Sports, February 28

By Nathan Bloechl · Monday, February 28th, 2022 at 12:36 pm CDT

Women’s College Basketball: Wesleyan Claims CAC Crown

Tournament host and top-seeded Iowa Wesleyan University earned a decisive 84-59 victory against No. 2 seed Haskell Indian Nations University (Kansas) Sunday to win the 2022 Continental Athletic Conference women’s basketball tournament championship.

The Tigers took control of the game early, jumping out to a 22-9 first-quarter lead. They followed with 21-point efforts in the second and third quarters to take a commanding 64-44 lead into the final 10-minute period.

The hosts followed with another consistent quarter by scoring 20 points to close out the impressive tournament performance.

Iowa Wesleyan made 49% of their field goals in the contest and connected on 10 3-point field goals.

All five of the team’s starters were double-figure scorers, led by Brittany West’s 24 points. Kyla Moore drained five 3-pointers to add 19 points. Breanna Wendland piled on 16 points while Maci Kuchta and Brielle Baker chipped in 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Haskell Indian Nations shot 44.4% but were outrebounded by a 34-22 margin in the contest. Mahpiya Irving came off the bench to score 11 points to lead the team. Tiana Guillory and Marylin Goodman each contributed nine points.

Iowa Wesleyan and Haskell Indian Nations will both represent the CAC as automatic qualifiers to the NAIA national tournament.

Men’s College Basketball: Florida College Rips CAC Tournament

Florida College scored 51 points in each half and received 32 points from Matt Simpson to capture the 2022 Continental Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament championship Sunday with a 102-82 victory against Washington Adventist University (Maryland) at Iowa Wesleyan University.

The Falcons, the tournament’s top seed, scored over 100 points in two of their three tournament games.

Iowa Wesleyan was the only score to hold them to double digits.

A 3-point field goal from Washington Adventist’s Mastadi Pitt cut the deficit to 31-25 at the 7:14 mark of the first half.

Pitt registered a game-high 33 points to lead the Shock’s strong effort.

Florida College led 51-37 at halftime and maintained a comfortable lead throughout the second half. A four-point play from Simpson gave the Falcons a 65-44 lead five minutes into the second half.

Devon Flowers scored 12 points for the Shock while Kyron Martin added 11 points off the bench.

Florida College and Washington Adventist will both represent the CAC as automatic qualifiers to the NAIA national tournament.

Prep Basketball: Danville Wins Instant Classic in 3OT Lifting Bears Back to State

In the third meeting between the two schools, did we really expect anything to be different?

Danville and WACO played two nip and tuck games already this year and Saturday was no different.

Withstanding blow after blow, both teams slugged it out like heavyweight boxers — in the end however it was the late game heroics of Cadence Williams, Ty Carr and Sawyer Nelson guiding Danville to a 46-39 triple overtime win over WACO.

Williams’ broke out of a shooting slump that spanned a month the senior missing every three he took since January 25th.

That changed just seconds into the third overtime which would give the Bears a lead they would not relinquish.

The win moved Danville to the state tournament for the first time in six years where, as the fifth seed, they’ll play No. 4 Lake Mills on March 7th at 10:30 a.m.

Williams finished with five points, but it was the monster play of senior Sawyer Nelson that Danville needed.

Nelson finished with 20 points and 20 boards to lead the Bears, while Ty Carr added 11.

WACO was paced by sophomore wing Hunter Hughes and his 11 points. Simeon Reichenbach had nine while Mason Miller chipped in with eight.

Danville is now 23-2.

WACO ends their terrific season 20-5.

Men’s College Basketball: Magnani Guides Cornell to NCAAs

Former Mount Pleasant standout Jordan Magnani delivered 15 points and six assists while playing all 50 minutes of Saturday’s MWC Conference Championship as Cornell survived Ripon 82-79.

It was the program’s first MWC Tournament title since 1994 and the Rams received automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Magnani has enjoyed a dream like senior season, eclipsing 1,000 points, earning First Team All-MWC honors and now a NCAA Tournament berth.

College Track:

Former Mount Pleasant all-state track athlete Sam Beatty cleared 6-7 to secure second place in this weekends’ American Rivers Conference indoor track championships.

Beatty qualified for last year’s national meet for Central.

College Baseball: 

Iowa Wesleyan split their weekend four-pack of games with Southwestern College.

After dropping the twinbill Saturday, the Tigers came back to sweep Sunday’s games with 10-3 and 18-10 wins.

Wesleyan improved to 3-13.

They’ll take on Hannibal-LaGrange this weekend in a doubleheader.

Pursuit Details

By Theresa Rose · Sunday, February 27th, 2022 at 2:05 pm CDT

On February 25 at approximately 7:30 pm  the Mt. Pleasant Police initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle in the 900 block of East Washington Street in Mt. Pleasant for a traffic violation. The vehicle failed to stop and continued westbound on East Washington Street at high speeds. The vehicle continued westbound out of Mt. Pleasant and turned north onto Franklin Avenue. The vehicle lost control at the T-intersection of Franklin Avenue and 170th Street and continued into a gravel lot where it struck a piece of farming equipment.

The driver and sole occupant of the vehicle was identified as Zackeus Lee of Chicago, Illinois. Zackeus was not injured and was assessed at the scene by the Henry County Ambulance crew. Zackeus was then transported to the Henry County Sheriff’s Office.

As a result of this investigation, Zackeus was charged with eluding-speed 25 over limit under Iowa code section 321.279(2), failure to obey stop sign and yield right of way under Iowa code section 321.322(1) and no valid driver’s license under Iowa code section 321.174(1).

Jazz Band Competition Update. Congrats Griff!

By Theresa Rose · Sunday, February 27th, 2022 at 1:45 pm CDT

The Mount Pleasant High School jazz bands, Jazz 1 and Jazz 2, were scheduled to perform Thursday night at the Coe College Jazz Summit in Cedar Rapids but were unable to attend due to the weather. However, Winfield – Mount Union did compete and placed second in 1A, with Griffin Humphreys, trombone, chosen as the Outstanding Musician in 1A.

MP was also scheduled to compete at Indian Hills on Saturday, but that event was canceled a few weeks ago as the college’s music department was unable to host the contest.

In Motion at Central Connections Competition

By Theresa Rose · Sunday, February 27th, 2022 at 1:42 pm CDT

Mount Pleasant High School’s show choir InMotion was among 15 ensembles competing at the Central Connections competition hosted by Central Lee High School on Saturday. InMotion won the 4th Runner Up spot in the finals after placing second in class 3A in the daytime competition. Mount Pleasant received the Fan Favorite Award for having the most fans in attendance. Each group had a student named a Star Performer, with Thanh Phung getting that honor for Mount Pleasant.

El Paso – Gridley High School won the competition, followed by Center Point – Urbana, El Paso – Gridley’s prep group, Ottumwa, Mount Pleasant and West Branch.

Fort Madison placed third and Keokuk fifth in 3A, while in the prep division Fort Madison was third.

Both the Mount Pleasant Middle School and High School show choirs will be competing at the Fort Madison Stars in the Spotlight contest March 5, with Chain Reaction performing at 12:30 pm and InMotion at 3:45 pm. The top six from the daytime round will perform again in the evening finals.

Prep Basketball: WACO, Danville Meet with State on the Line

By Nathan Bloechl · Saturday, February 26th, 2022 at 5:20 pm CDT

(Photo Courtesy: Hunter Moeller / southeastiowaunion.com)

Fairfield — It will be a blockbuster night in Fairfield tonight when WACO and Danville meet up for the third time this season.

This time, a trip to the state tournament is on the line.

Danville is 22-2 on the year, while WACO — fresh off of an upset over New London — is 20-4.

Both of Danville’s wins over WACO this year have been nail biters.

On February 1st, it was a 39-37 Bears win, while also nabbing a 43-38 triumph on January 17th.

Danville is paced by senior combo guard Drake Johnson and his 14.3 points per game. Sawyer Nelson is averaging 10 points and Super Conference-high 9.5 rebounds.

WACO sophomore Hunter Hughes leads the Warriors with 11.9 points per game while Reece Oswald adds 8.5.

Tonight’s game will be played at Fairfield and you can listen on FM 105.5 and kilj.com.

Nathan Bloechl will have the call alongside Kent Bennett.

Women’s College Basketball: Wesleyan Set for Semis

By Nathan Bloechl · Saturday, February 26th, 2022 at 5:17 pm CDT

(Via CAC Athletics)

Mount Pleasant — Tournament host and top-seeded Iowa Wesleyan joined No. 2 Haskell Indian Nations University (Kansas), No. 4 Washington Adventist University (Maryland) and No. 6 Crowley’s Ridge College (Arkansas) in advancing to the tournament’s semifinal round, taking place on Saturday, February 26.

Crowley’s Ridge collected Friday’s first victory with a 71-63 come-from-behind triumph against No. 3 Wilberforce University (Ohio). Washington Adventist also rallied in its quarterfinal game, defeating Northern New Mexico 62-52.

The evening session featured the top two seeds racing out to big leads. Haskell Indian Nations University (Kansas) defeated No. 7 Cottey College (Missouri) 67-33 before No. 1 Iowa Wesleyan earned an 81-53 victory against No. 8 Fisher College (Massachusetts).

Saturday’s semifinal games will feature Haskell Indian Nations playing Crowley’s Ridge at 4 p.m. before Iowa Wesleyan faces Washington Adventist at 8:30 p.m.

Prep Basketball: Marion Bests Mount Pleasant in Second Half Flurry

By Nathan Bloechl · Saturday, February 26th, 2022 at 5:16 pm CDT

Center Point (IA.) — Marion outscored Mount Pleasant 33-21 in the second half, earning a 60-44 Class 3A-Substate 5 semifinal win.

The Wolves, now 18-5, will play Monday in the Substate Final against Clear Creek-Amana with the game expected to be played in Muscatine.

Mount Pleasant started hot, leading 8-4 and 11-6 before Marion’s Brayson Laube started heating up.

Laube led all scorers with 20 points and four boards, while hitting two three pointers.

The game got away from Mount Pleasant after halftime, where the Panthers hit just four field goals and were outscored 19-9 in the third quarter.

Senior forward Dewon Trent led the Panthers with 14 points and four rebounds, while Payton Hagans, Owen Vansickel and Aaiden Ashton all added seven.

Mount Pleasant closes their year 9-14 and will return several including the aforementioned Hagans, Vansickel and Ashton as well as rising sophomore big man Nate Stroud.

Marion improved to 18-5.

Men’s College Basketball: CAC Semifinals Set

By Nathan Bloechl · Saturday, February 26th, 2022 at 5:13 pm CDT

(Via CAC Athletics)

Mount Pleasant — Top-seeded Florida College joined No. 2 Washington Adventist University (Maryland), No. 3 Northern New Mexico College and No. 5 Iowa Wesleyan as winners on a busy opening day of the CAC men’s basketball tournament.

Tournament host Iowa Wesleyan started the action with an 85-50 victory against No. 4 Wilberforce University (Ohio). Then, Florida College picked up a 110-55 win against No. 8 Lincoln Christian University (Illinois).

The evening session featured Washington Adventist edging No. 7 Crowley’s Ridge College (Arkansas) 55-51 and Northern New Mexico defeating No. 6 Morris College (South Carolina) 75-53.

The 2022 CAC tournament continues on today, with semifinal games between Florida College and Iowa Wesleyan, starting at 2 p.m., and Washington Adventist faces Northern New Mexico at 6:30 p.m. Today’s winners will earn automatic bids to represent the CAC in the NAIA national tournament.

You can listen to Iowa Wesleyan’s matchup with top-seeded Florida Christian on FM 98.5 and kilj.com.

Nathan Bloechl and Kent Bennett will have the call.