Sports

Wahlert captures 3A state title

Years of struggle, frustration, heartache and disappointment finally ended in elation for the Dubuque Wahlert softball team on Friday at the state tournament.

The second-seeded Golden Eagles cleared the final hurdle on Channel Seeds Field, dethroning three-time defending champion Willamsburg in the Class 3A championship round with an impressive 13-6 victory.

Natalie Ruba and Julia Roth both fittingly homered twice for Wahlert, which built this title from the ground up. Six seasons ago, in 2021, the Golden Eagles (39-6 overall) struggled to a 2-30 record.

Today, they are on top of the 3A mountain for the first time ever.

"I'm just so incredibly proud of these girls," Wahlert head coach Tyler Lang said. "These six seniors in particular have been so close so many times, but they kept coming back and fighting. They helped get this program back on the map.

"They'll go down as the best to ever do it here, and it couldn't happen to a better group. We're really going to miss them."

Ruba put on a show to celebrate her birthday, slugging a grand slam in the first inning and adding a three-run shot in the second for a massive seven-RBI start to the day after seeing only three pitches. The Golden Eagles plated nine runs in the opening two frames to all but put this one away before the royal Raiders - looking to become the first program in history to capture four consecutive state crowns - knew what hit them.

"This is just awesome," said Ruba, also the winning pitcher and all-tournament captain. "We got second last year (to Williamsburg in a 3-2 setback), and we remember the feeling.

"We didn't want that to happen again."

Roth, an Iowa Hawkeye recruit, closed her iconic high school career with a state-record 77 homers. After the Raiders (41-7) had trimmed an 11-1 deficit in half, Roth added one more long ball to her total for good measure - her 21st of 2026 - in the top of the seventh.

"We kind of felt like we were flying under the radar (this week), and we used that as motivation," Lang said. "The girls noticed no one in the media was really picking us to do it.

"We thought we were getting overlooked."

Wahlert ran the table this week in Fort Dodge, going a perfect 4-0 and scoring 42 runs. Ruba alone drove in 17.

Ruba, Roth and Ruth Tauber all made the 3A all-tourney squad, as did Williamsburg's Taylor Sanchez, Harper Meyers, Jersey Metz and Ava Hocker.

The Raiders - coached by former Twin River Valley and Iowa Central baseball players Adam C. Berte - also edged the Golden Eagles here in the semifinal round two seasons ago, again 3-2.

DUBUQUE WAHLERT 13, WILLIAMSBURG 6

Wahlert 452 002 0 - 13 13 0

Williamsburg 101 220 0 - 6 11 0

WP-Julia Roth (15-2); LP-Jersey Metz (24-5). HR-DW: Natalie Ruba (2), Julia Roth (2).