Author: Nathan Bloechl

KILJ — The Mount Pleasant wrestling team will get back on their home mat tonight when the Panthers welcome in Keokuk for a Southeast Conference dual.

Mount Pleasant, off to a nice start, will look to continue their winning ways.

Wrestling will get underway tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Mount Pleasant High School.

JV will wrestle tonight, as well.

Meanwhile in the Super Conference, Mount Pleasant native Blaine Frazier and the Notre Dame Nikes will wrestle in a conference triangular with Van Buren County and Highland at Highland.

Frazier is coming off a Cliff Keen Invite championship and his 150th career victory.

Mediapolis is back on the mat, as well.

The Bulldogs will travel to Louisa-Muscatine along with Pekin for a triangular.

Grappling will start at 6:00 p.m.

The main event will be at Winfield-Mount Union High School tonight where Columbus Community/Winfield-Mount Union will host Lone Tree and New London.

The Wildcats and Tigers are off to fantastic starts and the triangular tonight features multitudes of ranked wrestlers including three-time defending state champion Marcel Lopez and Columbus’ No. 2 ranked Lane Scorpil.

That bout will get underway tonight at 6:00 p.m.

Lincoln (Ill.) — Steve Williamson’s Iowa Wesleyan women’s basketball team outscored Lincoln Christian 40-15 in the second half, rolling to an 85-39 road win last night.

Brittany West dominated with a game-high 30 points and seven boards.

Kyla Moore stuffed the stat sheet with 28 points, eight rebounds, five steals and four assists.

Kassi Craft had 10 points and six boards off the bench.

The win moved the Tigers to 9-2.

The Tigers will take on Viterbo University  in La Crosse, Wisconsin on Saturday.

Tip is set for 1:00 p.m.

Mount Pleasant — Iowa Wesleyan held Hannibal-LaGrange to a paltry 32% from the field, as the Tigers smothered the Trojans for a 66-46 win last night.

Joey Brown led a balanced Wesleyan offense with 11 points and seven rebounds while Alex Dentlinger ended with 10 points and two steals.

Jett Tjaden and Kaleb Cresswell finished with nine points and eight points respectively.

Iowa Wesleyan is now 4-8 on the year.

The Tigers will be in action next on Saturday, when they take on Bellevue University.

Tip is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.

Iowa City — The University of Iowa football team has landed their biggest fish.

Yesterday, Southeast Polk defensive back Xavier Nwankpa, the No. 11 recruit in the entire country in the Class of 2022 pledged his commitment to Iowa, spurning offers from Notre Dame, Ohio State, Alabama, Clemson, LSU, Oregon, Texas and USC among others.

The versatile Nwankpa is the highest-ranked recruit to ever come from Iowa according to various recruiting databases.

Reports have indicated he will also enroll in Iowa City in January and be eligible to participate in spring practices.

Nwankpa helped orchestrate Southeast Polk’s run to the state championship in 5A this year, registering 26 tackles and four picks.

Oskaloosa 62, Mount Pleasant 41

Oskaloosa used an 18-4 fourth quarter run to pull away for a 62-41 win over Mount Pleasant last night in a non conference tilt at Oskaloosa High School.

Mount Pleasant, who trailed by six at halftime, cut the deficit to as little as two in the third quarter before Oskaloosa’s fourth quarter avalanche.

Andrea Lopreato paced the Panthers with 19 points and 14 rebounds, while Kenna Lamm finished with 10 points and three boards.

Andi Scott chipped in with five.

Presley Blommers scored a game-high 23 points for the Indians. Addison Carter added 15 points and seven rebounds.

The Indians sank 11 three balls to Mount Pleasant’s three.

The Panthers, now 1-4, will look to get back on track Friday night when they travel to Keokuk.

Tip from Wright Fieldhouse is set for 7:30 p.m.

Winfield-Mount Union 75, Lone Tree 11

Winfield-Mount Union led 23-0 after one quarter and 45-2 at halftime, suffocating Lone Tree in a 75-11 win last night.

Keetyn Townsley led four players in double figures with 16 points for the Lady Wolves.

Keely Malone and Bradie Buffington both had 14 points, while Melina Oepping ended with 10.

Winfield-Mount Union stayed perfect with the win, the Lady Wolves are 6-0.

They’ll battle Central Lee on the road on Friday night.

WACO 55, Columbus 38 

Ellah Kissell poured in 27 points to lead WACO to an easy win over Columbus last night, 55-38.

WACO led by 13 at the end of the first quarter and used a 14-8 third quarter run to pull away for the win.

The win evened the Warriors’ ledger at 2-2.

They’ll get a road date with Cardinal, Friday night.

Cardinal 48, New London 39 

Cardinal outscored New London 23-13 in the second half to come from behind for a 48-39 win last night over the Tigers.

Emma Becker had 15 points while Cynthia Albert finished with 12 for the Comets.

Cardinal improved to 3-3.

New London slumped to 0-6.

They’ll look to get off the schnide on Thursday night at Lone Tree.

Other area finals:

• L-M 60, Hillcrest 31
• Mediapolis 54, Highland 37
• Wapello 46, Pekin 29
• Central Lee 61, Danville 32
• Notre Dame 61, West Burlington 38
• Holy Trinity 51, Van Buren County 28

WACO 78, Columbus 29 

Vincent Jones led a balanced WACO attack with 16 points as the Warriors hit cruise control for a 78-29 win over Columbus, last night.

The Warriors scored 29 points in the second quarter to a 26-point lead into halftime.

They then limited the Wildcats to just seven second half points.

WACO improved to 2-1 with the win.

They’ll get Cardinal in Eldon on Friday night.

Winfield-Mount Union 64, Lone Tree 34

A 24-7 third quarter run was all Winfield-Mount Union needed in a 64-34 win over Lone Tree last night.

Abram Edwards ended with 19 points and seven rebounds, while Cam Buffington recorded yet another double-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks.

Freshman Jake Edwards chipped in with 12 points, as well.

Just like the Lady Wolves, Winfield’s boys’ stayed unbeaten at 4-0.

They’ll travel to Mediapolis on Friday night, in what should be a dandy.

New London 67, Cardinal 55

Devon Swanson had a monster, 25 point and eight rebound performance to help steer New London past Cardinal last night, 67-55.

Kade Benjamin finished with 14 points and eight boards, while Tayshaun Donaldson added 10.

New London trailed 18-12 at the end of the first quarter but won the rest of the game by 18.

Still undefeated at 2-0, New London will play Trey Magnani’s Van Buren County Warriors on the road on Friday night.

Other prep finals:

• Danville 75, Central Lee 43
• Holy Trinity 44, Van Buren County 43
• Wapello 47, Pekin 43
• Hillcrest Academy 62, L-M 35
• Mediapolis 41, Highland 29

Fort Madison — Mediapolis was beaten twice in yesterday’s varsity double dual at Fort Madison.

The Bulldogs were bested 54-30 by Burlington and 63-17 by Fort Madison.

Quinten Aney, No. 3 in the latest IAWrestle.com rankings at 132-pounds, earned a fall and a tech fall for the Bulldogs.

113-pounder Gavin Gerber earned two falls for the Bulldogs, as well.

Burlington and Fort Madison both went to 2-0.

Outside of beating Mediapolis, Burlington took down Wapello based on tiebreaker protocol, while Fort Madison beat the Indians 50-21.