No. 1 Ranked Maquoketa Girls Basketball Eyes 3A Title

Today is the first day of Girls High School Basketball Practice in Iowa and The Gazette has released their 2025-26 preseason rankings. The Maquoketa Cardinals are ranked as the state’s number 1 team in Class 3A.

The Cardinal girls come off their first state tournament berth in school history, as well as their best record in school history, 21-3.

Their 3 defeats? 

• a 1 point loss to 5A state qualifier Iowa City Liberty
• a 4 point road loss to 5A regional finalist Iowa City High 
• a 5 point state quarterfinal loss to this year’s 4A No. 1 ranked Dallas Center-Grimes

Maquoketa was a Class 4A state qualifier last year, despite being one of the smallest schools in the class. Now with an enrollment drop to 360, Maquoketa makes the move downward, and is the largest school (in terms of 10-12 enrollment) in Class 3A. This means they will now compete with other 3A schools once the postseason rolls around, as opposed to playing much bigger schools like last year. 

The Cardinals return all 5 starters and their 6th-player, who are all entering their senior seasons: Maelyn Kluever, Justice Armbruster, Cora Widel, Kendall Kuhlman, Aubrey Kroymann, and Hadley Ihrig.

Widel, a 6 ’1 small forward who led the team with 14.5 PPG last season, recently committed to play college basketball at Division-2 Upper Iowa. 

Kroymann, a 6 ‘0 forward who averaged 13 PPG last year, holds offers from multiple Division-3 programs including Coe, Central, Luther, and Loras Colleges. 

Now entering his 3rd year with the program, head coach Chad Specht looks to bring a state championship to Maquoketa. Stay tuned to kmaq.com for an interview with Coach Specht in the coming days.

Listen to live play-by-play coverage of every Maquoketa Girls Basketball game on KMAQ this season.