Graves Teams All-State | News, Sports, Jobs

Photo by Julie Vinsand, The Gowrie News: Southeast Valley’s Aaron Graves drives to the basket in a Class 2A district final against Roland-Story last month.

In just over four months, Aaron Graves has played in three different sports, earning elite honors in all three.

On Monday, the Southeast Valley senior was named to the Class 2A basketball team for the first time in his career.

The future University of Iowa football player was placed on the third team by the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association.

Newell-Fonda junior Carter Sievers was a Class 1A third team selection.

Graves is a three-time IPSWA first team and third team football player. He has also placed fourth in national wrestling in each of the past two seasons.

“It’s a great honor,” Graves said. “It’s a testament to the multi-sport athlete factor, (rather than just) being one big sport.

In November, Graves was an all-state first-team soccer pick and Iowa’s Gatorade Player of the Year. In late February, he finished fourth at 285 pounds for the Jaguar wrestling team while also competing in basketball.

Graves finished the season with 439 points and 164 rebounds. He averaged 22 points per game (ninth in Class 2A) to go along with 8.2 rebounds.

“He was always double or triple team, so we had to put him on the outside and dive him,” Southeast Valley head coach Kyle Johnson said. “It’s an incredible shooter for its size.

“If Aaron had chosen to play basketball and nothing else, he could have been Div. II or even a small school Div. I player.

After Graves opened the state wrestling tournament the morning of last month, he scored 33 points later in the day in the Jaguars’ postseason basketball contest.

Graves is Southeast Valley’s career leading scorer with 1,356 points. He also had 541 rebounds as a starter four.

“We didn’t have a lot of seniors for basketball, but the ones I was with – as well as the juniors – made it a really fun season, even though we weren’t as successful as football. .”

Sievers was the Mustangs’ leading scorer, averaging 19.2 points per game (480), while also grabbing 3.4 rebounds. He led the Twin Lakes Conference with 480 points and was fifth in scoring per game at 19.2.

“I think the season has gone really well,” Sievers said. “This year’s team had great chemistry and everyone was able to contribute to our success.

“We didn’t achieve some of our goals, so I’m looking forward to having another chance to achieve those goals next year. I appreciate my coaches because they are very encouraging and positive. I love playing for them. I also appreciate the time my team puts in. We’ve had a lot of fun this season on and off the pitch. I can’t wait for next year.