High School Basketball

The Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team will face off against Rivermont Collegiate tonight at 7 pm at home. 

Mt. Pleasant will travel to Keokuk tomorrow, February 7th, with tip-off at 6 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 5:45 pm.. 

Fairfield will hit the road to take on Burlington tomorrow with game one at 6:30 pm. 

The Southeast Iowa Super Conference Shootout starts tonight and runs all the way until the top two seeds face off on Saturday, February 8th. Here’s a look at all the matchups. 

The Holy Trinity Catholic girls’ team will compete in the #3 seed game tonight against Highland at home with gametime at 7:30 pm.  

In the #4-seed contest, the WACO girls’ team will take on Central Lee at Holy Trinity Catholic with tip-off at 6 pm tonight.

The Van Buren County girls’ team will face off against Hillcrest Academy at home at 7:30 pm for the #5 seed. 

The West Burlington girls’ team will compete in the #6 seed game against Pekin at 6 pm tonight at Van Buren County.

The Burlington Notre Dame girls’ team will take on Louisa-Muscatine at home at 7:30 pm tonight for the #7 seed contest. 

In the #8 seed game, the New London girls’ team will compete against Wapello at Burlington Notre Dame with game time at 6 pm.

The Holy Trinity Catholic boys’ team will face off against Pekin on the road tomorrow for the #3 seed game for the SEISC shootout at 7:30 pm.

In the #4 seed contest, the Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team will travel to Pekin to take on Mediapolis at 6 pm tomorrow.

The Central Lee boys’ team will tangle with Louisa-Muscatine on the road at 7:30 pm for the #5 seed game tomorrow.

In the #6 seed clash, the Danville boys’ team will face off against Lone Tree at 6 pm at Louisa-Muscatine tomorrow.

The Van Buren County boys’ team will be tasked with competing against Columbus on their home floor at 7:30 pm tomorrow for the #7 seed game. 

The New London boys’ team will travel to Columbus to compete against Wapello for the SEISC shootout in the #8 seed contest at 6 pm tomorrow.

The Danville girls’ team will take on Lone Tree at SCC in the battle of the #2 seeds at 2 pm on Saturday, February 8th.

The Columbus girls’ team will challenge Mediapolis in the #1 seed game on Saturday at SCC with tip-off at 3:30 pm. 

The WACO boys’ team will compete against Burlington Notre Dame on Saturday in the two-seed game at 5 pm at SCC. 

The West Burlington boys’ team will face off against Hillcrest Academy on Saturday in the #1 seed game at 6:30 pm at SCC.

High School Girls Basketball Rankings

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) released their latest installment of the girls’ basketball rankings and a new local team has made an appearance in the top 15.

In Class 3A, 19-1 Mediapolis made their first appearance in the rankings at #14. The Bulldogs tout a point differential of 36.5 and have scored at least 60 points in 17 of their wins.

The squad has a trio of scorers averaging double figures in Amelia Greier, Josie Hutcheson, and Ellah Wagenbach, while Bryn Wright leads the state in assists with 137. The toughest aspect of this team is their defense, notching 24.5 steals per game.

High School Wrestling

The girls’ state tournament is scheduled to begin today in Coralville at 10 am. KILJ will be giving live updates, following our 23 local wrestlers throughout the tournament. For a full breakdown, follow the link provided: Girls’ State Qualifiers

The New London and Van Buren County boys’ teams will travel to Davis County tonight for a quad. 

The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union and WACO boys’ teams will travel to Mid-Prairie on Saturday for the Colton Allen Memorial Tournament. 

The boys’ district meet is scheduled for Saturday, February 15th, 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. 

Dan Gable Ms. and Mr. Wrestler of the Year

 IAwrestle and Iowa Corn in coordination with the Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association (IWCOA) has released the top 15 wrestlers for the Dan Gable Ms. and Mr. Wrestler of the Year Awards and southeast Iowa has three competitors in the running.

In Class 1A, WACO’s Louden Huisenga is a strong contender for the award at the 190-pound weight class. He has compiled a 25-0 record against fellow 190-pound contenders.

Over in Class 2A, Kaiden Dietzenbach of Burlington Notre Dame is back in the top 15 after being placed on the list last year. The Nike is continuing his reign of terror on the area in the 138-pound weight class with a perfect 27-0 record, so far through his senior campaign.

Fairfield’s Cael McCabe is also up for the award in Class 2A as the junior boasts a 22-2 record in the 113-pound weight class. McCabe has won the Bob Murphy and Bill Van Horn Invitationals this season.

Fans can vote once per list at Facebook.com/IAwrestle for their favorite wrestler in each category until February 9th, when the list will be narrowed down to the top 7. The next round of voting, from February 10th to February 23rd, will determine the top 3 finalists, with the winner announced at the banquet on February 27th at the Fareway Conference Center in Boone, Iowa, on February 27th at 11:30AM.

High School Bowling

Mt. Pleasant will take on West Burlington/Notre Dame today at home. 

Fairfield will host the Southeast Conference (SEC) tournament scheduled for February 10th. 

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. 

Southeast Iowa Playbook

Zenlynn Lee of Mt. Pleasant was our special guest for last night’s episode of the Southeast Iowa Playbook as she wrestles today at the Iowa Girls Wrestling State Tournament. Despite the individuality of the sport, Lee gives the credit to her team for giving her the motivation to keep competing,

“Both the guys and the girls really pushed me to be better and I I without them, I don’t know if it would be something I’d want to do. They really make it worth it. Just having them there knowing whether I win or lose that they’re going to be there is just a great feeling. And then it also makes you want to do better for your team and yourself, because if you’re accomplishing your goals, then you’re helping the team. That just all plays a role together.”

If you missed the episode last night, then follow this link: Mt. Pleasant Episode

Southeastern Community College

The men’s basketball team will take on Marshalltown Community College tonight at 7 pm on the road. 

College Basketball

The #8 Iowa State men’s team will host TCU on Saturday, February 8th, at 11 am. 

The Iowa men’s team will compete against #21 Wisconsin on Saturday with game time at noon. 

The Iowa women’s team will travel to Minnesota tonight at 7 pm. 

The Iowa State women’s team clobbered Cincinnati last night 72-52. Audi Crooks had her way all night as she collected 18 points in the winning effort. The Cyclones will face off against Colorado on Saturday at home at 4 pm. 

This Day in Sports History

1932 – First Olympic dog sled race at Lake Placid, New York. It is run as a demonstration sport.

1971 – American astronaut Alan Shepard is 1st to hit a golf ball on the moon. 

1990 – Brett Hull becomes the first son of an NHL 50 goal scorer (Bobby Hull) to also score 50 goals.

Prep Basketball- Postseason girls’ basketball is just around the corner with class 1A ready to tip-off on Thursday, February 13^th, at 7 pm for the first round of Regional play. The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) released the brackets for classes 1A, 2A, and 3A and here’s the matchups for our local teams.

Class 1A

Most of our local teams were fenced in to region 7, which included a couple Southeast Iowa Super Conference rivalries to start the postseason.

The top two teams that received byes were #7 Springville at the top of the bracket and #12 Sigourney on the bottom half of the bracket.

On Thursday, Winfield-Mt. Union will travel to Keota attempting to pull off the upset. These squads have met twice before with the Wolves winning both games, but you would have to go back to 2014 for the full picture.

The slight advantage on offense leans in Winfield-Mt. Union’s direction; however, Keota’s defense could prove tough with nearly 13 steals per game. Both teams turn the ball over 20-plus times per game, so expect the winner to reign in their turnover numbers to escape with the win.

The winner will compete against #7 Springville on Tuesday, February 18^th, at 7 pm.

W-MU Player to Watch: Kynlee Buffington (13.4 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks per game)

Keota Player to Watch: Cameron Haifley (10.4 points and 2.3 steals per game)

Highland, who has seen time in the top 15 of Class 1A, will host Wapello on Thursday as the Huskies are looking for the rare three game sweep. Highland is currently on an 8-game winning streak over the Arrows and won the past two games by 22 and 16 points, respectively.

Highland will look to utilize their size and defensive prowess with 16 offensive rebounds, 15.7 steals, and four blocks per game. Wapello will have to pick on Highland’s tendency to turn the ball over 22 times per game and their lack of three-point shooting.

The winner of this matchup will compete against either New London or Hillcrest Academy on February 18^th.

Highland Player to Watch: Kamryn Fink (16.4 points and 15.3 rebounds per game)

Wapello Player to Watch: Macey Kuntz (11.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game)

New London will take on Hillcrest Academy on the road on Thursday. The Ravens picked up their first win over New London last year in dominating fashion, 60-39, after four consecutive losses since 2009.

The Tigers snuck past Cardinal 37-33 for their first win of the season, collecting 14 steals in the process. They will have to bring that defensive ferocity if they want to come out with the victory. Another aspect that New London could look to exploit is free throws, their 52% for the season, which is two points up compared to Hillcrest Academy.

New London Player to Watch: Mylee Miller (10.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game)

Hillcrest Academy Player to Watch: Malia Yoder (15 points and 7.6 rebounds per game)

In the bottom half of the bracket, WACO will get to host Burlington Notre Dame. The Warriors have lost the past 14 games against the Nikes, their last win coming in 2018 in a 47-44 thriller.

WACO touts a team that can change their strength depending on their opponent, but the bottom line is this team knows how to win, the evidence is in their nine-game win streak through the middle of their season.

Notre Dame is a young, inexperienced team this year led mostly by sophomores. Despite that fact, they have played some tough teams well: Holy Trinity Catholic with both losses by nine points or less and Fort Madison, holding the Bloodhounds to just 44 points.

Nevertheless, WACO holds the statistical advantage over the Nikes in just about every category and with the Warriors getting their groove back after a five-game losing streak WACO should be able to walk away with the win.

The winner will travel to Sigourney on February 18^th.

WACO Player to Watch: Brenna Graber (13 points and 2.2 assists per game)

Burlington Notre Dame Player to Watch: Daisy Hazell (8.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game)

Lastly for region 7, Holy Trinity Catholic will take on Moulton-Udell at home to start their playoff journey. This is the first game pitting the two against one another on the hard court.

Holy Trinity Catholic appeared destined to carry on the legacy of last year’s squad that racked up 20 wins after starting the year 8-0. But the return from winter break proved to not be kind as the Crusaders dropped five of their next six games, reaching only as high as 42 points in a game during that six-game stretch.

Their mojo seems to have returned after winning four in a row, including two games of scoring over 50 points, but a loss to Mediapolis 67-48 has knocked them back down a peg. They will be tested in the SEISC Shootout against Highland tomorrow, February 6^th.

Moulton-Udell struggles to put up points, averaging just 23.6 per night but their defense typically can keep the Eagles in the contest. The Crusaders cannot allow that to happen.

The winner will face off against the victor of Lone Tree versus Cedar Valley Christian.

Holy Trinity Catholic Player to Watch: Teagan Snaadt (11.3 points and 3.2 steals per game)

Moulton-Udell Player to Watch: Rachel Ogden (6.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game)

Class 2A

Starting in region 1, Van Buren County will travel to play Pleasantville on February 18^th with the winner moving on to face off against #1 Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont most likely (the Rockets would have to beat either Pekin or Cardinal).

The Warriors met the Trojans in the playoffs last year and drubbed them 52-32 behind Marlee Mertens’ 24 points as she knocked down eight three pointers in the win. Van Buren County did not have to do much more, but it helped only turning the ball over nine times.

This year the Trojans have a more experienced team with a couple seniors and a talented freshman in the starting rotation, resulting in 47 points pr game. Van Buren County will have to win the hustle stats, most notably steals and turnovers, if they want to make it 2-0 over Pleasantville.

Van Buren County Player to Watch: Sophia Jirak (8.9 points per game and 32.4% three-point percentage)

Pleasantville Player to Watch: Joelle Johnson (17.9 points and 2.3 assists per game)

In region 2 we have three local teams facing off in the bottom half of the bracket. West Burlington will have to play in the bracket with a home matchup against West Branch on Saturday, February 15^th, at 7 pm.

In the first matchup between the Bears and Falcons, the advantage leans slightly in West Burlington’s favor but expect the contest to be close throughout. I predict that this game will entirely depend on who has the better night on offense.

The winner will travel to play the SEISC-North division champion Columbus on February 18^th.

West Burlington Player to Watch: Lyndsey Kelley (8.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game)

West Branch Player to Watch: Kennedy Simpson (10.9 points per game)

Danville is looking to make another improbable run through the postseason like last season except their back in Class 2A. The Bears will host their first matchup against Louisa-Muscatine on February 18^th.

After starting the year 0-4, Danville has responded back by winning 13 of their last 15 games, including winning streaks of five and currently seven games. Same recipe as last year, capturing steals and playing tough defense is how Danville finds their success.

Louisa-Muscatine will have to depend on their three-point shooting to upset the Bears as the Falcons knock down a respectable 28.7% of shots from beyond the arc. Also looming in the back of their minds will be their 56-9 shellacking at the hands of the Bears last season.

The winner will advance to the regional semifinal to take on either Columbus or West Burlington/West Branch.

Danville Player to Watch: Alaina Gourley (13.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.3 steals per game)

Louisa-Muscatine Player to Watch: Bailey Runnells (9.7 points per game)

Class 3A

In region 1, Washington will get a chance to upset #14 Mediapolis, the SEISC-South champion, in a rematch from earlier in the season on February 15^th. It was the closest game of the season for Mediapolis, with the exception of their loss to an Illinois squad, who has sprinted past their opponents for most of the season.

The Bulldogs pulled away in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Demons 18 to 6 on their way to a 48-37 victory. This Mediapolis team can score expeditiously or put the barrier down on defense, allowing just 30.8 points per game.

Washington can keep the game close but has not proven to be able to pull off the win in the clutch. This will be a perfect opportunity to prove otherwise.

The winner of this matchup will take on the winner between West Liberty and Benton on Wednesday, February 19^th.

Mediapolis Player to Watch: Amelia Grier (14.4 points and 5.1 steals per game)

Washington Player to Watch: Adalyn Long (12.5 points and 3.2 assists per game)

Over in region 4, two of our local teams will have to hit the road and pull off an upset to continue their postseason journey.

For collecting their first win of the season, Fairfield has been awarded a date with #3 Williamsburg on February 15^th. A rematch from January 27^th that saw the Raiders escape a 61-18 win at Fairfield.

The Trojans knocked down 45.5% from beyond the arc in their 40-35 victory over Mt. Pleasant yesterday and they will need to reproduce that performance if they want to leave with the win.

The winner will compete against either Mid-Prairie or Central Lee on February 19^th.

Fairfield Player to Watch: Grace Lyon (5.4 points per game and 30.6% shooting from 3-point land)

Williamsburg Player to Watch: Carly Rich (12.8 points and 2.2 assists per game)

The last game that we will cover in this article is Central Lee’s road trip to Mid-Prairie on February 15^th. The Hawks have had bragging rights over this series since their 49-41 win back in 2021, but the Golden Hawks will certainly have a claim at taking it back up north.

The height and speed of Mid-Prairie allows them to run the court all night, averaging 15 steals per game to help fuel their 61.3 points per game. Central Lee will have to shore up an offense that turns the ball over 19.7 times per game.

Central Lee does gather 14 offensive rebounds per game, so the key will be executing on second chances and not spoiling those opportunities.

Central Lee Player to Watch: Kenna Sandoval (10.1 points and 7.8 rebounds per game)

Mid-Prairie Player to Watch: Callie Huber (11.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game)

Coverage

Stay tuned to KILJ 105.5 FM or kilj.com to see who will be covering throughout the postseason. Classes 4A and 5A will release their brackets at a later date.

Prep Basketball- The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) released their ninth rankings of the 2024-2025 season and the carousel of local teams continued to spin with one team getting dropped from the top 15 and another ushered in for the first time this season.

Class 5A

The top 15 did not see any change in terms of teams as no one was dropped from the rankings and the top seven stayed intact with Johnston the clear favorite, boasting a 17-0 record. Iowa City Liberty and Cedar Falls both tumbled back two spots to be ranked 10^th and 12^th respectively.

Class 4A

Class 4A nearly kept their top 15 flush with last week’s rankings with 12 of the 15 teams securing their same spot. Bishop Heelan is still the team to beat followed by North Polk and Maquoketa. Dallas Center-Grimes was the first team to move as they switched positions with Norwalk to now be ranked 6^th.

Almost as quickly as Burlington was inserted into the top 15, the Grayhounds were yanked out of the top 15. The culprit? A 70-67 overtime loss to a below 0.500 class 5A Cedar Rapids Kennedy squad. Mylee Stiefel did capture her 1,000^th career point in the process to provide a glimmer of good news.

Marion replaced them at the #15 slot.

Class 3A

This is where we start to see the first cracks in the foundation as Estherville Lincoln Central fell four spots in the rankings to #6 after losing 50-44 to #5 Cherokee Washington. Mt. Vernon kept their spot atop the mountain.

West Marshall was kicked out of the top 15 after losing to #7 Roalnd Story 49-34 and Bondurant-Farrar 54-47 in their last three contests.

Vindication is the only way to describe the thought process for Mediapolis as the Bulldogs are 19-1, undefeated against Iowa teams, and have made their first appearance in the rankings at #14. Mediapolis tout a point differential of 36.5 and have scored at least 60 points in 17 of their wins.

The squad has a trio of scorers averaging double figures in Amelia Greier, Josie Hutcheson, and Ellah Wagenbach, while Bryn Wright leads the state in assists with 137. The toughest aspect of this team is their defense, yielding 24.5 steals per game.

Class 2A

The top nine remained unchanged with #1 Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont and #3 Hinton clinging on to their undefeated records. West Lyon had a tough week as the formerly ranked #10 Wildcats have lost back-to-back contests to unranked squads Western Christian and Sioux Center.

Pocahontas Area’s loss to Newell-Fonda did not help them out as they were dropped from the rankings along with the Wildcats. #14 Jesup and #15 West Fork jumped up into the rankings.

Class 1A

Aptly, we end out the article with minimal movement. St. Albert, North Linn, and Newell-Fonda tout the top three spots, and the rest almost was kept the same from a week prior. #7 Springville and #8 Gladbrook-Reinbeck exchanged spots and Saint Ansgar tumbled to #15, uplifting Lenox and Riverside to #13 and #14, respectively.

High School Basketball

WACO celebrated their senior night with a sweep of Winfield-Mt. Union after a pair of tough defensive outings. In the girls’ game, the Warriors rattled off 28 second-half points to come out on top 42-25. Brenna Graber was the force behind the surge, leading the way with 20 points. Madisen Kellogg put up 12 points for the Wolves. 

The WACO boys’ team overcame a three-point second quarter to scrape by with a 45-40 victory. Christian Stacy finished the game with a gritty 18 points as Isaac Rich knocked in 11 points, while the Wolves were led by Cooper Buffington’s 10 points. WACO head coach Chayse Roth was proud of the effort shown by his squad last night,

“Yeah, this was a big win. We accomplished a lot of our goals that we set out for the beginning of the year, you know, we wanted to be top two. We wanted to get down to Burlington and I think tonight sealed it for us. So, coming into the game, I mean having a game where it’s a must win type situation. It’s obviously really good to come out on top and obviously it’s really good that you know how it came against Winfield-Mt. Union. I know this WACO, Winfield rivalry has been going on for a long time, so anytime WACO can beat Winfield, it’s obviously, you know, good on our end.”

In the #4-seed contest, the WACO girls’ team will take on Central Lee at Holy Trinity Catholic with tip-off at 6 pm tomorrow, February 6th, while the WACO boys’ team will compete against Burlington Notre Dame on Saturday, February 8th, in the two-seed game at 5 pm at SCC. 

The Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team will face off against Rivermont Collegiate tomorrow at 7 pm at home. 

The New London boys’ team broke into the winner’s column last night for the first time this season with a 69-59 win over Twin Cedars for their senior night. The Tigers will travel to Columbus to compete against Wapello for the SEISC shootout at 6 pm on Friday, February 7th. 

The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team fell to Fairfield last night 40-35. Grace Lyon dropped 17 points for the Trojans, while Kynlee White tallied 13 points for the Panthers. 

Mt. Pleasant will travel to Keokuk on Friday with tip-off at 6 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call. 

Fairfield will hit the road to take on Burlington on Friday with game one at 6:30 pm. 

The Fairfield boys’ team lost to Holy Trinity Catholic last night 57-31. Luke Hellige put up another double-double performance with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

The Holy Trinity Catholic boys’ team will face off against Pekin on the road on Friday for the #3 seed game for the SEISC shootout. The girls’ team will also compete in the #3 seed game tomorrow against Highland at home with both games at 7:30 pm.  

Burlington Notre Dame was swept by Regina Catholic last night 81-15 in the girls’ game and 61-53 in the boys’ game. The Nikes girls’ team will take on Louisa-Muscatine at home at 7:30 pm tomorrow for the #7 seed contest. 

West Burlington split their matchup against Burlington last night with the girls’ losing 63-11 and the boys’ handling the Grayhounds 77-48. 

The West Burlington girls’ team will compete against Pekin at 6 pm tomorrow at Van Buren County, while the boys’ team will face off against Hillcrest Academy on Saturday in the #1 seed game at 6:30 pm at SCC.

The Columbus girls’ team secured their first SEISC-North title in program history in a 45-28 dismantling of Pekin last night. The boys’ team struggled against the Panthers, losing 68-37. 

The Columbus girls’ team will challenge Mediapolis in the #1 seed game on Saturday at SCC with tip-off at 3:30 pm. 

High School Wrestling

The boys’ regional dual commenced yesterday and in class 2A at Davenport Assumption, #12 Burlington Notre Dame lost a close match to #11 Mt. Vernon 37-35. Kohen Dietzenbach, Rowan Berndt, C.J. Davis, and Joey Glendening each won their match by fall, while Kaiden Dietzenbach picked up a win by technical fall. Dirk Boyles won his match by major decision and Blake Wilson shut out Cooper Hird by a 7-0 decision. The Mustangs went on to upset #6 Assumption 34-31 to advance to the state duals on Saturday, February 8th. 

The Wapello and Mediapolis boys’ teams competed in a triangular last night and Mediapolis finished with a 1-1 record, scraping past Wapello 36-33 and losing to Muscatine 48-21. Mason Johnson, Peyton Johnson, Kyler Crow, and Tanner Anderson each finished undefeated last night. Wapello fell to Muscatine 51-15. Sam Boysen, Cohen Wolford, and Carter Ball each ended the night without a loss. 

The New London and Van Buren County boys’ teams will travel to Davis County tomorrow, February 6th, for a quad. 

The girls’ state tournament is scheduled to begin tomorrow in Coralville. KILJ will be giving live updates, following our 23 local wrestlers throughout the tournament. For a full breakdown, follow the link provided: Girls’ State Qualifiers

The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union and WACO boys’ teams will travel to Mid-Prairie on Saturday for the Colton Allen Memorial Tournament. 

The boys’ district meet is scheduled for Saturday, February 15th, 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. 

Dan Gable Ms. and Mr. Wrestler of the Year

 IAwrestle and Iowa Corn in coordination with the Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association (IWCOA) has released the top 15 wrestlers for the Dan Gable Ms. and Mr. Wrestler of the Year Awards and southeast Iowa has three competitors in the running.

In Class 1A, WACO’s Louden Huisenga is a strong contender for the award at the 190-pound weight class. He has compiled a 25-0 record against fellow 190-pound contenders.

Over in Class 2A, Kaiden Dietzenbach of Burlington Notre Dame is back in the top 15 after being placed on the list last year. The Nike is continuing his reign of terror on the area in the 138-pound weight class with a perfect 27-0 record, so far through his senior campaign.

Fairfield’s Cael McCabe is also up for the award in Class 2A as the junior boasts a 22-2 record in the 113-pound weight class. McCabe has won the Bob Murphy and Bill Van Horn Invitationals this season.

Fans can vote once per list at Facebook.com/IAwrestle for their favorite wrestler in each category until February 9th, when the list will be narrowed down to the top 7. The next round of voting, from February 10th to February 23rd, will determine the top 3 finalists, with the winner announced at the banquet on February 27th at the Fareway Conference Center in Boone, Iowa, on February 27th at 11:30AM.

High School Bowling

Mt. Pleasant will take on West Burlington/Notre Dame tomorrow, February 6th, at home. 

Fairfield will host the Southeast Conference (SEC) tournament scheduled for February 10th. 

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. 

Southeast Iowa Playbook

Tune in to KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, tonight at 6 pm for a new episode of the Southeast Iowa Playbook. Zenlynn Lee of Mt. Pleasant will be our special guest as she gets ready to wrestle at the state tournament tomorrow, February 6th. 

Southeastern Community College

The men’s basketball team will travel to Marshalltown Community College tonight with tip-off at 7 pm. 

College Basketball

The #8 Iowa State men’s team will host TCU on Saturday, February 8th, at 11 am. 

The Iowa men’s team held strong with #7 Purdue last night but faded down the stretch, losing 90-81. Josh Dix cashed in for 27 points in the losing effort. The Hawkeyes will compete against #21 Wisconsin on Saturday with game time at noon. 

The Iowa women’s team will travel to Minnesota tomorrow, February 6th, at 7 pm. 

The Iowa State women’s team will take on Cincinnati tonight at 5:30 pm on the road. 

This Day in Sports History

1943 – Jake LaMotta defeats future multi-weight world boxing champion Sugar Ray Robinson by unanimous points decision in Detroit in the 2nd of their 6 meetings; his only win of their rivalry. It was Robinson’s first loss in his first 40 pro bouts. 

1989 – Kareem Abdul-Jabar becomes the first NBA player to score 38,000 points.

2017 – Super Bowl LI, NRG Stadium, Houston, TX: New England Patriots defeat Atlanta Falcons, 34-28; MVP: Tom Brady, New England, QB. The first Super Bowl to be decided in overtime.