When Grundy Center visits class A ninth ranked Gladbrook-Reinbeck tonight for the 94th consecutive meeting more than “the victory bell” will be up for grabs. With a victory, Grundy Center would clinch the district four championship. It would be the Spartans second title since district play began back in 1992.

“There’s so much emotion into the game, obviously because we are playing G-R, playing for the bell,” Grundy Center coach Brent Thoren  says. He was a junior on the Spartans’ last district championship team in 1993 and says it will be on the kids on this team to get the job done and they are excited to be able to play for a championship.

A victory would put Gladbrook-Reinbeck on the doorstep of the district crown. Despite a successful run in the last decade the Rebels have won only one district title and coach Jon Olson says they have had trouble “getting over the hump”. Olson says they want to be the team that does it, but he says Grundy Center is a team that can really move the ball and are very agressive on defense.

Olson says this is a rivalry in every sense of the word. He says a lot of things have gone on in those years and he says he has a lot of people in town that tell him that’s the only game they care about.

(Reporting by Elwin Huffman, KOEL Oelwein)