Fairfield, IA- With the drama that surrounded Fairfield’s Monday night boys’ basketball contest versus Iowa City High School, here is a dry summary of the event and where the investigation is currently at. The basketball game Monday night was forfeited by Iowa City High after the benches cleared following an altercation between a member of each team near the end of the game. At this point, a spectator and City High Head Coach, Brennan Swayzer, had been ejected from the game. Swayzer was ejected for getting two technical fouls in the game. After the altercation, both teams were sent to the locker room for five minutes to calm down and at the conclusion of the five minutes, City High decided to forfeit the game. The team received a police escort to the bus and out of town.

On Tuesday, Iowa City High School District would then release a statement to their staff, students, and parents stating that during the game an official directed a “racially charged” statement towards Swayzer and due to the “unsafe environment within the gym” decided to forfeit the game. They also stated that they were pleased to see the situation de-escalated the way that it was. City High did report the comment to the Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA), who is investigating the situation.

On Wednesday, Fairfield Community School District released a statement that said they support a safe environment and “commended its student body, athletes, coaches, and staff for demonstrating their community values of inclusion, safety, and respect during the game and subsequent events following the game.” Fairfield stated that they are more than willing to hand over any information needed for the IHSAA investigation.

The final party involved is the Iowa City Athletic Official Association (ICAOA) who provided the referees for the game. In their statement, the officials are “categorically” denying any statement of the kind were made toward the coaches by one of their officials and that “they are shocked and hurt by the accusation.” The ICAOA stated they will fully support the investigation but they are “concerned” how the City High school district did not speak to the officials or the association before releasing their statement. The investigation is currently ongoing.

Girls’ Basketball- The Iowa Girls’ High School Athletic Union released their ninth basketball rankings of the season today. This week’s rankings has another local team join the top 15 and a number one team was dethroned.

For Class 1A, the top 5 teams remained the same with Algona Bishop Garrigan still keeping their top spot followed by Newell-Fonda and North Linn, respectively. Woodbine fell four spots in the rankings from 6^th to 10^th after suffering their first loss of the season in a one-point game to Coon Rapids-Bayard, 46-45. Winfield-Mt. Union remains undefeated at 17-0 as they are led by senior Bradie Buffington, who is averaging 15.1 points per game. Burlington Notre Dame is still ranked 11^th at 14-4 on the season. Stanton and Martensdale-St. Marys dropped from their 14^th and 15^th spots, respectively, and were replaced by AGWSR at 14^th and Earlham, who rounds out the top 15.

Class 2A followed a similar route with the top 7 teams remaining unchanged, led by Dike-New Hartford, and two teams dropping out of the top 15. Treynor tumbled two spots in the rankings from 8^th to 10^th after falling to Logan-Magnolia 42-35 last week, despite leading 28-27 entering the fourth quarter. Nevertheless, North Union had the largest fall going from ranked 10^th to unranked after their 8-game winning streak was snapped by Belmond-Klemme in a three-point overtime loss to the Broncos, who entered the game with a losing record. Sioux Central replaced South Central Calhoun in the rankings at the 14th position. Lastly, Mediapolis re-entered the rankings rounding out the top 15 after going 6-1 in their last seven contests. The Bulldogs are led by Payton Bush, who is averaging 16.2 points per game.

Estherville Lincoln Central is still the top team in Class 3A; however, Unity Christian went from being ranked 2^nd to almost falling out of the top 10 after suffering a 25-point defeat to Sioux Center, who moved five spots up the rankings to 6^th this week, 71-46 after the Warriors went on a 22-8 run to start the game. Center Point-Urbana suffered two losses last week to ranked opponents, Benton and Vinton-Shellsburg, so the Stormin Pointers moved from 10^th to 14^th in the rankings. This was the only class this week to not have any teams drop out of the top 15.

Dallas Center-Grimes stayed ranked at #1 followed by North Polk, but it was Xavier who fell from 3^rd to 5^th after losing to two ranked Class 5A opponents in #3 Waterloo West and #9 Cedar Falls. Indianola fell one spot to 12^th after losing to Clear Creek Amana 47-34, Indianola is one of two teams in all of the classifications to be ranked with a losing record. Marion was the only team to drop from the top 15 as they fell to Solon 58-49 earlier this week.

Class 5A has a new leader after Johnston lost their first game of the season to 4^th ranked Dowling Catholic 62-48. The Dragons are now ranked 2^nd, and Pleasant Valley, at 16-0, is the new top team. Beyond that shock, Iowa City West was the only team to move multiple spots as the Trojans stumbled from 10^th to 13^th after losing to Linn-Mar 58-48, the Lions are now ranked 12^th after being 13^th last week. Ankeny is the second team to be ranked with a losing record as they are 14^th with an 8-9 record. Waukee had the toughest schedule facing three ranked teams in Dowling Catholic, Waukee Northwest, and Ankeny Centennial; unfortunately, the Warriors fell in all of those games and the rankings. Des Moines North takes the last spot in the rankings after being unranked last week as the Polar Bears are currently touting a four-game winning streak.

High School Basketball

Holy Trinity Catholic will travel to play Wapello tonight with the girls’ playing first at 6 pm.

New London will be hosting West Burlington tomorrow, January 27th, with the girls scheduled to play at 6 pm.

The Danville Bears will be hosting Central Lee tomorrow with the girls going at 6 pm.

WACO will host Hillcrest Academy tomorrow with the girls’ going at 6 pm followed by the boys.

Mt. Pleasant will face off against conference rival, Keokuk, tomorrow with the boys’ at home and the girls on the road. KILJ will be on the call for the girls’ team with the pregame show at 7:15 pm.

Winfield-Mt. Union will travel to face off with Columbus tomorrow with the girls’ going at 6 pm followed by the boys.

High School Wrestling

The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team will host Burlington tonight, January 26th.

The Regional Duals for boys’ wrestling has been set with Burlington Notre Dame going against Knoxville in the first round with the winner matching up against Williamsburg for Class 2A on January 31st.

The regional qualifying matches for girls’ wrestling will be taking place January 27th and 28th.

High School Bowling

Mt. Pleasant will host Burlington tomorrow.

Iowa High School Officiating

The Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) announced that Mike Stanley of Harlan has become the fifth Iowan to win the National Active Official of the Year as awarded by the NFHS Officials Association. Stanley has been a registered IHSAA official since 1970, and he has been registered as an official for 44 years for boys’ and girls’ track and field and 42 years in boys’ and girls’ basketball, football, and volleyball.

Iowa Wesleyan Athletics

The women’s basketball team will be back in action tomorrow against Bacone College at the Bacone Classic.

The men’s team is on a 18-game winning streak and getting into conference play at the Bacone Classic tomorrow. The men’s team is moving up the rankings from 25th to 23rd in the NAIA. This is the first time the Tigers have been ranked since the 2010-2011 season. The biggest win of the season for this team was a home game against then ranked #13th William Penn University 85-81 with Carver Locke leading the scoring that night with 16 points.

The men’s wrestling team defeated Waldorf University in a dual last night 24-14. The next competition for the Tigers will be January 31st against William Penn University.

The women’s wrestling team’s  next scheduled competition is tomorrow at the 2023 Spire Classic.

The Tigers next indoor meet will be the Grinnell Invitational on January 28th.

Head Baseball Coach, Blake Beaber, will be joining us on Tiger Nation this morning at 9 am.

This Day in Sports History

1960 – High-school basketball sensation Danny Heater scores 135 points in one game.

1991 – Jan Stenerud becomes 1st pure placekicker to make NFL Hall of Fame.

1995 – With a record 6,254,427 ballots cast by fans in NBA All-Star Voting, Detroit’s Grant Hill becomes the first rookie to lead all NBA players in All-Star votes received, earning #1 on 1,289,585 ballots.

Iowa Wesleyan- The men’s basketball team for Iowa Wesleyan has moved up the rankings from 25th to 23rd in the NAIA. This is the first time the Tigers have been ranked since the 2010-2011 season. The Tigers are 19-1 on the season and riding an 18-game winning streak, while also being 3-0 in Continental Athletic Conference play.

The biggest win of the season for this team was a home game against then ranked #13th William Penn University 85-81 with Carver Locke leading the scoring that night with 16 points. The Statesmen are now ranked 9th in the NAIA. The latest win for the Tigers came against Haskell Indian Nations in an 81-60 conference victory.

The Tigers will continue conference play this Friday and Saturday, January 27th and 28th, in the Bacone Classic. Game one is against Bacone College at 7 pm Friday night.

Iowa Officiating- The Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) announced that Mike Stanley of Harlan has become the fifth Iowan to win the National Active Official of the Year as awarded by the NFHS Officials Association. Stanley has been a registered IHSAA official since 1970, and he has been registered as an official for 44 years for boys’ and girls’ track and field and 42 years in boys’ and girls’ basketball, football, and volleyball.

Mike Stanley has worked as meet marshal for the Drake Relays for 15 years, once at the NCAA Division I National Championships, and multiple NCAA Division III National Championships and Iowa Conference Championships. Lewie Curtis, the IHSAA director of officials, had this to say about Stanley,

“Mike Stanley’s name is synonymous with high school track and field in Iowa. His excellence as an official is unparalleled and he is most deserving of this prestigious award. Mike’s service to the youth of Iowa is seen not only through his life’s work as an educational leader, but also as a sports official.”

One of the 2022-2023 selections for 2022-2023 Iowa Sports Official of the Year was Dell Wagner of Muscatine for Girls’ Cross Country.