West Burlington, IA- The Southeast Iowa Super Conference (SEISC) tournament started with 17 teams for pool play on Thursday before that was whittled down to eight for championship Saturday. The result? A three-set classic for the gold between Class 1A’s #4 Holy Trinity Catholic and Class 2A’s #10 West Burlington in a rematch of last year’s championship match.

Here’s how we got there.

The Crusaders started off the night with a decisive sweep of Central Lee 25-12 and 25-14. Kenna Sandoval led the Hawks with 12 assists, two kills, and one block, while Halle Lampe tabbed four kills in the loss.

At the same time, the Falcons dispatched Hillcrest Academy without much of a sweat, winning 25-7 in both sets. Cross-town rivals would meet in the semifinals after Burlington Notre Dame defeated Mediapolis in straight sets.

In the final quarterfinal matchup, Wapello punched their ticket to the next semifinals with a sweep of the Arrows 25-16 and 25-11. Annaka Greiner grabbed 17 assists as Mila Jordan led the winning effort with 10 kills.

Wapello was awarded a chance to upset the Crusaders, who were looking to advance to championship match for the 15^th straight season. However, upsets are hard to come by as Holy Trinity Catholic deflected the Arrows away to the third-place match 25-20 and 25-16.

Notre Dame was the last roadblock for a rematch of last year’s championship match. The Falcons flew right over, sweeping the Nikes 25-12 and 25-21.

The finals were set with Notre Dame looking to avenge a three-set loss to Wapello in pool play and the Falcons attempting to go back-to-back in a heavily competitive conference that does not offer up many opportunities to do so.

The Nikes succeeded in grabbing 3^rd place with a 25-18 and 25-14 win in straight sets over Wapello. Greiner finished the tournament with 36 assists, while Jordan’s play culminated in 26 kills.

At this point in the tournament, the winning teams had yet to drop a set. That changed in the championship match, but it did not start that way.

In a battle of the big dogs of the SEISC, the Crusaders breezed to a 25-14 victory in the first set and appeared ready to sweep the Falcons. Nevertheless, West Burlington battled back to win a gritty second set 25-22.

The intensity was turned up a notch in the championship deciding match with the two teams trading points until the Falcons had a 14 to 13 match point opportunity to make it back-to-back years of taking home the banner.

Olivia Bendlage, a freshman for the Crusaders, denied that opportunity with one of her 13 tournament kills, tying the game at 14. The two again traded points, but the front row play of Holy Trinity Catholic was suffocating with two late blocks by Presley Myers and an Adalyn Kruse kill ending the match, 17-15 for the Crusaders.

Kruse led the Crusaders with 31 kills, followed by Myers with 24 kills and nine blocks. Anna Bendlage tabbed 42 assists and nine kills. This was Holy Trinity Catholic’s 9^th SEISC championship.

High School Football

A depleted Mt. Pleasant squad ventured up to Mt. Vernon looking for an upset, but for the second consecutive week, splash plays put the game out of reach early as the Mustangs came out on top 59-0. Jase Jaspers was superman for the Mustangs as he returned the first punt of the night down to the one, setting up a Kellen Haverback quarterback plunge for the first score of the night. A two-point conversion and a bad snap on the next punt awarded Mt. Vernon two more points to take a 10 to 0 lead.

Jaspers consistently put the Mustangs in Panther territory on his returns and took two screens for scores of 43 and 21 yards. He also got it done on defense with two interceptions, including a 43-yard pick-six in the third quarter for his third and final touchdown. Head coach John Bowlin knew his team could not make mistakes coming into last night’s matchup,

“Yeah, a tough night. They came in and dominated from the first quarter to finish. You know we were, you know, down a couple bodies tonight. So, I had to have some guys step up, still had a few guys that did some decent things running the ball. I thought that. You know, between Davis and Sloat, they had a couple of nice runs, and we had some holes there. We couldn’t capitalize on 3rd and short, you know, just kind of jumped offsides few times, so could never really sustain anything. And you know, they’re a good team. So we knew that coming in and we just got to get better. We got to compete harder and, you know, get ready to go next week.”

The Panthers were down Zach Newton, Payton Walker, and Avin Truong, which limited the offense, but allowed Max Sloat and Ramzy Davis to combine for over 40 rushing yards.

Mt. Pleasant will celebrate their Homecoming on Friday, October 4th, against Washington at 7:30 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 7:15 pm.

Columbus roared to a 48-14 victory last night against Highland for their second win of the season. The Wildcats will hit the road to compete against Louisa-Muscatine at 7 pm on Friday. 

Fairfield dropped their third consecutive game last night to Benton 29-14. Fairfield’s Voss Richardson scampered in for two touchdowns. The Trojans will take on Williamsburg on Friday at 7:30 pm on the road. 

Danville trailed 13 to 7 after the first quarter to Wapello, but the Bears ran away with the contest, scoring 35 unanswered points to win 42-13. The Bears will travel to Van Buren County on Friday at 7 pm.

WACO handled Easton Valley last night 44-15. Louden Huisenga rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns, while Trey Edeker notched three sacks on defense. The Warriors will celebrate their senior night on Friday at 7 pm against New London. 

New London defeated HLV 54-38.

Winfield-Mt. Union drubbed English Valleys last night 60-18. The Wolves will face off against Iowa Valley on Friday at 7 pm at home. 

Mediapolis and West Burlington/Notre Dame were involved in a nail-biter last night that ended in favor of the Falcons, 21-19. The Bulldogs will host Mid-Prairie on Friday at 7:30 pm. 

Central Lee’s undefeated run came to an end last night as Albia exited with a 14-0 victory. Luke Wynn ran for 129 yards and both touchdowns in the winning effort. The Hawks will celebrate their homecoming on Friday at 7:30 pm against West Burlington/Notre Dame.

In other Class 3A district 4 matchups, Washington shut out Keokuk 35-0 and Assumption thumped Fort Madison 42-19. 

High School Volleyball

The SEISC tournament finals will start tonight at 5 pm at Southeastern Community College. Holy Trinity Catholic will face off against Central Lee and Hillcrest Academy will clash with the defending champs West Burlington to start off the night, followed by Highland versus Wapello and Mediapolis taking on Burlington Notre Dame.

Mt. Pleasant will host Fairfield on Tuesday, October 1st, at 7:15 pm for their senior night. 

High School Cross Country

Winfield-Mt. Union, Columbus, and New London will run at Iowa City on Monday, September 30th. 

Van Buren County will host Holy Trinity Catholic, Central Lee, and New London on Tuesday, October 1st. 

Mt. Pleasant, WACO, and Fairfield will travel to Washington on Tuesday.

Danville will travel to Williamsburg on Tuesday. 

Mediapolis will participate in a meet hosted by Winfield-Mt. Union on Thursday, October 3rd.

Southeastern Community College

The volleyball team will stay at home to compete against North Iowa Area Community College on Wednesday, October 2nd, at 7 pm. 

College Football

#18 Iowa State will start Big 12 play tonight at 6 pm against Houston. KILJ 98.5 FM and AM 1130 will have the broadcast. 

Iowa is on their bye week. 

This Day in Sports History

1920 – Eight Chicago White Sox baseball players are indicted by a grand jury, charged with fixing the 1919 World Series; infamous “Black Sox scandal.”

1940 – Bud Brennan, a fan at Memorial Stadium, races out of the stands and attempts to tackle Tom Harmon at the 3-yard line, Harmon easily evades.

1951 – Norm Van Brocklin of the Los Angeles Rams passes for an NFL record 554 yards.

8-Player

(5-1) WACO 44, (2-3) Easton Valley 15

(3-2) Winfield-Mt. Union 60, (1-4) English Valleys 18

(1-4) New London 54, (0-6) HLV 38

Class A

(3-2) Danville 42, (2-3) Wapello 13

(2-3) Columbus 48, (2-3) Highland 14

Class 2A

(4-1) West Burlington/Notre Dame 21, (2-3) Mediapolis 19

(3-2) Albia 14, (4-1) Central Lee 0

(2-3) Mid-Prairie 48, (3-2) Davis County 3

Class 3A

(4-1) Mt. Vernon 59, (2-3) Mt. Pleasant 0

(4-1) Washington 35, (2-3) Keokuk 0

(1-4) Assumption 42, (0-5) Fort Madison 19

(3-2) Benton 29, (1-4) Fairfield 14

Class 4A

(4-1) North Scott 38, (2-3) Burlington 0