Girls’ Regional Basketball
In Class 1A Region 4, Wapello tried to go on a late run but Lone Tree had too big of a lead to overcome with the Arrows falling last night, 53-45. Macey Kuntz tabbed an 18 point and 10 rebound double-double in the loss. The Arrows collected a 13-10 record for the season.
In Region 6, Highland was upset by Keota, 49-43. Hailey Brun cashed in for 13 points. The Huskies finished the season with a 20-4 record.
In Class 2A Region 8, Van Buren County lost to Regina Catholic last night, 73-22. The Warriors finished the season with a 15-8 record.
Danville’s 16 to 5 to start the game against West Burlington lifted the Bears to a narrow 45-39 victory last night. Alaina Gourley touted 19 points in the victory. The Bears will travel to Regina Catholic on Friday, February 20th, at 7 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.
For Class 3A Region 5, Washington will face off against Tipton tonight at 7 pm on the road.
In Region 6, #8 Mediapolis will tangle with Davis County tonight at home at 7 pm.
For Class 4A Region 4, Mt. Pleasant will be looking to avenge an early season loss when they travel to Oskaloosa tonight. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.
Burlington will make the trip to North Scott tonight.
In Region 6, Fort Madison will host Keokuk in a Southeast Conference rivalry matchup tonight.
High School Basketball
The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team fell to Pella last night, 73-55. The Panthers finished the regular season with a 10-11 record.
The Fairfield boys’ team was crushed by Clear Creek Amana last night, 72-36. The Trojans finished the regular season with a 2-18 record.
High School Wrestling
The 2026 Iowa High School Athletic Association’s State Tournament is scheduled to start tonight and KILJ will be providing updates for all 32 of our local wrestlers. Class 3A’s first round, second round, and second round consolation matches will be the only competition today.
WACO will be sending four wrestlers to the state tournament tomorrow, February 19th, in #2 Ian Maize, #12 Rydge Sterna, #21 Teage Pepper, and #23 Harley Larrimore. Maize, the state-runner up from last year, talked about what he learned on his first trip to Des Moines,
“I learned from the state tournament that anything can happen. Last year, I was the seventh seed. And obviously, I knocked off the two seed in the quarterfinals and knocked off the three seed in the semifinals. So, anything can happen. I just got to have that mindset of going, it doesn’t matter who you are, I’m going to run through you and I’m going to beat you.”
Sterna, who is just a freshman, has slowly been gaining confidence throughout the year,
“The greatest lesson that I’ve learned through this sport is probably to never get down on yourself. Because when you get down on yourself, is when you make mistakes and stuff. And it just goes downhill from there. So mainly just keep your head up and stay confident.”
Pepper, a junior, has dealt with enough adversity this season to be mentally prepared for the upcoming challenge,
“Yeah, so I had a big setback at the beginning of the year. Actually, the first week back, I broke my hand in the wrestling room. And that kind of just fueled me to want to get better and get back at it. And first year back, obviously, there’s a lot of nerves that’s going with that. I haven’t wrestled at a big stage like this since pee wee. Obviously, I’m very excited. But there’s obviously going to be nerves that go with that. I just have to walk those nerves out and show everybody who Teague Pepper is.”
Lastly, Larrimore will be hoping to bring his same mindset that he had at districts to the state tournament,
“It was great. I was very emotional because I know that with that wrestle back, either you win it, or you go home. And I was not going home that day. I was just very emotional and instantly I just was thinking about my parents, my coaches, and just I wanted to make them proud.”
To listen to the full interview, follow this link: WACO State Qualifiers
For a full look at everyone’s first round matchup and seeding, click on this link: Local First Round Matchups
Boys’ District Basketball
In Class 1A Substate 5 District 9, #4 Burlington Notre Dame will host Danville tomorrow, February 19th, at 7 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.
Holy Trinity Catholic will travel to Pekin tomorrow for tip-off at 7 pm.
In Class 2A Substate 5 District 9, West Burlington will fly to Central Lee tomorrow at 7 pm.
In Substate 5 District 10, Mediapolis will search for their first victory over Mid-Prairie since 2011 tomorrow at 7 pm on the road.
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.
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 play Marshalltown Community College tonight at 5:30 pm on the road.
The men’s basketball team will travel to Highland Community College tonight at 7 pm.
College Basketball
The Iowa State women’s team will take on Arizona State at home tonight at 6:30 pm.
The #13 Iowa women’s team will stay on the road to play Purdue tomorrow, February 19th, at 6 pm.
The Iowa men’s team shocked #9 Nebraska last night, defeating the Cornhuskers 57-52. Bennett Stirtz was unstoppable with 25 points in the victory. The Hawkeyes will travel to #24 Wisconsin on Sunday, February 22nd, for their 3rd straight ranked opponent with tip-off at 3 pm.
The #6 Iowa State men’s team will travel to BYU on Saturday, February 21st, at 9:30 pm. KILJ 98.5 FM and AM 1130 will have the call.
This Day in Sports History
1944 – 15-year-old Joe Nuxhall signs a contract to play baseball with the Cincinnati Reds just one day after playing in a high school basketball game; debuts later that year.
1967 – During a softball exhibition game, pitcher Eddie Feigner strikes out six consecutive big leaguers: Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Brooks Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Roberto Clemente, and Maury Wills.
1981 – 20-year-old Edmonton center Wayne Gretzky becomes first player in NHL history to score 5 career hat-tricks before age 21; scores 5 goals and 2 assists in 9-2 Oilers’ home win against St. Louis.