High School Girls’ Postseason Basketball

In Class 2A Region 2, Danville’s big second quarter helped send the Bears back to the regional championship after defeating Columbus 53-49. After initially struggling against the press defense of the Wildcats, Danville avoided the turnovers and dominated the offensive rebounds with Reagen Henklevig and Alaina Gourley each putting up 14 points in the win. Bears head coach Matt Morris has witnessed a season worth of growth from his squad and the result was a complete team effort,

“Just you know, overall, obviously going on the road with a very young, growing team, I really, honestly couldn’t be prouder of a group of kids. You know, I always feel like basketball is one of the greatest team sports in the world and I really thought tonight, you know, was the definition of team. I mean, you look down that bench, everybody played, everybody could really contribute in a positive way. We went to every kid at different times, different moments, asking them to do different things. And every one of those kids stepped on the floor and you know, sold out and did everything they possibly could to help the team, but man, overall, very proud. A great team win.”

Columbus finished the season with an 18-5 record as Isabel Rendon led the way with 16 points. Danville will compete against #2 Regina Catholic on Wednesday, February 26th, at 7 pm at Muscatine High School. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.

In Class 4A Region 4, Keokuk will play Clear Creek Amana tonight at 7 pm on the road.

In the top half of the bracket, Burlington will take on Central DeWitt tonight at 7 pm.

High School Wrestling

Day three of the boys’ state tournament has sent four of our local athletes to their championship match and another 15 wrestlers are guaranteed at least top eight. Here’s some of the highlights from day three.

In Class 1A, WACO’s Ian Maize, in the 106-pound weight class, and Louden Huisenga, in the 190-pound weight class, both punched their ticket to their respective state championship matches.

In a Southeast Iowa Super Conference showdown, New London’s Gage Burden knocked off Wapello’s Cohen Wolford with a 6-0 decision win. He has a chance at 3rd place, while Wolford will compete for 7th place.

In Class 2A, CJ Davis and Kaiden Dietzenbach of Burlington Notre Dame will face off for their respective state championships after going 3-0 through the bracket. For a complete tally, 10 of our local athletes have a shot at 3rd place.

If you would like to see a full breakdown of all day three action, then follow the link:

Class 1A Results: Day Three Results

Class 2A Results: Day Three Results

Class 3A Results: Day Three Results

High School Boys’ Postseason Basketball

For Class 1A Substate 4 District 8, Holy Trinity Catholic will face off against #10 Burlington Notre Dame for the district championship on Tuesday, February 25th, at 7 pm at Central Lee. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.

For Class 2A Substate 5: District 9, #10 West Burlington will compete against Mid-Prairie for the district championship on Tuesday at 7 pm at Knoxville High School.

For Class 3A Substate 6, #8 Mt. Pleasant will hit the road to take on the #1-seed #3 Knoxville and #7 Fairfield will travel to #2 Mt. Vernon for their first round of postseason action on Monday, February 24th, at 7 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call for the Panthers game with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.

High School Bowling

The state bowling tournament will begin on Monday, February 24th, in Waterloo. On the girls’ side, Keokuk will be competing as a team on Monday, while Mt. Pleasant’s Madalyn Millard and Bethany Drury will bowl individually on Tuesday, February 25th.

College Basketball

The #8 Iowa State men’s team will be tested in a road bout against #5 Houston today at 1 pm.

The Iowa men’s team will take on Washington at home at 3 pm today.

The Iowa women’s team will host #3 UCLA tomorrow, February 23rd, at 1 pm.

The Iowa State women’s team will face off against #19 Baylor today at 1:30 pm on the road.

This Day in Sports History

1888 – “Father of American Golf” John Reid first demonstrates golf on a Yonkers cow pasture to friends. 

1893 – The first Iron Bowl: Auburn beats Alabama 32-22 in Birmingham.

2018 – The US wins the Olympic women’s ice hockey gold medal for the first time in 20 years with a 4-3 shootout victory over Canada in Pyeongchang; scores tied 3-3 after overtime.

Des Moines, IA- Championship Saturday is set for the 2025 Iowa Boys’ State Wrestling Tournament after an exciting day of action for Class 2A. Here’s a look at how our local wrestlers competed.

106-Pound

Burlington Notre Dame’s #6 Kohen Dietzenbach defeated #7 Tyson Dewall of Spirit Lake Park in his first match of the day with a win by fall. #10 Mitchell Williams of Creston tried to knock out the Nike, but Dietzenbach was too strong, taking him down by technical fall.

He will take on #1 Coy Mehlert of Union in the consolation semifinals.

113-Pound  

#8 Rowan Berndt of Burlington Notre Dame sprinted past #12 Hunter Campion of Anamosa by major decision to guarantee at least a spot in the top eight. His follow up 13-6 decision victory over #17 Carl Shew, resulted in the Nike at least finishing in the top five.

Unfortunately for Fairfield’s #2 Cael McCabe, he was upset by #6 Simon Bettis of Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont, sending the Trojan to the consolation bracket semifinals. He will be paired up against Berndt with the winner advancing to the third-place match.

120-Pound

Burlington Notre Dame’s #6 Colt Boyles finished the day 2-0 with a major decision victory over #18 Gabriel Schnerre of Assumption and then #10 Judah Gurwell of Winterset. Boyles will compete against #4 Mitchell Schmauss of Crestwood with the winner advancing to the third-place bout.

126-Pound

The first Nike to claim a spot in the finals was #2 CJ Davis outdueled #3 Emmitt Newton of Davis County to collect a 6-5 decision victory. In a bit of a shocker, #4 Carter Schmauss of Crestwood will be his opponent for the state championship.

132-Pound

Washington’s #2 Aaron Boone did not let an upset derail his tournament as he handed #6 Charlie Showalter of Hampton-Dumont-CAL a loss by a 9-2 decision. In his next match, Boone handled business, defeating #3 Mason Avila of Decorah by technical fall.

He will face off against #4 Steele Diercks of Assumption in the consolation semifinals.

138-Pound

#2 Kaiden Dietzenbach of Burlington Notre Dame is back in the championship match after manhandling #3 Logan McDonald of Grinnell with a victory by technical fall. The Nike will take on #1 Landen Davis of Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont for the championship tonight.

150-Pound

After splitting his matches, Burlington Notre Dame’s #7 Kael Cook will compete for 7^th place. His day started with a high scoring 14-11 decision win over #14 Brady Patterson of Benton.

Nevertheless, the Nike was handed a 7-0 decision loss by #3 Ayden McRoberts of Sergeant Bluff-Luton. Cook will face off against #9 Aiden Hippen of Clear Lake today.

157-Pound

A southeast Iowa showdown pinned Fairfield’s #3 Cason Miller against #7 Dirk Boyles of Burlington Notre Dame in the consolation bracket. The Miller got the better of the Nike, winning by major decision. Boyles finished his senior season with a 47-4 record.

Miller was unable to parlay that victory into a possible third-place match as he fell to #11 Owen Klocke of Carroll by a 4-1 decision. The Trojan will tango with #16 Hayden Schafer of Eagle Grove for 7^th place.

165-Pound

Burlington Notre Dame’s #5 Blake Wilson finished the night 2-0, pinning #15 Ryland Morgan of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows and shutting out Christopher Meyer of Independence by a 6-0 decision.

Wilson will attempt to get to the third-place bout when he faces off against #6 Degan Miller of Greene County.

175-Pound

A pair of local wrestlers competed today from southeast Iowa; unfortunately, neither picked up a victory. Fairfield’s #6 Dain Burkhart’s tournament run was ended by #5 Charlie Campbell of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows by major decision. He finished the season with a 39-6 record.

#4 Kyler Crow of Mediapolis attempted to knock off #1 Zayvion Ellington of Sergeant-Bluff-Luton in the semifinals, but Ellington exited the victor by major decision. The Bulldog will compete against #2 Brock Mulder of Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley in the consolation semifinals.

215-Pound

Lastly, Fairfield’s #6 Dre Smithburg lost by fall against #10 Carson Grier of Williamsburg in the consolation bracket. Smithburg finished the season with a 42-7 record.

More

Stay tuned to KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, for live updates and wrap-up articles as we cover the 2025 Iowa Boys’ High School State Wrestling Tournament thanks to our local sponsors!

Des Moines, IA- Championship Saturday is set for the 2025 Iowa Boys’ State Wrestling Tournament after an exciting day of action for Class 1A. Here’s a look at how our local wrestlers competed.

Class 1A

106-Pound

The beginner’s luck continued for WACO’s #7 Ian Maize as he handed #3 Ethan Humphrey of West Branch a loss by a 7-2 decision. Maize will compete for the 106-pound state championship against #1 Kaiden Belinsky of Don Bosco with the finals starting at 5:15 pm.

120-Pound

#5 Gage Samo of WACO continued his path through the consolation bracket as he defeated #16 Boston Mateer from Interstate-35 by a narrow 6-4 decision. In his second match of the day, Samo pinned #8 Jesse Burton of Westwood to advance to the consolation semifinals.

He will tangle with #11 Owen Henriksen of Alburnett with the winner advancing to the third-place match.

138-Pound

The Southeast Iowa Super Conference showdown was bound to happen, but first New London’s #13 Gage Burden and #8 Cohen Wolford of Wapello had to get through their first opponent of the day.

Burden made quick work #9 Chance Christensen of Riceville, shutting him out for a win by major decision; meanwhile, Wolford also shut down his opponent, winning by a 4-0 decision against #4 Landon Price of GT/RA.

Earlier in the season, Wolford got the better of the Tiger and Burden stated it was his most frustrating match of the season albeit an excellent learning opportunity. That lesson resulted in a 6-0 decision win over Wolford.

Burden will compete against #6 Aiden Timm of Belle Plaine in the consolation bracket as he eyes third place, while Wolford will face off against #3 Gabriel Brisker of Wilton for 7^th place.

190-Pound

WACO’s #1 Louden Huisenga will be attempting to win his first state championship in his return to the finals after sneaking past #4 Jayden Dickerson of Shenandoah in the semifinals by a 4-3 decision.

#3 Gatlin Rogers of Wilton awaits the Warrior in the championship match.

More

Stay tuned to KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, for live updates and wrap-up articles as we cover the 2025 Iowa Boys’ High School State Wrestling Tournament thanks to our local sponsors!