Boys’ District Basketball
In Class 1A Substate 5 District 9, defense was the name of the game in the semifinal matchups.
#4 Burlington Notre Dame kept the pressure on and ran the court against Danville last night in a dominant 69-35 showing. The Nike defense tabbed double digit steals, which included seven from Shay Stephens. Head coach Dan Kies has made sure his team knows that highlights start on defense,
“Yeah, I mean, we talk about it all the time all year long. The guys know that their defense, if they play good defense and they ramp it up defensively, that creates offense. So, we’re much better getting up and down the floor and not being packed into a half-court game. So yeah, it’s kind of what we want to do.”
Stephens led the way with 21 points, while Kellan Porter aided the effort with 17 points.
Holy Trinity Catholic limited Pekin to just 16 second half points in their 46-38 victory last night. Jack Ragar had another big game, tabbing 17 points in the effort.
In a rematch of last year’s district championship, Burlington Notre Dame will host Holy Trinity Catholic on Tuesday, February 24th, at 7 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.
In District 10, Hillcrest Academy will travel to Calamus-Wheatland on Tuesday at 7 pm.
In Class 2A Substate 5 District 9, Central Lee was held scoreless for the entire second quarter against West Burlington, yet was still able to escape the slugfest with a narrow 44-39 victory. Owen and Kaden Swan each scored 11 points for the Hawks, while Ayden Figuereo put up 12 points for the Falcons.
West Burlington completed the season with a 13-9 record.
Central Lee will compete for the District Championship on Tuesday at 7 pm against Regina Catholic on the road.
In Substate 5 District 10, Mediapolis threw everything they had at Mid-Prairie and ended up short of the mark, losing 63-56. The Bulldogs finished the season with a 15-7 record.
Mid-Prairie will head to Northeast for the District Championship at 7 pm on Tuesday.
In Class 3A Substate 4, #5 Mt. Pleasant will venture to #4 Davenport Assumption for their first round matchup on Monday, February 23rd, at 7 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.
Substate 5 houses the rest of our local teams with #8 Fairfield traveling to #1 Pella. #4 Burlington will host #5 Washington, while #3 Keokuk will take on #6 Fort Madison at home for a pair of Southeast Conference clashes.
High School Wrestling
The 2026 Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) held their second day of the state tournament yesterday and eleven of our local wrestlers were able to advance to the quarterfinals. Here’s some of the highlights.
In Class 1A for the 106-pound weight class, Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union’s #8 Justin Knipfer was able to pin his opponent in the second period in his only match of the day. He will square off against #1 Ty Martin of Don Bosco.
In the 113-pound weight class, WACO’s #2 Ian Maize took down #15 Jaxon Shew of North Butler-Clarksville in less than a minute to advance to the quarterfinals. He will wrestle #7 Leyton Elmquist of Audubon.
In the 157-pound weight class, #6 Cohen Wolford of Wapello defeated #11 Ty Christensen of Don Bosco by major decision to advance. He will take on #3 Caleb Swedin of GTRA.
Battling in the consolation bracket is Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union’s Dakota Aney (113-pound weight class) and Trevor Phillips (175-pound weight class), along with WACO’s Rydge Sterna (120-pound weight class).
In Class 2A, Burlington Notre Dame had six of their seven wrestlers punch their ticket to the quarterfinals in Kohen Dietzenbach (113-pound weight class), Rowan Berndt (120-pound weight class), Ryan Rose (126-pound weight class), Colt Boyles (132-pound weight class), Jared Glendening (138-pound weight class), and Kael Cook (150-pound weight class).
Joining the chase for the championship is Fairfield’s Dain Burkhart, who escaped with a narrow 8-5 decision victory, and Kyler Crow of Mediapolis, who pinned his opponent in 35 seconds, to advance to the 175-pound weight class quarterfinals.
Lastly, Mt. Pleasant’s #14 Levi Evans started his day with a victory by fall over #19 Noah Garcia, but was sent to the consolation bracket. He bounced back to defeat #20 Teagan Alesch of Algona by technical fall. He will wrestle #11 Jaron Jacobs of Greene County today.
For a full recap of day two, click on this link: Classes 1A and 2A Results
Girls’ Regional Basketball
In Class 2A Region 8, Danville will travel to Regina Catholic tonight at 7 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.
For Class 3A Region 6, #8 Mediapolis will travel to #6 PCM with tip-off tomorrow, February 21st, at 7 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.
For Class 4A Region 6, Keokuk will venture to #6 Central DeWitt tomorrow at 7 pm.
High School Bowling
Keokuk’s Chase Hemann will compete in the Class 2A individual state tournament on Wednesday, February 25th.
College Signing
Mt. Pleasant’s Ella Ensminger continued the legacy of Panther throwers by signing her letter of intent yesterday to continue her track and field career at Wartburg College, where she will be studying business.
Ensminger discussed how special Mt. Pleasant has been for her development,
“I wouldn’t wanna be anywhere else or at any other school. Hit the jackpot with both these coaches. I had some great role models along the way, Jadan Brumbaugh being one of those. Learning from her in my middle school years, I wish I would have gotten to throw with her. And then just some of my other teammates that we’ve all went hand in hand with having some really good runs. And yeah, looking forward to this season for sure.”
Ensminger is a two-time state qualifier, who claimed 8th place at last year’s state competition.
Southeastern Community College
The women’s basketball team will travel to Northeast Community College tomorrow, February 21st, at 1 pm.
The men’s basketball team will host Moberly Area Community College tomorrow at 7 pm.
College Basketball
The Iowa State women’s team will look to upset #12 TCU on Sunday, February 22nd, at 3 pm on the road.
The #13 Iowa women’s team rolled past Purdue last night, 83-74. Ava Heiden collected 21 points and 13 rebounds for a double-double. The Hawkeyes will host #6 Michigan on Sunday at 11 am.
The Iowa men’s team will travel to #24 Wisconsin on Sunday for their 3rd straight ranked opponent with tip-off at 3 pm.
The #6 Iowa State men’s team will travel to BYU tomorrow, February 21st, at 9:30 pm. KILJ 98.5 FM and AM 1130 will have the call.
This Day in Sports History
1930 – Clint Benedict (Montreal Maroons) became the first goalie to wear a mask in the NHL. Benedict wore the mask temporarily during an injury.
1952 – Emmett L. Ashford became the first Black umpire in organized baseball. He was authorized to be a substitute in the Southwestern International League.
2011 – 53rd Daytona 500: 20-year-old Trevor Bayne, driving for Wood Brothers Racing, wins to become the youngest Daytona 500 winner.