hippleman" and will always be grateful.

Rundquist was inducted into the IHSAA Basketball Hall of Fame Saturday night for his accomplishments as a coach, most notably at Maquoketa Valley from 1970 to 2005, but it all began under the watchful eye of Hipple in the 1950s and '60s.

"He was more like a father to me," said Rundquist. "My parents were divorced, and he started taking care of me in about the fourth grade. He'd give me rides to school.

"He lived a block from my house. He'd let me into the gym to shoot. It was a great, great experience."

Hipple was known as a stern disciplinarian who had strict rules about driving (don't, unless absolutely necessary) and girlfriends (avoid them). Those rules were broken on a regular basis, but there were consequences.

"Of course we had girlfriends back in that time," said Rundquist. "We'd be standing by our locker with our girlfriend, and you'd feel this warm glow on the back of your head and you'd look around and there's Coach standing there.

"He never said anything," Rundquist remarked. "You just went down to the gym before practice and 'Twice up the ropes' for talking to a girl in the hall. You just did it. 'That's once, Coach. That's twice.' You knew what the punishement was."

Hipple did not want his athletes driving around aimlessly, wasting time and wasting gas. That led to his frown on borrowing the family car if it wasn't essential.

"I can remember my mother calling him and saying, 'Gordon is going to drive down to Cedar Rapids. Is that all right?'" he said, smiling at something that happened a half-century ago.

Rundquist also saw the caring side of Hipple, the man who worked with grade school kids in the morning, the man who gave him rides to school, the man who wanted his players to be discliplined and to get the most out of life.

"He did a lot for me, as far as keeping me on the straight and narrow," said Rundquist.

Rundquist lived with his mother, grandmother and aunt in Marion, without a man in the house. Hipple helped fill that void.

"Basically I was raised by three women," he said. "But having a father figure like Coach in there was real beneficial for me."

Rundquist said Hipple was the first coach in the area to hold basketball practices for grade school kids. Hipple conducted those practices for the 4th and 5th graders himself.

"He had an elementary program, and nobody had that. Nobody," said Rundquist. "I mean, he was years ahead of people in that regard. And so when I first started coaching, that's what I started, and still nobody had done that."

One year, Rundquist brought his 5th and 6th graders from Maquoketa Valley to an Iowa Basketball Coaches Association clinic to demonstrate his own grade school program.

"Coaches came up to me and they were just awed by what was going on," he said. "And from that point, I think everybody started doing it."

Dan Kellams, a Marion High School graduate who played for Hipple, wrote a book about the former coach entitled "A Coach's Life: Les Hipple and the Marion Indians." Rundquist was a source for that book and understands what Hipple meant when he said, "I don't really care what they think when they're playing for me, but I want to know what they think afterwards."

According to Rundquist, many former players would stop by and visit Hipple as the years went by, their respect growing for the stern disciplinarian and taskmaster.

Rundquist, 68, graduated from Marion High School in 1962. He received his college degree from Coe and was the coach at West Branch for three years before moving to Maquoketa Valley. He compiled a 559-250 record in 38 years as a head coach, the 12th-most victories in state history, and led Maquoketa Valley to 16 conference titles, eight district titles and five state tournaments.

Rundquist was named the 1992 State Coach of the Year and was honored as his conference Coach of the Year 13 times. He's now an assistant coach at Iowa City West, which finished fourth in the Class 4A state tournament this year. His son, Paul Rundquist, is also a coach and led Mount Pleasant to a third-place showing in the Class 3A tournament.

Rundquist has led his own "Coach's Life," but it all began with Hipple back in Marion. "It made me want to coach," he said. "Just his presence and the things he did for me and for all of us."

Rundquist and his wife, Sherry, were honored at halftime of the Class 4A state championship game at Wells Fargo Arena Saturday night in Des Moines. Rundquist had thoughts of Hipple on his mind that day.

"I had thoughts of him when I first found out I was going to be inducted," he said.

There were fond thoughts, and thoughts of appreciation.

Semler on Register's all-state 2nd team

DES MOINES -- Jarrod Uthoff of Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Marcus Paige of Linn-Mar and Josh Oglesby of Cedar Rapids Washington were named first team all-state by the Des Moines Sunday Register on its Class 4A all-star basketball squad.

Matt Bohannon of Linn-Mar was a third-team pick in Class 4A and Kasey Semler of Marion was a second-team selection in Class 3A.

Paige and Bohannon led Linn-Mar to the Class 4A state title Saturday night with a 56-42 victory over Des Moines Hoover. Bohannon was named the tournament MVP and the captain of the Class 4A all-tournament team.

The Register's all-state teams were selected prior to Saturday night's championship game.

Uthoff, a 6-foot-8 senior who has signed with Wisconsin, led the state in scoring at 26 points per game. Oglesby, a 6-6 senior who has signed with Iowa, averaged 21.4 points. Paige, a 6-1 junior who has committed to North Carolina, averaged 17.7 points this season.

Uthoff, Oglesby and Paige were joined on the Class 4A all-state team by Adam Woodbury, a 7-1 junior from Sioux City East, and Judd Welfringer, a 6-5 senior from Waukee.

Bohannon, a 6-4 senior who has signed with Northern Iowa, averaged 16.5 points. Semler, a 6-1 senior, was the second-leading scorer in Class 3A this season at 21 points.

For more information on the Register all-state teams, go to DesMoinesRegister.com/HS Insider.

Des Moines Sunday Register All-State teams

Class 4A

FIRST TEAM
Josh Oglesby — C.R. Washington, 6-6, Sr., Guard
Marcus Paige — Linn-Mar, 6-1, Jr., Guard
Jarrod Uthoff, C.R. Jefferson, 6-8, Sr., Forward
Judd Welfringer, Waukee, 6-5, Sr., Forward
Adam Woodbury, Sioux City East, 7-1, Jr., Center

SECOND TEAM
F — Kelly Madison, D.M. Hoover, 6-3, Sr.
F — Kale Abrahamson, Valley , 6-7, Jr.
C — Matt Tiby, Urbandale, 6-8, Sr.
G — Corey Schaefer, Johnston, 6-0, Sr.
G — Grant Lang, Ankeny, 6-4, Sr.

THIRD TEAM
F — Alex Olsen, C.B. Abraham Lincoln, 6-4, Sr.
F — Tavian Pomlee, Davenport Central, 6-5, Sr.
C — Nate Wells, Davenport West, 7-1, Sr.
G — James Harrington, Cedar Falls, 6-1, Jr.
G — Matt Bohannon, Linn-Mar, 6-4, Sr.

Class 3A

FIRST TEAM
Scott Hahn — Mount Pleasant, 6-4, Sr., Forward
Casey Kasperbauer — Carroll, 6-1, Jr., Guard
Jake Logan — Norwalk, 6-8, Sr., Center
Alex Malloy — Sioux City Heelan, 6-4, Sr., Forward
Wesley Staten — Sioux City Heelan, 6-1, Jr., Guard

SECOND TEAM
F — J.T. Vonderhaar, Davenport Assumption, 6-5, Sr.
F — Ricky Torres, Denison-Schleswig, 6-6, Sr.
C — Patrick Burmester, Central (DeWitt), 6-9, Sr.
G — Connor Coleman, Waverly-Shell Rock, 6-2, Jr.
G — Kasey Semler, Marion, 6-0, Sr.

THIRD TEAM
F — Daniel Jansen, MOC-FV (Orange City), 6-8, Jr.
F — Tyler Kastantin, Dallas Center-Grimes, 6-6, Sr.
C — Henry Krieger-Coble ,Mount Pleasant, 6-4, Sr.
G — Cole Darrow, Glenwood, 6-3, Sr.
G — Logan Williams, Vinton-Shellsburg, 6-0, Sr.

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'Unfortunate' game for Indians at state

DES MOINES -- Burn the boxscores. Shred the videotape. Tell YouTube to take a hike.

Do the Marion Indians a favor. Pretend Tuesday's game against No.1 Waverly-Shell Rock in the Class 3A state basketball tournament never took place.

Please, for Marion's sake, destroy the evidence.

The Indians went 13 embarrasing minutes without a field goal during one long, miserable, insufferable stretch. They shot 20 percent for the game, a woeful 8 for 40. Kasey Semler committed eight turnovers. Dusty Albaugh did not make a basket.

Yes, bury those boxscores.

Waverly-Shell Rock shellacked Marion, 68-36, in the first round of the Class 3A state tournament at Wells Fargo Arena, and there's no pretty way to describe it.

"It was unfortunate," said Semler.

The game began well for the Indians. They grabbed an early 13-4 lead and looked comfortable on the big stage. They looked relaxed, confident and capable. "We were kind of hoping to catch them on a bad day," said Albaugh. "At the beginning, I thought that was possible."

The game turned in a hurry.

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