TIPTON — Three individuals and two teams will be inducted into the Cedar County Sports Wall of Fame during the Cedar County Fair at the P & K Midwest Stage on the Cedar County Fairgrounds in Tipton. A date and time have not been finalized.
The individuals are Suzanne Friday-Mathieu, Warren Pierce, and Jake Soy; also inducted will be the 1968 and 1969 Tipton football teams, and the West Branch boys’ golf teams from 1988-92.
Friday was an important ingredient for Tipton High School in 1988 when the Tigers squeezed past St. Ansgar, 42-41, for its first Class 2A state girls’ track and field title. With Friday on the roster, the Tigers added team championships in 1989 and 1991, with a runner-up finish to DeWitt Central in 1990 when there were only three classes.
A premier sprinter and hurdler, Friday was one of the school’s first super stars, and she won the 100-meter hurdles in 1989 (14.42 seconds) and 1990 (14.37), as well as being part of six Tipton relay championships. Her gold medal relays were in the shuttle hurdle (1988, 1990, 1991), 4x100 (1989, 1990), and sprint medley (1991).
After high school, Friday competed in track and field for four seasons at the University of South Dakota, specializing in the 400 hurdles.
Pierce earned 15 varsity letters at West Branch from 1958-62. A three-time Iowa state track and field champion, Pierce was best known for his skill as a back in football. A 1,000-yard rusher as a junior and senior, Pierce scored seven touchdowns against Tipton during a 53-7 win by the Bears on Sept. 15, 1961. He was later named fourth-team all-state.
In 1966, Pierce scored 20 touchdowns for Upper Iowa University. He is still in Upper Iowa’s top 10 for rushing yards in a game (185), rushing yards in a season (923), rushing yards in a career (2,126), and touchdowns in a career (34).
Soy was a running back/tight end for Durant, graduating in 2007. He led the Wildcats to their first state playoff game in 2006 by accumulating 1,625 all-purpose yards. He was named third-team all-state.
A multi-sport athlete, Soy was first-team All-Eastern Iowa Hawkeye Conference in basketball and placed third at the state track meet in the 200-meter dash.
Soy attended Northwest Missouri State for football, and in 2009, he broke the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association record with 27 touchdowns. The Bearcats won an NCAA Division II national championship in 2009 and Soy was named first-team All-American.
In 2019, Soy was elected to the Northwest Missouri State Sports Hall of Fame.
The 1968 and 1969 Tipton football teams went a combined 18-0 with two WaMaC and two mythical Class II state championships (there were no playoffs back then).
These teams made up the bulk of Tipton’s stretch of 25 consecutive football games without a loss (24-0-1). The streak began with a 40-0 win on Homecoming against Maquoketa on Oct. 20, 1967 and ended with a 20-14 loss at Monticello on Oct. 2, 1970.
Tipton’s head coach was Lee Crawford, who was inducted into the Cedar County Sports Wall of Fame in 2018.
The West Branch boys’ golf program won four consecutive Class 2A state golf championships from 1989-92 (*see below). Cedar County Sports Wall of Fame inductee Sean McCarty (2012) was state medalist in 1989, 90, and 91; scoring for the 1992 team were Chad McCarty, J.D. Grimm, Dave Scott, and Matt Tisinger. All four championship teams were coached by Cedar County Sports Wall of Fame inductee Jim Wheeler (2010), who was elected to the Iowa High School Coaches Hall of Fame in 2005.
The Cedar County Sports Wall of Fame was formed in 2008 and is under the control of the Cedar County Historical Society. To nominate for the Wall of Fame, contact committee members Mike Bixler, Pat Kedley, Verl Lekwa, Darren Miller, Gene Schroeder, Bruce Seehusen, Mike St. John, Derek Sawvell, or Mike Quinlan.