Keokuk, IA- Mt. Pleasant competed against Keokuk in their final conference showdown of the year; unfortunately, the Panthers were blanked by Chiefs as the girls lost 2,658 to 2,255 and the boys fell 2,902 to 2,389.

The top bowler for the girls was Bethany Drury with a two-game total of 338 and a game high 184. Addison McGehearty was consistent with games of 164 and 161 as Natalie Brush tallied the third highest score for Mt. Pleasant at 307 total pins.

Keokuk’s Sophia Rule was unstoppable with a two-game total of 451 as that was the highest mark reached in either match.

In the boys’ match, Henry Pforts was the top bowler with a game high of 192 and a two-game total of 349. Alec Payne (312), Conner Sizemore (307), and Titus Renon (300), all broke the 300-mark in their two-game totals.

Keokuk saw Justin Clifford and Chase Hemann break the 400-plateau with Hemann hitting 414 and Clifford clipping 406.

The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team finished 5-2 in conference matchups and the boys finished with a 1-6 conference mark.

Mt. Pleasant will host West Burlington tomorrow, February 1^st, at the Iris Bowling Center, while Keokuk will travel to Fairfield for another conference skirmish against the Trojans tomorrow.

High School Basketball

Mt. Pleasant and Fairfield always make for a great matchup and last night was no exception with the Panthers girls’ team fending off the Trojans for a 56-54 victory. Free throws were the name of the game as Mt. Pleasant converted 23 from the line, 13 of which were contributed from Juliana Burns. The senior led the Panthers with a career high 23 points and was a force on the glass. Head Coach Curt Watson knows the win was a total team effort.

The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team defeated Burlington last night 72-61, in large part due to the superhuman effort of Payton Hagans as he cashed in 23 of his 40 points in the fourth quarter to take down the Grayhounds. The Panthers will travel to Keokuk on Friday, February 2nd, with the girls scheduled to play at 6 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 5:45 pm. 

The Danville girls’ team picked up their 14th straight victory last night against West Burlington 65-40. The Bears will face off against Van Buren County tonight with game one at 6 pm. 

Holy Trinity Catholic celebrated their senior night with a sweep of Central Lee last night with the girls winning 59-21 and the boys taking down the Hawks 64-38. Taylor Jones led the Hawks in the girls’ game with 10 points. On the boys’ side, the Crusaders saw two records fall. Conner Gehling collected his 117th career block to set a new Holy Trinity Catholic record and Adam Sobczak set the career assist mark at 346. Luke Hellige led the team with 25 points. Owen Swan led the Hawks with 11 points. 

The Holy Trinity Catholic girls’ team will take on Lone Tree at Southeastern Community College (SCC) on Saturday for the one seed game at 3:30 pm. The Holy Trinity Catholic boys’ team will face off against WACO in the two seed game on Saturday at 5 pm at SCC. 

The Central Lee girls’ team will take on Pekin tomorrow at Pekin at 7:30 pm. The Central Lee boys’ team will face off against Burlington Notre Dame tomorrow on the road at 7:30 pm. 

The WACO girls’ team picked up a 45-42 win last night against Lone Tree. The Warriors will compete against Burlington Notre Dame at Highland tomorrow, February 1st, at 6 pm in the four seed game. The WACO boys’ team will face off against Moravia tomorrow on the road at 7:30 pm.

The Mediapolis girls’ team dominated last night against Van Buren County, winning 73-23. Hanna Wagenbach scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to finish with a double-double. The Mediapolis boys’ team won 73-39. The Mediapolis girls’ team will take on Highland tomorrow at Highland at 7:30 pm. 

The Winfield-Mt. Union girls’ team could not keep up with Highland last night as the Wolves lost 49-32. The boys’ team will travel to SCC on Saturday to compete against West Burlington at 6:30 pm. 

New London was swept by Burlington Notre Dame last night with the girls falling 71-27 and the boys losing 73-38. The Tigers will host Davis County tomorrow with the girls’ game scheduled for 6 pm and the boys to follow. 

High School Wrestling

#18 Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union faced off against #14 Solon in the first round of the Class 2A Regional Duals and fell 38-28. Picking up wins by fall was Ty Scorpil, Russel Coil, Dakota Aney, and Jacob Nelson. Kason Dopler scored four points with a win by major decision. Solon then loss to #2 Mt. Vernon to send the Mustangs to the state duals meet on Saturday, February 3rd. 

WACO competed in a triangular today and defeated Lone Tree, 64-11, and tied with Van Buren County, 36-36. Against Lone Tree, Deacon Bird and Louden Huisenga won by fall, while Lane Bachman took his match by major decision. In their dual against Van Buren County, Gage Samo won his match by fall. For Van Buren County, Korbin Camp, Tyler Stoltz, Kaimrin Ellingson, Maddix Kite, Ethan Lamma, and Elijah Westercamp won by fall. WACO will host a tournament on Saturday, February 3rd. 

New London, Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union, and Mt. Pleasant will compete at districts on February 10th.

The girls’ state tournament will begin tomorrow, February 1st, with the morning session starting at 10 am. KILJ will be covering 16 wrestlers at the meet and updating as the day goes on. 

High School Bowling

Mt. Pleasant will host West Burlington tomorrow, February 1st.

Mt. Pleasant will be heading to Oskaloosa on Tuesday, February 13th, to compete in the state qualifying meet. Burlington and Keokuk will also be making the trip.

Southeast Iowa Playbook

Tune in tonight for this week’s episode of the Southeast Iowa Playbook where we focus on two of our local state bound wrestlers in Rylee Rice of WACO and Josie Nelson of Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union. The episode will be on KILJ 105.5 FM or kilj.com at 6 pm.

College Basketball

The #5 Iowa women’s team will face off against Northwestern tonight at 7 pm on the road. 

The Iowa State women’s team will compete against Oklahoma State tonight at 6:30 pm at home. 

The #12 Iowa State men’s team will travel to Baylor on Saturday, February 3rd, at 7 pm. 

The Iowa men’s team was unable to stop Indiana last night with the Hawkeyes losing 74-68. Payton Sandfort scored 26 points and Tony Perkins put up 22 points in the effort. The Hawkeyes will look for a win at home on Friday, February 2nd, at 6 pm against Ohio State. 

This Day in Sports History

1920 – Quebec Bulldogs center Joe Malone sets an NHL record with 7 goals in a 10-6 win against the Toronto St. Patricks at the Quebec Arena. 

1923 – The Montreal Canadiens beat the Hamilton Tigers 5-4 at the Mount Royal Arena, Montreal; first penalty-free game played in NHL history. 

1991 – Denver Nuggets Michael Adams becomes the shortest NBA player to get a triple-double at 5’10.

West Burlington, IA- The search for a new athletic director for Southeastern Community College (SCC) has ended as the Blackhawks will be led by a familiar name in Joe O’Brien.

O’Brien left SCC back in 2004 after he coached the men’s basketball team to three national championships during his 8 years at the helm. When he left the Blackhawks had only five sports, now the program touts 14 and according to O’Brien,

“…plans to add even more.”

O’Brien is looking to lay the groundwork for program expansion with a great possibility of adding a new men’s and women’s wrestling programs with a new multi-purpose facility set to be completed this fall.

Simply, O’Brien is ready to get to work,

“Now I have an opportunity to lead the next generation of coaches and players as we work together to build winning programs.”

There will be a welcome reception for Joe O’Brien on Thursday, February 1^st, at 3 pm in the Loren Walker Arena at the West Burlington campus. The event is open to the public.