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 1^st 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 1^st place match.

Wapello will have Cohen Wolford in the 138-pound weight class making the trip to Des Moines after finishing in 2^nd 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 2^nd 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 1^st 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 1^st place at the district. Dietzenbach’s win over Ryan Rose of Keokuk by major decision in the 1^st 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 1^st 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 2^nd 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 1^st 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 1^st place match.

In the 150-pound weight class, Kael Cook took 1^st 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 2^nd place.

In another Trojan versus Nike 1^st place match, Dain Burkhart of Fairfield got the better of Joey Glendening with a win by fall to take 1^st place in the 175-pound weight class. Glendening’s 9-4 decision win over Kason Dopler of Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union claimed him 2^nd place.

Also advancing to the start tournament was Bridge Anderson in the 190-pound weight class as he took 2^nd 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 3^rd 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 2^nd place after defeating Paxton Thompson of Davis County by major decision in the semifinals. This granted him a win by no contest in the 2^nd place match after falling to Conner Pickerell of Albia by technical fall.

Also claiming 2^nd 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 1^st 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 1^st 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 1^st 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 1^st 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 2^nd 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 3^rd 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 2^nd place.

In the 106 pound-weight class, Braxton Hutchinson of Burlington nearly had 1^st place under his belt but a sudden victory for Abe Heysinger of Dubuque Hempstead in the 1^st 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 1^st place match.

Lastly, James Fuller of the 113-pound weight class pulled off a sudden victory over Maxwell Davis of North Scott in the 1^st 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 19^th.

High School Boys’ Postseason Basketball

In Class 1A Substate 4: District 8, New London nearly pulled off the upset against Wapello last night, but Wapello hit a couple clutch threes in the fourth quarter to down the Tigers 55-51. 

Down 29 to 22 at halftime, Tate Welcher provided a spark for the New London offense in the third quarter, scoring seven of his 13 points in the quarter to give the Tigers their first lead of the night and end the quarter up 43 to 40.

Nevertheless, Treyton Schulz had a night to remember for Wapello, dropping five three pointers and leading the team in points with 23 on the night. Kinnick Richenberger hit a clutch three in the fourth quarter as he finished the game with 16 points to help guide Wapello to the eventual victory. London Franklin led the scoring for the Tigers, collecting 15 points in the effort. New London finished the season with a 1-22 record.

Wapello will take on #10 Burlington Notre Dame on the road on Monday, February 17th, at 7 pm for their first round matchup.

The other first round matchups scheduled for Monday at 7 pm include Winfield-Mt. Union 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. Both first round matchups are scheduled for Monday at 7 pm. 

In District 10, Van Buren County will hit the road to compete against PCM for their first-round matchup. 

High School Basketball

The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team had the win in their grasp but Fairfield’s Riley Perkins connected on all three of his last second free throws to steal the victory from the Panthers last night in a 51-50 final. Mt. Pleasant will host Pella on Tuesday, February 18th, at 7 pm for their regular season finale.

The Fairfield boys’ team will take on Clear Creek Amana on Tuesday with tip-off at 7:30 pm at home.

High School Wrestling

The boys’ district meets start today with Van Buren County, WACO, and Wapello traveling to Pleasantville and New London will head to Wilton in Class 1A. For Class 2A, Burlington Notre Dame, Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union, and Fairfield will compete in Centerville and Mt. Pleasant and Mediapolis will venture to Williamsburg. 

High School Girls’ Postseason Basketball

In Class 1A Region 7, Winfield-Mt. Union will play Springville on Tuesday, February 18th, at 7 pm.

WACO will travel to Sigourney on Tuesday at 7 pm for their quarterfinal matchup. Warriors head coach Lisa Graber talked about what her team is going to work on heading into their rematch,

“I just really think defensive awareness and then, you know, just sort of the basics, take care of the ball. We miss too many shots inside the paint and if we can pick those up a little bit that will make a big difference too. But they’re [Sigourney] just a really nice all-around team, so we’ll just, yeah, we have a couple practices to prepare for them. But I think this group competes really well. So, I know that that will come out there and we’ll compete.”

Holy Trinity Catholic will hit the road to take on Lone Tree on Tuesday 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 on Tuesday on the road at 7 pm. 

In Region 2, West Burlington will play West Branch tonight at 7 pm at home with the winner advancing to tangle with Columbus; Danville will take on Louisa-Muscatine on Tuesday at home.

Class 3A Regional action tips off tonight at 7 pm. In Region 1, #13 Mediapolis will face off against Washington at home. 

In Region 4, Fairfield will travel to Williamsburg and Central Lee will make the trip to Mid-Prairie. 

In Class 4A Region 4, Mt. Pleasant will make the trip to Keokuk on Wednesday, February 19th. 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 Bowling

The girls’ state qualifying meets are scheduled for Monday, February 17th, 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 on Tuesday, February 18th, and Mt. Pleasant will make the trip to Keokuk to compete. 

Southeastern Community College                                                     

The men’s basketball team will stay at home to take on Indian Hills Community College tonight at 7 pm. 

College Basketball

The #10 Iowa State men’s team will compete against Cincinnati at home today at 3 pm. KILJ 98.5 FM and AM 1130 will be on the call.

The Iowa men’s team will take on #25 Maryland tomorrow, February 16th, at 4 pm on the road. 

The Iowa women’s team will travel to #9 Ohio State on Monday, February 17th, at 11 am.

The Iowa State women’s team will face off against Kansas on the road today at 4 pm. 

This Day in Sports History

1973 – Friendsville Academy (Tenn) ends their 138-game basketball losing streak, an unofficial boys’ high school record.

1987 – 1982 Masters champion Craig Stadler is disqualified from the Andy Williams Open for kneeling on a towel to make a shot.

2000 – Martin Brodeur becomes the first (and only) goaltender in NHL history to get credit for a “game winning” goal as New Jersey wins 4-2 over the visiting Philadelphia Flyers.