Jasper County man wins $30,000 lottery prize

CLIVE — A Jasper County man said he slept well the night after scratching off a $30,000 lottery prize.

Michael Endersbe, of Colfax, claimed the sixth top prize in the Iowa Lottery’s “$30,000 Holiday Crossword” scratch game. He bought four tickets in the game at Casey’s, 5970 Morning Star Court in Pleasant Hill, where he stopped to buy a bottle of water for his wife, Erika Christiansen. They each scratched two when they returned home.

Endersbe, who works at John Deere, said he realized he was on the way to a big win as he was scratching his first ticket. He counted eight completed words, then completed two more with the final two letters on his ticket to reach the game’s top prize level.

His wife scanned it with the Iowa Lottery mobile app to confirm the win.

“I was excited,” said Endersbe, who claimed his prize on Friday at lottery headquarters in Clive. “I’ve been waiting for it. I always believed I was going to hit it.”

He said he plans to use his winnings to buy a new car and pay off his wife’s vehicle.