March Madness- The KILJ Bracket Challenge sponsored by The Press Box and Wiley’s Interior Furnishings and Design had 34 brackets submitted and through two rounds of tournament play, here’s where some facts of the first two rounds and the standings.

The first round was the ultimate exhibition of tournament basketball in March with 13 upsets in 32 games (including #8 versus #9), while last year we saw just seven upsets. The biggest surprise was #14 Oakland outpacing #3 Kentucky 80-76.

In terms of the participants, out of 32 games the average number of correctly picked games was 20.8. The least amount of correctly picked games was 15, while Erica Martin had the most at 26 correct picks as she was also the only one to predict Oakland’s win over Kentucky.

Rick Bunnell and Jeff Broeg were right behind Martin with 25 correct choices in the first round.

Now the second round of March Madness proved that most of the time Cinderella stories usually reside only in storybooks with only two lower seeds advancing in the tournament (#6 Clemson and #5 Gonzaga).

#11 NC State does not count as the Wolfpack took down #14 Oakland, but they are the highest seed remaining in the Sweet 16.

Due to the lack of upsets, everyone performed admirably with 11.2 correct choices out of 16 second round games. Allie Liechty-Hultman had the most impressive second round with 15 correct picks as Kentucky proved again to be the downfall.

Seven people picked 13 correct choices, ten people chose 12 correct picks, and eight people had 11 correct choices.

Impressively, all 34 brackets have at least two of their final four teams in the running with 19 brackets holding on to all four of their final four teams. Unfortunately, four brackets have lost their champion—looking at Kentucky thrice and Drake once.

Overall, this is still anyone’s challenge to win as the top 15 brackets are only separated by ten points. Here is the top 15:

Tied for 1^st place with 100 points: Allie Liechty-Hultman and Corbin Broeker

Tied for 2^nd place with 98 points: Jeff Broeg and Lysha Bunnell

Tied for 3^rd place with 96 points: Ray Stigge (down a final four team) and Eric Martin

Tied for 4^th place with 94 points: Sharon Menke (down two final four teams), Brent Broeker, Cara Bunnell (down a final four team), Ellyanna Bunnell (down a final four team), Brent Rich (lost his champion), Rick Bunnell (down two final four teams), and Karen Drury.

Alan Buckert grabbed 92 points. Jakin Bunnell totaled 90 points but lost their champion.

In case you are wondering, I have 88 points after the first two rounds as I picked Grand Canyon to be my Cinderella story–I will not be visiting anytime soon.

Do not be discouraged as the Sweet 16 offers up the chance at eight points for each correct guess with #6 Clemson and #2 Arizona kicking off the first slate of games on Thursday, March 28^th, at 6:09 pm.

High School Track and Field

The Mt. Pleasant girls team will compete at a meet in West Burlington tomorrow, March 26th.

Due to the projected rain, the Ruritan Relays at Pekin has been canceled. The WACO girls’ team will run tomorrow at West Burlington.

The boys’ meet at West Burlington tonight has been canceled. 

The Mediapolis, Danville, Winfield-Mt. Union, and New London girls’ teams will compete in a relay tomorrow at West Burlington.

The Central Lee girls’ team will travel to Fairfield for a meet on April 2nd. 

High School Soccer

The WACO boys’ team will open the season on Thursday, March 28th, against Fairfield on the road at 5 pm.

The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ and girls’ teams will take on West Liberty tonight at home with the girls’ game scheduled first at 5 pm. 

The Mt. Pleasant girls’ will host Mediapolis tomorrow, March 26th, to start their season at 4:30 pm, while the boys’ will travel to Danville to play at 5 pm on the same day. 

The Danville girls’ team will face off against Assumption tonight on the road at 5 pm.

The Mediapolis boys’ team will take on Burlington tomorrow on the road at 5 pm.

The Central Lee boys’ team will host Centerville on April 2nd and the girls’ team will travel to Mid-Prairie on the same day with both games starting at 5 pm.

High School Tennis

The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team will host Davis County on Thursday, March 28th, at 4:30 pm and the boys’ team will travel to Davis County on the same day. 

High School Golf

The WACO boys’ and girls’ teams will compete in a meet hosted by New London on April 2nd. 

The Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ and girls’ teams will travel to Columbus to participate in a meet on April 4th. 

The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team will travel to Washington Golf and Country Club on April 1st and the boys’ team will participate in a conference match at Fairfield Golf and Country Club on the same day. 

Southeastern Community College

In baseball, SCC took on Northeast Community College over the weekend in a three-game series, with the Hawks taking both games of Saturday’s doubleheader but the Blackhawks winning yesterday’s high scoring affair.

The Hawks won game one 4-1 and game two 5-1 as SCC managed just 11 total hits between the two games. Kooper Shulte had the RBI in game one. Yesterday’s contest saw the offense catch fire as SCC won 15-7. Michael Farina smacked a home run as he totaled three RBIs along with Sheppard Graf. The Blackhawks will travel to face off against Des Moines Area Community College on Wednesday, March 27th, in a doubleheader. 

The SCC softball team split their weekend doubleheader against Indian Hills Community College with the Blackhawks collecting game one 6-5, but falling in game two 14-6.  Game one saw a two-run top of the seventh inning rally for the Blackhawks as Maggie Vasa and Lauren Summers each sent a ball over the outfield wall. Vasa and Ella Florey finished with two RBIs. 

Game two saw Vasa and Summers go deep again as both finished with two RBIs, but they were unable to keep up with the home team’s production, falling in five innings 14-6. The Blackhawks will host Kirkwood Community College on Wednesday. 

College Basketball

It was business as usual for the Iowa women’s team as the Hawkeyes trounced Holy Cross over the weekend 91-65 to advance to the round of 32. Caitlin Clark cashed in for 27 points and dished out 10 assists, while Kate Martin collected her own double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds. The Hawkeyes will take on West Virginia tonight at 7 pm. 

The Iowa State women’s team got out to a fast start against #2 Stanford, but the Cyclones found the game tied after four quarters. Unfortunately, Stanford would come out on top 87-81 in overtime. Emily Ryan was unstoppable with 36 points as she also grabbed nine rebounds. The Cyclones finished with a 21-12 record. 

The #2-seed Iowa State men’s team’s defense secured their second round victory against Washington State over the weekend 67-56. Tamin Lipsey totaled 15 points. The Cyclones will face off against #3 Illinois on Thursday, March 28th, at 9:10 pm. 

The Iowa men’s team saw Utah drain seven first half threes on their way to a NIT second round win over the Hawkeyes 91-82 yesterday. Patrick McCaffery led the scoring with 19 points followed by Josh Dix with 14 points. The Hawkeyes finished the season with a 19-15 record. 

March Madness

The KILJ bracket challenge, sponsored by The Press Box and Wiley’s Interior Furnishings and Design, is officially underway with over 30 brackets submitted with the top three set to receive prizes.

Standings will be updated by the end of today.

This Day in Sports History

1934 – The Masters Tournament is held for the first time. Horton Smith becomes the inaugural Champion with a 20-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole.

1972 – Chicago Blackhawks’ Bobby Hull becomes the 2nd NHLer to score 600 goals, with a goal in Boston assisted by his brother Dennis.

1986 – Kurt Browning becomes the first figure skater to land a quadruple jump.