Mt. Pleasant, IA- One quarter down another one to go as we venture into the spring athletic season, reliving all of our state champions. It’s day two of our Year in Review sponsored by Two Rivers Bank and Trust, and it’s time to dive into months four through six.

Ironically, our eagerness to revisit the exciting nature of spring athletics will be met with a relatively slow start as uncooperative weather halted a reliable schedule. Nevertheless, none of the teams exhibited any rust.

The track and field season saw the Mt. Pleasant girls’ team jump out of the starting blocks with Alex Scott and the Panthers 4×200 meter relay team wining their events at the Demon Relays, while Kylee Hill of Burlington won the shot and discus events—we’ll hear more from her later.

At the same time the Van Buren County boys’ and girls’ team were putting pressure on other squads, winning the WACO relays. On the boys’ side, Bryce Moquin, Lincoln Bainbridge, Landry Loeffler, Tyler Stoltz, and Cameron Stoltz each put up 1^st place performances in their respective events. The girls’ side had Carylin Schmitt twice, Ava Loeffler, Rylee Caviness, Rylee Philips, Ashley Fennel, Libby Bainbridge, Marlee Mertens, Lexie Wiley, along with five relay teams finish with the gold, excelling in the long-distance events.

At the same time, the Mt. Pleasant girls’ and boys’ tennis teams were serving up wins with dominant performances over conference opponents. The girls’ team made up of Jana Isanta (more on her later), Mary Kate Peterson, Bethany Drury, Victoria Smith, Zoey Carlsen, Hali Crane, and Ellie Situmeang finished the month with an impressive 6-3 record. Moreover, the boys’ team put up the same 6-3 record for April with Dane Cook, Sawyer Fulton, Zach Johnson, Beckham Prough, Gavin Ross, Elijah Rynders, Lou Schimmelpfennig, and Phoenix Watson comprising the team.

On the pitch, the Mt. Pleasant boys’ team picked up an early conference win against Fairfield in a shootout as Xachary LeBlanc ended the night with 8 saves. The Panthers would secure two more wins before the regular season close, outscoring Keokuk 7 to 4 in their two matchups as Dylan White netted three of the goals.

The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team proved to be a team that could dominate, outscoring their opponents 39 to 1 in their six wins in April. Tori Wilson and Charice Auwerda provided most of the fire power with Wilson scoring 20 goals and Auwerda netting 18. However, the SEC was controlled by two teams who saw time in the rankings between Fort Madison and Burlington, a rivalry that was decided in the Class 2A Region 8 bracket with the Grayhounds sneaking out with a 2-1 win.

Out on the golf course, Washington’s duo of Rajan and Roman Roth was leading the boys’ team to conference win after win. Mt. Pleasant was being paced by Reece Coffman and Nate Dismang with Merrick Lamm taking the lead for the Panthers at their own course but Fairfield, who had Sam Weaton as their ace, stayed jockeying for second with less than five strokes separating the two teams by the end of the regular season.

On the girls’ side of the SEC, Mt. Pleasant won the Fairfield meet thanks to Kylie Walderbach’s field-leading score of 47 and the Keokuk meet as Kylie and Sophia Walderbach finished with the best and third best scores of the meet, respectively. We’ll jump back for conference standings in a bit.

To keep up with some of our Southeast Iowa Super Conference teams, the Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team was eyeing a deep run through the postseason after a stellar run last year, picking up a win against Columbus in April as Carter Loyd kept his form from a year ago. Burlington Notre Dame’s Carter West and Van Buren County’s TJ Jirak rounded out the top three.

Burlington Notre Dame hosted a pool of local team that saw Bo Herdrich’s 18-hole score of 79 put Central Lee on top for the tournament on the boys’ side, while Highland won the girls’ side, while the Nikes had Emersyn Hopkins put up the 5^th best score of 99.

Jumping back to Track and Field, the Danville girls’ team took the Timm Lamb Penn City Relays with 152.5 points as the Bears won eight events with Alaina Gourley taking the 400-meter dash and the 1,500-meter run. Additionally, the Bears won four of the relays. Mt. Pleasant had Kynlee White win the 200-meter dash and Kya Goodrich take the Discus.

The Panthers would go on to win the Pather Relays and the Coed Brookhart-Crew Relays before April was over.

It also introduced us to future state qualifiers in Winfield-Mt. Union’s Tessa Huston, who won the 400-meter hurdles, and Quin Smith, grabbing the high jump gold.

Despite the wind and rain, Mt. Pleasant held the Denny White Relays and the Panther girls’ team grabbed another gold for the season, while Clear Creek Amana took the boys’ side. The Panthers were led by their relays with four teams taking 1^st place along with Savannah Slobodnik winning the discus.

On the boys’ side, Mediapolis, looking to eventually defend their state championship, finished in 2^nd place as a team as the Bulldogs won six events. Winfield-Mt. Union also grabbed six golds headlined by Kohlby Newsom and Gabriel Hemsworth. The Wolves would go on to win the Warrior Relays at the end of the month.

The Drake Relays would see some of our top talent compete against the entire state and clinching a spot in the top 10 was Solomon Zaugg of Mediapolis in the 3200-meter run, Burlington’s Kylee Hill took the bronze in the shot put and Keshawn Wyldon finished in 5^th in the long jump, and the team of Owen and Will Schmidgall, Solomon Zaugg, and Logan Rosas raced to a phenomenal time of 7 minutes and 50 seconds, which was good enough for 5th place in the 4×800 meter relay.

To officially close April, the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union also announced that the State Soccer Championships will move to Ames starting in 2025 and Mt. Pleasant’s Rellana Van Duren signed-on to Iowa Central’s dance team.

Lastly, the Panther trap shooting team, led by perfect scores by Izaac Zihlman, Mason and Landon Yocum, saw the boys’ team win at New London and Fort Madison as Addison McGehearty finished in 1^st place at the varsity level in New London.

The month of May started on the golf course as the Washington boys’ team claimed the conference crown as the Demons owned the entire top five, including a 5-under par performance from Roman Roth. Fairfield grabbed 2^nd led by Archer Kreuter and Mt. Pleasant took 3^rd with Nate Dismang and Merrick Lamm each shooting an 86.

The boys’ teams of the SEISC competed for the conference title with Mediapolis garnering the hardware as Jacob Grier shot an 80.

Sticking with the conference theme but changing up the sport, the SEC saw Jana Isanata win the conference crown for the Mt. Pleasant girls’ team, dropping only two sets in the process. Situmeang and the team of Bethany Drury and Audrey Richmond also grabbed 5^th place. The boys had the team of Schimmelpfennig and Watson finish with the silver, while Gavin Ross took home 5^th place as Ruimin Luo of Fairfield took the singles crown.

The SEC ran their track conference meets as well with Washington sweeping both the boys’ and girls’ titles. The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team had Franklin Tousignant take 2^nd place in the discus for the Panthers. On the girls’ side, Mt. Pleasant finished in second with 125 points and five conference champions. Alex Scott won the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.79 seconds. The 4×100, 4×200, and 800 medley relay teams grabbed the gold and Bailey Jalas took the long jump with a leap of 16 feet and 2.75 inches.

Following behind was the SEISC conference meets as the girls’ teams champions from the North and South were Pekin and Mediapolis, respectively, while on the boys’ side Columbus won the North and Mediapolis put on a clinic for the South.

The WACO girls’ team had the 4×100 meter shuttle hurdle relay team of Ally Rinner, Brenna Graber, Madelyn Farmer, and Zoey Dennler finish as conference champions with a time of 1 minute and 15 seconds.

Winfield-Mt. Union’s conference champions were two hurdlers as Josie Nelson won the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 17.2 seconds and Tessa Huston took the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1 minute and 12 seconds. Quin Smith won the high jump with a leap of 5 feet and 2 inches.

Mediapolis’ Bryn Wright ran the 1500-meter in 5 minutes and 21 seconds to win the event. Kendall VanWinkle won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1 minute and 14 seconds. The Bulldogs rattled off wins in the 4×100, 4×200, and 4×400 meter relays. Avery Crear leapt to a first-place finish in the high jump with a height of 4 feet and 8 inches.

West Burlington’s Ady Lamm grabbed first place in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.57 seconds. Kaitlyn Kipp paced herself to a win in the 3000-meter run with a time of 11 minutes and 37 seconds. The 4×800 meter relay team grabbed the victory and Nadiya Jones won gold in the shot put with a heave of 32 feet and 1.5 inches.

Danville took third place with 110 points and four conference champions. Jaeda Molle won the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.17 seconds. Miya Orbiana raced to a time of 1 minute and 4 seconds in the 400-meter dash. The 800-sprint medley team won by seven seconds and Kenna Furnald took the long jump with a leap of 15 feet and 9 inches.

Van Buren County finished with 94.5 points, Central Lee 63.5 points, and New London grabbed 12 points. For the Warriors, Kayley Snowgren won the 800-meter run. Marlee Mertens took the 100-meter hurdles. The distance medley and 4×100 meter shuttle hurdle team each took home first place. The Hawks had a conference champion in Aubrey Weber in the discus with a throw of 93 feet.

On the boys’ side, Winfield-Mt. Union’s Ty Scorpil won the 400-meter dash with a time of 51.76 seconds and 400-meter hurdles with a time of 58.11 seconds. Kolby Newsom grabbed the gold in the 800-meter run with a time of 2 minutes. The 800-sprint medley and distance medley teams finished with the win. Jake Edwards leapt 6 feet to take the high jump and Cam Buffington won the long jump with a distance of 20 feet and 11 inches.

Mediapolis won 11 events as senior Solomon Zaugg won two events with first place finishes in the 1600 and 3200-meter runs. With the state track meet coming up, we’ll hear from some of these names soon enough.

The SEISC girls met on the golf course for the conference crown, and it was Highland who snuck past New London to seal the victory. Taylor Phillips, the Tiger phenom, finished with the gold, shooting a 76 for the 18-holce course, as Sophie Malott took top four. Mediapolis’ Oliva Hines finished with the silver.

Heading back to the pitch, the Mediapolis boys’ team took down Burlington Notre Dame 4-1 as Alessandro Markomichelakis’s hat trick sealed the Bulldogs’ second consecutive conference title.

On the tennis court, Mt. Pleasant’s Isanta continued her undefeated season by punching her ticket to the state tournament, dropping a set in only three of her matches. Garnering the #4-seed for the Class 1A state singles tournament, Isanta would finish the year 20-2 and claim 4^th place overall.

On the boys’ side, Mt. Pleasant defeated Albia in the first round of the Substate 5 tournament, but Fairfield narrowly defeated the Panthers 5-3 to end the season with an 8-4 record. The Trojans would lose in the Substate championship match, but Rumin Luo would go on to claim 6^th place at the Class 1A state singles tournament.

Before we close out the spring sport season with the state track meet, the SEISC was busy tearing through the fairways. The Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team narrowly punched their ticket to the state tournament as Justin Knipfer led the Wolves with the 5^th best score. The girls were headlined by New London who finished with the second-best score at the Regional Final as Phillips and Malott headlined individual scores. In Class 2A, Mediapolis had Olivia Hines qualify for the state tournament for the third consecutive year. Adding one more team to the mix, the Washington boys’ team qualified for the state tournament.

For the boys’ state tournament, a thunderstorm cut the party short with only the day one results counting. Winfield-Mt. Union took 6^th as a team with Carter Loyd finishing 15^th as an individual. Washington’s Roman Roth grabbed the bronze as the Demons claimed 5^th place.

On the girls’ side, New London’s Phillips concluded her terrific career with an individual state championship with Malott finishing in 21^st place as the Tigers claimed 4^th as a team. Olivia Hines of Mediapolis took 9^th individually.

Three days, four classes, and a whole lot of state championships to dole out. The state track and field meet is fun, high-octane action that can see a team’s title decided all on championship Saturday. Here’s some of our top moments.

Mt. Pleasant’s Kya Goodrich would turn some heads in Class 3A’s discus event as her throw of 119 feet and 6 inches grabbed her 7^th place after starting in the first heat of the throws. The 4×100 meter relay team of Kynlee White, Alex Scott, Bailey Jalas, and Andi Scott took 5^th place.

In a competitive high jump field for Class 3A, Eli Zillman of Fairfield claimed the gold as he was the only jumper to clear 6 feet and 9 inches.

Burlington’s freshman sensation, Kylee Hill, tossed the discus 137 feet and 10 inches, which was good enough for 4^th place, totaling five points for the Grayhounds. She also won the girls’ Class 4A shot put with ease, heaving the shot 45 feet and 2.5 inches.

The Danville girls’ team brought home some hardware as Kenna Furnald took 7^th in the long jump, the distance medley team of Furnald, Jadea Molle, Miya Orbiana, and Alaina Gourley earned the bronze and the sprint medley team that had Violet Sowell jump in for Orbiana took home the gold.

Columbus grabbed a silver and bronze medal as the 4×100 meter relay team of Juan Chairez, Riley Kaalberg, Lamar Ceant, and Kaiden Amigon captured 2^nd place and eight points with a time of 43.3 seconds, while Russell Coil heaved the shot put nearly 52 feet for 3^rd place.

Winfield-Mt. Union had Gabriel Hemsworth, the distance medley and 4×400 meter relay teams of Kohlby Newsom, Ty Scorpil, Sheaden Adams, and Hemsworth all finish in the top 6 of their respective events.

West Burlington-Notre Dame had speedster Landy Haberichter chase down a silver medal in the Class 2A 100-meter dash with a time of 11.16 seconds.

Now, that exhilarating chase for the title we discussed earlier. The Mediapolis boys’ team entered Saturday in 8^th place in the team standings, but the Bulldogs simply kept gaining points with one bronze performance, three silvers, and a gold medal by the end of the three days to take sole possession of the Class 2A team title for the second year in-a-row.

Solomon Zaugg grabbed the gold in the 3,200-meter run. Noah Schmidgall, Zaugg, and the 4×800 meter relay team of Owen and Will Schmidgall, Zaugg, and Logan Rosas took the silver medals in their respective events. The bronze went to the distance medley team of Aedin Nelson, Noah Schmidgall, Reese Campbell and Rosas.

The month of May was rounded out with the All-SEC teams for boys’ soccer as Dylan White, who tallied eight goals and four assists, and Jackson Newman of Mt. Pleasant made the All-Conference team. The SEC Co-Players of the Year went to Fort Madison’s Leif Boeding and Washington’s Randy Huertero.

The Southeastern Community College baseball team concluded their season in the NJCAA tournament, collecting a 43-19 record for the season.

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union announced that the Board of Directors approved the move to divide the 2024-2025 girls’ wrestling season into two classes to support the growth of the sport.

Lastly, Mt. Pleasant’s Payton Hagans announced his decision to continue his basketball career at William Woods University, joining two other Mt. Pleasant alums Aaiden and Jordan Ashton. Mediapolis also had Jacob Grier and Ben Wolter announce their commitment to playing golf at SCC.

The month of June brought us some team awards for the Mt. Pleasant girls’ track and field team. Alex Scott nabbed a school record and “Leading Scorer.” Kya Goodrich and Bailey Jalas earned “Most Improved” as Jalas also set a school record in the long jump. Rookie of the Year went to Kiyah Sanders.  Andi Scott, a senior, and Kynlee White, a sophomore, also finished with school records as they both made trips to the state meet. Courtney Raub was the honoree for the “Panther Award.” Ultimately, the girls’ team finished in first place in five meets and second in two meets, including the SEC meet.

Fairfield also introduced the community to the new girls’ basketball coach in a familiar face, Jerrod Belzer. He also holds the head coach responsibilities for the girls’ and boys’ cross country and girls’ track and field teams.

Olivia Hines of Mediapolis would finally get ahold of a gold medal with the help of fellow Bulldog Ben Wolter at the Iowa Coed State Golf Class 1A meet as the duo shot a 72.

Of course, we’d be remised if we did not mention high school baseball and softball that saw most of our local teams wrap up their regular seasons in June. Some of the big story lines of the season included the West Burlington and Burlington softball teams ranked within the top 15 for multiple weeks as the Falcons could not stop scoring, while the Grayhounds touted one of the best pitchers in the state in Saydee Plummer. Washington soon joined the Class 3A rankings, climbing as high as #8.

That was until Central Lee knocked West Burlington out of the top 15 with Kenna Sandoval and Shana Buford slugging the ball.

Sticking with softball, Mt. Pleasant picked up a dominant conference win over Keokuk 10-3, while the Mt. Pleasant boys’ team jockeyed with Fairfield for the conference crown that the Trojans would eventually outsprint the Panthers to, marking their first title since 2018.

Burlington Notre Dame, attempting to attend the state tournament for the second year in a row, garnered top consideration from the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association consistently staying within the top two spots of the Class 1A rankings as the Nikes touted a thrilling offense and a stifling defense, pitching eight shutout games during the regular season.

It’s time for the 7^th inning stretch for this year’s edition of KILJ’s Year in Review brought to you by Two Rivers Bank and Trust. Tune in on Monday for quarter 3 as the summer heat cools to an autumn wind.

Mt. Pleasant, IA- The end of one year and the start of a new one is the perfect opportunity to remind ourselves of how far we’ve come and all the athletic triumphs of our local schools. It’s day one of our “Year in Review” sponsored by Two Rivers Bank and Trust, meaning it’s time to go back to January of 2024.

The winter sport season was fresh out of Christmas break when the Holy Trinity Catholic boys’ team, gearing at making a deep run in the postseason, rang in the new year a dominant 69-44 victory over Fairfield, which takes us to another game that featured the Trojans

At Mt. Pleasant high school, the Panthers’ girls’ basketball team was looking to continue their momentum from a win against New London and take down a Southeast Conference foe in the Trojans. After a defensive first half that saw Fairfield take an 18-12 lead, pandemonium ensued. After another comeback by the Panthers, the game hung on the aftermath of one more shot. Abby Carthey delivered in the biggest moment of the Panther season as she tabbed 13 points in the win.

At the same time, high school coaches nominated their best wrestler, and the IWCOA whittled the list down to the top 15 in each of the three classifications and the lone wrestler to make the list from southeast Iowa was Kaiden Dietzenbach of Burlington Notre Dame in Class 2A. It was a year of retribution for him after taking 3^rd place at the tournament last year. We’ll catch back up with Burlington Notre Dame later on.

The Mt. Pleasant boys’ basketball team was continuing the good fortune from the year prior with wins against New London, Fairfield, and Wilton extending their win streak to 7 games, but a road conference game against Fort Madison proved to be a bit rocky. A 53-52 loss could have derailed a season, but Mt. Pleasant would preserve and take home another conference title.

While everyone was competing in the middle of January, Danville held a special ceremony, inducting former boys’ basketball head coach Ken Laffoon and the 2017-18 girls’ track and field team. Laffoon captained the Bears to two state championships and a handful of state tournament appearances as he was also inducted into the Iowa Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2019. The track and field team made history, collecting the program’s first state championship with four first place finishes.

Sticking with the theme of making history, Beth Goetz was announced to become the Director of Athletics at the University of Iowa, making her the first woman to hold the position at Iowa.

The court also produced a couple of record-breaking events at the end of January. Holy Trinity Catholic picked up a win on Homecoming night against New London, which saw junior Luke Hellige become Holy Trinity Catholic’s all-time leading scorer. WACO’s annihilation of Highland gave senior Hunter Hughes a chance to collect his 1,000^th career point. At the collegiate level, Iowa men’s head coach Fran McCaffery picked up his 272^nd career victory, the most in school history. Phenom Caitlin Clark etched her name in the history book with her 904^th career assists, which made her Iowa’s and Big Ten’s all-time leader in assists. Audi Crooks became the first freshman in Iowa State history to be named Big 12 Player of the Week. Lastly, a couple more Crusaders made program history when Connor Gehling blocked his 117^th career shot, and Adam Sobczak notched his 346^th career assist in a 64-38 thrashing of Central Lee at the end of the month.

Yet, the two teams we really wanted to keep our eyes on were West Burlington, who was ranked 10^th in Class 2A, led by Brady Martin, Quincy Collins, and Mason Watkins and #4 in Class 1A Winfield-Mt. Union, who was looking to continue a spectacular senior season.

Turning our attention to girls’ wrestling, we had 11 local wrestlers punch their ticket to the second year of sanctioned state wrestling: WACO’s Rylee Rice, Fort Madison had Mara Smith and Hailey Kemper, Josie Nelson and Lecet Quiroz of Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union, Burlington’s Kiara Rodriguez and Shariah Hart, Jalyiah Gardner of Keokuk, Fairfield’s Samantha Lyons, and Wapello had Kenadee Helscher and Tatum Wolford attend the tournament. Wolford ended the two-day tournament with a win, defeating Lauren Luzum of Decorah to capture 7^th place.

Sticking with wrestling, the boys’ held the Southeast Iowa Super Conference tournament where every point mattered and, ultimately, Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union led by conference champions Russel Coil and Kason Dopler usurped the crown from Burlington Notre Dame by one point, 247-246, taking home their first conference championship in 13 years. Mediapolis had Kyler Crow and Parker Lange claim conference crowns along with WACO’s Louden Huisenga. We’ll hear some of these names again when we get to mid-February.

In other big news, the IHSAA and IGHSAU announced the addition of an Ambulatory Division to the Paralympic Class to go along with the Wheelchair Division. Moreover, Southeastern Community College brought back three-time national champion Joe O’Brien to head the athletic department, who plans to add even more programs to their resume.

February is truly when the pedal hits the metal as boys’ and girls’ basketball make their final lunges towards the state tournament and 42 state champions are crowned on the fourth day of the boys’ state wrestling tournament.

But before we dive into postseason basketball, the SEISC shootout crowed the Holy Trinity Catholic girls’ team as they beat up Lone Tree 50-26 and in a battle of the two ranked teams from the area, West Burlington nabbed their second consecutive title with a 45-38 win over Winfield-Mt. Union despite Cam Buffington’s 14 points. In the final note before postseason basketball, Holy Trinity Catholic’s Luke Hellige added some more hardware to the mantle by putting up 45 points, a school record, in a 107-46 win over Highland to also gather his 1,000^th career point.

Girls’ basketball sets our postseason into motion and, appropriately, the first game on KILJ featured Danville’s quick, turnover-happy defense taking on a dangerous Burlington Notre Dame squad. Jaeda Molle and Kenna Furnald combined for 37 points as the Bears outscored the Nikes 20 to 8 in the third quarter to secure a 65-55 win and another round in the Region 7 bracket. Lauren Krieger scored 18 points as she finished her career with over 1,000 points.

WACO and #15 Holy Trinity Catholic also advanced past their first-round matchups, knocking out Hillcrest Academy and New London. Which leads us back to the boys’ side of the tournament as New London’s three-point shooting led the Tigers past Columbus in the District 9 preliminary round, 65-52. Brendan Richey cashed in for 16 points, which set them up for a first-round matchup with #4 Winfield-Mt. Union, who was ready to make a run.

Before we wrap up postseason basketball, we jump back to boys’ wrestling with their state qualifying matches to determine who would make the trip to Des Moines. Southeast Iowa had 27 local athletes punch their ticket to the state tournament with 11 claiming a district championship: WACO’s Louden Huisenga, Burlington Notre Dame had five athletes claim a district championship in Carter West, CJ Davis, Dietzenbach, Dirk Boyles, and Blake Wilson, Dain Burkhart and Cael McCabe of Fairfield, Ty Scorpil of Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union, Washington’ Aaron Boone, and Braxton Hutchinson of Burlington.

Out of the 27 wrestlers that attended the state tournament, 12 placed within the top 10 at their respective weight classes. For Class 1A, WACO’s Gage Samo claimed 6^th place, while Louden Huisenga finished as the runner-up in the 190-pound weight class.

Burlington Notre Dame enjoyed a successful four days as the team claimed 4^th place with Dirk Boyles taking 8^th place, CJ Davis finished in 4^th place, Carter West grabbing the bronze, and Dietzenbach finishing his run with the silver.

For the SEC, Washington’s Aaron Boone took 4^th place. Fort Madison had Nolan Riddle claim 4^th place and Isaac Thacher nab 8^th place. Cason Miller of Fairfield claimed 4^th place, while Cael McCabe took the silver medal.

Lastly, Russel Coil of Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union finished out his senior year with a runner-up performance in the Class 2A 285-pound weight class.

Additionally, on championship Saturday, New London’s longtime head coach Mark Chiri was named to the IHSAA Wrestling Hall of Fame. In his 37 seasons, Chiri accumulated 468 dual meet wins, 111 state qualifiers, and 10 individual champions.

Bouncing back to playoff basketball, the Holy Trinity Catholic girls’ team continued their tear, holding their first two opponents to just 27 points after defeating English Valleys 49-13, setting up a regional semifinal matchup against Montezuma.

At the same time, the Danville girls’ team pulled off a convincing upset over Lone Tree 71-36 to up their win streak to 18 games. They would have to take on a tough Lynnville-Sully team to compete for a regional championship.

On the boys’ side in District 9, Burlington Notre Dame’s Shay Stephens led the Nikes to a 54-40 victory over WACO after scoring 13 of his 22 points in the third quarter. This set up a matchup against Winfield-Mt. Union who ran past Danville 61-40. In District 10, Holy Trintiy Catholic pummeled Moravia 55-29 behind a 20-point performance by Luke Hellige. The Crusaders were on a crash course for the substate championship game but first they had to take on North Mahaska.

While in Class 2A, West Burlington kept on winning, defeating Central Lee 76-59.

The Danville girls’ team would continue their dominant run, narrowly besting Lynnville-Sully 51-50 despite being down by as many as 16. The Bears would put their now 19-game winning streak on the line against Calamus-Wheatland with the winner advancing to the state tournament, while Holy Trinity Catholic would have their historic season come to an end against Montezuma as seniors Mary Kate Bendlage and Natalie Randolph combined for 31 points. The Crusaders finished the season with a 20-3 record.

In the Class 1A district championships, Winfield-Mt. Union found themselves against the ropes, losing to Burlington Notre Dame late in the fourth quarter. That was until the Wolves went on a 19 to 4 run to steal a 51-49 district 9 championship away from the Nikes.

In District 10, Holy Trintiy Catholic made the trip to Ottumwa to face off against North Mahaska and while the offense was on full display for the Crusaders, it was clutch defensive plays from Connor Gehling and Maddox Rung that put them over the top. Hellige led the Crusaders with 24 points in the 70-66 win, setting up a matchup in Fairfield against Winfield-Mt. Union with the winner making the trip to the Well in Des Moines.

Before we finish up boys’ basketball, we jump back to Danville as they attempt one more upset against Calamus-Wheatland. The Warriors took the lead into the second half, but the Bears would not give up. Unfortunately, the 19-game winning streak would end there in a 56-51 loss. Rylee Morris led the scoring with 16 points for Danville.

For the Class 1A Substate 5 championship, it was a defensive battle between two SEISC foes, but key buckets by Winfield-Mt. Union led to a 46-41 victory and their first trip back to the state tournament since 1996. Cam Buffington led the stat sheet with 18 points, while Holy Trinity Catholic’s senior big man Connor Gehling notched his 1,000^th career point.

In Class 2A, West Burlington defeated Cascade for the substate championship, entering the state tournament with a perfect 22-0 record.

Before we march out of February, Mt. Pleasant’s Addie McGehearty, Bethany Drury, and Kya Goodrich each clinched a spot into the state bowling tournament, while Keokuk was looking to make a splash. Drury finished in 20^th place and McGehearty and Goodrich took 28^th and 29^th, respectively. Keokuk grabbed not only the team title, but Jaelynn Ketterer also won the individual championship with Sophia Rule winning the bronze.

Additionally, there were some notable college signings. From WACO, Colton Leichty chose to continue his football career at Grand View University. He holds the career and season records for tackles for a loss and sacks for WACO in 8-man record. Chase Waterhouse made the decision to walk on at the University of Northern Iowa as he finished his career at WACO with 25 tackles for a loss.

A couple of Mt. Pleasant student athletes made their college decision with Reece Coffman joining fellow Panther Nate Dismang at Southeastern Community College to golf, while Angel Avila signed on to play soccer at Waldorf.

To end the month of February, Keokuk hired former Iowa Hawkeye wide receiver Marvin McNutt to take over head coach responsibilities for the Chiefs football program.

The start of March brought around the start of the boys’ state basketball tournament and in Class 1A, #4 Winfield-Mt. Union was ready for #5 Lynnville-Sully. Buffington continued his dominance, scoring 21 points as the Wolves buried their opponent 54-37 to advance to the semifinals where #1 North Linn was waiting.

In Class 2A, #4 West Burlington went on a streak in the third quarter, putting Treynor on skates entering the 4^th quarter. Unfortunately, the Cardinals were too much, handing the Falcons their only loss of the season in a 73-63 final. Mason Watkins scored 22 points in the loss.

Winfield-Mt. Union played well in their semifinal match against the Lynx with Jake Edwards splashing five threes for 17 points, but North Linn walked away with the win 67-51. Buffington was named to the All-Tournament team for his 33 points and 16 rebounds in his two contests.

March was the month of featured student-athletes getting their flowers, so here’s the highlights from the All-Conference and All-State teams, starting with wrestling.

The girls’ SEC Wrestler of the Year was a shared award between Keokuk’s Jayliah Gardner and Fort Madison’s Mara Smith. Fairfield’s Samantha Lyons made the First Team and Mt. Pleasant’s Peyton Mowery earned Second Team All-SEC.

On the boys’ side, Fort Madison’s Nolan Riddle took home SEC Wrestler of the Year. Fairfield had Cael McCabe, Zandrik Allison, and Dain Burkhart earn a spot on the First Team, while Landon Beckler of Mt. Pleasant made the Second Team.

For bowling, Mt. Pleasant had McGehearty earn a spot on the All-Conference First Team for the girls’ team, while Kya Goodrich, Madelynn Millard, Shyann Smith, and Bethany Drury earned Second Team honors. On the boys’ side, Alec Payne and Keagan Ellington made the First Team for the Panthers, while Titus Reno made the Second Team.

Looking at girls’ basketball, Danville’s Jaeda Molle earned a spot on the All-District team as she averaged 13.8 points per game. Also claiming a spot on the All-District teams was Tatum Wolford of Wapello, Grace Holsteen of Mediapolis, Keokuk’s Kendra Boatman, the SEC Player of the Year, and Makenna Altgilbers. Lastly, Holy Trintiy Catholic’s Natalie Randolph and Mary Kate Bendlage were added to the list, as they both helped the Crusaders pick up their first 20-win season in over 20 years.

Savannah Hollander of Fairfield grabbed the final First Team All-Conference spot. Mt. Pleasant’s leading scorer and the conference’s third best free throw shooter, Abby Carthey, nabbed 2nd Team All-Conference honors. Seniors Juliana Burns and Hailey Parrott were named All-Conference Honorable Mention.

For boys’ basketball, Payton Hagans was the star of the SEC, taking home a unanimous First Team All-Conference honor along with SEC Player of the Year. His 22.8 points per game ranks 5^th in Class 3A, and 24^th in the state of Iowa. Hagans also finished his career with 1,205 points. Also clinching a spot on the First Team for the Panthers was sophomore guard Christian Stacy. Senior Nate Stroud earned Second Team All-Conference as the anchor of the Panthers post-game. Receiving All-Conference Honorable Mention was Noah Lange and Avin Truong.

For the All-Substate Teams, the SEISC made their presence known with WACO’s Hunter Hughes, Luke Hellige of Holy Trinity Catholic, Jakson Lanz of Wapello, Burlington Notre Dame’s Liam Delaney, and Winfield-Mt. Union’s Cam Buffington and Abram Edwards each earning a spot in Class 1A with Wolves’ head Coach Klay Edwards nabbing Coach of the Year for Substate 5.

In Class 2A, West Burlington had two players make the team in Mason Wakins and Brady Martin, while head coach Cody VanFleet earned Coach of the Year for Substate 4.

In Class 3A, Mt. Pleasant’s Payton Hagans grabbed a spot on the All-Substate Team to go along with his SEC Player of the Year honors, while Jaxon Clark of Keokuk also nabbed a spot as he averaged a double-double for the season.

To round out the first quarter of the year, Caitlin Clark was named Big Ten Player of the Year, while becoming the all-time leading scorer in all of NCAA history. Iowa’s Clarissa Chun was named USA Today’s Women of the Yer Honoree for the state of Iowa as the two-time Olympian had led 15 student/athletes to the NCWWC National Championships.

Lastly, Pioneer Athletics awarded the Mt. Pleasant Community School District with the “2023 Fields of Excellence Award.” The program honors outstanding athletic fields and the hardworking field crews who diligently maintain them.

A quarter of excellence has come to an end, tune back in tomorrow as spring blooms into summer athletics. This has been Quarter 1 of a “Year in Review” sponsored by Two Rivers Bank and Trust.

Prep Basketball- A full month of basketball is in the books and as teams earn a two week break, now is as good a time as any to look at the conference standings for the Southeast Conference (SEC) starting with the boys’ teams.

Washington headlines the conference for the first time in three years as the Demons boast the only 3-0 record in the conference after avoiding an upset against Mt. Pleasant to end the first half of the season.

Fort Madison evened things up between themselves and Burlington after a Bloodhound victory to bring their conference records to 2-1. Fort Madison could also argue that should be 3-0 after receiving a late technical foul against Fairfield back on December 6^th sealed their fate.

Keokuk defeated Fairfield to pick up their first conference win of the season to snare the Trojans at 1-2 in conference. The Chiefs thought themselves to be a preseason favorite, returning talented pieces in Jaxon Clark and Brenton Hoard, but the graduated Diego Garcia proved to be a harder piece to replace than previously thought.

Mt. Pleasant has played three close conference games but will attempt to beat Keokuk to collect their first SEC win of the season. Head coach Eric Rawson knows his team cannot focus on wins and losses, rather the little things that pop up at practice.

Conference Leaders

Points Per Game (ppg): Jaxon Clark (Keokuk)- 23.4 ppg, Nolan Guzman (Fort Madison)- 18.0 ppg, Riley Perkins (Fairfield)- 14.1 ppg

Rebounds Per Game: Jaxon Clark (Keokuk)- 14.8, Noah Lange (Mt. Pleasant)- 7.8, Lucas Konczal (Fairfield)- 7.7

Assists Per Game: Julian Dear (Fort Madison)- 6.2, Nolan Guzman (Fort Madison)- 4.2, Kenden Bowie (Fort Madison)- 4.0

Steals Per Game: Julian Dear and Nolan Guzman (Fort Madison)- 3.8, Brenton Hoard (Keokuk)- 2.8, Michael Kantzavelos (Burlington)- 1.9

Blocks Per Game: Dayton Lamar (Fort Madison)- 3.0, Jaxon Clark (Keokuk)- 2.0, Nehemiah Lewis (Burlington)- 1.7

The Fort Madison girls’ team is sitting where the boys’ team would like to be, on top of the SEC with a 3-0 record after a comeback win in an early battle for conference supremacy against Burlington 49-39 as Dayonna Davis cashed in for 26 points in the win.

However, defense has been the name of the Bloodhounds’ game, keeping each of their conference foes under 40 points.

Burlington’s early stumble moved them to tied for second in the conference with a 2-1 record with Keokuk and Washington. The Grayhounds did steal a win over the Chiefs on a last-second shot to take the game 49-48.

Keokuk was the team to beat entering the season with a preseason ranking of #14 in Class 4A and having gone undefeated in SEC play the year prior. The Chiefs were slow out of the gate therefore they rest out of the top 15 and hold a loss in their conference record for the first time since Mt. Pleasant won their matchup back in 2022.

Last year’s SEC Player of the Year Kendra Boatman seems to have Keokuk moving back in the right direction with a three-game winning streak, including a 67-17 win over Fairfield.

Washington appeared to figure out their three-point shooting problem in a 57-17 win over Mt. Pleasant last Friday, but Class 3A’s #7 Williamsburg showed that might not be the case in a 43-14 thrashing on Saturday in Washington. But the Demons sit in a nice spot entering the final seven conference showdowns for the 2024-25 season.

Fairfield and Mt. Pleasant sit at the bottom of the standings as they are both 0-3 in the SEC. Mt. Pleasant will readily accept the return of Abby Carthey, which is expected to take place in January after an injury has knocked the Panthers’ leading scorer from last year out of the lineup.

Fairfield has yet to win a game this season in seven tries and the main problem is a lackluster offense. The Trojans have failed to score over 33 points this season, shooting just 27.5% from the field, 19.7% from deep, and 41.3% from the free throw line. Mt. Pleasant and Fairfield will square off on January 10^th at Fairfield.

Conference Leaders

Points Per Game (ppg): Mylee Stiefel (Burlington)- 17.8 ppg, Dayonna Davis (Fort Madison)- 16.9 ppg, Kendra Boatman (Keokuk)- 15.9 ppg, Hadley Wolfe (Fort Madison)- 13.3 ppg, Kylee Hill (Burlington)- 13.0 ppg

Rebounds Per Game: Kylee Hill (Burlington)- 10.5, Dayonna Davis (Fort Madison)- 10.1, Camryn Atterberg (Keokuk)- 8.3, Addison Clark (Mt. Pleasant)- 7.7

Assists Per Game: Kendra Boatman (Keokuk)- 5.3, Hadley Wolfe (Fort Madison)- 4.4, Mylee Stiefel (Burlington)- 4.2

Steals Per Game: Hadley Wolfe (Fort Madison)- 4.6, Kendra Boatman (Keokuk)- 4.3, Dayonna Davis (Fort Madison)- 3.6

Blocks Per Game: Halle Menke (Fort Madison)- 1.2, Camryn Atterberg (Keokuk) and Kylee Hill (Burlington)- 1.0, Nevaeh Logan (Keokuk)- 0.7

KILJ 105.5 FM or kilj.com will be on the call for Mt. Pleasant’s home conference matchup against Keokuk on January 3^rd with the pregame show at 5:45 pm, tip-off at 6 pm.

Prep Basketball- A full month of basketball is in the books and as teams earn a two week break, now is as good a time as any to look at the conference standings for the Southeast Iowa Super Conference (SEISC) starting with the boys’ teams.

The SEISC-South division is a three-horse race for the top spot with last year’s conference shootout champion West Burlington leads the pack with a 5-0 record having defeated Holy Trinity Catholic earlier this season.

Burlington Notre Dame and the Crusaders are both sitting in second place with a 4-1 mark in conference after the Nikes narrowly lost to Holy Trinity Catholic 55-54 heading into winter break as Luke Hellige cashed in for 24 points in that win.

Mediapolis, Central Lee, and Van Buren County round out the middle of the pack as Danville and New London are still searching for their first conference victory. The two will play in New London on January 7th.

Conference Leaders (South)

Points Per Game (ppg): Mason Watkins (WB)- 27.7 ppg, Luke Hellige (HTC)-25.3 ppg, Quincy Collins (WB)- 19.1 ppg, Jack Drew (BND)-18.8

Assists Per Game: Adam Sobczak (HTC)- 8.2, Shay Stephens (BND)- 6.0, Mason Watkins (WB)- 5.6

Rebounds Per Game: Ayden Figuereo (WB) 9.3, Luke Hellige (HTC)- 7.3, Quincy Collins (WB)- 7.0

Steals Per Game: Jaden Bauer (Danville)- 3.8, Mason Watkins (WB)- 3.0, Tate Welcher (New London)- 2.8

Blocks Per Game: Will Hayes and Brayden Wyrick (Central Lee)- 1.7, Ayden Figuereo (WB)- 1.1

Switching over to the SEISC-North Division, two years removed from sitting atop the conference standings and competing for the SEISC crown, WACO has sprinted out to a 5-0 conference record under first-year head coach Chayse Roth.

The Warriors have scraped across a win at home against Pekin 53-52 and on the road against Hillcrest Academy 48-46, while winning the rest of their conference showdowns by double digits. The lone blemish was a season opening 22-point loss to Holy Trinity Catholic.

Hillcrest Academy slides in at 2^nd place with a 5-1 conference mark with Winfield-Mt. Union trailing behind at 4-1 with a 61-37 loss to the Ravens weighing over them. The Wolves can score in droves but have also failed to score 50 points in five of their seven matchups.

Pekin holds the last winning record in conference at 3-2 followed by Lone Tree and Columbus at 2-3. Louisa-Muscatine is heavily involved in the stat leader list but that has not equated to wins, going 1-3 in North play. Highland is 1-4, while Wapello is the caboose, searching for their first win.

Conference Leaders (North)

Points Per Game (ppg): Finnegan Cline (L-M)- 21.0 ppg, Christian Stacy (WACO)- 18.0 ppg, Jake Edwards (W-MU)- 17.9 ppg

Assists Per Game: Henry Adam (Pekin)- 5.8, Justyn Faulkner (Wapello)- 5.4, Rowan Miller (Hillcrest Academy)- 5.2

Rebounds Per Game: Finnegan Cline (L-M)- 9.8, Cooper Buffington (W-MU) 8.7, Oscar Cline (L-M)- 7.8

Steals Per Game: Christian Stacy (WACO)- 3.6, Jake Edwards (W-MU)- 3.0, Oscar Cline (L-M) and Will Adam (Pekin)- 2.8

Blocks Per Game: Finnegan Cline (L-M)- 2.4, Oscar Cline (L-M)- 1.8, Jacob Schnieder (Highland)- 1.6

Mark your calendars for January 7^th, the SEISC-South for the girls will pit the two leaders, Holy Trinity Catholic and Mediapolis, against one another to see who, possibly, will remain unbeaten in conference play.

The Crusaders are following in last year’s squad’s footsteps, finishing with a 12-2 conference mark and clobbering Lone Tree in the SEISC shootout. However, this year’s team is not dominating, at least on the scoreboard, as Holy Trinity Catholic has failed to score 50 points at all this season but has held their opponents under 40 points in all but one of their seven games, equating to a perfect record at the break.

Mediapolis is also undefeated, hoarding a 5-0 record in South play and dominating while doing so as all of their wins are by double digits with five of their seven wins by 40-points or more. The Bulldogs have dropped their last two games against the Crusaders.

Central Lee enters in at the third spot, holding a 3-2 record with Danville right behind at 2-2 after a shaky start to the season. Van Buren County trails at 2-3 with West Burlington and Burlington Notre Dame sporting 1-4 records in South play. New London is still looking for their first win of the season.

Conference Leaders (South)

Points Per Game (ppg): Amelia Grier (Mediapolis)- 15.5 ppg, Ellah Wagenbach (Mediapolis)- 13.1 ppg, Josie Hutcheson (Mediapolis)- 12.8 ppg, Adalyn Kruse (HTC)- 12.0 ppg

Assists Per Game: Josie Hutcheson (Mediapolis)- 7.0, Bryn Wright (Mediapolis)- 6.4, Anna Bendlage (HTC)- 3.6

Rebounds Per Game: Kenna Sandoval (Central Lee)- 11.2, Adalyn Kruse (HTC)- 9.4, Madalynn Knapp (BND)- 7.3

Steals Per Game: Josie Hutcheson (Mediapolis)- 6.0, Lizzy Mason (Central Lee)- 5.3, Amelia Grier (Mediapolis)- 5.0

Blocks Per Game: Mylee Miller (New London)- 1.8, Josie Parrott (Mediapolis)- 1.6, Kenna Sandoval (Central Lee) and Adalyn Kruse (HTC)- 1.0

Switching to the SEISC-North, Columbus finished with their first winning season in seven seasons last year and now the Wildcats are a perfect 6-0 in the North and 8-1 overall. Five of their wins are by double digits, but a loss to the Hawks shows there is still some growth to be had for this team to take a swing at the Crusaders or Bulldogs.

Highland has been the biggest surprise of the season with freshman phenom Kamryn Fink leading the Huskies in usurping Lone Tree from the Class 1A rankings and inserting Highland at the #14 spot. However, losses to Columbus and WACO have the Huskies, Warriors, and Lions tied at 4-2 apiece in the North.

Hillcrest Academy and Pekin are both 3-3, while Louisa-Muscatine and Winfield-Mt. Union sit with one win apiece, though the Wolves have been dealing with early season injuries to their starting lineup. Lastly, Wapello is still searching for their first conference win of the season.

Conference Leaders (North)

Points Per Game (ppg): Claire Withrow (Hillcrest Academy)- 18.8 ppg, Kamryn Fink (Highland) and Malia Yoder (Hillcrest Academy) – 17.0 ppg, Lily Coil (Columbus)- 16.7 ppg, Kynlee Buffington (W-MU)- 15.0

Assists Per Game: Katie Herrig (Highland)- 5.0, Malia Yoder (Hillcrest Academy)- 3.6, Ariana Vergara (Columbus)- 3.6

Rebounds Per Game: Kamryn Fink (Highland)- 16.1, Abby Guise (Pekin)- 12.5, Kynlee Buffington (W-MU)- 11.7

Steals Per Game: Ariana Vergara (Columbus)- 5.9, Malia Yoder (Hillcrest Academy)- 5.8, Hailey Brun (Highland)- 5.1

Blocks Per Game: Kynlee Buffington (W-MU): 2.7, Alyson Ford (Lone Tree)- 1.6, Kamryn Fink (Highland)- 1.5

Tomorrow, December 25^thhaveeee will survey the Southeast Conference landscape as some early season surprises have altered the terrain.