Mason City, IA (March 20, 2008) – Class 3A Player of the Year Brett Putz of Forest City High and SCMT’s All-Stater Ryan Stock are among those slated to play at North Iowa Area Community College in the 2008 North Iowa boys basketball All-Star game at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 30, said NIACC head men’s basketball coach Bryan Martin. Players from 21 different schools have already committed to play.

Putz heads up the West roster, which includes schools west of Interstate 35. He averaged 25 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists for a team that placed fourth in the state tournament. He’s headed for St. Cloud State University to play basketball. Others on the team include: Clear Lake’s Sean McChesney, CWL’s Brandon Sohl, Garner-Hayfield’s Jordan Wellik, Cody Kadolph of Ventura, WCLT’s Derek Haugland, West Hancock’s Brady Wilson, Steve Hengesteg of Lake Mills, and North Iowa’s Roderick Hansen. Kadolph, Hengesteg and Hansen were first-team All-Conference selections, Sohl averaged 13 points and 10 rebounds for CWL and McChesney earned second-team All-Conference honors for the Class 3A Lions.

Leading the East team is Stock, who helped lead SCMT to an unbeaten regular season and the Class 1A quarterfinals. He earned All-State honors after averaging 18 points and nine rebounds and set the school career scoring record in the process. Teammate Peter Koenigsberg, a first-team All-Conference player who scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds per game, is also on the East team. Others on the roster include: Mason City post players David Asche and Dylan Alitz, Newman Catholic’s Matt Balek, Northwood-Kensett’s Jordan Cotter, Rockwell-Swaledale’s Justin Behr, Ben Klapperich and Matt Haganman of Osage, North Butler’s Jarael Madyun, Kris Kunz of Central Springs, and St. Ansgar’s Brandon Ehlke. Asche, who is headed to NIACC to play football, earned All-Conference honors for the second straight basketball season for the Mohawks. Balek scored 16 points per game and made first-team All-Conference, as did Madyun, Behr, and Cotter.

Although many players have averaged double digit point totals on the basketball court this season, perhaps most telling of the quality of the student-athletes is the number of honor students among the two dozen players on the rosters. One player has earned a 4.0 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale, another has a 3.94 grade-point, two more have posted GPAs better than 3.8, three others are at or above 3.7, and eight others have cumulative GPAs of 3.2 or better.

For more information about the 2008 North Iowa boys basketball All-Star game, email Martin at martibry@niacc.edu or phone him at the school, 641-422-4333.

Rosters for 2008 North Iowa All-Star boys basketball game (as of March 20)

No.      Name                          Pos.     Ht.       High School                Highlights

Xx        Jordan Meyer               Guard   5-9       Belmond-Klemme        2^nd team All-Conference, 10 ppg., 4 rpg., 4 apg.

Xx        Sean McChesney         Fwd.    6-3       Clear Lake                   2^nd team All-Conference, 10.7 ppg., honor student

Xx        Brandon Sohl               Fwd.    6-3       CWL                           2^nd team All-Conference, 13 ppg., 10 rpg., 3.94 GPA

Xx        Brett Putz                     Guard   6-1       Forest City                   Class 3A Player of the Year, 25 ppg., 3.35 GPA

Xx        Jordan Wellik               Guard   6-1       Garner-Hayfield            2^nd team All-Conference, 4.0 GPA

Xx        Steve Hengesteg           Guard   6-0       Lake Mills                     1^st team All-Conference, 14 ppg., 4.5 apg

Xx        Roderick Hansen          Guard   6-0       North Iowa                   1^st team All-Conference, 13.3 ppg., honor student

Xx        Cody Kadolph             Fwd.    6-2       Ventura                        1^st team All-Conference, All-Substate, honor student

Xx        Derek Haugland           Fwd.    6-3       WCLT                         2^nd team All-Conference, 10.1 ppg., honor student

Xx        Brady Wilson               Fwd.    6-2       West Hancock             11 ppg., 8 rpg., honor student

Honorary coaches: Bob Fisher, Three Eagles Radio, News Director at KRIB; Greg Berry, KIMT News/Channel 3 AM Anchor

No.      Name                          Pos.     Ht.       High School                Highlights

Xx        Kris Kunz                     Guard   6-2       Central Springs HM All-Conference twice, National Honor Society

Xx        Chase Wilkinson           Guard   6-0       Charles City                 HM All-Conference, honor student

Xx        Dylan Alitz                    Fwd.    6-5       Mason City                  HM All-Conference, 3-sport athlete, 3.4 GPA

Xx        David Asche                 Center  6-5       Mason City                  2^nd team All-Conference for second straight season

Xx        Ben Klapperich            Fwd.    x-x       Osage                          13.7 ppg., 6.1 rpg.

Xx        Matt Haganman            Guard   6-0       Osage                          Honor student, HM All-Conference player

Xx        Matt Balek                   Fwd.    6-3       Newman Catholic         1^st team All-Conference, 16 ppg., honor student

Xx        Jarael Madyun              Guard   6-2       North Butler                 1^st team All-Conference, Team MVP, honor student

Xx        Cotter               Guard   5-8       Northwood-Kensett     1^st team All-Conference, 12.2 ppg., honor student

Xx        Jacob Brunner              Center  6-6       Rockford (RR-MR)      All-Conference player, 12 points, 6 rebounds per game

Xx        Justin Behr                    Guard   6-1       Rockwell-Swaledale     1^st team All-Conference as senior, HM All-Conf. as junior

Xx        Brandon Ehlke              Fwd.    6-3       St. Ansgar                    Unanimous All-Conference 1^st team, All-Substate, 13.7 ppg.

Xx        Ryan Stock                  Fwd.    6-4       SCMT                         Career points mark at SCMT, 1^st team All-State

Xx        Peter Koenigsberg        Guard   6-2       SCMT                         1^st team All-Conference, All-Substate team, honor student

Honorary coaches: Kirk Hardcastle, Sports Editor for Mason City Globe Gazette; Colin Quinn, Globe Gazette sports writer