High School Basketball

Mt. Pleasant will host New London January 2nd with the girls starting at 6 pm. The boys’ team is currently 5-3 on the season and the girls’ team is 4-6.

The New London Tigers girls’ team’s next game is January 1st against Van Buren County. The boys’ team is 6-2 being led by Blaise Porter and Kade Benjamin.

The Winfield-Mt. Union Wolves girls’ basketball team will travel to Lone Tree January 6th and the boys’ team will face off against Hillcrest Academy on January 3rd at 7:30 pm. The girls’ team is ranked within the top 15 of Class 1A and tout a 10-0 record.

Danville will host West Burlington January 6th with the girls starting at 6 pm and the boys to follow. The girls’ team goes into the break 5-5 on the season while the boys’ team touts a 7-2 record.

The WACO Warriors next game will be January 3rd at home against Louisa-Muscatine with the girls starting at 6 pm and the boys at 7:30 pm. The boys’ team is ranked fifth in Class 1A touting an undefeated record of 8-0, while the girls are off to a strong start as well at 6-2.

The Holy Trinity Catholic Crusaders will have to wait until January 6th to host Central Lee with the girls going at 6:30 pm. For the Crusaders, the girls’ team is 4-4 and the boys’ team is 3-6 heading into winter break. The Hawks girls’ team is also 4-4 with the boys’ team 2-7 after their last win over Columbus 68-46.

High School Wrestling

The Mt. Pleasant boys team will be back in action January 12th when they travel to face off with Washington. The girls team will compete at the Highland Tournament January 6th.

High School Bowling

The Mt. Pleasant Panthers girls and boys teams next competition will be January 5th against Washington at the Iris Bowling Center.

Iowa Wesleyan Athletics

The men’s basketball team, now 14-1 and rocking a 13-game winning streak, will have to wait until January 6th to compete against Crowley’s Ridge College for a CAC Classic. Coach Ashton knows that this team still has not hit their peak.

The women’s basketball team will look to have Coach Williamson break the record for most career victories in Iowa Wesleyan history December 29th on the road against Bellevue University for the Bellevue Classic at 12:30 pm.

The women’s wrestling team will compete December 29th and 30th at the Soldier Salute Tournament.

The men’s wrestling team will have to wait until next year to wrestle at Central Methodist University on January 10th.

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

This Day in Sports History

1962 – 1,000,000th NBA point scored.

1969 – Pete Maravich sets an NCAA record by hitting 30 of 31 foul shots, and scores 46 points to lead LSU to a 98-89 victory over Georgia.

2019 – New Orleans wide receiver Michael Thomas sets NFL record for most catches in a season with his 144th as Saints beat Tennessee 38-28; breaks 17-year old record held by Marvin Harrison (143).

Prep Sports- The IHSAA board met last Friday and made a big move for high school soccer along with releasing the rankings for the five classes of boys basketball.

Firstly, basketball and bowling had their winter classifications approved and they will be ready for the postseason come February. The wrestling postseason manual was updated due to the offseason changes such as: the elimination of sectional tournaments, addition of qualifiers to the traditional tournament, and changes to duals in state tournament site and regional qualifying.

The big kicker for the meeting was the announcement that soccer was going to add Class 4A in 2023. IHSAA executive director Tom Keating stated that the move should add more parity to the classifications,

“With the growth of soccer, particularly in our smaller schools, adding an additional class will reduce the disparity in enrollment in each class, providing for a more competitive season and state tournament series…”

The classification will be divided as such: Class 4A will be the largest 36 schools, Class 3A will be the next 40 schools, Class 2A will be the next 48 schools, and Class 1A will take the remaining schools.

Boy’s Basketball Rankings

Waukee Northwest holds the top spot in Class 4A, Cedar Rapids Xavier sits atop Class 3A, Central Lyon is the top dog in Class 2A, and Grand View Christian is the king of Class 1A. West Burlington is ranked 4th in Class 2A thanks to a strong 8-0 start to the season. WACO is 5th in Class 1A with the Warriors still undefeated to start their season.

High School Basketball

The Mt. Pleasant boys’ basketball team lost a heartbreaker at the buzzer as Burlington came out on top 56-54. It was a back-and-forth affair the entire evening with the Panthers at one point holding a 10-point lead. However, the Grayhounds were up two points heading into the last quarter of play and they were ready to put it away until Payton Hagans was fouled and sent to the line down 53-52 with four seconds to go. Hagans made both of the one-and-one free throws, but the Grayhounds would spoil the day for the Panthers making a three with no time on the clock to win. Hagans led Mt. Pleasant with 19 points. The Panthers are now 5-3 on the season and fell to 3-1 in conference play.

The girls’ team clobbered the Grayhounds at home 49-13 as the Panther defense allowed only 6 points in the first half. Andrea Lopreato led the scoring with 16 points and Tristian Shull aided the effort with 11 points. Both teams will host New London January 2nd with the girls starting at 6 pm.

The Winfield-Mt. Union Wolves girls’ basketball team continued their trail of dominance defeating Highland 57-23 as the Wolves did not allow a point in the first quarter. They moved to 10-0 on the season after the win. The girls’ team will travel to Lone Tree January 6th and the boys’ team will face off against Hillcrest Academy on January 3rd at 7:30 pm.

Danville swept the night against Cardinal with the girls’ team winning 60-45 and the boys’ team crushing the Comets 69-30. The Bears will host West Burlington January 6th with the girls starting at 6 pm and the boys to follow.

The WACO girls basketball team took over in the fourth quarter outscoring Lone Tree 21 to 5 leading to the 61-35 victory. The Warriors next game will be January 3rd at home against Louisa-Muscatine with the girls starting at 6 pm and the boys at 7:30 pm.

The New London Tigers girls’ team’s next game is January 1st against Van Buren County.

The Holy Trinity Catholic Crusaders will have to wait until January 6th to host Central Lee with the girls going at 6:30 pm.

High School Wrestling

The Mt. Pleasant boys team will be back in action January 12th when they travel to face off with Washington. The girls team will compete at the Highland Tournament January 6th.

High School Bowling

The Mt. Pleasant Panthers girls and boys teams next competition will be January 5th against Washington at the Iris Bowling Center.

Iowa Wesleyan Athletics

The men’s basketball team, now 14-1 and rocking a 13-game winning streak, will have to wait until January 6th to compete against Crowley’s Ridge College for a CAC Classic.

The women’s basketball team will look to have Coach Williamson break the record for most career victories in Iowa Wesleyan history December 29th on the road against Bellevue University for the Bellevue Classic at 12:30 pm.

The women’s wrestling team will compete December 29th and 30th at the Soldier Salute Tournament.

The men’s wrestling team will have to wait until next year to wrestle at Central Methodist University on January 10th.

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

This Day in Sports History

1891 – First game of basketball, based on rules created by James Naismith, played by 18 students in Springfield, Massachusetts.

1937 – Chicago Blackhawks left wing Paul Thompson becomes first player in NHL history to score a goal against his brother; scores on goaltender Cecil Thompson of the Boston Bruins with just 9 seconds left in regulation; Bruins win though, 2-1.

1969 – Vince Lombardi (Washington Commanders) coached his last football game, a 20-10 loss to the Cowboys in Dallas, for a 7-5-2 season and 105-35-6 career record.