The Henry County Conservation board has rescheduled February’s meeting for Wednesday February 19th at 4:30 p.m.
They will meet in the basement of the conservation office. Following the board meeting, they will be hosting the Preserve Oakland Mills Committee Meeting at the Nature Center at 6:00 p.m.
Everyone is welcome to attend both meetings.
The Mount Pleasant FFA chapter is hosting a Community Pancake supper this week to raise funds for the program. Mt. Pleasant Agriculture Instructor & Advisor,
The Pancake supper will be on Thursday, Feb 20th at the high School for their Pancake Supper. All donations will help fund the FFA department and their needs throughout the year. The event runs from 5pm-6:30pm. The meal is offered by a free will donation.
High School Boys’ Postseason Basketball
Classes 1A and 2A will have their first round games tonight scheduled for 7 pm. Here are the local matchups:
For Class 1A Substate 4 District 8, Wapello will take on #10 Burlington Notre Dame on the road.
Winfield-Mt. Union will be hosting Pekin in the #4-seed versus #5-seed contest. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.
#2 Holy Trinity Catholic will face off against #7 Columbus.
Lastly, #6 Danville will travel to #3 WACO.
For Class 2A Substate 5: District 9, the #1-seed #10 West Burlington earned a bye and will await the winner between #4 Central Lee and #5 Louisa-Muscatine, while #2 Mid-Prairie received a bye as well with the Golden Hawks taking on the winner between #3 Mediapolis and #6 Cardinal.
In District 10, Van Buren County will hit the road to compete against PCM for their first-round matchup.
High School Girls’ Postseason Basketball
In Class 2A Region 2, West Burlington earned a rematch against the team that knocked them out of last year’s regional bracket after narrowly defeating West Branch 45-41 over the weekend. The Falcons will travel to Columbus tomorrow, February 18th, at 7 pm with a three-game winning streak on the line.
Danville will square off against Louisa-Muscatine at home tomorrow at 7 pm.
The Class 3A Regional tipped-off over the weekend and in Region 1 Mediapolis slammed the door on Washington’s season with a 58-38 victory over the Demons. Ellah Wagenbach collected 20 points in the win. Mediapolis will face off against Benton at home on Wednesday, February 19th, at 7 pm.
In Region 4, Fairfield lost to Williamsburg 55-15 and Central Lee was squashed by Mid-Prairie 77-41. Taylor Jones led the Hawks with 10 points. The Trojans ended the season with a 1-21 record, while Central Lee finished the season with an 11-12 record.
In Class 1A Region 7, Winfield-Mt. Union will play Springville tomorrow at 7 pm.
WACO will travel to Sigourney tomorrow at 7 pm for their quarterfinal matchup.
Holy Trinity Catholic will hit the road to take on Lone Tree tomorrow at 7 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.
In Class 2A Region 1, Van Buren County will compete against Pleasantville tomorrow on the road at 7 pm.
In Class 4A Region 4, Mt. Pleasant will make the trip to Keokuk on Wednesday. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm. The winner will travel to Clear Creek Amana on Saturday, February 22nd.
The top half of the bracket will feature Burlington playing host to Fort Madison with the winner to compete against Central DeWitt on Saturday.
High School Wrestling
The boys’ district meets commenced over the weekend and 32 local wrestlers were able to punch their ticket to the state tournament. Here’s some of the highlights from the day of action.
In Class 1A at Pleasantville, WACO’s trio of Ian Maize, Gage Samo, and Louden Huisenga each finished the meet undefeated and as district champions. Van Buren County’s Leo Jirak and Wapello’s Cohen Wolford each finished as runner-ups in their respective weight classes.
At Wilton, New London had Kane Forseen and Gage Burden each collect 2nd place and a ticket to the state tournament.
In Class 2A at Centerville, Burlington Notre Dame handled business with 11 state qualifiers, including five district champions in Kohen Dietzenbach, Colt Boyles, CJ Davis, Kaiden Dietzenbach, and Kael Cook. Fairfield will be sending six wrestlers to Des Moines after Cael McCabe, Cason Miller, Dain Burkhart, and Dre Smithburg took 1st place with Zandrik Allison and Alex Hudson claiming a runner-up slot.
At Williamsburg, Mediapolis’ Kyler Crow took home 1st place as Peyton and Mason Johnson each finished in 2nd place for their respective weight classes. For a full breakdown of all the action follow this link: District Results
The state tournament is scheduled to start on Wednesday, February 19th, with KILJ 105.5 FM and kilj.com providing updates throughout the day.
High School Basketball
Mt. Pleasant will host Pella tomorrow, February 18th, at 7 pm for their regular season finale.
The Fairfield boys’ team will take on Clear Creek Amana tomorrow with tip-off at 7:30 pm at home.
High School Bowling
The girls’ state qualifying meets are scheduled for today and Fairfield and West Burlington will compete at Davis County, while Mt. Pleasant will travel to Keokuk.
The boys’ state qualifying meets will take place tomorrow, February 18th, and Mt. Pleasant will make the trip to Keokuk to compete.
Southeastern Community College
The men’s basketball team lost a tough one to Indian Hills Community College over the weekend 57-55. The Blackhawks will travel to take on Richard J. Daley College on Thursday, February 20th, at 7 pm.
College Basketball
The #10 Iowa State men’s team is getting back to their winning ways after picking up an 81-70 win over Cincinnati this past weekend. Curtis Jones put up 22 points from off the bench as the Cyclones finished 26-30 from the free throw line. Iowa State will play at home tomorrow, February 18th, at 7 pm against Colorado.
The Iowa men’s team could not keep pace with #25 Maryland yesterday, falling 101-75. Pryce Sandfort led the scoring effort with 15 points, while Payton Sandfort finished with a 14 point/10 rebound double-double. The Hawkeyes will take on Oregon on Wednesday, February 19th, at 7:30 pm at home.
The Iowa women’s team will travel to #9 Ohio State today at 11 am.
The Iowa State women’s team held off Kansas over the weekend, winning 93-80. Audi Crooks dropped 26 points in the winning effort. The Cyclones will face off against Houston on Wednesday at 6:30 pm at home.
This Day in Sports History
1974 – 16th Daytona 500: Richard Petty becomes the first driver to win back-to-back titles at Daytona; his 5th Great American race.
1998 – The USA Women’s Ice Hockey Team beats Canada and wins the first Olympic Gold medal.
2012 – Approximately 70 ancient Olympic artifacts are stolen from the Archaeological Museum of Greece.
Floyd Eugene Shafer, 95, of Fairfield, passed away Wednesday, February 12, 2025.
Visitation will be held from 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Monday, February 24, 2025 at Behner Funeral Home in Fairfield. Funeral services celebrating his life will begin at 11:30 a.m. Burial will be at Evergreen Cemetery in Fairfield. Memorials may be made to the Jefferson County Fair and sent to the family at 2722-255th Ave. Montrose, Iowa 52639.
Floyd was born July 20, 1929 in Fairfield, the son of Glenn and Florence (Clapp) Shafer. He was a 1947 graduate of Fairfield High School. Floyd married Ramona Bonar on July 23, 1950 at the Bethesda Church in Fairfield. Floyd and Ramona were very much a part of the rural youth groups in the late 1940s.
Floyd was active in 4-H and served many years on Jefferson County Junior Agricultural Show board of directors. He was also an active member of FFA and received the Sate Farmer Degree. Floyd placed second in the state tractor rodeo competition. He and his brother Keith owned a wire tie baler and custom baled hay in the neighborhood for several years. Floyd loved the farm life and could repair any farm implement. He was a good mechanic and an excellent welder.
Floyd also ran the scales at the sale barn for years – from beam scales to electronic digital weighting arenas.
In later years, he restored many antique tractors and referred to himself as a tractor nut. He belonged to the Wayland Tractor Club and participated in many tractor rides sponsored by the club. Floyd rode in the first WHO tractor ride on his 1929 Farmall Regular and continued to participate on the rides for many years.
In his early life he had a small dairy herd and sold his milk to Farmer’s Creamery in Keosauqua and served on their board of directors. Later he was part owner of South Iowa Dairy and distributed milk under the Bordens milk label. He raised sheep for more than 50 years, starting with some Corriedale ewes purchased from Montana.
Floyd moved to the family farm in 1931 with his father, mother, and brother Keith. Over the course of the next 90 years, he experienced monumental changes in agriculture, going from horse drawn highly labor intensive to reduced tillage highly mechanized operations. Floyd was an early adaptor of conservation planting techniques starting in 1976 with no till planting and processing to ridge till to minimize costs.
He was a loving husband, father and grandfather and a good neighbor to all. He didn’t shy away from hard work and passed on that good work ethic to his children and grandchildren.
Those left to honor his memory include his children, Joe (Judy) Shafer of Davenport, Iowa, Marla Shafer of Montrose, Iowa, Wayne (Michele) Shafer of Fairfield, and Gail (Nancy) Shafer of Orcutt, California; grandchildren, Sarah (Shawn) Mills, Joanna (Joe) Willemkens, Rachel (Nick) Springer, Jonathan (Paige) Shafer, Kenyon, Simone, and Halla Shafer, and Timothy and Alexandra Shafer.
Floyd was preceded in death by his wife, parents, and brother, R. Keith Shafer.
Online condolences may be made to Floyd’s family by viewing his obituary at www.behnerfh.com.
Brenda Diane Neeley, 73, of Keosauqua formerly of Bonaparte, passed away at 4:40 A.M. Friday February 14, 2025 at River Hills Village in Keokuk.
She was born September 27, 1951 in Keosauqua, Iowa the daughter of Raymond “Tip” and Martha (Smith) Counts. On November 7, 1969 in Farmington, Iowa she married Jack W. Neeley. He preceded her in death on September 22, 2007.
Survivors include two sons: Jeremy (Pam) Neeley of Bonaparte, Josh (Emily) Neeley of Bonaparte. Two daughters: Jill (Robert Quick) Simmons of Keosauqua and Jeannie (Brad) Cochenour of Revere, Missouri. Grandchildren: Kory (Mariah), Isabel, Anna, Clay, Faith, Bryce, Taylor, Kayden, Jayce, Tiffany (Sterling Barnes) and Jacklyn (Jackson Fett). Great grandchildren: Mason, Jameson, Paxton, Jake and Remy. Also surviving is one sister Lois (Gary) Mellinger and several nieces, nephews and cousins.
She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, brother Kent Counts, son-in-law Joe Simmons, and brother-in-law Jim Neeley.
Brenda was a 1969 graduate of Harmony High School. She held several offices in the Fox River Little League. Brenda enjoyed quilting, crocheting and crafting. Most of all she enjoyed watching her children and grandchildren play sports.
Visitation will be held from 12:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. Thursday, February 20, 2025 at the Schmitz Funeral Home of Farmington. The family will not be present during this time.
The family will receive friends from 9:30 A.M. to 11:00A.M. Friday February 21, 2025 at the Schmitz Funeral Home in Farmington
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 A.M. Friday at the Schmitz Funeral Home in Farmington with Cork Battey officiating
Burial will be at a later date in the Bonaparte Cemetery in Bonaparte.
A memorial has been established in her memory.
Schmitz Funeral Home of Farmington is assisting with arrangements. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.schmitzfuneralhomes.com
Maribeth Oetken Moravec, 79, of New London, died Friday, February 14, 2025 at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. She was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin on May 8, 1945 to Vernon Floyd and Mary Esther Morris Oetken.
She was a 1963 graduate of New London High School and attended the University of Dubuque where she met the love of her life, Theodore Lawrence “Larry” Moravec, Jr. They were married September 3, 1966 at St. John’s Catholic Church in Burlington. They then quit college, returning home to help with Maribeth’s family’s business. He died August 3, 2021. Maribeth was a member of Burlington Baptist Church and worked as a teller at New London State Bank; as bookkeeper for Oetken Inc.; and retired as admissions secretary for Iowa Wesleyan College.
She enjoyed reading, especially biblical mysteries; loved watching mystery medical shows, and action and adventure movies with her sons; she loved food and family dinners; and spending time in Florida with her parents.
She is survived by her sons, Brett (Kristy) Moravec of Danville and Drew (Andi) Moravec of St. Louis City, Missouri; two grandchildren; nieces and nephews, Mike Michener, Brian Cox, Tami Simon, Joy Oetken and Rodger Oetken. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, son Scott, sister Linda, and brother Jim.
A memorial service for Mrs. Moravec will be held at 2:00 pm, Tuesday, February 18, 2025 at Elliott Chapel, New London with Pastor Kendall Adams officiating. Visitation will begin at 10:00 with the family greeting friends from 1:00 until the time of the service. According to her wishes, her body has been cremated and will be inurned at a later date at Burge Cemetery, New London, next to her beloved husband and son. A memorial has been established for Burge Cemetery. Online condolences may be left at www.elliottfuneralchapel.com.
All God’s Creatures was overwhelmed with support this past Saturday, as the community continued to show support for the shelter project during a radiothon that was held 9am-2pm, by KILJ.
KILJ and All God’s Creatures set out to raise $40,000 on Saturday during the radiothon, taking call in donations at the radio station, and onsite taking donations and giving tours at All god’s creatures.
Not knowing the amount of support that would show up, families, businesses, churches, and charities showed their support by stopping by AGC, giving donations and even adopting several animals. As the Radiothon started, it was a strong start of donations. The donations surpassed the $40,000 goal in just two hours and the donations continued to walk in the door and ring the phones.
Through all the donations of time, money, and materials, the community raised $71,000 for All God’s Creatures in just five hours.
Emily Davis is the Executive Director of AGC and was overwhelmed with support.
With these donations, AGC will be able to construct several projects. They will make room in the front lawn for an outdoor enclosure for the dogs, additional kennel space to the building, improve the back outdoor space for newer puppies, and add a sign to the building. Find out how you can donate to All God’s Creatures at AGC.
Prep Boys’ Wrestling- The 2025 boys’ wrestling postseason got underway this past Saturday with the District Tournaments for all three classes sending 24 qualifiers per weight class. In Classes 1A and 2A, the top two place-winners advanced and the top three in Class 3A.
Class 1A
Pleasantville
Van Buren County, WACO, and Wapello traveled to Pleasantville to compete in their district assignment and each team sent at least one wrestler to the state tournament.
For Van Buren County in the 106-pound weight class, Leo Jirak picked up a win by fall over Cooper Sampson of North Mahaska to advance to the 1st place match. It was there where he ran into WACO’s Ian Maize, who continued his wonderful season, and fell by a 10-6 decision.
Jirak had a winner-takes-all match with Iowa Valley’s Carter Koenig and the contentious battle ended with a victory by fall for the Warrior. He will enter the state tournament with a 29-7 record.
Along with WACO’s Maize, Gage Samo in the 120-pound weight class and undefeated Louden Huisenga in the 190-pound weight class each breezed their way to district championships. Samo defeated Logan Van Zee of North Mahaska by technical fall and Owen Henriksen of Alburnett by a 5-3 decision.
For Huisenga, he pinned Blake Lamansky of Cardinal in the semifinal and collected technical fall wins over Grayson Nagle of Wapello in the quarterfinals and River Williams of Alburnett in the 1st place match.
Wapello will have Cohen Wolford in the 138-pound weight class making the trip to Des Moines after finishing in 2nd place at districts. He started off his day with a win by fall of Cardinals Kyran Spees and followed that up with a quick pin of Blake Rowson of Pleasantville in the semifinals.
Wolford would lose by technical fall of Preston Klostermann of Alburnett with his win over Rowson acting as a no contest and officially sending him on to the state tournament.
Wilton
New London was our lone local team who made the trip to Wapello and the Tigers will send two wrestlers to Des Moines.
In the 126-pound weight class, Kane Foreseen finished his day 3-1 and grabbed 2nd place after pinning Lone Tree’s Hudsyn Sojka, claiming a win by major decision over Brock Thomann of Highland, losing by major decision against Mason Shirk of Wilton, and sealing his ticket with a victory by major decision against Jaxson Wedekind of Louisa-Muscatine.
Gage Burden will return to the state tournament for another season as he started off the tournament with a pin of Clay Gates of West Branch and win by major decision over Hayden Riggan of Louisa-Muscatine to wrestle in the 1st place match.
Gabriel Brisker of Wilton would get the better of Burden with a victory by major decision but the Tiger’s early win against Riggan was enough to push Burden to the state tournament.
Class 2A
Centerville
Centerville housed four of our local teams as they wrestled for the chance to compete in Des Moines and what has become recent tradition Burlington Notre Dame will have a litany of wrestlers attending the state tournament.
In the 100-pound weight class, Kohen Dietzenbach had a relatively stress-free day, nabbing two wins and 1st place at the district. Dietzenbach’s win over Ryan Rose of Keokuk by major decision in the 1st place match was enough for Rose to qualify as he defeated Dakota Aney of Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union by fall in the semifinals.
Rowan Berndt suffered an early loss to Fairfield’s Cael McCabe, who would go on to take 1st place, in the 113-pound weight class but that did not deter him as he rattled off three straight wins, including a victory by major decision over Ben James of Creston to claim 2nd place.
Colt Boyles in the 120-pound weight class finished 3-0 on the day with a 7-2 decision victory over Matt Genobana of Centerville to win 1st place.
CJ Davis in the 126-pound weight class and Kaiden Dietzenbach in the 138-pound weight class each followed the same script and won their district with a couple of wins.
In the 132-pound weight class, Jared Glendening’s win by fall over Bowen Thomson of Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union meant the Nike got to punch his ticket to the state tournament after falling to Lane Travis of Creston in the 1st place match.
In the 150-pound weight class, Kael Cook took 1st place as did Blake Wilson in the 165-pound weight class.
In the 157-pound weight class, Fairfield’s Cason Miller and Dirk Boyles met up in the championship match and it was the Trojan who escaped with the narrow 4-1 decision victory to win the district. Boyles won defeat Parker Hemann of Albia by major decision to take 2nd place.
In another Trojan versus Nike 1st place match, Dain Burkhart of Fairfield got the better of Joey Glendening with a win by fall to take 1st place in the 175-pound weight class. Glendening’s 9-4 decision win over Kason Dopler of Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union claimed him 2nd place.
Also advancing to the start tournament was Bridge Anderson in the 190-pound weight class as he took 2nd place after pinning Jayden Myers of Creston. The Nikes will officially have 11 wrestlers competing at the state tournament.
Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union had no wrestlers advance to state as Markel Zapiensz, Itai Zapiensz, Dopler, Thomson, and Aney each ended up at the doorstep, finishing in 3rd place.
For Fairfield, along with McCabe, Miller, and Burkhart, the Trojans also had three other wrestlers advance to the state tournament.
In the 144-pound weight class, Zandrik Allison took 2nd place after defeating Paxton Thompson of Davis County by major decision in the semifinals. This granted him a win by no contest in the 2nd place match after falling to Conner Pickerell of Albia by technical fall.
Also claiming 2nd place was Alex Hudson in the 285-pound weight class as he finished 2-1 for the day. His only loss was to Nate Ballard of Albia by fall in the 1st place match.
Dre Smithburg won the district for the 215-pound weight class after pinning Giorgi Natchkebia of Centerville in the semifinals and Gunner Martwick of Creston in the championship match.
Ryan Rose of Keokuk in the 106-pound weight class, was the lone state qualifier for the Chiefs.
Williamsburg
Mediapolis had a trio of wrestlers punch their ticket to the state tournament as Kyler Crow won the district for the 175-pound weight class after defeating Jackson Feuerbach of Solon by major decision in the 1st place match.
Mason Johnson started off his run in the 150-pound weight class with a pair of pins before losing to Nile Sinn of Williamsburg by fall in the 1st place match.
At the same time, Mt. Pleasant’s Ramzy Davis fell to Sinn in the semifinals, which sent the Panther to the consolation bracket where he collected two wins by fall to secure a matchup with Johnson with the winner attending the state tournament.
It turned out Johnson would be the one to escape with the win by a 7-3 decision to knock out Davis.
In the 157-pound weight class, Peyton Johson fell to Brady Grier of Williamsburg by major decision in the 1st place match but narrowly escaped with a victory over Carson Kidwell of Solon by a 3-2 decision to earn a trip to state.
Washington’s Aaron Boone will be heading back to the state tournament after defeating Jefferson Avalos Ramirez of Mt. Pleasant by technical fall to earn a no contest in the 2nd place match.
Mt. Pleasant did not have a wrestler earn a spot at the state tournament as Levi Evans, Lane Beckler, Ramirez, Davis, and Payton Walker grab 3rd place.
Class 3A
Fort Madison and Burlington each ventured to Cedar Rapids Jefferson for their district matchup and the Bloodhounds had one wrestler earn a trip to state and the Grayhounds had a pair of wrestlers earn 2nd place.
In the 106 pound-weight class, Braxton Hutchinson of Burlington nearly had 1st place under his belt but a sudden victory for Abe Heysinger of Dubuque Hempstead in the 1st place match sent the Grayhound to a winner-takes-all match.
Hutchinson would get the best of Cole Kasparek of Clear Creek-Amana by technical fall to advance to the state tournament.
Adrian Perez-Hall’s win over Ben Haughey of Clear Creek-Amana in the semifinals for the 157-pound weight class earned his ticket to the state tournament after falling the Cole Green of North Scott by fall in the 1st place match.
Lastly, James Fuller of the 113-pound weight class pulled off a sudden victory over Maxwell Davis of North Scott in the 1st place match to secure the district championship.
Upcoming
Stay tuned to KILJ for an article detailing the first-round matchups for all of our local wrestlers and our coverage during the state tournament set the begin on Wednesday, February 19th.
