Mt. Pleasant, IA- Put the four fingers up in the air as it’s time for the fourth quarter of this year’s “Year in Review” brought to you by Two Rivers Bank and Trust. We begin where we left off in quarter three, back at the gridiron.
West Burlington/Notre Dame was busy producing their best start to the season since 2008 as they defeated Central Lee 34-13 in a week six contest, while WACO’s high powered offense, anchored by Louden Huisenga’s 202 rushing yards and three touchdowns, took down New London 67-42 for their senior night despite a 158 yard and four touchdown performance from London Franklin.
A host of local Southeast Iowa Super Conference teams found themselves ranked in the top 20 for the cross-country rankings as the boys’ teams of Danville, Van Buren County, and Columbus were ranked 5th, 15th, and 9th to start the month of October, while the Danville girls’ team was located in the top 15.
Staying with the theme of rankings, the West Burlington volleyball team fell to #12 in Class 2A after their conference championship loss to Holy Trinity Catholic; despite the loss, the Falcons would go on to win a tournament at New London not dropping a set in the process, which led to Mady Hamelton eclipsing 500 career kills. The Crusaders were climbing up in the rankings themselves after a double-digit win streak near the end of the season lifting Holy Trinity Catholic to #2 in Class 1A as both squads were ready to make a splash in the postseason.
Jumping back to the gridiron, a week seven bout between Mt. Pleasant and Keokuk had the Panthers looking to end another dubious streak: their first district win in four years. A slow start put the Panthers at a 20 to 7 disadvantage before Ramzy Davis found the endzone and a thrilling fourth and goal dive for paydirt for Zach Newton put the Panthers in front. However, the Chiefs reclaimed the lead before halftime but that would be it for the Keokuk offense.
The Mt. Pleasant offense would find their stride again in the fourth quarter as Zach Newton rumbled in for his second touchdown of the game to take the lead. A couple onside kick recoveries would result in Ramzy Davis finding his fifth rushing touchdown in the past two weeks as Mt. Pleasant ran out the clock for a 34-27 win at home.
WACO ended their regular season with a dominant 60-12 win over English Valleys to tune up for the playoffs, while West Burlington/Notre Dame rode Quincy Collins to school records six rushing touchdowns in a 49-7 win over Albia. Collins would capture school records in yards and touchdowns in a season as the Falcons were on the verge of making program history.
The Southeast Iowa Super Conference (SEISC) held their conference cross-country meet with star studded casts performing on the grand stage. The girls’ conference crown went to Pekin as Danville took the bronze with Alaina Gourley snatching third place as an individual. WACO’s Josie Dykstra took 6th place, Iris Garza of Columbus claimed 7th place, and Kaitlyn Kipp of West Burlington and Van Buren County’s Rylee Phillips and Kayley Snowgren found spots in the top 10.
On the boys’ side, Danville’s Jackson Shacklett led the Bears to the crown as he exited with the gold. Will Schmidgall of Mediapolis took 2nd place, while WACO’s Jude Dykstra snuck past Lincoln Bainbridge of Van Buren County for 3rd place and Ty Muniz of Columbus rounded out the top five.
The Southeast Conference (SEC) held their own conference meet two days later as the Washington boys’ team continued their conference supremacy, but the Fort Madison girls’ team snatched away the title from the Demons, despite Iris Dahl capturing the gold as an individual. In the girls’ race, Mt. Pleasant’s Quintrie Lee snatched 6th place in one of her best races of the season. On the boys’ side, Burlington’s Aaron Morehead grabbed 7th place and Mt. Pleasant’s Silas Hulett took 11th place. On the middle school front, Avery Fedler of Mt. Pleasant won the conference crown on the girls’ side.
Washington would seek their vengeance against the SEC on the volleyball court as the Demons bested Burlington to claim their first conference title in school history.
The Mt. Pleasant football team was due for one more moment before the season ended in a road game against Fort Madison. The Panthers found themselves on the wrong side of momentum until William Birdsell came up with the clutch block on a punt. Newton would connect on a 20-yard touchdown pass to Merrick Lamm to make the game interesting; however, a block extra point put the Panthers against the wall. For the second time in the season, Dylan White stepped up to be the hero for a 32-yard walk-off field goal.
The same week saw Winfield-Mt. Union defeat HLV 58-18. Danville’s Jaden Bauer tossed for 402 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-24 overtime win over Columbus and West Burlington popped in at #10 for the Class 2A rankings.
With that it’s time to dive into the postseason for all three of our fall sports, starting with volleyball. In Class 1A, Wapello’s 11 aces led the Arrows past New London, while Kellee Milks tabbed 19 kills for Winfield-Mt. Union’s four set win over Lone Tree and Burlington Notre Dame swept WACO.
For Class 4A, Mt. Pleasant got to host Fort Madison for their first-round matchup and four sets was all it took for the Panthers to breeze past the Bloodhounds. Addison Clark, Alex Scott, and Myah Starr led the action up front while Zoey Atkinson sealed the win. The Panthers would end their season in the next round to collect a 12-26 record.
Holy Trinity Catholic would continue their reign of dominance on the court with Presley Myers being unstoppable against Winfield-Mt. Union, executing a sweep. Myers would go on to collect 20 kills before the night was over.
Wapello would pull off the upset over Notre Dame in four sets as Mila Jordan and Kate Lanz combined for 27 kills and five blocks as the Nikes would end the season with a 24-14 record, which set up a matchup between the Arrows and Crusaders.
Myers would continue her momentum against Wapello. But the Arrows were not quick to give up. Ultimately, Wapello could not slay the giant as Holy Trinity Catholic punched their ticket to the regional championship and head coach Melissa Freesmeier’s 1,100th career victory.
In Class 2A, West Burlington clinched a spot in their own regional championship after taking down Lisbon in four sets as Taryn Snodgrass nabbed two aces and 47 assists. However, they would fall to Beckman Catholic to end the season with an impressive 37-7 record.
Before we wrap up Holy Trinity Catholic’s season, postseason football was ready to kickoff with a rematch on the schedule between WACO and Central City. On a cold night, it was smashmouth football that led the Warriors to drub the Wildcats 39-16. Louden Huisenga claimed 146 rushing yards and a score in the win.
West Burlington/Notre Dame picked up their first postseason victory in program history after Quincy Collins rushed for over 250 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-22 win over Centerville. Mediapolis would pull off an upset, defeating Northeast 21-6. Unfortunately, none of our local teams would advance past the second round.
On Halloween night, Holy Trinity Catholic needed the supernatural to help the Crusaders against Calamus-Wheatland with two thunderous comebacks needed to sweep the Warriors. Adalyn Kruse snatched 19 kills, but Myers led the team with 20. Despite Myers tabbing her 1,000th career kill against BCLUW in their quarterfinal matchup at the state tournament, the Crusaders would fall in straight sets, ending their fourth consecutive trip to the tournament with a 29-13 record.
The state cross-country meet had Class 3A run first as the Washington girls’ team finished in 12th as a team with Iris Dahl leading the charge with a 32nd place finish. Mt. Pleasant’s Quintrie Lee grabbed 63rd place, while Fort Madison’s Avery Rump claimed 45th place. On the boys’ side, Andrew Rees claimed 13th place to help Washington take 7th place as a team. Jacob Shottenkirk and Riley Tripp of Fort Madison snatched 83rd and 89th, respectively.
For the Class 1A race, the Danville girls’ team grabbed 16th place with Alaina Gourley leading the squad with a 51st place finish. Iris Garza of Columbus took 72nd place as the Van Buren County duo of Kayley Snowgren and Rylee Phillips snatch 75th and 87th place, respectively.
On the boys’ side, Kohlby Newsom of Winfield-Mt. Union produced his best run of the season and led the pack with a 9th place finish individually. Danville claimed 7th as a team with Jackson Shacklett taking 13th place. Ty Muniz of Columbus grabbed 25th place followed by Lincoln Bainbridge of Van Buren County in 27th place. Jude Dykstra of WACO finished in 19th place.
Class 2A had Notre Dame/West Burlington’s Kaitlyn Kipp garner 47th place as Hannah Fruehling took 61st place. On the boys’ side, Simon Wendell finished in 32nd place, Will Schmidgall claimed 85th place, and Mason Lindeen took 130th place for Mediapolis.
In other news, the Iowa High School Athletic Association announced a delay to their decision to move the boys’ golf season for Class 1A, 2A, and 3A to the fall for the 2025-2026 season, while the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union announced the 2026 state softball tournament would be moving to a double-elimination format.
For end of season awards, WACO’s Louden Huisenga was named District 6 Defensive MVP for the second consecutive season, leading the district in total tackles with 73 for the season. Cooper Buffington of Winfield-Mt. Union also went back-to-back for Lineman MVP as the senior paved the way to 1,358 rushing yards and amassed 57 total tackles, including 12 tackles for loss.
Mt. Pleasant had Payton Walker and William Birdsell earn First Team All-District spots along with Nolan Frueh for the offensive line. Kellen Kohorst and Ramzy Davis each nabbed a spot on the Second Team.
Washington’s Leighton Messinger was named SEC Player of the Year in volleyball with a conference leading 285 kills and efficiency at a 0.251 mark. Fairfield’s Lilly Bergren was named SEC First Team, while Mt. Pleasant had Addison Clark and Alex Scott claim a spot on the Second Team.
For the All-District teams, Burlington’s Annalise Buxton earned a spot in Class 4A. Class 3A had Washington’s Messinger and Taylor Jones of Central Lee. In Class 2A, Brenna Beggs, Taryn Snodgrass, and Carli Cline all earned a spot as Cline was also named Fourth Team All-State. In Class 1A, Holy Trinity Catholic littered the team with Anna Bendlage and Teagan Snaadt, both Fourth Team All-State members, Presley Myers, First Team All-State, and Adalyn Kruse, Second Team All-State. Madalyn Knapp, Fourth Team All-State nod, and Addi Brockway made the team for Notre Dame, while Wapello had Annaka Greiner and Mya Wagner earn a spot. Crusader head coach Melissa Freesmeier was named District Coach of the Year.
To round out fall athletics, four local football players made the All-State squad as WACO’s Huisenga and Kessler Whaley of Danville were named Second Team All-State. Quincy Collins, who finished the season with 2,474 rushing yards and 35 touchdowns, was named First Team All-State along with Noah Schmidgall of Mediapolis as a returner.
A wave of local talent announced their National Letters of Intent as Cooper Buffington of Winfield-Mt. Union signed on to play football at the University of Montana. Holy Trinity Catholic’s Emily Ross agreed to play softball at Coe College. Lastly, Mt. Pleasant’s Charice Auwerda decided on Iowa Central Community College to play soccer as she only needs 12 more points to set the program record.
Additionally, some Mt. Pleasant natives made their way to the Hall of Fame as Dave Hutchcroft was inducted into the Iowa Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame, while Jeff Broeg and Lynn Richard claimed a spot in the Iowa Racing Hall of Fame.
As the new year rapidly approaches the winter athletic season is just getting started as for basketball the West Burlington boys’ team’s prolific offense has the Falcons undefeated at the break, while the Holy Trinity Catholic girls’ team has beatdown opponents to their own undefeated record with a matchup against Mediapolis set to decide who the top team in the SEISC is.
For the SEC, the Keokuk girls’ team, who started the year ranked, now sits behind Fort Madison at the top of the conference, while the Washington boys’ team is 3-0 in SEC play entering January.
In bowling, Mt. Pleasant and Fairfield split their matchup with the Panther girls’ team winning behind Shyann Smith’s 327 pins, but Henry Pforts 346 pins could not put the Panthers over the Trojans.
Lastly, the Notre Dame/West Burlington boys’ wrestling team has six wrestlers ranked within the top 10, while WACO has Louden Huisenga and Game Samo in the top five. Gage Burden found a spot at #9 for New London. Cason Miller, Dain Burkhart, Dre Smithburg, and Cael McCabe made the top 10 for Fairfield, while Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union had Dakota Aney and Jacob Nelson land in the top 12 and Mediapolis had Kyler Crow claim the #7 slot.
On the girls’ side, Fairfield touts Samantha Lyons and Alyia Abbot in the top 10, while Wapello’s Kenadee Helscher and WACO’s Elyssa Graber are both ranked within the top 8. Mt. Pleasant’s Zenlynn Lee was not in the rankings but has had a promising start to the season after an injury sidelined her last year.
Zeroes now decorate the scoreboard for the year 2024 and all the special moments celebrated by all of our local communities. I’d like to thank my color commentators Jerry Keeley, Jonathan Kellogg, and Steve English along with our board operators Chase Van Bibber and Hayleigh McPherson. A special shoutout to all our community members who help put the games on and of course our local student athletes.
This has been Quarter Four of KILJ’s “Year in Review” brought to you by Two Rivers Bank and Trust, we’ll be back for all of 2025’s exciting moments!
