Author: Nathan Bloechl

By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com 

Girls’ Basketball: Lopreato Named 3rd Team All-State, Other Local Selections:

Mount Pleasant forward Andrea Lopreato had a breakout season, and the sophomore is racking up postseason honors.

Yesterday evening Lopreato was named to the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association Third Team All-State list in Class 4A.

Lopreato was just one of six underclassmen honored in Class 4A and was joined on the Third Team list by Southeast Conference foe Malarie Ross of Fort Madison.

Lopreato led Mount Pleasant with 16.7 points and 10.9 rebounds per game while shooting 47% from the field.

She also added nearly two assists, three steals and a block per game.

Other area selections included:

• Mya Mershchman, Central Lee — Class 3A, First Team
• Sydney Marlow, West Burlington — Class 3A, Second Team
• Isabel Manning, Van Buren County — Class 2A, First Team
• Katy Stephens, Burlington Notre Dame — Class 1A, Third Team

Girls’ Basketball: Wachs Named 1A Southeast Region Coach of the Year:

Following a season in which he orchestrated an 18-0 start, Winfield-Mount Union head coach was named the Class 1A Southeast Region Coach of the Year, announced yesterday by the Iowa Girls Coaches Association.

Wachs led the Lady Wolves to the district final where they ultimately defeated by Notre Dame who went on to play Springville in the substate final.

Just two years ago this bunch was 5-17, last year they were 12-11.

Next year Winfield-Mount Union will return top scorer Bradie Buffington and All-Conference forward Jobey Malone amongst others.

Making the Class 1A All-Region Southeast team were:

• Bradie Buffington, W-MU
• Farrah Nelson, Winfield-Mount Union

Boys’ Basketball: Mount Pleasant’s Trent Named to All-Substate Team:

Mount Pleasant junior forward Dewon Trent has been recognized for his terrific postseason play by being named o the Iowa Basketball Coaches Association All-Substate 5 team.

Trent averaged 17 points and six rebounds per game in two playoff matchups, nearly leading an epic come from behind win over Mount Vernon in the substate semifinals.

The terrific junior was also honored by the Southeast Conference as a unanimous 1st Team All-SEC choice.

Mount Pleasant closed their season with a record of 13-11 under first year head coach Eric Rawson.

Boys’ Basketball: Day One of Iowa High School Basketball Tournament Concludes:

Day One of the Iowa High School Basketball Tournament has come and gone, let’s take a look at the finals from yesterday’s action in Class 1A and 2A.

1A:

No. 1 North Linn 77, No. 8 South Winneshiek 52

No. 4 Martensdale-St. Mary’s 51, No. 5 Easton Valley 45

No. 7 Montezuma 64, No. 2 Lake Mills 61

No. 3 Grand View Christian 54, No. 6 Remsen-St. Mary’s 49

2A:

No. 1 Boyden-Hull 74, No 8 South Central Calhoun 49

No. 4 Aplington-Parkersburg 68, No. 5 Van Meter 41

 

 

By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com 

Boys’ Basketball: Super Conference Releases All Conference Teams:

The Southeast Iowa Super Conference has released their robust All-Conference teams.

Here’s a look at local athletes honored on the first team and the other awards given out by conference coaches this year:

1st Team South Division

• Blaise Porter, New London
• Kade Benjamin, New London
• Ty Carr, Danville
• Dylan Stuecker, Central Lee
• Josh Smith, Notre Dame
• Vasin Thurman, Holy Trinity
• Marvion Jackson, West Burlington
• Darian Johnson, West Burlington

1st Team North Division

• Maddox Griffin, Wapello
• Caden Thomas, Wapello
• Cam Buffington, W-MU
• Cole Lipper, Mediapolis
• Abram Edwards, W-MU

New London sophomore Blaise Porter was named the South Division Player of the Year.

Porter helped guide the Tigers to the substate finals, averaging 22.4 points, five assists and four rebounds per game.

The North Division Player of the Year was split between Pekin senior Brady Millikin and Maddox Griffin of Wapello.

Wapello head coach Ken Spielbauer was named Coach of the Year.

Spielbauer orchestrated an 18-3 season for the Indians and were ousted in the district final in a narrow, double overtime loss to Easton Valley — the team that beat New London in substate.

College Wrestling: Iowa Wesleyan Claims Two All-Americans:

Two Iowa Wesleyan women’s wrestlers were named All-Americans following the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships in Tiffin, Ohio.

Alaina Sunlin and Daisy Scholz, both freshman, were named All-Americans after placing 5th and 6th respectively.

The duo comprise Iowa Wesleyan’s first women’s All-Americans.

Also competing at Nationals over the weekend were Ashden Welty, Clara Padua and Kassandra Ayard.

College Wrestling: Iowa Wins Big Ten Title, Two Apiece for UNI and Iowa State, Former Mediapolis Standout Crowned:

The University of Iowa wrestling team won the 2021 conference championship yesterday, pouring in 159.5 points.

The Hawkeyes received individual championships from Spencer Lee (125), Jaydin Eierman (141), Alex Marinelli (165) and Michael Kemerer (174).

Penn State placed second with 124 while Nebraska finished with 105.5 points for third. Michigan (92 points) and Minnesota (77.5 points) rounded out the top five.

Lee, who won his Big Ten Championship by tech fall, was named the Wrestler of the Year.

Hawkeye head coach Tom Brands was picked as the league’s Coach of the Year.

In the Big 12, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State shared the team title.

Iowa State placed third with 117.5 points while UNI finished fifth with 79 points.

Former Fort Dodge standout Brody Teske (125) and Parker Keckeisen (184) were conference champions for the Panthers, while David Carr (157) and Gannon Gremmel (HWT) claimed conference crowns for the Cyclones.

In the NAIA National Championships over the weekend, former Mediapolis standout Brennan Swafford, now wrestling for Graceland University, was crowned a national champion.

Swafford is now a two-time national champion and completed a perfect season this year.

He was a four-time place winner as a prep at Mediapolis High School.

Girls’ Basketball: Five Champions Crowned:

The Iowa High School Girls State Basketball Tournament has come and gone, let’s take a look at the champions in each class:

1A:

No. 2 Newell-Fonda 66, No. 1 Algona Bishop Garrigan 52

2A:

No. 2 Dike-New Hartford 47, No. 1 Maquoketa Valley 42

3A:

No. 3 Unity Christian 48, No. 4 West Lyon 31

4A: 

No. 2 Ballard 47, No. 1 Glenwood 45

5A: 

No. 1 Waukee 71, No. 2 Johnston  43

The boys tournament begins today, with games taking place all day at Wells Fargo Arena in 1A and 2A.

College Basketball: Wesleyan Swept by Eureka:

The Iowa Wesleyan men’s and women’s basketball teams were clipped by Eureka over the weekend.

The women fell 89-61, with Anija Simmons and Morgan McCrea leading the way with 15 points apiece.

They’re now 1-6.

Meanwhile, the men suffered an 84-72 loss.

Marvin Saintolien paced the Tigers with 18 points, while Jarryd Fernandes finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Iowa Wesleyan is now 2-5 and 1-2 in conference play.

Both teams will be back in action Tuesday when they travel to Webster.

The women will get things going at 5:30 p.m.

By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com 

Girls’ Basketball: Three State Games Set: 

The Iowa High School Girls’ State Basketball Tournament continued on in Des Moines yesterday and three state championship games have been set.

Here’s a look at yesterday’s finals:

3A: 

No. 4 West Lyon 52, No. 1 Cherokee 39

No. 3 Unity Christian 58, No. 2 Clear Lake 42

4A: 

No. 1 Glenwood 61, No. 5 North Scott 48

No. 2 Ballard 32, No. 3 Dallas Center-Grimes 26

5A: 

No. 1 Waukee 50, No. 5 Ankeny Centennial 29

No. 2 Johnston 52, No. 6 Iowa City West 47

College Softball: Wesleyan Tied for Fourth in Preseason Poll:

The Iowa Wesleyan softball team was picked to finish in fourth place this year, following the release of the SLIAC Preseason Coaches Poll.

Wesleyan returns 14 players from last year’s squad including Morgan Christner, Kayla Ford and Alex Eyman.

That trio were all named SLIAC “Players to Watch” this spring.

Head Coach Mike Hampton returns for his 28th season at Iowa Wesleyan.

He is joined by assistant Ben Fry, who is going into his fourth season, and Erin Riding, who is beginning her first season with the Tigers.

Iowa Wesleyan will open their season against Graceland University on March 17th.

The team’s home opener will be on April 2nd against Greenville University.

Men’s College Basketball: Iowa State Loses Again, Iowa Throttles Nebraska:

Texas Tech 81, Iowa State 54 

Jalen Coleman-Lands and Tyler Harris had 15 points apiece but Iowa State was beaten 81-54 by Texas Tech yesterday.

Solomon Young added 10 points for the Clones.

Iowa State fell to 2-20 and 0-17 in conference play.

They’ll take on Kansas State tomorrow afternoon, tip is set for 4:00 p.m.

Iowa 102, Nebraska 64 

Iowa made 16 3-point shots as they cruised to a 102-64 win over Nebraska last night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Jordan Bohannan paced Iowa with 26 points, including making eight treys.

Patrick McCaffrey had 19 while Luka Garza added 14.

The win moved Iowa to 19-7 and 13-6 in Big Ten play.

They’ll take on Wisconsin Sunday morning at home.

Tip is set for 11:30 a.m.

College Baseball: Iowa Picked to Finish 4th in Big Ten:

Iowa is picked to finish fourth in the 2021 Big Ten Baseball Preseason Poll, the conference announced yesterday.

The Hawkeyes are behind No. 21 Michigan, Indiana and Ohio State, but landed three on the preseason watch list in catcher Austin Martin, outfielder Ben Norman and LHP Trenton Wallace.

Iowa will get their season started this weekend with a four-game set against the nationally ranked Wolverines in Round Rock, Texas.

First pitch tomorrow is set for 6:00 p.m.

By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com 

Women’s College Basketball: Tiger Women Fall After Fourth Quarter Surge:

Iowa Wesleyan got 24 points from Morgan McCrea and 17 from Anija Simmons but it was not enough as Westminster came from behind for an 88-68 win over the Tigers at Ruble Arena last night.

The Blue Jays trailed by eight at halftime but went on a 31-11 fourth quarter run to pull away for the win.

Abbie Reece paced Westminster with 19 points as the Blue Jays improved to 4-1.

The loss dropped Wesleyan’s women to 1-5.

Iowa Wesleyan will take their home floor once again this Saturday hosting Eureka College in a conference matchup.

The women’s team will tip-off at 1:00 pm with the men’s team to follow at 3:00 pm.

Men’s College Basketball: Tiger Men Beat Up Blue Jays:

The Iowa Wesleyan men’s basketball team jumped out to a 12-point halftime lead, coasting to a 77-71 win over Westminster (MO.) last night at Ruble Arena.

Jarryd Fernandes led Wesleyan with 15 points and 16 rebounds, helping earn their second win of the season.

Alex Dentlinger, Marvin Saintolien and Kaleb Cresswell all finished in double figures for the Tigers as well, who shot a scorching 52% from the field.

Jaxon Althaus led the way for the Blue Jays with 17 points and nine rebounds.

Wesleyan, now 2-4, will host Eureka on Saturday in the second leg of a conference doubleheader.

Westminster dropped to 1-1.

Girls’ Basketball: State Tournament Continues On:

A couple of upsets headlined another busy day of the Iowa Girls High School State Basketball Tournament.

Here’s a full look at the finals:

2A:

No. 2 Dike-New Hartford 44, No. 7 Treynor 36

No. 3 West Branch 49, No. 6 Grundy Center 33

1A:

No. 1 Bishop Garrigan 48, No. 8 Springville 42

No. 4 Exira-EHK 60, No. 5 Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn 55

No. 2 Newell-Fonda 88, No. 7 Kingsley-Pierson 47

No. 6 Montezuma 50, No. 3 Saint Ansgar 45

Men’s College Soccer: Wesleyan Tabbed to Lead Conference:

The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference has released their  2021 men’s soccer preseason poll and Iowa Wesleyan was picked to finish first.

The Tigers received six first place votes.

Wesleyan is coming off of one of the best seasons in school history after finishing the 2019 season as the SLIAC Regular Season Champions with a record of 8-0-1.

The Tigers return multiple All-Conference choices including Javier Saldana and Cristian Garcia, who both were 1st Team All-Conference selections last year.

Saldana finished third in the league in goals (10) and assists (5) while Moreno added five goals and five assists.

Iowa Wesleyan opens up their season on Wednesday, March 10th, against Fontbonne University at home in Mediapolis.

Men’s College Wrestling: Hawkeyes Primed for Conference:

Four University of Iowa wrestlers are on the top line of the 2021 Big Ten Championships pre-seeds released Tuesday by the conference office.

Spencer Lee (125), Jaydin Eierman (141), Alex Marinelli (165) and Michael Kemerer (174) are all seeded No. 1 at their respective weight classes for the 2021 Big Ten Championships set for Saturday and Sunday at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Iowa’s four top seeds lead the conference.

The complete tournament brackets and official seeds will be released Friday afternoon following the Big Ten Conference coaches meeting.

Iowa has won 36 team conference titles, more than more than twice as many as the next school (Illinois, 17).