Sports, August 24th

Mt. Pleasant Football

The Mt. Pleasant Panthers football season starts this Friday on the road against the Fairfield Trojans. The Panthers are looking to avenge their 1-8 season last fall with Junior Payton Hagans looking to lead the team. KILJ will be on the call with Coach Bennett and I heading to Fairfield. The game is scheduled to start at 7:30 pm.

Mt. Pleasant Volleyball

The Panthers will be participating in a Volleyball tournament on Thursday, August 25th with the host school being Ottumwa. The other school that will be in attendance is Davis County.

The Panthers first home game will be September 1st against Albia. The game will start at 7 pm.

Winfield-Mt. Union Volleyball

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union released their preseason rankings for volleyball and Winfield-Mt. Union snuck onto the list in the Class 1A rankings. The Wolves went 22-11 last fall and lost only two players to graduation.

The team returns four All-Conference selections in Bradie Buffington, Keely Malone, Melina Oepping, and Keetyn Townsley. Buffington led the Wolves with 192 kills, Malone followed with 157. Oepping set the hitters up with 526 assists and Townsley kept the ball alive with 458 digs. The Wolves start their season tomorrow, August 25th, at Keokuk.

High School Football

A preview for this week of football, WACO will be at home this Friday as they clash with Springville at 7 pm. WACO made it to the Quarterfinals last fall, and they tout a very talented team this year with seniors Isaac Oswald and Simeon Reichenbach. They both showed out in the teams Week Zero matchup as Oswald tossed three touchdown passes, while Reichenbach did him one better, running for three touchdowns and receiving one.

Winfield-Mt. Union will be traveling to face off against the Moravia Mohawks with kickoff set for 7 pm. The Wolves will be leaning on Cam Buffington as he rushed for 275 yards and 5 touchdowns last Saturday in their Week Zero matchup against Audubon. The Mohawks defeated the New London Tigers last Friday in a close game, 38 to 26.

The New London Tigers originally did not have a game scheduled for this Friday as Calamus-Wheatland had to cancel their Varsity season, but the Tigers will now be traveling to play Clarksville High School this Friday. The game is scheduled for 7 pm.

Iowa Wesleyan Fall Sports

Volleyball and Football begin this Saturday for the Tigers as Volleyball will have a double header against Monmouth College and Knox College at 10:30 am and 12 pm, respectively, while the Tigers will get their football season under way against Tabor College at 1 pm. It is the first ever meeting between the two teams. The game will be broadcasted on KILJ.

The Men’s and Women’s soccer teams officially released their schedules yesterday, August 23rd. The Women’s home opener is August 27th against St. Mary of the Woods, and the Continental Athletic Conference tournament is scheduled for October 14th and 16th.for both the Men’s and Women’s teams. Last year’s Women’s team was the first Iowa Wesleyan team to make it to the postseason in their return to the NAIA.

The Men’s team will have to wait until September 4th to play in front of their home fans when they clash with Clarke University. They start their season tomorrow, August 25th, on the road to face off against St. Ambrose University.

This Day in Sports History

1963 – John Pennel pole-vaulted 17 feet and 3/4 inches becoming the first to break the 17-foot barrier.

2007 – The NFL suspended quarterback Michael Vick (Atlanta Falcons) for his involvement in dogfighting.