It’s a decent rule of thumb: The team that beats North Tama in the playoffs, or the team that beats the team that beats North Tama, wins the state championship. Granted, this is not difficult to do in an eight-team bracket, but it’s still kind of interesting.
In 21 playoff appearances across three sports, the team that beat North Tama won it all 12 times (including three four-team brackets and three championship games), and the team that beat the team that beat North Tama won five times. Three times the formula didn’t work, and one time nobody beat the Redhawks.
Football
- 1988: Grundy Center beat NT in Class 1A first round, won championship
- 1995: Denver beat NT in Class 1A first round, won championship
- 1999: West Marshall beat NT in Class 1A quarterfinals, won championship
- 2000: Aplington-Parkersburg beat NT in Class 1A quarterfinals, lost to Southern Cal in championship
- 2001: Aplington-Parkersburg beat NT in Class 1A semifinals, won championship
- 2002: Valley of Elgin beat NT in Class A first round, lost to Fredericksburg, who lost championship to Manning. Exception #1.
- 2003: North Mahaska beat NT in Class A first round, lost to Martensdale-St. Marys, who lost to Madrid, who lost to Treynor. Exception #2, and the only three-loss chain.
- 2006: Postville beat NT in Class A first round, lost to Wapsie Valley, who lost to IKM. Exception #3.
- 2007: Wapsie Valley beat NT in Class A first round, won championship
- 2008: Southern Cal beat NT in championship game
- 2009: Mason City Newman beat NT in Class A semifinals, lost to Southern Cal in championship
- 2010: North Tama won state championship
- 2011: Mason City Newman beat NT in Class A
first roundRound of 16, lost to Lisbon, who won state championship (Stupid playoff inflation.) - 2012: Wapsie Valley beat NT in Class A quarterfinals, won championship
Baseball (4-team playoff until 1995) (all Class 1A)
- 1982: Burlington Notre Dame beat NT, won championship
- 1986: Tri-Center (Neola) beat NT, lost to Kee High
- 1990: Norway beat NT in championship
- 2002: Mason City Newman beat NT in championship
- 2003: Van Meter beat NT in semifinals, won championship
- 2012: Algona Garrigan beat NT, lost to Martensdale-St. Marys, who won championship
Girls’ Basketball
- 2012: North Mahaska beat NT in Class 1A first round, won championship