Webster City’s three winter sports head coaches — Nicole Muhlenbruch, Marty McKinney and Chad Hisler — experienced a wave of emotions on Wednesday when it was announced that the school would be returning to in-person classes on Monday. Getting the kids back into the classrooms signals the return of athletics, which have been on pause since Nov. 30 when the school district moved to an online curriculum for two weeks in an attempt to combat the high COVID-19 infection rate in Hamilton County.

All three, at some point, feared their seasons would be shut down until January, so the news that they could return to practice as early as Saturday and competition as early as Monday was reason to smile.

“It’s a lot of emotions and thoughts, but I’m super excited because I miss the girls,” Muhlenbruch, the Lynx girls’ basketball coach, said. “I’m ready to get back in the gym.”

Muhlenbruch’s club has an advantage over the Lynx boys’ basketball and wrestling teams, as it was able to get in two games prior to the two-week shutdown. WCHS dropped games to Boone and Carroll in non-conference play, but showed plenty of promise that had Muhlenbruch excited. A game against Pocahontas Area was cancelled, while contests against third-ranked (Class 2A) South Central Calhoun and 10th-ranked (3A) Clarion-Goldfield-Dows were postponed. Make-up dates have not been announced.

WCHS sophomore Livia Kasch (34) puts up a shot from the lane against Boone on Nov. 20. Following a two-week break, the Lynx will resume their season against Hampton-Dumont/CAL on Tuesday. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

The Lynx girls’ will face a stern test right away on Tuesday when they host 15th-ranked (3A) Hampton-Dumont/CAL. Ideally, Muhlenbruch would have liked to see a different opponent right out of the gate, but simply putting on the uniforms again outweigh everything else.

“We have been watching game film (on team Zoom meetings) and we do know them fairly well,” she said. “I know they’re a good team, but I’m confident that the girls want to be back on the court. The experience we had before the break will carry us through that game.”

The WCHS boys’ basketball team will also face Hampton-Dumont/CAL on Tuesday in its season opener. The Lynx practiced for two weeks prior to the shutdown and were just a day away from its previous debut when it was forced to pull back.

And that may not have necessarily been a bad thing. The Lynx were hit particularly hard by COVID-19 concerns, as a number of players were forced into quarantine due to contact tracing. During the second week of the preseason in November, nearly half of the varsity roster was absent.

“We never did start at full strength,” McKinney, the Lynx head boys’ basketball coach, said. “We wouldn’t have been at full strength had we played Pocahontas last week, so in that way it will be good to come back now because we will be at full strength.”

WCHS guard Tavis Eklund (14) puts the ball on the deck against South Central Calhoun last season. Eklund and the Lynx will make their season debut on Tuesday. DFJ file photo/Troy Banning

McKinney knows his crew is behind the curve. Hampton-Dumont/CAL will have four games under its belt by the time it steps into the WCHS gymnasium on Tuesday and McKinney expects to see all of the rust and first-game jitters from his players. But he also anticipates a level of excitement due to what the Lynx have experienced.

“It’s definitely a concern because everybody else has been going since Nov. 16 with no breaks,” he said. “But at the same time, I think our kids have a different aspect because they know nothing is guaranteed. I don’t want to say (the two-week suspension) is a good thing, but maybe it’s a blessing in disguise a little bit. You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone and hopefully this makes us a little hungry to start the year.”

The WCHS wrestling team had hoped to open its season on Monday, but once again had to reschedule a meet. Instead, the Lynx will gear up to kick off the campaign with a North Central Conference triangular against CGD and Clear Lake in Clarion on Thursday.

“I’m looking forward to getting the kids back in the room,” Hisler, the leader of the WCHS wrestling program, said. “I know the kids have been working on their own and they’re pretty dedicated, but it will be nice to have them all working together again.”

Hisler wasn’t concerned about weight issues prior to the shutdown and he believes his wrestlers will come back to practice more intense than ever. Five practices prior to the first meet isn’t ideal, but it’s better than nothing.

“We got 10 practices in before the break and we’ll get five more, so I think that’s pretty good,” he said. “Obviously we would have liked to have a chance to compete (over the last two weeks) and do what we usually do, but it is what it is. Our kids will go out there and give it what they have.”

WCHS features three ranked individuals, led by 2020 state champion (2A) Cam Phetxoumphone.

Hisler said his kids will need to be ready to work right away. In addition to Thursday’s triangular, the Lynx will take part in a junior varsity tournament on Friday, the Don Miller Invite in Fort Dodge on Saturday and a non-conference triangular with ADM and Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln in Adel on Monday, Dec. 21.

“We’ve told the kids that it’s going to be 11 straight days of wrestling,” Hisler said. “So we have to be ready.”