BOYS & GIRLS WRESTLING
The Okoboji Pioneer Boys and Girls Wrestling teams had an incredibly successful year! The boys’ team sent a school record five total wrestlers to state and those qualifiers were Dylan Jones, Bryce Dodge, Noah Strantz, Nathaniel Franklin, and Sam Pas. Senior Noah Strantz capped off his stellar career on the podium with a 7th place finish! The girls’ team had an outstanding season with Avery Ballis qualifying for the state tournament held in Coralville and the future is bright with 21 junior high and high school wrestlers in the program. The 2022-2023 school year has been an amazing one for the Okoboji Pioneers wrestling program and they are looking forward to building on their accomplishments for the upcoming season!
BOYS & GIRLS TRACK
Both boys and girls track teams completed outstanding seasons that ended down in Des Moines at the state track meet! Winning the Siouxland Conference as well as the district qualifying meet, the boys dominated the spring season breaking multiple school and various meet records! Highlighting the team’s state meet was the state champion 4x800 meter relay consisting of Evan Osler, Dylan Jones, Drew Sandven, and Trigg Heimdal! Finishing 7th overall as a team the boys also had a state runner-up performance in the Distance Medley Relay from relay members Tyler Sehman, Joe Salmon, Dylan Jones, and Evan Osler. The girls also performed tremendously down at state with the 4x200 relay consisting of Ellsa Jorgensen, Zoey Holmes, Miley Wells, and Krishauna Allen taking home state runner-up honors!
ESPORTS
Congratulations to the Okoboji ESports team for earning a trip to the state tournament! Competing in the Mario Kart division, team members James Cheney, Aiden Clark, Andrew Frerichs, David Lee, Isaac Munsen, Brekken Packebush came in seeded 8th and made it all the way to the championship round finishing as the state runner-up!
JAZZ BAND
The Okoboji High School Jazz Band had another amazing competition year! Under the direction of James Kunz, the band qualified for the Iowa Jazz Championships (IJC) for the 28th consecutive year and took home state runner-up honors in class 2A! The band has finished 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in nine out of the last eleven years! Bringing home some individual recognition was Senior Connor Cunningham as he was named Outstanding Soloist for his Bari Sax solo!
DRAMA
Under the direction of retiring teacher Ann Williamsen, OHS drama students performed their annual spring play with this year’s play being “The Creature Creeps” on April 28 and 29. This creepy comedy generated lots of laughs and entertained the audience from beginning to end! With a mad scientist, creaking doors, disappearing villagers, and shrieks from the depths of the cellar - this performance had it all! The night concluded with Ann Williamsen taking one final bow 27 years after directing her first play at Okoboji! Thank you, Ann!