Hello, my name is Ryan Stonebraker. I am a lifelong Iowan and longtime journalist in the state. I have lived in many spots in the state working for newspapers in Pella, Knoxville and Tipton mainly. I also am in my 11th year as an announcer for Sportscast media in Mediapolis broadcasting high school athletics. Currently, I call Greenfield my home after a long successful journalism career in Tipton, Iowa that spanned 16 years. I work remotely for five Southwest Iowa newspapers where I cover high school sports.
Like site manager Jared Larson, I am an award winning journalist with Iowa Newspaper Association awards for blogging and podcasting. I also was honored by the Iowa High School Athletic Association in 2020 with their statewide media award. I came to the journalism field late as I was a double major in American History and American Government at William Penn in Oskaloosa. After working a full time job and moonlighting as a sports correspondent for daily papers in Oskaloosa and Ottumwa, I got my first real media job in 2003 as the sports editor at the Pella Chronicle and the Knoxville Journal Express. Then, our family moved to Eastern Iowa where I was the sports editor for one of the largest weekly papers in the state, the Tipton Conservative, where I was for 16 years.
My family is my wife Melinda, our oldest daughter Zoe a 2025 ISU grad and 2026 ISU for her master’s degree, and our youngest daughter Lea who is a senior and is going to go to the University of Nebraska-Omaha next year. We moved to Greenfield for Mel’s job and couldn’t have imagined not having this SW Iowa journey as part of our families journey.
I came to Cyclone fandom about the same time I fell in love with basketball in 7th grade. As one of the tallest kids in my grade back in Brooklyn, Iowa, I would play the post or the center position. As an 11-year old, when not collecting Hoops, Fleer, and Skybox basketball cards or playing NBA Live, I could be found a lot of winter Saturday’s and Monday night’s watching Big 8 and later Big 12, basketball doubleheaders on the old Raycom network and ESPN.
My favorite player was Victor Alexander and his Cyclone teams that would be must see TV. I would root against KU, Missouri and had a soft spot for K-State as they tried hard, but just couldn’t get it together. Later, the Fred Hoiberg and Loren Meyer teams were my favorite mainly because I was and am the same ages as the two former ISU stars. Since, I have followed the other Cyclone sports and have enjoyed doing so.
I have a saying that “I wasn’t born here, but I got here as soon as I could’. That applies here. I have always been fascinated with longer form journalism and storytelling that a normal newspaper is limited with. I have also been intrigued with fan sites going back a ways. As a seasoned media type, gone are the weeks of 70-80 hours. When we moved to SW Iowa, I knew I wanted to help out people and in my heart, I wanted to help media outlets that didn’t have resources to do more. I found that in five newspapers I work for and now, I hope to find that at WRNL. Family is important, from my real family to my work families in Harlan, Afton, Leon, Greenfield and Guthrie Center. I am excited to add the Cyclone family to things as well.
I look forward to working alongside Jared and the WRNL staff as we look to be an addition to your Cyclone fandom and enjoyment.
