High School Basketball
Central Lee will participate in the Rumble on the River tonight with the girls’ team competing against Monroe City at 4:30 pm and the boys’ team facing off against Clopton at 6 pm.
WACO will take on Highland on the road tonight with game one at 6 pm.
Mediapolis will host Winfield-Mt. Union tonight with the girls playing at 6 pm.
Columbus will travel to Pekin tonight with tip-off at 6 pm for the girls’ contest.
Holy Trinity Catholic will travel to Burlington Notre Dame tomorrow, December 19th, with game one at 6 pm.
New London will stay on the road to tangle with Mediapolis tomorrow with the girls’ playing first at 6 pm.
West Burlington will square off on the road against Central Lee tomorrow with the boys’ game following the girls at 7:30 pm.
Danville will host Van Buren County tomorrow with the night starting at 6 pm.
Wapello will compete against Columbus at home tomorrow with game one at 6 pm.
Mt. Pleasant will travel to Washington tomorrow with game one at 6 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 5:45 pm.
Fairfield will face off against Keokuk tomorrow at home with game one at 6 pm.
High School Bowling
Mt. Pleasant will compete in a quad in Burlington tomorrow, December 19th, with Central Lee also in attendance.
High School Wrestling
The Burlington Notre Dame boys’ team will compete in a triangular at home against WACO and Mediapolis tonight.
Mt. Pleasant will travel to Fort Madison for a dual tonight.
The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team will host a quad tonight with Van Buren County and Wapello making the trip.
Fairfield will face off against Burlington tonight at home.
The New London boys’ team will wrestle at the Fort Madison Invitational tomorrow, December 19th.
The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union girls’ team will travel to Prairie on Saturday, December 20th, for an invite.
The WACO and Wapello girls’ teams will compete in the Warhorse Invitational on Saturday.
College Signing
Mt. Pleasant’s Max Sloat will be continuing his football career at Mount Mercy University next year after signing his Letter of Intent yesterday. Sloat had a phenomenal year as the captain helped direct a defense that ranked in the top five for sacks. His 60 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, and a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown led to a First Team All-District honor.
Sloat talked about the process that led to his recruitment,
“So, I talked to them [Mt. Mercy] a little bit during the preseason. They came to one of our practices with West Liberty, where we scrimmaged them. And then two days later, I believe, I hopped on a call with Coach Montoya, who was here, and he said that we like seeing you and we want to keep doing that. So, he offered me there, and that was huge. Built a lot of confidence and I think since then I just started working harder and trying to become the best player I could.”
He will be studying Exercise Science with a focus set on becoming a Physical Therapist in an effort to help those in the future with a dream he’s chasing in the present,
“…I want to work with athletes. I’ve been around them all my life. I feel like I can understand them, not just on the physical side, but the mental side and what’s going on. So, I want to be able to help them and make them chase their dreams as good as they can.”
He will join former Iowa Wesleyan head football coach MD Daniels with an expected kickoff to the inaugural season in the fall of 2026.
Southeast Iowa Playbook
Winfield-Mt. Union was our school of focus for our last episode of the first semester of the 2025-26 school year with special guests Madisen Kellogg and Bowen Thomson joining the program.
As a senior, Madisen talked about what wisdom she’s attempting to impart on the next group of leaders,
“Just go out and have fun, you make so many memories. Win or lose, we still have fun, you’re just here to get better. Some things don’t go your way, but I just like being with my friends and hanging out with them. Getting to play more sports with them and making as many memories as I can for my senior year. If you don’t like the sport, you can go out and try it, you don’t have to stay with it or anything.”
Bowen discussed how he suffers from self-doubt and ways he attempts to alleviate those moments of anxiety,
“Talking with coaches is always a great thing. As I say, my coaches, those three are amazing to talk to. They always make you feel like even if it’s one of the best kids like you’re still in the match. You should never count yourself out so just talking with coaches, talking with teammates like that always helps feel good and gives you inspiration to just go out there and try hard.”
If you missed last night’s episode, then follow this link: Winfield-Mt. Union Episode
Southeastern Community College
The women’s basketball team rallied in the second half but ultimately came up short, losing to Ellsworth Community College last night 54-50. The Blackhawks head into winter break with a 6-8 record.
College Football
#23 Iowa will take on #14 Vanderbilt on December 31st at 11 am for the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, Florida.
College Basketball
The #10 Iowa State women’s team will prepare to host their first conference game of the season against Kansas on Sunday, December 21st, at 1 pm.
The #11 Iowa women’s team will face off against #1 UConn in the Shark Beauty Women’s Champions Classic on Saturday, December 20th, at 12:30 pm.
The Iowa men’s team will travel to play Bucknell on Saturday at 5 pm.
The #4 Iowa State men’s team will stay at home to take on Long Beach State on Sunday at 5 pm.
This Day in Sports History
1932 – The Portsmouth Spartans and the Chicago Bears compete in the first playoff game in NFL history. The Bears beat the Spartans 9-0.
1949 – NFL Championship, the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Los Angeles Rams 14-0; played in driving rain that caused the field to become a mud pit.
1983 – NBA San Diego Clippers ends their 29-game road losing streak.