High School Soccer

In the girls’ Class 2A Region 8 backet, Burlington was downed by Iowa City Liberty last night 3-0 to end their season. The Lightning advanced to the state tournament and the Grayhounds finished the season with a 14-3 record. 

High School Tennis

Jana Isanta of Mt. Pleasant will participate in the girls’ Class 1A State Singles tournament today in Iowa City. Isanta was one of four players to earn a seed as she will be the #4-seed heading into the tournament. 

The boys’ Class 1A state singles tournament is officially over and here’s how Fairfield’s Rumin Luo performed in his day two action. 

Waiting for Luo in the consolation semifinals was Mason Reicks of Kuemper Catholic, who lost his first match against Decorah’s Caden Branum before two consecutive victories to meet up with Lou. However, his run ended there as Luo won both sets 6-3.

Sergeant Bluff-Luton’s Tyler Grote was all that stood between the Trojan and 5th place. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be; despite the tough match, Grote won both sets 7-5 and 6-4, which gave Lou 6th place overall. 

High School Golf. 

Day one of the girls’ state meet is in the books and here’s how New London fared in Class 1A. The Tigers currently sit in 6th place with a team score of 380. Nevertheless, Taylor Phillips, who finished with the silver last season, leads the field with a round-one score of 73 (+2). A three-stroke lead over Mount Ayr’s Jaylee Shaffer.

Sophie Malott finished the day in 22nd place, shooting a 91 (+20), while Emma Busby carded a 105 (+34) to earn 56th place. 

Easton Valley holds a shallow lead over Highland by a mere four strokes (363 to 367). BCLUW is in third place with a team score of 87-over par.

For Class 2A, Olivia Hines of Mediapolis will be looking to add to her medal collection as she aims to finish in second place. The senior shot an 80 (+8) to end day one in 6th place. Chole Bolte of Sumner-Fredericksburg is performing admirably to defend her state title, carding a 67 (-5). She has a ten-stroke lead heading into today. 

Bolte’s lead has helped Sumner-Fredericksburg lead the way on the team front with a score of 337 followed by Roland-Story’s score of 341. Mid-Prairie is back in 5th place with a team score of 365 as they are led by Gabi Robertson’s 84 (+12), which is 13th overall.

The state meet for all classes will conclude today.

High School Baseball

Central Lee will hit the road to face off against Hillcrest Academy at the Field of Dreams in Dyersville tonight at 6 pm.

Winfield-Mt. Union’s late surge was not enough as the Wolves fell to Hillcrest Academy last night 11-7. Winfield-Mt. Union will take on Lone Tree tonight at 5:30 pm on the road. 

Mt. Pleasant will travel to play Muscatine tonight at 7 pm.

New London will hit the road to face off against Van Buren County today at 5:30 pm.  

Mediapolis versus Danville scheduled for tonight has been postponed. The game has been rescheduled for June 20th.

West Burlington will host Burlington Notre Dame tonight at 5:30 pm. 

High School Softball

Winfield-Mt. Union stood strong, tying the game at nine before Hillcrest Academy jumped on the Wolves for nine runs in the top of the 7th inning to win 18-9. Makiah Lower went 3 for 3 with two RBIs as Quin Smith swatted a triple and scored three runs for the Wolves. Winfield-Mt. Union will face off against Lone Tree tonight at 5:30 pm on the road. 

Mt. Pleasant will hit the road to face off against Mid-Prairie tonight at 7 pm. 

Van Buren County will travel to take on New London at 7 pm tonight.

West Burlington will participate in a tournament tomorrow, May 25th, at Louisa-Muscatine. 

Mediapolis versus Danville scheduled for tonight has been postponed. The game has been rescheduled for June 20th.

Central Lee versus Holy Trinity Catholic tonight has been canceled. 

High School Wrestling

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

Class 2A will include the 64 largest wrestling schools, with Class 1A consisting of the remaining schools. Wrestlers will still compete at regional meets to qualify for the state tournament, which is scheduled for two days, February 6th and 7th.

The IGHSAU saw 204 schools sponsor a girls’ wrestling program, while 61 schools co-opted this past season.

Southeastern Community College

SCC baseball will head to Oklahoma to compete in the 2024 NJCAA Division II Baseball World Series tomorrow, May 25th. The Blackhawks earned the #7-seed and will face off against #10 South Arkansas Community College in the first round at 4 pm. 

This Day in Sports History

1935 – The first night game in major league baseball history was played at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field, where the home team defeated the Phillies, 2-1.

1981 – Indianapolis 500: Bobby Unser crosses the finish line ahead of Mario Andretti; Unser was disqualified for pit lane infraction, but later has his win reinstated for his 3rd career victory.

1992 – Indianapolis 500: Al Unser Jr. holds off Scott Goodyear to win by 0.043 seconds; Unser Jr. becomes the first second-generation driver to win the race along with this being the closest finish in Indy history.

Prep Girls’ Golf- The 2024 girls’ state golf meet is underway and southeast Iowa currently has two golfers within the top ten of their respective classes with one of them sitting atop the standings.

Girls’ Class 1A

New London brought the whole team to compete and after a day of golf, the Tigers currently sit in 6^th place with a team score of 380. Nevertheless, Taylor Phillips, who finished with the silver last season, leads the field with a round-one score of 73 (+2). A three-stroke lead over Mount Ayr’s Jaylee Shaffer.

Sophie Malott finished the day in 22^nd place, shooting a 91 (+20), while Emma Busby carded a 105 (+34) to earn 56^th place. Sydney Kracht’s score of 111 (+40) is the last score to contribute to New London’s team standings.

Easton Valley holds a shallow lead over Highland by a mere four strokes (363 to 367). BCLUW is in third place with a team score of 87-over par.

Girls’ Class 2A

Olivia Hines of Mediapolis has made it a habit of attending the state meet with bronze and silver medals in her back pocket; she will be battling for second place tomorrow. The senior shot an 80 (+8) to end day one in 6^th place.

Chole Bolte of Sumner-Fredericksburg is performing admirably to defend her state title, carding a 67 (-5). She has a ten-stroke lead heading into the finals tomorrow, as 2^nd place through 19^th place are also separated by ten strokes to further represent her domination.

Bolte’s lead has helped Sumner-Fredericksburg lead the way on the team front with a score of 337 followed by Roland-Story’s score of 341 and Oelwein’s 352. Mid-Prairie is back in 5^th place with a team score of 365 as they are led by Gabi Robertson’s 84 (+12), which is 13^th overall.

Girls’ Class 3A Par 72

Individual standings: Eden Lohrbach (69), Meghan DeLong (73), Ava Kalb and Meera Julka (76)

Team Standings: Gilbert (309), Dubuque Wahlert Catholic (325), Xavier (349)

Girls’ Class 4A Par 71

Individual standings: Morgan Rupp and Isabella Pettersen (70), Saleah Vivanh Vong (71), Izzy Steele and Natalie Henson (73)

Team Standings: Pleasant Valley (315), Waukee Northwest and Cedar Rapids Washington (317), Cedar Falls (324)

KILJ will continue its coverage of the girls’ state tournament tomorrow.

Prep Boys’ Tennis- The boys’ Classes 1A and 2A singles and doubles state tournament has concluded and Rumin Luo of Fairfield finished in 6^th place for the Class 1A singles tournament. Here’s how his tournament run proceeded.

His first-round matchup was against district 7-runner up, Christian Jensen of Lewis Central. Luo won without much of an issue, taking both sets 6-3. This set up a quarterfinal matchup against Pella’s Jack Briggs.

Briggs proved to be too much as Luo was defeated 6-2 in set one and 6-1 in set two, sending him to the second round of the consolation bracket.

His final match of day one was a chance at revenge against Pella’s Ben Van Gorp. Luo dominated the match, winning set one 6-2 and shutting out Van Gorp in set two. This propelled Luo to his day two matchup in the consolation semifinals.

Waiting for him was Mason Reicks of Kuemper Catholic, who lost his first match against Decorah’s Caden Branum before two consecutive victories to meet up with Lou. However, his run ended there as Luo won both sets 6-3.

Sergeant Bluff-Luton’s Tyler Grote was all that stood between the Trojan and 5^th place. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be despite the tough match, Grote won both sets 7-5 and 6-4.

Parker Stroh of Columbus Catholic finished in 7^th place. Tanner Laube of Grundy Center took 3^rd place. The individual state championship was between Briggs and Branum and three sets were needed to decide the gold with Briggs winning 6-4, 1-6, and 6-2.

Class 1A Doubles

State Champion: North Polk’s Ethan Moon and Easton Moon

Runner-Up: Waverly-Shell Rock’s Benny Ramker and Luca Myers

Third Place: Xavier’s Charlie LeGrand and Jacob Schmit

Fourth Place: Pella’s Joshua Roozeboom and Cameron Rowe

Fifth Place: Wahlert Catholic’s Roan Martineau and Charlie Curtiss

Class 2A Singles

State Champion: Waukee Northwest’s Kaden Taylor

Runner-Up: Waukee’s Quinn Monson

Third Place: Prairie’s Anthony Schulte

Fourth Place: Fort Dodge’s Micah Flaherty

Fifth Place: Cedar Rapids Jefferson’s Parker Holland

Class 2A Doubles

State Champion: Waukee Northwest’s Kellan Croatt and Jake Nelson

Runner-Up: Linn-Mar’s Garrett Bauermeister and Malcolm Rice

Third Place: Iowa City West’s Patrick Selby and Samir Singh

Fourth Place: Waukee Northwest’s Gavin Leuck and Sean Sonoiki

Fifth Place: Pleasant Valley’s Folu Adekunle and Karthik Ganesh

Prep Girls’ Wrestling- Two years after the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) sanctioned girls’ wrestling, the Board of Directors has approved the move to divide the 2024-2025 girls’ wrestling season into two classes.

Class 2A will include the 64 largest wrestling schools, while Class 1A will consist of the remaining schools. Wrestlers will still compete at regional meets to qualify for the state meet, which is scheduled for two days, February 6^th and 7^th.

“The rapid rise of participants in girls wrestling has exceeded even our expectations,” said IGHSAU Executive Director Erin Gerlich. “Adding a second class is the next building block in our efforts to continue to help the sport grow. The hope is that the addition of a second class will encourage more schools to add girls’ wrestling programs.”

The IGHSAU saw 204 schools sponsor a girls’ wrestling program, while 61 schools co-opted this past season.