High School Basketball

Mt. Pleasant was looking to spoil Fort Madison’s Friday night; instead, it was the Bloodhounds getting the last laugh with a sweep over the Panthers with the girls winning 45-22 and the boys squeaking out a 53-52 victory. The only source of offense in the girls’ game was Abby Carthey as the sophomore scored 15 of the 22 points in the contest to go along with two steals. Aijalynn Jenkins led the Bloodhounds with 12 points and six steals on the night. 

In the boys’ game, the first bucket of the game for the Panthers was a Payton Hagans three-point basket, which secured the senior his 1,000 career point in one of the few bright spots of the game for Mt. Pleasant. Head coach Eric Rawson talked about that moment after the game. 

Unfortunately, in a game of streaks, Fort Madison went on a 7-0 run to start off the fourth quarter with a five point lead and despite Mt. Pleasant battling back the Bloodhounds appeared to be one step ahead as a Hunter Cresswell three-point play sealed the final score after the Panthers couldn’t convert a last second shot attempt. Christian Stacy led the way with 16 points as four of the five starters finished in double figures for Mt. Pleasant. Coach Rawson knows this loss will sting but his team will be ready to bounce back. The Panthers will host Mid-Prairie on Monday, January 22nd, at 6 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 5:45 pm. 

The Central Lee boys’ team poured on the scoring against Van Buren County as the Hawks took down the Warriors 90-57. Van Buren County will square off against Danville in a road matchup with the girls playing at 6 pm on Tuesday, January 23rd. Central Lee will travel to face off against Burlington Notre Dame on Monday with game one scheduled for 6 pm.

Holy Trinity Catholic celebrated their Homecoming in style as the Crusaders swept New London with the girls winning 65-22 and the boys’ taking their contest 77-39. Royalty dominated the night as Maddox Rung, Homecoming King, led the way with 23 points. Luke Hellige cashed in for 18 points as he became Holy Trinity Catholic’s all-time leading scorer. The Crusaders will compete against Burlington Notre Dame on Tuesday, January 23rd. 

The WACO girls’ team traded points with Columbus the entire night as the Wildcats snuck out with a 43-42 victory. The Warriors were led by Ella Huisenga’s 13 points as Lily Coil scored a game-high 19 points. In the boys’ game, WACO stormed past Columbus 81-34. Hunter Hughes drained five three-pointers as he cashed in for 33 points. The Warriors will take on New London on Monday with the girls’ starting the night at 6 pm on the road. 

The Winfield-Mt. Union girls’ team were outscored 30 to 11 between the second and third quarters as Wapello won 50-32. Madisen Kellogg led the Wolves with 21 points and nine rebounds as Pacey Schlee tallied 9 points and five steals. The boys’ team clobbered Wapello last night 83-33. The Winfield-Mt. Union girls’ team will host WACO on Thursday, January 25th, at 6 pm, while the boys’ team will face off against West Burlington on Monday at 7:30 pm at home. 

The Mediapolis girls’ team was led by Grace Holsteen’s 17 points as the Bulldogs breezed past West Burlington 63-15. The boys’ team had no such luck as the Falcons soared to a 69-52 final over the Bulldogs. Mediapolis will compete against Danville on Monday at 6 pm. 

The Danville girls’ team has now won 10 straight after taking down Burlington Notre Dame 60-52. The boys’ team could not keep up with the Nikes as Burlington Notre Dame won in decisive fashion, 61-36.

High School Wrestling

The WACO boys’ team will compete at a tournament today at Belle Plaine. 

The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team will host a meet today.

New London will travel to Louisa-Muscatine today for a tournament. 

The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team will compete at an invitational today at Williamsburg. 

The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team’s next competition will be at Alliant Energy Power House for the state qualifying meet on Friday, January 26th. 

The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union girls’ team will participate in a tournament hosted by Louisa-Muscatine today.

The WACO girls’ team will travel to Colfax-Mingo for a meet today.

High School Bowling

Mt. Pleasant will take on Louisa-Muscatine on Monday, January 22nd. 

New London

The New London Community School District will be searching for a new Activities Director after Emily Parks announced on Facebook that she will not be returning to the position when the next school year starts after three years at the helm.

Parks will still be involved in Tiger athletics as she looks to continue coaching softball and volleyball.

College Basketball

The #2 Iowa women’s team will face off against #18 Ohio State tomorrow, January 21st, at 11 am in a road matchup. 

The #24 Iowa State women’s team will look to rebound on Wednesday, January 24th, against Kansas in a road matchup at 6:30 pm. 

The #24 Iowa State men’s team will stay on the road to take on #19 TCU today at 1 pm. 

The Iowa men’s team’s will look to knock off #2 Purdue today at 1 pm in a home matchup. 

This Day in Sports History

1968 – The Houston Cougars defeat the UCLA Bruins 71-69 to win basketball’s Game of the Century and end UCLA’s 47-game winning streak. 

1989 – Pittsburgh center Mario Lemieux becomes just the 2nd player in NHL history to score 50 goals in less than 50 games; #50 in the 44th game as the Penguins lose 7-3 to the Jets in Winnipeg. 

2007 – Utah coach Jerry Sloan passes Larry Brown for 4th on the NBA’s all-time win list (1,010) after the Jazz beat the Chicago Bulls 95-85 at the United Center.

New London, IA- The New London Community School District will be searching for a new Activities Director after Emily Parks announced on Facebook that she will not be returning to the position when the next school year starts.

In the post, Parks stated that the decision to step away from her hometown school after holding the position for three years was not an easy one but she felt it was the right one for her family,

“Family comes first and going to have two 2 years and under it feels like the best thing for myself and family.”

Parks will still be involved in Tiger athletics as she looks to continue coaching softball and volleyball. She ended the post by thanking everyone at the New London Community School District and the community for their support.

Prep Wrestling- IAwrestle has updated their boys and girls high school wrestling rankings and with the girls’ regional meet only a week away and the boys’ district meet taking place on February 10^th its now crunch time for the wrestling season.

On the girls’ side, Tatum Wolford of Wapello is the only wrestler from southeast Iowa represented in their top 10 rankings for each weight class as Wolford is ranked 8^th in the 155-pound weight class.

For the boys in Class 1A, New London and WACO have two wrestlers ranked in the top 12 and Wapello has one wrestler ranked in the top 10.

For the Tigers, Kane Fornseen enters the rankings at the #11 spot in the 120-pound weight class, while Michael Raines is ranked 12^th in the 165-pound weight class.

WACO is headlined by Gage Samo and Louden Huisenga with Samo ranked 7^th in the 113-pound weight class and Huisenga placed 3^rd in the 190-pound weight class.

Wapello’s Zach Harbison is ranked 9^th in the 144-pound weight class.

In Class 2A, Burlington Notre Dame slipped down the team rankings to 5^th with six individual wrestlers ranked. Colt Boyles is ranked 5^th in the 106-pound weight class, Carter West is also ranked 5^th in the 113-pound weight class, CJ Davis was located 4^th in the 126-pound weight class, Blake Wilson is ranked 8^th in the 144-pound weight class, and Dirk Boyles is 10^th on the list in the 150-pound weight class.

Kaiden Dietzenbach, the highest ranked Nike, is stationed in 2^nd for the 132-pound weight class with Kade Blume of Roland-Story in pole position—his only loss of the season.

For other local teams, Fairfield’s Cael McCabe is ranked 2^nd in the 106-pound weight class.

Washington has two wrestlers ranked in Aaron Boone for the 132-pound weight class and Chase Greiner in the 157-pound weight class. Boone is ranked 5^th and Greiner is placed at #7.

Russel Coil is ranked as the 3^rd best wrestler in a senior heavy 285-pound weight class for Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union. Ty Scorpil is ranked 9^th in the 126-pound weight class.

Lastly, Kyler Crow of Mediapolis finds himself ranked 7^th in the 165-pound weight class.

For Class 3A, Braxton Hutchinson is the lone member of Burlington to crack the list as he ranks 5h in the 106-pound weight class.

To round out the list, Fort Madison has three wrestlers ranked with Logan Pennock slotted at the #9 spot in the 132-pound weight class, Nolan Riddle is ranked 10^th in the 157-pound weight class, and Issac Thacher is placed 4^th in the 190-pound weight class.

Mount Pleasant, IA- The two Southeast Conference foes met last night at the Iris Bowling Center for a rematch of their duel over a month ago. Despite the new location, it was a similar result with the Panthers dominating in the girls’ match and the Trojans edging out a win by 117 total pins.

The girls’ match saw Bethany Drury led the way with a two-game total of 374. She had the highest single game total of 222. Madelynn Millard finished with 286 total pins followed by Addison McGehearty and Natalie Brush as they bowled a 276 and 274, respectively.

Addison Harris was the top bowler for Fairfield with a two game total of 246 pins. After the Baker Rotation, the Panthers took match handily 2,249-1,500. The Panthers are now 4-1 in conference play.

In the boys’ match, Fairfield outpaced Mt. Pleasant by 41 pins in round one and 76 pins in round two to take the match 2,721-2,604.

Ethan Cass finished with the highest two game total and the highest game total for the match, finishing with 474 total pins and a game high of 252 pins for the Trojans.

Conner Sizemore and Alec Payne were the two leading bowlers for Mt. Pleasant last night with totals of 394 and 378, respectively. Henry Pforts had the highest single game total for the Panthers with a 220.

The Panthers are now 1-4 in conference matches, while the Trojans are 4-1.

Mt. Pleasant will take on Louisa-Muscatine on Monday, January 22nd. Fairfield will compete at the Ottumwa Bowling Invitational tomorrow.