Month: February 2026

Des Moines, IA- All eyes and lights are on you for championship Saturday, as a pair of local wrestlers squared off against the top seed in their weight class for the right to bring home the title from the IHSAA’s 2026 State Wrestling Tournament. Here’s how our two local athletes fared.

Class 1A

113-Pound Weight Class

With only one goal in mind, WACO’s #2 Ian Maize was gifted a rematch against #1 Kaiden Belinsky of Don Bosco, the same wrestler who defeated him last year in the state championship.

Unfortunately, the senior for the Dons jumped out to an early 8 to 1 lead in the 1^st period and never looked back, winning by technical fall. Maize, a sophomore, finished the season as the runner-up and with a 38-4 record for the season.

Class 2A

175-Pound Weight Class

In his fourth trip to the state tournament, Mediapolis’ #2 Kyler Crow was looking to end his high school career with a state championship but standing in his way was #1 Christian Dunning of Clear Lake.

Dunning proved to be the top wrestler of the class for a reason as he tabbed four takedowns by the end of the match for a major decision victory. Crow grabbed the silver medal and a 51-2 record for the year.

More Information

The Class 1A team title went to Don Bosco. The Class 2A team title was split between Decorah and Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont, and the Class 3A title was snatched by Southeast Polk.

KILJ would like to thank all of our tournament sponsors for allowing us to cover the 2026 Boys’ Wrestling State Tournament.

Des Moines, IA- To start off championship Saturday for the Iowa High School Athletic Association’s 2026 Boys’ State Wrestling tournament, the consolation bracket played out all of their matchups to fill in the podium for 3^rd through 8^th place and KILJ had eight local athletes vying for the best spot they could get one the podium.

Here’s how our local athletes fared.

Class 1A

157-Pound Weight Class

Wapello’s #6 Cohen Wolford was handled by #9 Jaxon Gordon of Riverside by technical fall in the 7^th place bout.

Wolford claimed 8^th place with a season record of 40-7.

Class 2A

113-Pound Weight Class

#2 Kohen Dietzenbach of Burlington Notre Dame tangled with #1 Ethan Humphrey of West Branch in the consolation semifinals, but loss by a 10-3 decision. Dietzenbach was able to recover in the 5^th place match as he pinned #12 Lucas Peters of West Delaware in the 3^rd period.

Dietzenbach finished the season with a 40-2 record and with the 5^th place medal.

120-Pound Weight Class

A southeast Iowa showcase pitted Burlington Notre Dame’s #5 Rowan Berndt against Mt. Pleasant’s #14 Levi Evans for the consolation semifinals. Berndt jumped out to a 6 to 1 lead entering the third period before the Panther scored an escape and takedown within the first minute to bring the match within one point.

Berndt gained a two-point lead after tabbing an escape and appeared to have won the match, but Evans scored a takedown with four seconds remaining to claim the 8-7 decision victory to advance to the bronze medal match.

Evans appeared exhausted from 8^th match in three days and just could not keep up with #4 Atlee Dewitt of Alburnett, losing by technical fall. Still, the first boys’ state wrestler since 2020 claimed 4^th place and a 38-7 record.

Berndt could not usurp #2 Urijah Courter of West Marshall in the 5^th place match, falling by a 7-1 decision. The Nike took home a 6^th place medal and a 43-8 record.

132-Pound Weight Class

#5 Colt Boyles of Burlington Notre Dame was in a stalemate against #3 Carter Schmauss of Crestwood for most of the match, but a 2^nd period escape by Schmauss was all he needed to win the match by a 1-0 decision.

In a rematch from the quarterfinals, Boyles kept close to #4 Linden Phetxoumphone of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows yet still fell by a 4-0 decision. Boyles finished in 6^th place with a 44-6 record for the year.

138-Pound Weight Class

#7 Caden Greiner of Washington pulled off the upset in shutout fashion, as he defeated #4 Kaydin Jones of Union by major decision. However, Greiner would lose by fall to #3 Liam Adflinger of Wilton to take 4^th place overall.

150-Pound Weight Class

#4 Kael Cook of Burlington Notre Dame pinned #6 Aiden Hippen of Clear Lake within the third period. The victory gave the Nike 7^th place and a 45-3 record.

175-Pound Weight Class

Fairfield’s #6 Dain Burkhart finished the day 2-0 after defeating #5 Kasen Tyler of Decorah by a 6-3 decision, sending him to the 3^rd place match. In a match where every second was needed, Burkhart snuck away with a 9-8 victory after a couple rounds of overtime.

Burkhart took the bronze and finished with a 41-7 record.

More Information

KILJ would like to thank all of our tournament sponsors for allowing us to cover the 2026 Boys’ Wrestling State Tournament.

Girls’ Regional Basketball

In Class 2A Region 8, Danville was unable to keep up with #8 Regina Catholic last night, falling 56-35. Alaina Gourley led the way with 11 points for the night. The Bears finished the season with a 16-6 record. 

For Class 3A Region 6, #8 Mediapolis will travel to #6 PCM with tip-off tonight at 7 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.

For Class 4A Region 6, Keokuk will venture to #6 Central DeWitt tomorrow at 7 pm. 

High School Wrestling

The 2026 Iowa High School Athletic Association’s (IHSAA) slate is set for championship Saturday and southeast Iowa will have two representatives dueling for their respective state championships.

In Class 1A 113-pound weight class, WACO’s #2 Ian Maize flew through his quarterfinal and semifinal matches with wins by technical fall and major decision, respectively. The Warrior will look to avenge his loss last year against #1 Kaiden Belinsky of Don Bosco in the championship bout tonight.

In the 157-pound weight class, #6 Cohen Wolford of Wapello bounced back from a tough 21-20 decision loss in the quarterfinals to take one win in the consolation bracket, guaranteeing a finish on the podium. He will wrestle #9 Jaxon Gordon of Riverside for 7th place today.

In Class 2A, Mt. Pleasant’s Levi Evans collected three victories in the consolation bracket to set up a match against Burlington Notre Dame’s #5 Rowan Berndt in the consolation semifinals today. 

The Nikes will also be looking for #2 Kohen Dietzenbach (113-pound weight class), #5 Colt Boyles (132-pound weight class), and Kael Cook (150-pound weight class) to finish on the podium with Cook taking on #6 Aiden Hippen of Clear Lake for 7th place. 

In the most exciting matchup of the day, the 175-pound weight class pitted Fairfield’s #6 Dain Burkhart against Mediapolis’ #2 Kyler Crow against one another in the semifinals. Crow would jump out to a 7 to 1 lead in the second period and battle off a comeback attempt by Burkhart to earn a spot in the championship match.

Crow will face off against #1 Christian Dunning of Clear Lake tonight. Burkhart will compete against #5 Kasen Tyler of Decorah in the consolation semifinals. 

Stay tuned to KILJ for updates from championship Saturday.

For a full recap of day three, click on this link: Day 3 Results

Boys’ District Basketball

In Class 3A Substate 4, #5 Mt. Pleasant will venture to #4 Davenport Assumption for their first round matchup on Monday, February 23rd, at 7 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm. 

Substate 5 houses the rest of our local teams with #8 Fairfield traveling to #1 Pella. #4 Burlington will host #5 Washington, while #3 Keokuk will take on #6 Fort Madison at home for a pair of Southeast Conference clashes. 

In Class 1A Substate 5 District 9, it’s a rematch of last year’s district championship, Burlington Notre Dame will host Holy Trinity Catholic on Tuesday, February 24th, at 7 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.

In District 10, Hillcrest Academy will travel to Calamus-Wheatland on Tuesday at 7 pm.

In Class 2A Substate 5 District 9, Central Lee will compete for the District Championship on Tuesday at 7 pm against Regina Catholic.

In Substate 5 District 10, Mid-Prairie will head to Northeast for the District Championship at 7 pm on Tuesday. 

High School Bowling

Keokuk’s Chase Hemann will compete in the Class 2A individual state tournament on Wednesday, February 25th.

Southeastern Community College

The women’s basketball team will travel to Northeast Community College today at 1 pm.

The men’s basketball team will host Moberly Area Community College tonight at 7 pm.

College Basketball

The Iowa State women’s team will look to upset #12 TCU tomorrow, February 22nd, at 3 pm on the road. 

The #13 Iowa women’s team will host #6 Michigan tomorrow at 11 am.

The Iowa men’s team will travel to #24 Wisconsin tomorrow for their 3rd straight ranked opponent with tip-off at 3 pm.

The #6 Iowa State men’s team will travel to BYU tonight at 9:30 pm. KILJ 98.5 FM and AM 1130 will have the call.

This Day in Sports History

1979 – Two Iowa girls high school basketball teams play four scoreless quarters as the game was won 4-2 in the 4th overtime period.

1980 – Liechtenstein becomes the smallest country to produce an Olympic champion as Hanni Wenzel wins the women’s giant slalom at the Lake Placid Winter Games.

2016 – 58th Daytona 500: Denny Hamlin wins the closest finish in race history, by just 0.01s over Martin Truex Jr.