High School Track and Field

Mt. Pleasant’s meet at Williamsburg has been canceled tonight.

The WACO relays have been canceled tonight.

Danville and Winfield-Mt. Union’s track meet at Mediapolis today has been canceled.

The Central Lee girls track meet at Fairfield tonight has been canceled and the boys will be competing on April 6th at the Pekin Invitational.

High School Soccer

The Mt. Pleasant boys and girls soccer teams dominated Columbus last night. The boys team found themselves tied at the end of the first half, but got the offense going in the second half to net three shots to win 3-0. Jonah Zimmer had 2 goals on the night with Kolbein Ostby adding a goal on a penalty kick.

The girls did not want to go back to overtime as they put up 5 goals in the second half to win 7-0 against the Wildcats. Charice Auwerda had quite the night, finishing with a hat-trick and an assist. Hailey Parrott put two in the back of the net. Elly Manning and Aurora Hummell each scored a goal. The girls will travel to play Washington on April 6th, while the boys will be at home against the Demons.

WACO’s boy soccer team’s next game will be against Highland on April 6th.

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

High School Golf

Winfield-Mt. Union hosted Louisa-Muscatine to open their season and the girls and boys teams both came away with victories. The boys team for the Wolves had 33 less strokes on the day as Cater Loyd (+5), Jake Edwards (+9), and Andrew Brown (+8) all shot under 10 over on the day. The varsity girls team shot 40 strokes under with Isabell Kann shooting the best on the day at 14 over. Lily Freeman and Alli Humphries both shot 55 on the day for the Wolves. Their next competition will be on April 13th against Wapello.

The New London boys and girls team will face off against Wapello on April 11th.

The Mt. Pleasant girls team will compete in the Fairfield Meet, while the boys team will travel to the Washington Meet with both competitions taking place April 6th.

The Central Lee boys team fell to Mediapolis 194 to 177 yesterday in total strokes. The top golfer for the Hawks was Mylan Lowenberg who shot a 43 on the day followed by Bo Herdrich with a 48. The Hawks will compete in the Van Buren County Meet on April 11th.

High School Tennis

The Mt. Pleasant girls team fell to Keokuk 8-1 yesterday. The lone victory of the match went to Bethany Drury in the #5 singles position in a commanding 8-2 fashion. The Panthers next meet will be April 6th against Fort Madison.

The Mt. Pleasant boys team handled business against Keokuk, sweeping the Chiefs 9-0. The most sets won by the Chiefs was two as Jake Ensminger, Elliot Cook, Tim Cam, and Gavin Ross all had at least one set where they shut out their opponent with Ensminger, Cam, and Ross tallying two. The Panthers will take on Fort Madison at home on April 6th.

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

March Madness is in the books and despite a resilient San Diego State team, UConn is the second #4 seed to win the national championship. It is also the Huskies 5th championship in school history. Tristen Newton led the Huskies in points with 19 on the night.

Iowa Wesleyan Athletics

The Tiger softball team’s game against Clarke University has been canceled this afternoon.

The Tiger baseball team will take on Culver-Stockton today.

The Tiger golf teams finished up play in the Wildcat Classic yesterday and the men’s team stayed put and finished in 4th place. Brevin Wilson followed a strong day one with a better day two, shooting 13 over across the two days as he finished tied for 6th place. Trace White was the next Tiger as he finished tied for 14th shooting 19 over par. Culver-Stockton won the men’s side of things. Quincy won for the women with the Tigers also claiming 4th place. Aubrey Duncan and Michal Wohlleber stayed connected at the hip as they both shot 40 over par to finish tied for 12th place. The next event for the Tigers will be the SCC Invitational on April 10th.

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

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 three wrestlers looking to attend are Adaugo Nwachukwu, JoAnna Vanderwood, and Mia Palumbo. 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.” If you would like to donate to the GoFundMe there is a link in the article on kilj.com.

Link: Tiger Wrestling Club, organized by Jacob Kadel

This Day in Sports History

1911 – Hugh Chalmers, automaker, suggests the idea of baseball MVP.

1948 – 84-year-old Connie Mack challenges 78-year-old Clark Griffith to a race from 3rd base to home; it ends in a tie.

1983 – 45th NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: North Carolina State beats Houston, 54-52; Wolfpack win with buzzer-beating dunk by Lorenzo Charles off a desperation 30 foot shot from Dereck Whittenburg.

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.