An Open Letter to Mount Pleasant, Southeast Iowa

By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com 

KILJ — As has been said before, today is my final day as Sports Director at KILJ.

I am returning to my home state of Wisconsin after a near-decade long sabbatical dating back to my undergrad days at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

I am excited to return to my roots, be closer to friends, family and my loved ones — it just felt like the time was right.

With that being said, I owe KILJ, Mount Pleasant and the rest of Southeast Iowa one huge debt of gratitude.

I am proud to have served this incredible area and community and hope you feel as if my energy was palatable behind the microphone every day.

I’ll miss heading to a packed New London gym to watch Blaise Porter erupt on a nightly basis, I’ll miss watching the matmen of Notre Dame strike fear in their opponents and I’ll miss watching Jadan Brumbaugh eviscerate the record books — so on and so forth.

It was here where I was blessed with watching so many incredible individual and team performances and I’ll never, ever forget those memories and the small impact I had on them.

I owe a thank you to my boss Paul Dennison for taking a chance on me, nearly three years ago. He fostered my on-air development and was the beneficiary of my skills as evidenced by the numerous broadcast awards I have compiled while here.

To Theresa Rose, the best damn news person in the State of Iowa.

Theresa brought an infectious, room-lighting laugh to the office everyday and it was a pleasure to share the air with someone who I truly consider an extension of my family.

Thank you to Derek Zander, Iowa Wesleyan’s athletic director.

Derek and I share an incredible relationship and I am so grateful to have been able to help grow Iowa Wesleyan’s brand and make an impact in any way I could.

That institution deserves it and I’ll always be a lifelong fan of Tiger Athletics.

To Dan McCabe — my “surrogate” father — and the best friend a guy like me could ask for.

Dan took me fishing, cooked me dinners, fed me beers, had me over for Thanksgivings and took me in like his third son.

His kids Matthew and Michael are like my brothers and each of them have been so good to me.

Love you guys.

And finally, to all the people of Southeast Iowa.

All of your kind words over the past few weeks have meant so, so much to me.

You have given me the best and I hope you realize that I have given mine back.

I have thoroughly enjoyed being your Sports Director and morning person and I will always be a champion of KILJ, Mount Pleasant and Southeast Iowa.

For now, the Good Land calls.

Thank you for the memories,

Nathan Bloechl

State Track Roundup: Brumbaugh Wins Gold, New London Second After Day One; Other Notes

Des Moines — Jadan Brumbaugh tossed the 15th-farthest throw in state history to capture gold in the Class 3A Girls’ Discus yesterday.

Brumbaugh hit 151 feet, 10 inches to earn yet another throwing title for Mount Pleasant.

The Iowa State recruit hit just 119 feet, 1 inch on her first throw before soaring to new heights.

The win for Brumbaugh also moved the Panthers to a virtual tie for 5th in the team standings with 10 points.

Mount Pleasant will have another chance to score on Saturday in the Class 3A shuttle hurdle relay.

The Panthers group of Kenna Lamm, Allie Westercamp, Abby Blint and Jenna Gilmore combined to run 1:08.59 to qualify for finals with the eighth-fastest time in prelims.

On the boys’ side of things, Mount Pleasant’s Will Davidson is moving to the finals in the 200m dash.

Davidson went 22.78, good enough to qualify with the eighth-fastest time in the field. Davidson will also compete in the long jump and 110m hurdle preliminaries before the weekend closes.

The Panther boys’ 4×800 team of Isaac Rynders, Isaiah Albright, Gabe Feldmann and Jacob Richtman closed their season with a 16th place finish. That quartet closed their 2022 chapter with a season’s best mark of 8:31.18.

In Class 2A, Mediapolis showed why they’re one of the top programs in southeast Iowa. The Bulldogs’ 4×800 team of Levi Arnold, Solomon Zaugg, Logan Rosas and Owen Schmidgall teamed up to run a season’s best 8:14.98 good for third in the 2A field.

It just missed the school record.

Bulldog sprinter Anthony Isley is headed to the Class 2A 200m finals. Isley, a terrific running back for the Mediapolis football team, ran 22.78 — the sixth fastest time in the 2A field.

Mediapolis senior Kadin Salek showed out well in the open 400m, with a 10th place finish after cruising in 51 seconds flat.

In other 2A action, Central Lee’s Thomas Eschman hit a personal record in the long jump, with a good leap of the day of 20 feet, 10.25 inches. Eschman was Central Lee’s lone qualifier.

In Class 1A, New London is right in the thick of the team race following day one.

The Tigers are chasing Lisbon by just one point in the team standings after an outstanding Thursday.

New London earned a runner up in the 4×800 relay while getting third-place finishes from Alexander Julian in the two-mile and Carter Allen in the shot.

The 4×800 team was on fire, specifically. Rylan Martin, Alexander Julian, Seth Bailey and Kade Benjamin broke the school-record by more than seven seconds, officially clocking an 8:11.57.

Julian hit a new personal best 9:43.99 in the two-mile while his cross country teammate and Danville star A.J. Bonnesen placed seventh in 9:56.71.

Allen hit 52 feet, 3.5 inches in the shot to earn the third place mark.

The Tigers will have an additional avenue for points after Josh Catala blazed his way to the finals in the 1A 200m dash, clocking a 23.18 for the sixth-fastest prelim time.

Elsewhere in 1A, Winfield-Mount Union senior Jobey Malone closes her shot put career with a high with a 5th place finish in a loaded field.

Malone hit 37 feet, 10.5 inches for the fifth place mark.

Danville’s Kenna Furnald, back to state for the second straight year, hit 16 feet, 10 inches for a 4th place finish in the 1A girls’ long jump.

Staying in long jump, Iowa football recruit Cam Buffington (Winfield-Mount Union) hit 20 feet, 6.5 inches to place 9th in a very strong 1A field. That mark for the Wolves sophomore was a new personal best.

Prep Baseball: Mediapolis Walks Off Mount Pleasant

Mediapolis — Mediapolis’ Kyler Crow hit a two-out, two-run game winning double to walk off Mount Pleasant 8-7 yesterday at Mediapolis.

Crow’s hit capped off a four-run 7th inning to spark the comeback for the Bulldogs.

Zerek Venghaus was the losing pitcher for Mount Pleasant. He also had two hits in trips. Cooper Keldgord and Lincoln Henriksen each had doubles.

Keldgord drove in two.

Jaxon Brooks picked up the win for Mediapolis throwing two innings of scoreless relief striking out three.

Mount Pleasant, now 0-2, will host Clear Creek-Amana next Wednesday.

First pitch is set for 7:00 p.m.

Boys’ Soccer: Mount Pleasant’s Season Ends

Fort Madison — The Mount Pleasant boys’ soccer team saw their season come to a close last night in an 8-0 loss to Fort Madison in 2A regional quarterfinal.

Mitchell Pothitakis hat-tricked for the Bloodhounds while also providing three helpers.

Nathan Bowen had two goals as well.

Fort Madison, now 13-5, will welcome in Washington on Monday in the second round on Monday night.

Mount Pleasant ends their season 1-16.

State Track Roundup: Brumbaugh Wins Gold, New London Second After Day One; Other Notes

Jadan Brumbaugh tossed the 15th-farthest throw in state history to capture gold in the Class 3A Girls’ Discus yesterday.

Brumbaugh hit 151 feet, 10 inches to earn yet another throwing title for Mount Pleasant.

The Iowa State recruit hit just 119 feet, 1 inch on her first throw before soaring to new heights.

The win for Brumbaugh also moved the Panthers to a virtual tie for 5th in the team standings with 10 points.

Mount Pleasant will have another chance to score on Saturday in the Class 3A shuttle hurdle relay.

The Panthers group of Kenna Lamm, Allie Westercamp, Abby Blint and Jenna Gilmore combined to run 1:08.59 to qualify for finals with the eighth-fastest time in prelims.

On the boys’ side of things, Mount Pleasant’s Will Davidson is moving to the finals in the 200m dash.

Davidson went 22.78, good enough to qualify with the eighth-fastest time in the field. Davidson will also compete in the long jump and 110m hurdle preliminaries before the weekend closes.

The Panther boys’ 4×800 team of Isaac Rynders, Isaiah Albright, Gabe Feldmann and Jacob Richtman closed their season with a 16th place finish. That quartet closed their 2022 chapter with a season’s best mark of 8:31.18.

In Class 2A, Mediapolis showed why they’re one of the top programs in southeast Iowa. The Bulldogs’ 4×800 team of Levi Arnold, Solomon Zaugg, Logan Rosas and Owen Schmidgall teamed up to run a season’s best 8:14.98 good for third in the 2A field.

It just missed the school record.

Bulldog sprinter Anthony Isley is headed to the Class 2A 200m finals. Isley, a terrific running back for the Mediapolis football team, ran 22.78 — the sixth fastest time in the 2A field.

Mediapolis senior Kadin Salek showed out well in the open 400m, with a 10th place finish after cruising in 51 seconds flat.

In other 2A action, Central Lee’s Thomas Eschman hit a personal record in the long jump, with a good leap of the day of 20 feet, 10.25 inches. Eschman was Central Lee’s lone qualifier.

In Class 1A, New London is right in the thick of the team race following day one.

The Tigers are chasing Lisbon by just one point in the team standings after an outstanding Thursday.

New London earned a runner up in the 4×800 relay while getting third-place finishes from Alexander Julian in the two-mile and Carter Allen in the shot.

The 4×800 team was on fire, specifically. Rylan Martin, Alexander Julian, Seth Bailey and Kade Benjamin broke the school-record by more than seven seconds, officially clocking an 8:11.57.

Julian hit a new personal best 9:43.99 in the two-mile while his cross country teammate and Danville star A.J. Bonnesen placed seventh in 9:56.71.

Allen hit 52 feet, 3.5 inches in the shot to earn the third place mark.

The Tigers will have an additional avenue for points after Josh Catala blazed his way to the finals in the 1A 200m dash, clocking a 23.18 for the sixth-fastest prelim time.

Elsewhere in 1A, Winfield-Mount Union senior Jobey Malone closes her shot put career with a high with a 5th place finish in a loaded field.

Malone hit 37 feet, 10.5 inches for the fifth place mark.

Danville’s Kenna Furnald, back to state for the second straight year, hit 16 feet, 10 inches for a 4th place finish in the 1A girls’ long jump.

Staying in long jump, Iowa football recruit Cam Buffington (Winfield-Mount Union) hit 20 feet, 6.5 inches to place 9th in a very strong 1A field. That mark for the Wolves sophomore was a new personal best.

Prep Baseball: Mediapolis Walks Off Mount Pleasant

Mediapolis’ Kyler Crow hit a two-out, two-run game winning double to walk off Mount Pleasant 8-7 yesterday at Mediapolis.

Crow’s hit capped off a four-run 7th inning to spark the comeback for the Bulldogs.

Zerek Venghaus was the losing pitcher for Mount Pleasant. He also had two hits in trips. Cooper Keldgord and Lincoln Henriksen each had doubles.

Keldgord drove in two.

Jaxon Brooks picked up the win for Mediapolis throwing two innings of scoreless relief striking out three.

Mount Pleasant, now 0-2, will host Clear Creek-Amana next Wednesday.

First pitch is set for 7:00 p.m.

Boys’ Soccer: Mount Pleasant’s Season Ends

The Mount Pleasant boys’ soccer team saw their season come to a close last night in an 8-0 loss to Fort Madison in 2A regional quarterfinal.

Mitchell Pothitakis hat-tricked for the Bloodhounds while also providing three helpers.

Nathan Bowen had two goals as well.

Fort Madison, now 13-5, will welcome in Washington on Monday in the second round on Monday night.

Mount Pleasant ends their season 1-16.

 

 

Girls’ Prep Golf: New London Dominates Way to State Golf

KILJ — Taylor Phillips carded a one under par to help lead the New London girls’ golf team to the 1A State Tournament next week at American Legion Golf Course in Marshalltown.

New London finished with 351 strokes, beating runner-up West Branch by 51.

Phillips scorched Heritage Oaks with a 72 to qualify to the State Meet individually, while Sophie Malott carded an 87 to finish third.

She too qualified individually.

Saige Barron was third on New London with a 95, Emma Nye had a 97.

Winfield-Mount Union was seventh in the team standings.

Isabel Kann scored a 107.

Ava Hagge and Ally Humphreys carded 112’s.

Girls’ Prep Golf: Wibben Advances to State

KILJ — Mount Pleasant’s Sammi Wibben is heading to the Class 3A State Golf Meet.

Wibben placed third at the district bout at Edmondson Golf Course in Oskaloosa to earn a berth to next week’s state meet at River Valley Golf Course in Adel.

Wibben was bested only by Washington’s tandem of Kaylin Long and Makenna Conrad, who carded 81’s and 82’s respectively.

Wibben’s 90 was good enough for third.

Washington won the team championship, with the Demons posting a low score of 361 strokes. Lisbon placed second.

Girls’ Prep Golf: Mediapolis’ Hines Claims Gold

West Liberty — Mediapolis’ Olivia Hines was the meet medalist yesterday with 91 strokes winning a 2A Regional at West Liberty.

Hines now moves on to the Class 2A State Tournament, to be golfed at Pleasant Ridge Golf Course in Cedar falls.

Hines finished one stroke better than Anamosa’s group of Cecilia Venenga and Madeline Nemmers who poured in 92’s.

Anamosa was the meet champion, with 385 strokes.

Mid-Prairie placed second with 392.