It certainly didn’t take Zoie Hesse long to introduce herself to the high school winter sports scene.
The Iola High freshman was in her second game of her high school basketball career last month when she came off the bench to score 17 of the Mustangs’ 33 points in a win over Central Heights.
About that same time, she competed in her first ever varsity girls wrestling tournament, pinning her opponents to win her weight bracket at Anderson County.
Funny thing is, neither is her favorite sport — the one where she really thrives.
“That would be softball,” Hesse laughed. “I’m really excited about that starting soon.”
But that will have to wait.
For now, her accomplishments on the hardwood, and on the mat, led to Hesse’s selections by readers as the Iola Register’s female Allen County Area Athlete of the Month.
She receives a gift certificate from Rookie’s for the recognition.
Hesse knew immediately she wanted to double up on her sports workload for the winter season.
“I really like them both, and it was hard to choose, so I just did both,” she said.
Hesse is allowed to do so because IHS allows concurrent participation on simultaneous sports — provided the athlete can handle the workload.
That means extra time in grueling practices, especially on days with no school, in which she’ll go for an hour or two on the court, then turn around and do the same on the wrestling mat.
“I haven’t counted up the extra hours,” she said. “It’s just a lot.”
Hesse has played basketball since she signed up for rec league hoops as an elementary school student. She’s wrestled since she was 10.
“And I’ve played softball pretty much my whole life,”she said with a smile.
