By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
New London — The New London boys’ basketball team (18-4) now knows when and where they’ll be playing their district final.
Tomorrow, the Tigers will take on top-seeded Springville (22-2) at West Liberty High School at 8:00 p.m. the State Association has announced.
If they should win, New London will tango with either Wapello or Easton Valley in a matchup at Maquoketa in the Substate Final.
Tomorrow’s game can be heard on FM 105.5 and kilj.com.
By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
Mount Pleasant — The Mount Pleasant boys’ basketball team will begin their postseason push tonight when the Panthers travel to Keokuk for a Class 3A Substate 5 First Round matchup against the Chiefs.
Keokuk closed their season in a bit of a tailspin, dropping three straight matchups to Washington, Iowa City Liberty and Fairfield, ending their regular season with a record of 12-9.
They did however sweep the regular season series with Mount Pleasant, picking up a win on December 11th, 61-50 and on January 29th 64-52.
The Chiefs have won five of the last six matchups between the programs, with Mount Pleasant’s last win coming two seasons ago, February 18th of 2019, a 54-49 winner.
Keokuk is led by senior forward Anthony Potratz, who scores 15.1 points per game and grabs 5.4 rebounds.
He eclipsed the 1,000 career points mark earlier this year.
Mount Pleasant is paced by Dewon Trent, who scores 15.6 points and hauls in 7.4 boards per night.
Brevin Wilson checks in at 10.5 points per game, while Chase Williamson chips in with nearly eight points a game.
The winner of tonight’s ballgame will get either Mount Vernon or Fort Madison on Thursday in Mount Vernon.
Tip tonight is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
You can listen on FM 105.5.
Nathan Bloechl and Kent Bennett will have all the action.
By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
Prep Wrestling: Recapping Area Medalists:
It was a whirlwind 72 hours at the Iowa High School State Wrestling Championships.
Here’s a look at our area medalists from this weekend’s tournament:
1A:
120 Finals – Marcel Lopez (New London) wins by decision (1-0) over Brandon Paez (Lisbon). Lopez is a three-time state champion.
132 Consolation Semifinals – Quinten Aney (Mediapolis) loses by fall (5:52) to Mikey Baker (West Sioux).
145 Consolation Semifinals – Dominic Lopez (New London) wins by major decision (12-1) over Jerret Delagardel (Jesup).
152 7th Place Match – Josh Glendening (New London) wins by decision (4-0) over Lincoln Holub (Lisbon). Glendening finishes 7th and is on the podium tonight.
2A:
113 Consolation Semifinals – Lane Scorpil (Columbus-WMU) wins by fall (1:40) over Carson Less (West Delaware).
120 Finals – Blaine Frazier (NDWB-Danville) loses by decision (7-5) to McKinley Robbins (Greene County). Frazier now a two-time state runner-up.
152 Consolation Semifinals – Grifen Molle (NDWB-Danville) loses by fall (5:01) to Jadyn Peyton (West Delaware)
170 Consolation Semifinals – C.J. Walrath (NDWB-Danville) wins by major decision (9-0) over Lucas Henderson (Centerville)
College Wrestling: Five Tiger Women Qualify for Nationals:
Five Iowa Wesleyan Tiger women’s wrestlers have qualified for nationals after competing their regional qualifier in Stevens Point yesterday.
Alaina Sunlin (109), Ashden Welty (116), Daisy Scholz (136), Clara Padua (155) and Kassandra Ayard (191) all qualified by finishing fourth or better at the qualifier.
As a team, Iowa Wesleyan finished 4th with 65.5 points.
They’ll next be in action this Friday when they host Indian Hills Community College at Ruble Arena.
The women’s matches will begin at 5:00 p.m.
Prep Basketball: Mount Pleasant Boys’ Begin Postseason:
The Mount Pleasant boys’ basketball team will begin their postseason push tonight when the Panthers travel to Keokuk for a Class 3A Substate 5 First Round matchup against the Chiefs.
Keokuk closed their season in a bit of a tailspin, dropping three straight matchups to Washington, Iowa City Liberty and Fairfield, ending their regular season with a record of 12-9.
They did however sweep the regular season series with Mount Pleasant, picking up a win on December 11th, 61-50 and on January 29th 64-52.
The Chiefs have won five of the last six matchups between the programs, with Mount Pleasant’s last win coming two seasons ago, February 18th of 2019, a 54-49 winner.
Keokuk is led by senior forward Anthony Potratz, who scores 15.1 points per game and grabs 5.4 rebounds.
He eclipsed the 1,000 career points mark earlier this year.
Mount Pleasant is paced by Dewon Trent, who scores 15.6 points and hauls in 7.4 boards per night.
Brevin Wilson checks in at 10.5 points per game, while Chase Williamson chips in with nearly eight points a game.
The winner of tonight’s ballgame will get either Mount Vernon or Fort Madison on Thursday in Mount Vernon.
Tip tonight is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
You can listen on FM 105.5.
Nathan Bloechl and Kent Bennett will have all the action.
Prep Basketball: New London Has Location for District Final:
The New London boys’ basketball team (18-4) now knows when and where they’ll be playing their district final.
Tomorrow, the Tigers will take on top-seeded Springville (22-2) at West Liberty High School at 8:00 p.m.
If they should win, New London will tango with either Wapello or Easton Valley in a matchup at Maquoketa in the Substate Final.
Tomorrow’s game can be heard on FM 105.5 and kilj.com.
By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
(Photo Courtesy: Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Des Moines — Marcel Lopez keeps etching his name into history.
The Magic Man from New London, who appropriately took a bow following his latest masterpiece, is now a three-time state champion.
Lopez defeated Lisbon’s Brandon Paez by decision (1-0) in tonight’s 1A-120 pound finals, creating a legacy that many in the state strive for.
It wasn’t pretty at times this tournament for Lopez, but does it even have to be?
All he did was win, win, win and win again.
Now, he’s coming back as a senior for a feat so rare that only 28 wrestlers in Iowa High School history have done it: four years, four state titles.
Lopez ends his junior campaign with a record of 60-0.
New London, be proud.
Your man is coming home a champion.
By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
Des Moines — It’s probably not where they wanted to end up, but the KILJ-area trio of Dominic Lopez (New London), Quinten Aney (Mediapolis) and Josh Glendening (New London) all found ways to win their final bout and in doing so all will be on the podium later tonight.
Lopez, who suffered a tragic 1-0 TB-1 loss to No. 2 Cael Rahnavardi (Don Bosco) looked like a wrestler on a mission on Saturday.
The terrific Tiger sophomore earned a 12-1 major decision over Jesup’s Jarret Delagardel before pinning Nick Hageman (Beckman Catholic) in the consolation championship to clinch his third place finish.
Lopez finishes his sophomore season with an incredible 59-3 ledger, with his only losses coming to the two men who will meet in the 145-pound State Finals: the aforementioned Rahnavardi and Lisbon’s Robert Avila Jr.
Mediapolis’ Quinten Aney improved on his 8th-place finish one year ago, securing a 5th place medal this year after working over Don Bosco senior Michael McClelland in the 5th place bout.
Aney pushed No. 2 Gable Porter (Underwood) — who is now in the state finals — to the brink in the 132-pound quarters 1-0.
The Mediapolis junior responded from that loss with wins over Bryce Shaha (Mount Ayr), Trey Nelson (Nashua-Plainfield) and McClelland by major decision in the 5th place match.
He wrestled one heck of a tournament and the fine folks of Mediapolis should be proud of their competitor, who’s bringing some hardware back from the state capitol.
New London sophomore Josh Glendening also ended his season with a win, earning a decision victory (4-0) over Lisbon’s Lincoln Holub.
Glendening responded well after losing via to fall to Columbus Catholic’s Maximus Magayna earning a fall win over Trey Hanson (Missouri Valley) before being beaten by Ben Foelske (Denver) moving him to the 7th place match.
All three of them — Lopez, Aney, Glendening — will be on the podium tonight.
By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
Des Moines — Today is the final day of the Iowa High School State Wrestling Championships.
Here’s our area placement matches and finals:
1A:
120 Finals – Marcel Lopez (New London) wins by decision (1-0) over Brandon Paez (Lisbon). Lopez is a three-time state champion.
132 Consolation Semifinals – Quinten Aney (Mediapolis) loses by fall (5:52) to Mikey Baker (West Sioux).
145 Consolation Semifinals – Dominic Lopez (New London) wins by major decision (12-1) over Jerret Delagardel (Jesup).
152 7th Place Match – Josh Glendening (New London) wins by decision (4-0) over Lincoln Holub (Lisbon). Glendening finishes 7th and is on the podium tonight.
2A:
113 Consolation Semifinals – Lane Scorpil (Columbus-WMU) wins by fall (1:40) over Carson Less (West Delaware).
120 Finals – Blaine Frazier (NDWB-Danville) loses by decision (7-5) to McKinley Robbins (Greene County). Frazier now a two-time state runner-up.
152 Consolation Semifinals – Grifen Molle (NDWB-Danville) loses by fall (5:01) to Jadyn Peyton (West Delaware)
170 Consolation Semifinals – C.J. Walrath (NDWB-Danville) wins by major decision (9-0) over Lucas Henderson (Centerville)
By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
Des Moines — It was a busy day of 1A-2A wrestling. Here’s a look at the results from Friday’s epic day at the Well:
120 – Marcel Lopez (New London) wins via dec. (7-5) over Kellen Smith (West Hancock). Lopez advances to the 1A-120 semifinals.
132 – Quinten Aney (Mediapolis) loses via dec. (1-0) to Gable Porter (Underwood). Aney to 132-pound consolations.
145 – Dominic Lopez (New London) wins via major dec. (18-5) over Nick Hageman (Beckman Catholic). Lopez to the 145-pound semis.
152 – Josh Glendening (New London) loses via fall (1:42) to Maximus Magayna (Columbus Catholic). Glendening to the 152-pound consolations.
195 Consolations – Currey Jacobs (New London) loses via fall (3:42) to Matthew Francis (West Hancock). Jacobs has been eliminated.
2A:
113 – Lane Scorpil (Columbus-WMU) loses by fall (3:31) to Tucker Stangel (Osage). Scorpil to the blood round.
120 – Blaine Frazier (NDWB-Danville) wins via major dec. (10-2) over Kayden Gryp (Williamsburg). Frazier advances to the 2A-120 semifinals.
152 – Grifen Molle (NDWB-Danville) wins by dec. (12-5) over Chance Bockenstedt (North Polk). Molle to the 2A-152 semifinals.
160 Consolations – River Belger (NDWB-Danville) loses via dec. (4-1) to Gabriel Christensen (Ballard). Belger’s season comes to a close.
170 – C.J. Walrath (NDWB-Danville) wins by decision (3-1) over Kalen Meyer (Central Lyon/George-Little Rock). Walrath to the 2A-170 semifinals.
285 – Chance Malone (Columbus-WMU) loses by decision (6-2) to Jordan Ver Meer (West Lyon). Malone to the consolation second round.
Action resumes today at Wells Fargo Arena, with wrestling getting underway at 10:00 a.m. on FM 105.5
By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
Des Moines — Mediapolis junior Quinten Aney was visibly upset following his quarterfinal loss to Gable Porter of Underwood.
Of course, Aney, who entered today with a record of 46-2, had his sights set on a trip to the semifinals.
However when you unpack just how impressive a 1-0 loss to Porter is, last year’s 2A-106 champion, Aney has nothing to be ashamed of.
Porter entered today as the No. 2 ranked wrestler at 132 and bumped up to that weight just a handful of weeks ago and Aney took him to the brink.
With the score deadlocked at 0-0 for the better part of three periods, Porter was able to bust out of Aney’s cover for an escape, which wound up being the only point scored in the match.
Despite the loss, Aney is still in prime position to reach as high as third in this year’s bracket and will be guaranteed a trip to the podium with a win in his consolation second round tilt against Bryce Shaha of Mount Ayr.
Shaha is unranked.
The Mount Ayr senior fell in his opening round to Chris Ferguson of Sioux Central before winning via major decision over Dylan Barenz of Alburnett in yesterday’s consolation first round.
Aney’s consolation second round match will wrestle yet this morning at approximately 11:30 a.m.
You can listen to that on FM 105.5 or online at kilj.com.
