Sports, February 15th

By Slaten Swords · Saturday, February 15th, 2025 at 6:30 am CDT

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.

Monday, 02/17/25: Federal Holiday

By Allison Jacobs · Saturday, February 15th, 2025 at 6:30 am CDT

President’s Day, which is also known as Washington’s Birthday, is celebrated every year on the third Monday in February which means Monday, February 17th is a Federal Holiday.

According to the National Archives, the day commemorates the births of two United States presidents — George Washington, who was born on Feb. 22, and Abraham Lincoln, who was born on Feb. 12.

There are many closures in commemoration of President’s Day:  no postal service, stock markets are closed, banks and credit unions will be closed, the Mt. Pleasant Public Library, MP city offices and Henry County Public Health are closed.

 

Joey Lee Rich

By Allison Jacobs · Friday, February 14th, 2025 at 3:25 pm CDT

Joey Lee Rich, 61, of Wayland died Wednesday, February 12, 2025, at the Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center in West Burlington, Iowa.  A visitation will be held Wednesday, February 19, 2025, from 3 – 6 PM at the Wayland Mennonite Church. Following the visitation, he will be cremated, and burial will take place at a later date. A general memorial fund has been established. The Beatty Peterseim Funeral Home is assisting the family.

Joey was born June 4, 1963, in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, the son of Robert J. and Mildred V. (Hill) Rich.  He graduated from WACO in 1982 and attended the Kirkwood Community College Truck Driver Training Program. He was married to Cheryl Wiggins and they later divorced. He worked at Bluebird in Mt. Pleasant for 19 years and in Environmental Services at the Southeast Regional Medical Center in West Burlington for 19 years. Joey enjoyed attending the Iowa State Fair, the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion, hunting, fishing, mowing and grilling. He was also an avid Dale Earnhart fan.

Survivors include his mother, Mildred, of Wayland, children, Cody Fett of Lisbon, IA, Colten Fett of Salem, IA and Cord Wiggins, of Marion, IA; five siblings: Debbie Rich of Hudson, FL, Marla (William) Graf of Washington, Lorri (Russell) Conrad of Olds, Larry (Brenda) Rich of Mt. Pleasant, Patty (Karl) Krueger of Crawfordsville and several nieces and nephews.

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Preceding Joey in death was his father Robert in 2008, his wife Cheryl and brother Greg in 2020.

 

 

David E. Heaton

By Allison Jacobs · Friday, February 14th, 2025 at 2:32 pm CDT

MOUNT PLEASANT- David E. Heaton, 84, of Mount Pleasant, died Wednesday, February 12, 2025, at Park Place Elder Living.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held 10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 1, 2025, at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Mount Pleasant. Rev. Ross Epping and Rev. Nick Adam will con-celebrate the Mass. Burial will follow in the St. Alphonsus Cemetery. Visitation will be held Friday, February 28, from 2:00 – 7:00 p.m. at the church. A Vigil Prayer Service will be held at 3:30 p.m. The family will greet friends from 4:00 – 7:00 p.m. A memorial fund has been established for the St. Vincent de Paul fund at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church and Mount Pleasant Kiwanis to help support local projects for the youth. The Olson-Powell Chapel & Crematory is caring for Dave and his family. www.powellfuneralhomes.com

Joan Sidney Brown

By Hayden Douglas · Friday, February 14th, 2025 at 11:22 am CDT

Joan Sidney Brown, 73, of Mt. Pleasant, died Saturday, November 30th

A Celebration of Life for Joan will be held from 1-4 PM on Saturday, February 22nd, 2025 at the Mt. Pleasant Masonic Temple, 206 North Main Street in Mt. Pleasant.

The Kimzey Funeral Home, 213 North Main Street, Mt. Pleasant, is caring for Joan and her family.

Online condolences may be directed to www.kimzeyfh.com.

Two individuals Airlifted to U of I Hospital After Late Night Altercation at Mount Pleasant Apartment Complex

By Hayden Douglas · Friday, February 14th, 2025 at 9:38 am CDT

On Feb 13, 2025, at approximately 19:06 hours, (7pm), Mt Pleasant Police was dispatched to 709 S Main St for a physical altercation in the parking lot.

Prior to officers arrival, the fight outside broke up and the two adult males went back inside, where they each sustained knife wounds from an altercation inside the apartment. Both subjects went back outside and were met by law enforcement who assisted by applying tourniquets.

Both subjects were air lifted to the University of Iowa Hospital to be treated. This is an isolated incident and there is no credible threat to the community. The investigation is still ongoing and charges are expected to be filed.