When we switched printers in 2023, we decided to start featuring local photographers’ work in the Center Spread spot in each Inspire(d) Magazine. We wanted to show off the beauty, fun, and uniqueness of the Driftless Region through these talented photographers’ photos. And, whew, have they delivered! Our 2024 issues featured an amazing selection of images. Check them all out here!
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Spring 2024: Brian Gibbs of Timberdoodle Photography
“Conditions looked favorable for a rainbow, so I went cruising through the countryside, hopeful for that ‘pot of gold’ shot. When it appeared, I zoomed upriver from the Motor Mill, grabbed my camera, left the car, and went full on into the Turkey River. Water rushed up to my shins, and the setting sun cast a tangerine light on everything. And then a double rainbow formed! These days, it’s not uncommon for my son to ask me if I saw a rainbow after the rain.” See more of Brian’s photography at timberdoodlephotography.com.
“I have always been fascinated with the oddities and quirks that seem to unwittingly come with modern society. I’m the person that goes to famous landmarks to photograph the people, not the object. For me, the local fair, with its bright palette, eclectic crowd, and vibrant energy, has always served as an exceptional place to photograph. There’s something so relatable about this moment: being a kid staring up at this ride that seems larger than life…though perhaps it’s also an example of something that never changes no matter your age.” To see more of Aaron’s photography, you can visit his website at: www.aaron-lurth.com
“I took this image a few years ago from Grandad Bluff which sits atop the city of La Crosse, WI. With the ability to see three different states in the Driftless Region, the view from here is always beautiful no matter the season. But when the light is right, the sights become even better and the light this evening was spectacular. The skies were partly cloudy and the shadows danced across the landscape, selectively highlighting the bluffs off in the distance and the city below. This image remains one of my all-time favorites I’ve taken.” See Jason’s work at jasonrayphotography.com.
“On January 1st, 2021, while most were still recovering from New Year’s Eve, I ventured out early to capture the enchanting beauty of a location in Decorah known as “The Cut.” The scene evoked a calm peacefulness, with only the gentle sound of water trickling beneath the ice, making its way towards the Upper Iowa River. It was a serene moment of winter’s quiet splendor, beautifully frozen in time.” Learn more about Michael’s work at facebook.com/michaelfloyphotography.
If I write a retrospective and it’s still January, it counts, right? It is still the first month of the new year.
But man, these years are zipping by, this new one already included. I kept saying that 2024 was on 1.5 speed playback. Like I saw all the things happening, but I surely missed a few important things as time flung itself in the front door and out the back every day with maximum velocity.
Somewhere in that turbulence, I spent time reading. A lot. Like so much so that I sometimes feel ashamed telling people how many books I read last year because it means I couldn’t have possibly been using my time very efficiently.
Sometimes I even google “jobs that pay you to read books.”
But then I remind myself that I’m a writer and an editor and reading books is really just research in honing my craft, and I feel better. Plus, I love escaping into a new world on the pages and in my head (especially during weeks like this one).
That doesn’t mean I don’t love this world. We humans have a lot of good things going – even amongst the tragedy and drama of it all – and I’m looking forward to highlighting more of the progress and positivity we see in the Driftless (and beyond) throughout 2025.
But first, let’s look back on 2024 and our progress and positivity last year!
2024 Inspire(d) Magazine Themes:
While our 2023 themes centered around “you” phrases, our 2024 themes tackled “we” statements, connected to a trait anchored in humanity.
We reminded readers to interact with others with kindness as they head out on their summer adventures – and we offered some great adventure ideas along the way!
We encouraged readers to stay resilient (and hopeful) during These Turbulent Times, and we reminded folks that we need to keep standing up, keep showing up, and keep supporting local businesses and positive forward motion.
We asked readers to remember that we all hold a spot in our communities and within humanity, and when we work together, we are stronger, more caring, and yes, more connected to one another.
Artist Laura Demuth’s weaving created a great cozy vibe for our Winter 2024-25 Inspire(d)
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With this year of “we” themes, I wanted to remind our readers that we are all bound together in our humanity. We all have brains, and hearts, and bones, and internal organs. We all have the same basic needs for survival: food, water, air, shelter, sleep. In fact, when we meet someone out in the world, I feel like dropping our compassion down to this lowest level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs – “Is this person getting the basic needs for survival?” – is perhaps the key to relating to one another. To coming together.
And boy, do we need to come together. Do you feel the urgency? I’m going to take this feeling as a sense that there is movement, and that is a good thing. If everything felt stagnant, that would mean there was no change ahead, and that is synonymous with death. The only constant in life is change, and the direction of that change is up to us and how we interact with our fellow humans.
This year, we’re going to encourage people to think more about our places in this beautiful, complex world. We hope 2025’s Inspire(d) Magazines inspire you to create some brightness in the dark, in whatever way you can.
We started this experiment in positive news in 2007. This is our 18th year of making Inspire(d)! And I will tell you – we are literally never without story ideas. Good things are happening everyday. How will you contribute to that in 2025?
Thank you for reading and supporting Inspire(d), friends. We appreciate you and your bright, shining lights! Here’s to making this a year of positive change in our communities.
For Naomi Simon, Decorah’s hometown women’s wrestling hero, the decision to dedicate herself to wrestling was a simple one.
“Wrestling fits my body, it fits how I like to think about the world,” she says.
And despite being an individual sport, Naomi insists that the real heart of wrestling is the supportive, tight-knit community it provides. “Wrestlers are really hard-working people,” she explains. “When you spend time around other wrestlers, you automatically have this point of connection that most people can’t understand.”
Finding Her Way to the Mats
While Naomi’s decision to try wrestling was her own, it does run in the family. Her dad, Matthew Simon, wrestled throughout high school and one year in college. Her younger sister, Anastasia, joined wrestling with a group of her friends at a young age. In fact, it was watching Anastasia compete at the Kid’s State Wrestling Tournament in Des Moines that inspired her own career in the sport.
Today, Naomi has an impressive list of accolades to her name: A four-time Iowa High School State Wrestling Champion with an undefeated record across all four years, the 2024 Dan Gable Ms. Wrestler of the Year, and, as of September 2024, a bronze medalist for Team USA at the 2024 U20 (Under 20) World Freestyle Wrestling Championships in Spain.
But no rise to the top happens without its challenges, and many heroes come from humble beginnings. This is certainly true of Naomi, who began her career as the only girl on the middle school boys’ wrestling team in Decorah, Iowa. When she joined wrestling in 7th grade, there was no girl’s program.
“Since it was technically a school sport, they couldn’t turn me away,” she says.
For most of that year, Naomi felt out of place among the boys, who weren’t very accepting. And she certainly wasn’t a natural talent – she recalls winning only four of the 20+ matches she competed. By the end of the season, Naomi was ready to walk away from the sport. Then, just prior to her 8th grade year, Decorah native and Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee Lee Fullhart moved back to town and began building a women’s program at the high school.
“He built an environment where I could just be an athlete and I didn’t have to worry about being bullied or singled out,” says Naomi. “He told me I would have a spot here, that I would be respected, and that I would have to put in the work just like anyone else. Sticking it out was one of the biggest challenges I’ve ever faced, but I haven’t looked back since”.
Naomi (right) after a win on the Decorah High School wrestling team. She graduated in spring of 2024, finishing her high school wrestling career as a four-time State Wrestling Champion with an undefeated record across all four years. / Photo courtesy Melissa Simon
With a renewed excitement and a dedicated, determined group of teammates to train with, Naomi quickly rose to the top of the girls high school wrestling scene. And in 2022, Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union officially sanctioned women’s wrestling as a sport, making Iowa the 34th state nationally to do so.
The sport’s popularity exploded across the state, and at the same time Naomi began to seek additional opportunities outside of the high school season. Supported by her community, she took the leap into the national wrestling scene.
National Wrestling
USA Wrestling is governed at the state level, with each state federation having its own leadership and methods of operating. “It can be really confusing the first time around, but it’s also very rewarding,” says Naomi.
Like Coach Fullhart, Charlotte and Coach McGinness have had a massive impact on Naomi’s development, both on and off the mats. They are able to bring a group of girls from different locations across the state together into one strong, cohesive team, investing in and providing opportunities for each athlete. It is their leadership, commitment, and encouragement that has made Naomi’s time with Team Iowa, “some of the best wrestling experiences I have ever had”.
USA Wrestling competitions offered Naomi challenges and learning opportunities that high school matches no longer could. Not only was she facing more skilled opponents, but high school and USA wrestling competitions utilized different “styles” of wrestling and methods of determining scores to which she had to adapt. While many wrestlers will make a big deal out of the transitions from wrestling “folkstyle” in high school season to “freestyle” at USA or international meets, Naomi takes it all in stride. “At the end of the day, it’s just wrestling.”
In 2022, shortly after her sophomore year of high school, Naomi competed at the Youth Trials in Fort Worth, Texas. There, she lost her match for the first time in over two years. While a loss might be discouraging to some, it only energized Naomi. She quickly got to work with Coach McGinness, driving to his weekly training camps in all different areas of Iowa and pushing herself to compete at a higher and higher level.
She credits her first Junior and 16 & Under National Championships – a tournament commonly referred to in the wrestling community as “Fargo,” as it takes place each year in Fargo, North Dakota – as being one of the biggest turning points in her career. Finishing 6th that year, she would go on to become the Fargo champion in 2023.
Naomi (second from left) poses with a crew (and her bronze medal) at the World Championships in Spain. / Photo courtesy Matt Simon
International Wrestling
In May of 2024, Naomi competed at the World Team Trials event in Spokane, Washington. She won the Under 20 Division, securing her a spot on the USA U20 World Championships team – which also meant her first chance at wrestling internationally.
One requirement upon making the team was to travel to Colorado Springs at least once over the summer for training camps. These camps are held not only to ensure peak physical performance ahead of the big competition, but also to create and deepen bonds between athletes and coaches, as well as among teammates.
In July, the World’s team traveled to Madrid, Spain, to get a feel for international competition and attend an additional camp. For Naomi, the hardest parts of the experience had little to do with the competition itself. “It was the things outside of wrestling – the long plane ride, adjusting to the time difference – and it was so hot – usually around 105 degrees!” she says. “Once I started wrestling, I didn’t have much of an issue.”
Back in the states, the athletes returned to their home base for the last few weeks of preparation before flying to Spain again – Pontevedra this time – on August 31. Within 15 hours of landing, the team was in the gym, preparing.
On September 6, Naomi competed in her first match at Worlds, against Mariia Orlevich of Ukraine. She lost by just one point – and then had to wait to find out if she would have the opportunity to compete in a second match.
The University of Iowa proudly announces Naomi’s third place win at the U20 World Championships. / Photo Facebook @IowaWomensWrestling
International wrestling competitions differ from US tournaments, in that they follow a Repechage Double Elimination bracket model. Essentially, if you win a match you automatically move on to the next stage. If you lose, you have to wait to see how well your opponent does in their next match. If your opponent wins again, you get added to the Repechage bracket and are afforded the chance to keep wrestling.
In the end, Orlevich advanced to the final and Naomi was given another match. Paired against one of the toughest competitors in the field, Japan’s Chisato Yoshida, Naomi had her work cut out for her. She delivered, dominating with a 9-0 victory and earning 3rd place in the 180 weight at her first international wrestling championship.
University of Iowa Wrestling
In the fall of 2024, Naomi began her first year at the University of Iowa, studying health and human physiology. Knowing from a young age that she wouldn’t want to attend a small college, she was thrilled when the Hawkeyes announced the addition of a women’s wrestling team in 2021. There, she is helping to define the emerging landscape of Division I women’s wrestling.
Now in their second year of competition, the Hawkeyes boast one of only four Division I women’s wrestling programs in the entire country. Of these four, the Hawkeyes are the only member of the Power Five Conference – the group of 69 Division I schools that boast the most prominent collegiate athletic programs in the nation. The other three – Presbyterian College, Sacred Heart University, and Lindenwood University – are all smaller, private, liberal arts institutions.
Currently, women’s wrestling is not recognized by the NCAA, meaning there is no official national tournament. However, it was named an NCAA Emerging Sport in 2020 and is projected to become official in 2026.
Just over a month into wrestling season, Naomi confirms that deep bonds, camaraderie, and sportsmanship are just as present among the Hawkeyes as the other teams she has been a part of. These connections and friendships are important, if only because of the sheer amount of time the girls spend training together. Currently, Naomi attends five-to-six team wrestling practices, three lifts, one cardio session, and additional club wrestling practices (not affiliated with the University) each week.
Surprising no one, except perhaps herself, Naomi’s first collegiate season has had a successful start, beginning with the Luther Hill Open in Indianola, Iowa. Of the 18 Hawkeyes who competed, 13 earned top-three finishes.
“I was incredibly nervous to wrestle in Indianola,” she confesses. “It was my first collegiate competition, and I just didn’t know how it would go.”
Naomi wrestled four matches, ultimately winning the 180 weight category.
Their next meet, a double dual in Marietta, Georgia, saw the Hawkeyes come away with a 46-1 win over Hastings and a 30-14 victory over Life University, both NAIA teams. Naomi won both of her matches, then went on to win all three matches the following day at the Eagle Madness Open, also held in Marietta.
The Hawkeye’s final competition of the season will be the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships (NCWWC), which is scheduled for March 7-8, 2025, in Coralville, Iowa. Founded in 2019, the NCWWC offers the chance for all NCAA varsity women’s wrestling programs (Division I, II, and III) to compete at a high-level national competition at the end of the season.
With many years ahead of her, Naomi looks forward to continued effort and improvement on the mats. In the same way that her journey has been inspired and supported by trailblazing women wrestlers and coaches before her, she will add her name to the legacy and influence future wrestlers and wrestling fans alike. With each practice, each match, and each victory, Naomi is not just making a name for herself but paving the way for the future of women’s wrestling.
Clara Wodny is a senior at Luther College, studying English and Visual Communications. She recently returned to Decorah after spending a year abroad in England, where she attended the University of Nottingham. While there, she was a writer and Assistant Design Editor for IMPACT, a student-run magazine. She has written for a variety of news sites and magazines, including SwimSwam, SAGE Scholars, and Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation.
