Author: Nathan Bloechl

Prep Wrestling: Notre Dame Advances to State Duals for the First Time in School History

With the bout tied at 36 apiece, Tate O’Shea pinned Aiden Marietta springing the Nikes to an upset, 42-36 win over No. 9 Davenport Assumption in the championship match of a Class 2A regional dual.

The win for O’Shea and the Nikes means they’ll compete in the State Dual Championships for the first time in school history.

Notre Dame will wrestle in a quarterfinal on Wednesday, February 16th at Wells Fargo Arena.

Based on results, the Nikes will most likely be the No. 7 in the eight-team dual tournament, which would mean a first round scrap with No. 2 Osage.

Pairings will officially come out Thursday.

Notre Dame took down No. 19 Albia in the first round of last night’s regional dual, 37-33.

Trailing 33-32 into the final match against of Albia, No. 1 132-pounder Blaine Frazier earned a 16-0 technical fall giving the Nikes the chance to meet Assumption.

Prep Wrestling: Lopez Wins 200th Match as New London Falls Just Short

No. 1 126-pounder Marcel Lopez won his 200th match as New London’s late flurry came up just short against No. 2 Lisbon in yesterday’s Class 1A regional dual.

Lopez, his younger brother Dominic, Josh Glendening and Gage Burden each earned two wins.

Marcel, being the showman he his, earned his 200th win in theatrical style over Lisbon’s terrific and third-ranked Quincy Happel — a preview of what could be on the line at Wells Fargo Arena in just a over a week.

The Tigers got to the championship dual thanks to a 43-36 semifinal triumph over Dyersville Beckman.

Lisbon appears to be a cinch for the No. 2 seed at next Wednesday’s dual tournament, with Don Bosco claiming the top-seed.

Boys’ Prep Basketball: Winfield-Mount Union Gets Back in the Win Column; Other Prep Finals

Winfield-Mount Union 54, Hillcrest 28 

A game-high 17 points from freshman Jake Edwards was all Winfield-Mount Union needed in a 54-28 win over Hillcrest Academy last night.

Cam Buffington poured in 13 while Abram Edwards had 11.

The win moved Winfield-Mount Union to a robust 19-2 overall and 16-0 in North Division play.

Hillcrest Academy is now 14-6.

WACO 59, Notre Dame 49 

WACO’s 21-13 third quarter run proved to be the difference in the Warriors’ 59-49 win over Notre Dame in Burlington last night.

The Warriors lead 23-18 at recess and stretched it to 13 at the end of three.

WACO’s all-state running back Simeon Reichenbach showed off his basketball chops with a game-high 15 points, while Hunter Hugest added 14.

Notre Dame was led by Jackson Brent’s 11.

WACO, a sleeper team come tournament trail time, is now 17-4.

Notre Dame fell to 7-14.

New London 75, Holy Trinity 35 

New London stayed hot with four Tigers reaching double figures in a 75-35 throttling of Holy Trinity.

Kooper Schulte, who might have to reconsider his career in baseball for basketball, continued his lights out stretch with 14 points.

Blaise Porter and Kade Benjamin also finished with 14, while Camden Kasel poured in 10.

The Tigers seem to be clicking at all cylinders into tournament trail season, upping their ledger to 18-2.

Danville 70, Van Buren County 41

The tournament trail race will be a gut-check in southeast Iowa, as Danville looks to be full throttle, as well.

The Bears received 19 points rom Caiden Gourley in a 70-41 win over Van Buren County.

Ty Carr chipped in with 14 while Drake Johnson had 12.

Danville is now 19-2.

Van Buren County fell to 4-16.

Mediapolis 56, Columbus 23

Elijah Greer had 13 points, while Cole Lipper had 12 as Mediapolis closed their regular season with two wins taking down Columbus 56-23.

Mediapolis started hot and never let off the gas, grabbing a double digit lead at the end of the first eight minutes.

The Bulldogs are now 15-6.

Columbus slumped to 4-17.

Men’s College Basketball: Wesleyan’s Brown Pours in 36 to Lead Tigers to Thrilling Win

Joey Brown poured in a game-high 36 points as Iowa Wesleyan held on for a 77-75 win over Lincoln Christian.

Wesleyan took a 13-point lead late in the first half thanks to an 18-4 run, but the Red Lions countered and even controlled a five-point, 70-65 lead with just over three minutes to play.

That’s when Brown took over.

The freshman from Miami, Florida put on a display reminiscent of the great Dwayne Wade, scoring 10 of the team’s next 12 points, propelling the Tigers to a 12-5 run to earn their 11th win of the year.

He also finished with four boards, three assists and a blocked shot.

The Tigers will be back in action on Thursday, February 10th, as they travel to Davenport to take on St. Ambrose.

The game is set to start at 7:00 p.m. and you can listen on FM 98.5 and AM 1130.

 

Girls’ Prep Basketball: Mount Pleasant Steamrolls Ottumwa to Easy Win

Mount Pleasant 44, Ottumwa 12

Mount Pleasant’s first quarter 16-2 run was all the Panthers needed to roll past Ottumwa last night 44-12.

The win was the second over the Bulldogs this season for Mount Pleasant, with their first coming back in November.

Andrea Lopreato stuffed the stat sheet to lead Mount Pleasant.

The potential Conference Player of the Year and All-State selection finished with 23 points, nine rebounds, seven steals, five assists and a blocked shot.

Kenna Lamm chipped in with seven points and five swipes.

Mount Pleasant improved to 10-10 ahead of their regular season finale Friday night against Fairfield.

Ottumwa is now 6-15.

No. 10 Mediapolis 35, Pekin 22

No. 10 Mediapolis snapped a two-game losing skid with a 35-22 win over Pekin last night.

The Bullettes fell to Louisa-Muscatine and Notre Dame last week after starting the season 18-0.

Payton Bush paced Mediapolis with 12 points while Hallie Mohr had eight.

The Bullettes are now 19-2 and 15-2 in league play.

Pekin slumped to 9-12.

Boys’ Prep Basketball: New London, Mount Pleasant Beaten in Thrillers

Alburnett 64, New London 62 (OT)

New London clawed back in the fourth quarter to force overtime, but some clutch baskets by Alburnett propelled the Pirates to a 64-62 win over the Tigers last night.

New London held leads at the end of the first quarter and at halftime before Alburnett’s 19-13 third quarter run.

Alburnett is now 15-5 with the win.

New London slipped to 17-2.

The Tigers will look to right the ship tonight when they take on Holy Trinity in the second leg of their back to back.

Tip is set for 7:30 p.m. from Shottenkirk Gymnasium in Fort Madison.

Ottumwa 44, Mount Pleasant 42

Dewon Trent finished with with 15 points but it was Ottumwa’s Adam Greiner who poured in a game-high 17 leading Ottumwa to a 44-42 triumph over the Panthers.

Aaiden Ashton scored 12 points for Mount Pleasant, while Payton Hagans added 10.

The Panthers have now lost two straight games to fall to 8-11 overall.

Ottumwa is now 7-12.

Mediapolis 40, Pekin 36 

Kadin Salek had 15 points while Ben Egan had 10 as Mediapolis held off a game Pekin bunch 40-36.

Pekin was paced by Luke Long with 15 points.

Mediapolis is now 14-6 on the year, improving to 13-2 in the North Division.

Pekin is 8-12, the Panthers now 8-7 in North Division action.

Prep Wrestling: Regional Team Duals Tonight

New London and Notre Dame will try to clinch a spot in the State Dual tournament next Wednesday when they compete in Regional Team Duals this evening.

Regional dual team sites are determined using the final Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association dual team rankings, with eight of the top 16 ranked schools hosting.

The sectional champion and next eight highest ranked teams will be the regional dual team qualifiers. The top-ranked team at each site receives a bye during the first round.

No. 10 Notre Dame will be at No. 9 Assumption.

The Nikes will open their night against No. 19 Albia, with Assumption receiving the winner.

New London will scrap with No. 17 Beckman Catholic.

Should the Tigers win, they’ll get the always tough second-ranked Lisbon Lions.

Duals will begin this evening at 6:00 p.m.

College Softball: Iowa Wesleyan Announces 2022 Schedule

The Iowa Wesleyan softball team has released their schedule for their upcoming season, the institution has announced.

Head coach Mike Hampton returns for his 29th season at the helm of the program with two new assistants in Danielle Williams and Morgan Christner.

Wesleyan will open up their season in Paragould, Arkansas, taking on conference opponent Crowley’s Ridge College in a round-robin on February 18th at 1:00 pm.

The Tigers will then play a pair of games in Columbia, Missouri before taking their spring break trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Wesleyan will have their first home game against Mount Mercy University on April 5th with a doubleheader starting at 4:00 pm.