High School Football- The Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) approved a football classification amendment that will take in a socioeconomic factor to figure out football classification starting in the 2023-2024 academic year. The amendment was first approved by the IHSAA’s Board of Control, then 80 percent of the voting schools agreed to the change.

The IHSAA will be using a school’s free and reduced lunch percentages along with their enrollment to figure out the final classification numbers. IHSAA executive director Tom Keating believes this will help with parity in the sport of football. The way free and reduced lunch percentages will adjust the classification is 40 percent of the school’s free or reduced lunch count will be reduced from their annual enrollment. An example would be if a school annual enrollment is 200 students and 100 students are on free or reduced lunch, then that school will have a count of 160 for final classification.

Keating added that they are hoping to fix the competitive imbalance.

“The State Board recognized the historical competitive challenges, supported by the data our staff assembled, which some of our schools have experienced.” 

The IHSAA will also be redistricting football this offseason, then releasing new schedules for the two-year cycle before the 2023-2024 season begins.

Prep Girls’ Basketball- It is time for the weekly Iowa Girls High School Basketball Rankings complied by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union. This week saw two local team drop out of the top 15, the Wolves gaining traction, and a couple top teams fall down the rankings

Class 1A had another week of stability with no teams dropping out of the top 15 and Algona Bishop Garrigan retaining the top spot. The only movement was Winfield-Mt. Union leapfrogging Burlington Notre Dame to be ranked 10^th and the Nikes falling to 11^th. The Wolves had a big win over 2A ranked #13 Mediapolis 54-38 with Bradie Buffington notching a 21-point 10-rebound double-double. Burlington Notre Dame has bounced back nicely from their three-game losing streak to go on a three-game winning streak including a big win over 2A ranked #12 West Burlington 48-44, fending off a fourth quarter comeback.

Dike-New Hartford, Central Lyon, and Sibley-Ocheyedan still hold the top three spots in Class 2A, respectively. Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont hopped one spot up the rankings from 5^th to 4^th after Treynor lost to Underwood 41-38 last Friday. Treynor fell to 9^th and Underwood went from 9^th to 7^th. The biggest news was three teams dropping out of the top 15 in #10 West Monona, #12 West Burlington, and #13 Mediapolis. North Union went from unranked to 11^th, South Central Calhoun took the vacant 12^th spot, and Hinton rounds out the top 15 as the newly ranked team.

In a top five matchup last week between Solon and Benton Community, it was 4^th ranked Solon who came out on top 36-35 with Callie Levin leading the scoring for the Spartans with 13 points. The 2^nd ranked Bobcats fell to 4^th and Solon moved one spot up to 3^rd. Teams shifted around in the bottom half of the rankings, but no teams dropped out of the top 15 for Class 3A.

Class 4A saw the most shocking movement with Cedar Rapids Xavier falling from the top spot to 3^rd after losing two straight heartbreakers to 12^th ranked Iowa City West 58-57 and 3^rd ranked North Polk 65-62. Dalla Center-Grimes takes over #1 spot followed by North Polk. Pella jumped five spots in the rankings from 15^th to 10^th after defeating #8 Indianola 54-43. Indianola is ranked 11^th and the only team with a losing record in the top 15 in any of the classes. Winterset was the only team to drop out of the top 15 with Lewis Central taking the final spot sporting an 8-3 record.

The top four teams remained the same in Class 5A with Johnston and Pleasant Valley at #1 and #2, respectively, and they are both 13-0. Waukee Northwest went from 9^th to unranked after a three-game losing streak to ranked opponents: #4 Valley, #7 Ankeny Centennial, and #6 Dowling Catholic. Cedar Falls skipped over Iowa City Liberty to be ranked 14^th after going on a 4-game win streak including a win over 10^th ranked Linn-Mar 53-45.

Iowa Wesleyan- It took a 15-game winning streak, but the men’s basketball team has finally cracked the NAIA Top 25 at the #25 spot. One of the marquee wins for the Tigers this season came against William Penn University in a fierce home matchup that ended 85-81. Hakeem Odunsi and Carver Locke led the Tigers in points that game with 16 apiece. The Statesmen were ranked 13^th at the time and since that game they fell down the rankings to 17^th but have since regained their 13^th ranking in the latest poll.

In Jordan Ashton’s first year at the helm of the program, the Tigers have been able to dominate the competition winning by double digits in 11 of their 17 games. Additionally, during this winning streak the Tigers have beaten the competition by an average of nearly 20 points.

A big reason for the team’s success is their depth, always allowing fresh players to come into the game and play aggressively. Moreover, the leadership of graduate student, Allante Pickens, has allowed for this team to flourish as he is 2^nd on the team in points with 211 and freshman phenom, Henry Shannon, has provided the height and athleticism down low that has allowed him to lead the Tigers in points with 216 and blocks with 26.

The Tigers will be back in action tomorrow, January 13^th, at 7 pm to face off against Baptist Bible College.

(Photo Courtesy: Chad Edeker // WACO Athletic Director)

(Pictured: Front: – William Cornelious, Jocelyn, Amber Cornelious, Willow Cornelious)

(Back – Mark and Karen Fulton, Clair Brock, Cheryl Brock, Brett Fulton)

WACO/Columbus Softball- Jocelyn Fulton will officially be continuing her softball career at the collegiate level after signing with Hawkeye Community College. She has been a four-year starter for the WACO/Columbus softball team going back to her first year in 8^th grade.

Fulton is a career 0.361 hitter and responsible for 49 runs. She has also belted 12 home runs and brought home 31 runs. Fulton is efficient on the base path having stole 27 bases on 33 attempts in her four years. Last year was her best season; Fulton batted 0.500, sending 8 balls over the fence, knocking in 16 runs, scoring 28 times herself, and stealing 13 bags on 14 attempts.

Jocelyn Fulton will be studying Dental Hygiene in the fall and finishing up her senior season in the summer.

High School Basketball

WACO will be traveling to play Hillcrest Academy tonight, January 12th, with the girls playing first at 6 pm. Ellah Kissell is one of the top scorers in Class 1A with 239 points on the season. The boys’ team is still undefeated at 11-0 entering this matchup.

The Winfield-Mt. Union Wolves will be traveling to play Pekin tomorrow, January 13th, with the girls playing at 6 pm. The girls’ team is currently 14-0 on the season, while the boys tout a 10-2 record.

Danville will be hosting Mediapolis tomorrow with the boys playing at 7:30 pm and the girls playing at 6 pm. The girls’ team comes into the game at 5-7 and the boy’s team is 9-3.

Holy Trinity Catholic will travel to play West Burlington tomorrow night with the girls scheduled to start at 6 pm and the boys to follow. The girl’s game will feature a ranked Falcons team, while the boy’s game will have an undefeated Falcons team take on the Crusaders.

The Central Lee Hawks will host New London tomorrow with the girls scheduled to play at 6 pm. This will be their second time playing one another this year with the Hawks winning the girl’s game and the Tigers winning the boy’s game.

Mt. Pleasant will be facing off against conference rival Fairfield, tomorrow with the girls on the road and the boys at home, both teams playing at 7:30 pm. KILJ will be covering the girls game with pregame scheduled to start at 7:15 pm.

High School Wrestling

The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team will compete against Washington tonight, January 12th, on the road.

The Regional Qualifier for girls wrestling will start on January 27th and run through the 28th with the State Tournament to take place on February 2nd and 3rd.

New London will be celebrating their senior night tonight. Dominic Lopez and Trent Wilkerson will be honored as they have put together outstanding careers at New London with Lopez turning in two 3^rd place finishes at state.

High School Bowling

Mt. Pleasant will host Fairfield next Thursday, January 19th.

WACO Signing

Jocelyn Fulton will continue to play softball at the collegiate level after signing with Hawkeye Community College. She has been a four-year starter for the Columbus-WACO softball team and will be studying Dental Hygiene.

Iowa Wesleyan Athletics

The men’s and women’s basketball teams will travel to play Baptist Bible College tomorrow with the women playing at 5:30 pm and the men at 7 pm.

The men’s wrestling team will look to bounce back as they wrestle Saturday, January 14th, at the Cliff Keen-Mike Duroe Invitational at Cornell College in Mount Vernon.

The women’s wrestling team will have another ranked match ahead of them as they travel to face off against Augsburg University on Sunday, January 15th.

The Tiger’s next indoor meet will be the Dutch Athletics Classic on January 14th.

Dr. Sofia Adams joined us on Tiger Nation this morning where we discussed her new position of Head Coach of Iowa Wesleyan Women’s Soccer team. Coach Adams revealed how much she cares about her players when talking about her favorite part of coaching:

“I would say coaching, seeing someone who wasn’t able to do something then be able to do it to me is more rewarding than any soccer goal that I have ever scored. So, I think I almost find more reward as being a coach and seeing them be able to tap into their potential.”

This Day in Sports History

1958 – The NCAA adds 2-point conversions to football scoring.

1966 – Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach records his 1,000th NBA career victory (regular season and playoffs), 114-102 over the Los Angeles Lakers in Boston.

1992 – Highest scoring NCAA basketball game; Troy State Trojans defeat DeVry Hoyas 258-149 in Troy, Alabama.