Story byThe Herald Bulletin, Anderson, Ind. Rob Hunt , The Herald Bulletin, Anderson, Ind. Fri, December 26, 2025 at 11:18 PM UTC·5 min readAfter a year like 2025, trying to narrow the year’s top-10 stories proved to be an extremely difficult task. For evidence of this, simply glance at the extensive honorable mention list that follows this year’s iteration of the Herald Bulletin’s Top 10 local sports stories. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement1) End of an EraIn early March, an announcement that the tradition of Madison County’s tournaments would, for the most part, be coming to an end shook the local sports community. While those considered ‘individual’ sports – tennis, golf, wrestling, track and field, and cross country – would continue, basketball, baseball, softball and volleyball tournaments would no longer be held. Although Anderson stated the Nick Muller Tournament – long considered the county baseball championship – would continue, the development sent many schools scrambling to schedule new events. The three schools that drove the decision – Alexandria, Elwood, and Frankton – announced they would jointly hold 18-team boys and 12-team girls showcases in late December and early January. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement2) Three of a KindFor nearly 20 years, 2005 Miss Basketball Jodi Howell stood as the lone girls player in Madison County history to have scored over 2,000 points. That all changed in 2025 when Indiana All-Stars Jacklynn Hosier of Alexandria and Kaycie Warfel from Pendleton Heights reached that milestone last January and Lapel’s Laniah Wills did as well in December. Hosier finished with 2,108 points and Warfel at 2,107 and they graduated as the top two overall scorers in county history. They also helped their teams end long sectional championship droughts in February. Provided she remains healthy, Wills should pass both in January and also will break the all-time state rebounding record. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement3) Stellar DebutWhile the inaugural IHSAA sanctioned season for girls wrestling began in 2024, the postseason was held entirely in 2025 and featured a number of area successes. On the team front, Frankton won the sectional championship at Alexandria while five individuals – Maddie Marsh of Pendleton Heights, Kynlie Keffer of Daleville, Paige Stires from Lapel, Karsyn Merritt of Shenandoah and Frankton’s Jaden Hughes – advanced to the state finals. Both Keffer and Stires earned podium finishes at the state finals while Marsh captured her second straight state championship at 140 pounds.
