Author: Nathan Bloechl

West Burlington 56, Mount Pleasant 47

West Burlington’s 23-10 fourth quarter run proved to be the difference as the Falcons took down Mount Pleasant Saturday night 56-47.

Logan Kelley had 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Falcons while McKenna Marlow chipped in with 13.

Abbey Bence finished with nine points and 11 rebounds.

The Panthers held a four-point lead after three quarters.

Now 1-3 and off tonight, the Panthers will look to get back into the win column Tuesday in Oskaloosa.

You can listen to that game on FM 105.5 and kilj.com.

Tip is set for 7:00 p.m.

Winfield-Mount Union 53, Van Buren 26

Bradie Buffington’s game high 18 points and 14 rebounds vaulted Winfield-Mount Union to an easy 53-26 win over Van Buren County late Saturday.

Jobey Malone added 13 points, while Keetyn Townsley had 11.

Winfield-Mount Union led 33-10 at recess.

The win kept the Lady Wolves perfect at 5-0.

They’ll battle Lone Tree tomorrow night at home with tip scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

Other area finals:

• Cardinal 62, Moravia 20
• Mediapolis 73, Holy Trinity 51
• Assumption 59, Keokuk 51

Muscatine — The Mount Pleasant bowling team, off to a nice start in 2021, will be back in the lane tonight when they travel to Muscatine for a triangular.

The Bowling Panthers will take on Washington and Louisa-Muscatine tonight in an intra-conference affair.

They’ll bowl at the Rose Bowl — not in Pasadena — in Muscatine tonight with first pinfall set for 5:00 p.m.

KILJ –Mount Pleasant native and Notre Dame prep wrestler Blaine Frazier had a monumental weekend with a championship at the historic Cliff Keen Independence Invitational.

Frazier had the opportunity to earn a little revenge as he faced Green County’s McKinley Robbins, the same opponent who he lost to for the 2021 Iowa State Championship.

Frazier was able to end Robbins 41 match win streak with a 3-2 win.

Robbins is ranked No. 1 and Frazier No.2 in the latest rankings.

The win also was the 150th of Frazier’s career.

Iowa to Citrus Bowl

The Iowa football team will play in a New Years Six bowl game this year despite falling in Saturday’s Big Ten Championship game.

The Hawkeyes will battle Kentucky January 1st in the Citrus Bowl.

Kick will be slated for 12:00 p.m.

The Wildcats finished second in the SEC East and ended their year 9-3.

Iowa State Meets Clemson 

Iowa State has earned a berth to the Cheez-It Bowl. The Cyclones will meet national power Clemson in Orlando on Wednesday, December 29th.

Clemson closed their season on a five-game winning streak after getting off to an uncharacteristically poor start.

They will be without their long-time defensive coordinator Brent Venables, who has reportedly taken the head coaching vacancy at Oklahoma.

Kick for the Cheez-It Bowl is scheduled for 4:45 p.m.

Grand View Beats Lindsey Wilson, Advances to National Champ

Grand View outscored No. 1 Lindsey Wilson 14-7 in the second half as the Vikings advanced to the NAIA National Championship to be played in Durham, North Carolina.

Interestingly enough, it will be an all Iowa fixture.

Grand View will take on Morningside for all the marbles.

Former Mount Pleasant standout Brody McGhghy is a special teams ace for the Vikings.

Grand View will compete in its first national championship since winning the title in 2013.

This will be Morningside’s third appearance in the NAIA championship in the last four years.

The National Championship will be played Saturday, December 18th.

Prep Girls’ Basketball: Fort Madison Surges Past Mount Pleasant, Winfield Wins; Other Prep Finals:

Fort Madison 55, Mount Pleasant 44 

Mount Pleasant was outscored 34-21 in the second half, as Fort Madison earned a 55-44 Southeast Conference win over the Panthers last night in Mount Pleasant.

Bloodhound senior Malarie Ross scored 27 points in the second half, hitting 8-of-9 shots from the field and 4-of-5 from downtown.

She led all scorers with a game-high 37 points.

Mount Pleasant used a 15-7 second quarter run to lead by two at halftime.

Kenna Lamm paced Mount Pleasant with 20 points and four boards, while Andrea Lopreato finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

The loss dropped Mount Pleasant to 1-2.

Fort Madison stayed perfect, the Bloodhounds improved to 3-0.

Mount Pleasant will take on West Burlington this afternoon at Panther Gymnasium — tip is set for 4:00 p.m.

Winfield-Mount Union 56, Highland 29

Winfield-Mount Union led 26-15 at the end of the first half and used a 22-5 third quarter run to pull away for an easy 56-29 win over Highland last night.

The Wolves improved to 4-0 with the victory.

Dani Laughlin led Highland with 11 points while Sarah Burton added eight.

Highland fell to 1-2.

Other area finals:

• WACO 49, New London 21
  • WACO’s 26-8 second quarter run proved to the be difference for the Warriors. WACO moved to 1-2. New London is now 0-5.
• Notre Dame 53, Van Buren County 4
• Holy Trinity 55, Cardinal 39
• Louisa-Muscatine 49, Columbus 13
• Wapello 44, Hillcrest Academy 28
• Mediapolis 51, Pekin 23

Boys’ Prep Basketball: Back and Forth Affair Leads to Fort Madison Win, Other Prep Finals:

Dewon Trent scored 17 points while Payton Hagans chipped in with 13, but it was not enough as Mount Pleasant was edged by Fort Madison 47-45.

The Hounds eight point lead after one quarter proved to be the difference, with the Panthers outscoring Fort Madison by six the rest of the way.

Dayton Davis paced Fort Madison with 17 points while Miles Dear chipped in with 12.

Fort Madison is 1-0.

Mount Pleasant fell to 0-2.

Other prep finals:

• New London 60, WACO 57 (OT)
• Hillcrest Academy 51, Wapello 43
• Notre Dame 60, Van Buren 38
• Burlington 61, Keokuk 40

College Football: Iowa Readies for Michigan:

The Iowa football team will have a chance to play in the Rose Bowl on the line tonight when they take on No. 2 Michigan in the Big Ten Championship.

Michigan, who finally beat Ohio State last week, are playing for a bid as at least the No. 2 seed in the College Football Playoff and could potentially reach No. 1 with a win and a Georgia loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship.

The Hawkeyes will lean on their offensive line and running game against the Wolverines.

Tyler Linderbaum and Kyler Schott were two all-conference selections for the Hawkeyes along the offensive line and they’ll be tasked with slowing down Michigan edge rusher and probable No. 1 overall pick in next April’s NFL Draft Aiden Hutchinson.

Tonight’s game will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Kick is set for 7:00 p.m.

Pregame coverage on FM-105.5 and kilj.com will begin at 5:00 p.m. with the Hawkeye Gameday Show.

Area Events Today:

Basketball

• West Burlington at Mount Pleasant
• Keokuk at Davenport Assumption
• Williamsburg at Fort Madison
• West Hancock at Keokuk (boys’)
• Wapello at Danville
• Winfield-Mount Union at Van Buren County
• Holy Trinity at Mediapolis

Wrestling 

• WACO, BGM, Cedar Rapids Washington, Louisa-Muscatine, New London at New London
• Mount Pleasant, Mediapolis, Columbus Community/Winfield-Mount Union and others are at Wapello.

Mount Pleasant — The Mount Pleasant girls’ basketball team will look to win their second in a row tonight when they open up Southeast Conference action at Panther Gymnasium, hosting Fort Madison.

The Panthers are coming off a Monday night win over Ottumwa, 43-29.

Fort Madison has started their season well, also with a victory over Ottumwa in their pocket, while defeating Davis County 58-43, earlier this week.

Mount Pleasant is lead by Andrea Lopreato’s 18 points per game, the junior is also leading the squad with 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists.

The consensus first-team All-Conference player from a year ago looks poised for another huge season.

The Panthers have won nine of the last 10 tilts between the two schools with Fort Madison nipping Mount Pleasant in their most recent matchup, 36-31 back on January 8th.

Tonight’s game will be varsity only and will tip at 6:30 p.m.

You can listen on FM 105.5 and kilj.com.

Nathan Bloechl and Kent Bennett will have all the action.

Other area scraps:

• Holy Trinity vs. Cardinal
• Louisa-Muscatine vs. Columbus
• Winfield-Mount Union vs. Highland
• Wapello vs. Hillcrest Academy
• Pekin vs. Mediapolis
• New London vs. WACO
• Central Lee vs West Burlington
• Notre Dame vs. Van Buren County

Fort Madison — The Mount Pleasant boys’ basketball team will look to get into the win column, albeit in a tough environment, when the Panthers travel to the HoundDome to take on Fort Madison.

The Panthers suffered a Tuesday night defeat at the hands of Cedar Rapids Xavier, one in which they shot a meager 29% from the field and 23% from the three point land.

Dewon Trent looked to be in good form however.

The Mount Pleasant forward has a chance to claim Southeast Conference Player of the Year honors this year.

Tonight will be Fort Madison’s first of the year but the Panthers are 4-1 against the Bloodhounds in the last five.

Dayton Davis will lead a solid senior class that will be bookended by Miles Dear, Tate Johnson and Landes Williams.

Tonight’s game will tip at the HoundDome at 7:30 p.m.

Meanwhile in Henry County, a matchup of rivals commences tonight when New London squares off with WACO.

The Tigers and their star-power need no introduction.

Blaise Porter, arguably the top prospect in southeast Iowa and classmate Kade Benjamin comprise the best 1-2 punch in the conference and will start their quest to Wells Fargo Arena tonight.

Standing in their way on their 2021-22 debut is WACO, who looked strong in a 58-29 win earlier this week against Holy Trinity.

First team all-state running back Simeon Reichenbach scored 12 points in that matchup while Hunter Hughes chipped in with 11.

Tonight’s game will tip from Wayland at 7:30 p.m.

Other area matchups:

• Burlington at Keokuk
• Fairfield at Washington