KILJ Bracket Challenge- Much like how the University of Connecticut was unranked heading into the season and knocked off ranked opponents throughout the competition, our KILJ Bracket Challenge, sponsored by the Press Box and Wiley’s Interior Furnishings and Design, winner did just that.

“BGO5 13” is this year’s winner after finishing with 1,060 points and picking UConn to win the national championship knocking “broekerb 1” from his top spot that he held for much of the tournament. Finishing in 2^nd place and earning a prize of their own is “flip25 1” with 1,010 points. Finishing in 3^rd and 4^th place was “breantallenrich 3” and “broekerb 1,” respectively.

Remember to email sports@kilj.com the name of your bracket and phone number, and if you did expect a follow-up before Easter Weekend. Thank you all for participating, congratulations to our top two finishers, and a big thank you to the Press Box and Wiley’s Interior Furnishings and Designs for helping us put this together! Below is a reminder of the prizes.

Prize Reminders:

First prize:

-1 cabin rental from Henry County Conservation.

-$100 Gift Certificate to Wiley’s Interior Furnishings and Design.

-2 Midwest Old Threshers gate passes.

Second prize:

-A Meal a month from the Press Box.

-2 Midwest Old Threshers gate passes.

-2 Festival of Lights tickets.

USA Wrestling- On April 28^th and 29^th in Las Vegas, Nevada, the 2023 National High School Recruiting Showcase for girls will be taking place. The field features 45 state champions along with 37 girls who were ranked in the most recent National Girls High School Rankings. Karlee Brooks of Arizona is looking to repeat in the 117-pound weight class from last year.

With rigorous qualifications to compete, Iowa will have three wrestlers competing at the end of the month. In the 106-pound weight class, Jasmine Luedtke of Ottumwa will be competing after winning the State Championship for the 110-pound weight class in the state’s inaugural sanctioned tournament. Reanah Utterback of Sigourney-Keota will also be competing in the 106-pound weight class as she took the 110-pound weight class championship in 2022. Lastly, Molly Allen of Riverside High School will be competing in the 112-pound weight class as she was the 105-pound weight class champion in 2022.

The registration deadline is April 23^rd, but the deadline for late online registration is April 27^th at 5 pm. Matches will begin at 10 am on April 28^th with the medal matches scheduled to start at 6 pm on April 29^th.

For a full list of wrestlers competing and a full schedule visit https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2023/April/03/Girls-High-School-Recruiting-Showcase-star-entries.

Mt. Pleasant, IA- Iowa Wesleyan University Wrestling has experienced a lot of success in the last three years, especially on the women’s side of things. The Tigers have three wrestlers with the ability to compete at the World Championships or the Olympics. The issue is the funding has been cut from wrestling due to Iowa Wesleyan University voting to close its doors on May 31^st. Head Coach Jake Kadel opted to establish a Tiger Wrestling Club through USA Wrestling and create a GoFundMe to help alleviate some of the costs for these wrestlers to chase their dreams.

“We’re just trying to gain additional funds to help support that and their efforts because it’s been a goal for them to try and reach the World Championships again.”

Kadel talked about how he was hoping the money generated from the GoFundMe would take some of the stress off the shoulders of the athletes. Kadel talked about why he was doing this and some of the places the money would go towards.

“We had a commitment to our athletes that this was on the table and we signed them up, we got their flights and all that stuff ahead of time and now we don’t have our hotels, the food, and the traveling costs and all of that stuff for like the rental vans anymore…”

The three wrestlers looking to attend are Adaugo Nwachukwu, JoAnna Vanderwood, and Mia Palumbo. Nwachukwu is the defending U20 National Champion at 62KG and went on to win the bronze medal at the World Championships in Bulgaria last year. Vanderwood is a returning U20 All-American at 57KG. Lastly, Palumbo is a 2x NAIA National Runner-Up and previous double Fargo champion as she is registering at 50KG.

The goal of the GoFundMe is $10,000 and at the time of writing this article they have raised $7,830 dollars. Kadel extended his gratitude towards the community,

“I just wanted to say thank you for everybody’s support, obviously this is a super tough time for a lot of people, it’s just not a good situation overall. But we gotta make the most of it and move forward. So, everybody’s support is greatly appreciated and can’t thank everybody enough for everything that they’ve done for us as a program as a whole.”

If you would like to donate to the GoFundMe, then follow the link below.

Link:  Tiger Wrestling Club, organized by Jacob Kadel

High School Track and Field

Mt. Pleasant will be competing at Williamsburg’s Co-Ed Invitational tomorrow, April 4th.

New London will be competing at the WACO relays tomorrow.

Danville and Winfield-Mt. Union will be competing at the Dave Aamodt Relays tomorrow.

The Central Lee girls track and field team will be competing at the Fairfield Track Meet tomorrow and the boys will be competing on April 6th at the Pekin Invitational.

High School Soccer

The Mt. Pleasant boys and girls soccer teams will take on Columbus tonight.

WACO’s boy soccer team’s next game will be tonight against Washington.

The Central Lee boys’ soccer team will take on Mediapolis on April 11th.

High School Golf

Winfield-Mt. Union will host Louisa-Muscatine to open their season today.

The New London boys team will travel to take on Van Buren County today.

The Mt. Pleasant girls team will compete in the Washington Meet, while the boys team will travel to the Fairfield Meet with both competitions taking place today.

Central Lee will host Mediapolis today.

High School Tennis

The Mt. Pleasant girls and boys will go against Keokuk today at home.

Youth Basketball

The next event will be the Easter Weekend 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament held at Iowa Wesleyan University for 3rd graders through adults. For a registration form, contact Coach Ronnie Ashton at 319-931-2896 or Iowa Wesleyan’s Men’s Head Coach Jordan Ashton at 319-461-9023. Registration due by April 4th. It starts at 9am on April 8th.

March Madness

LSU is this year’s NCAA women’s basketball national champion after their 102-85 win over Iowa yesterday. In Iowa’s first appearance to the national championship in program history, Caitlin Clark added on to her record-filled run after scoring 30 points in the contest including splashing 8 three-pointers. Her 1,055 points on the season is 4th most in NCAA Division I history and she is the first player to have over 1,000 points and 300 assists in a season and Clark’s 191 points, 60 assists, and 32 three-pointers are all records for a single women’s NCAA tournament since it began in 1982.

Tonight, San Diego State and Connecticut face off on the men’s side of things. The Huskies are looking for their 5th national championship, while the Aztecs could win their first championship in school history and become the first 5th seed to win in tournament history. Tip off is at 8:20 pm.

Iowa Wesleyan Athletics

The Tiger softball team’s next game will be at home tomorrow, April 4th, against Clarke University. KILJ will be on the call with pregame at 1:45 pm.

The Tiger baseball team will take on Culver-Stockton College tomorrow.

The Tiger golf teams are on day 2 of the Wildcat classic and the men’s team is currently in 4th place. Brevin Wilson and Trace White pace the Tigers as Wilson shot 8 over on day one to position himself in 7th place and White is in 11th place with a score of 10 over par. The women also find themselves in 4th place as a team. Michal Wohlleber and Aubrey Duncan sit in 12th and 13th place, respectively, as Wohlleber is 20 over and Duncan is 22 over par.

The outdoor track and field teams are scheduled to compete at the Rittgers Invitational on April 7th at 10 am.

This Day in Sports History

1988 – Mario Lemieux wins the NHL scoring title, stopping Gretzky’s 7 year streak.

1988 – NJ Devils beat Blackhawks, 4-3 in OT to join the playoffs for first time in their 14-year history.

1993 – 147th Grand National: the race declared void, after 30 of 39 runners carried on racing despite a false start; bookmakers forced to refund estimated an $115 million in bets staked.