High School Basketball
The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team held strong for a half of play, but Mediapolis ran away with the 64-48 victory over the weekend behind 39 second half points. Abi Shelangoski led the Panthers with 12 points, while Abby Carthey collected an 11 point/11 rebound double-double. The Bulldogs had Ellah Wagenbach tab 18 points.
The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team could not parlay Friday’s conference win into consecutive victories as Mediapolis pulled off a 71-50 win. Aiden Humble touted 18 points for the Panthers, while Will Luttenegger tallied 19 points in the win.
The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team will host Fairfield tomorrow, February 4th, at the Mt. Pleasant Central Campus at 7:30 pm.
The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team will travel to Keokuk on Friday, February 7th, with tip-off at 7:30 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call.
Burlington Notre Dame split their non-conference showdown with Fort Madison over the weekend with the girls’ team falling 44-28 and the boys’ team sneaking away with a 59-54 win. Daisy Hazell scored seven points for the Nikes in the girls’ game, while the boys’ team buried 21 free throws with Shay Stephens leading the scoring with 18 points. Burlington Notre Dame will take on Regina Catholic tomorrow at home with game one at 6 pm.
The Van Buren County boys’ team lost to Clark County over the weekend 71-64.
Central Lee was swept by Keokuk over the weekend with the girls losing 69-28 and the boys falling 67-38.
The New London girls’ team will celebrate senior night tonight against Cardinal at 7:30 pm, while the boys’ team will face off against Twin Cedars tomorrow at 7:30 pm at home for senior night.
West Burlington will compete tomorrow against Burlington with game time at 6 pm.
Columbus will face off against Pekin tomorrow with the night starting at 6 pm.
WACO will host Winfield-Mt. Union 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.
The Fairfield boys’ team will face off against Holy Trinity Catholic tomorrow at home with tip-off at 7:30 pm.
The Southeast Iowa Super Conference shootout will tip-off on Thursday, February 6th, for the girls and Friday for the boys.
High School Wrestling
The Southeast Iowa Super Conference tournament commenced over the weekend and Burlington Notre Dame regained the crown with a dominating 309 points, while Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union finished with 156.5 points for a distant second place.
The Nikes had nine individual conference champions in Kohen Dietzenbach, Rowan Berndt, Colt Boyles, Jared Glendening, CJ Davis, Kaiden Dietzenbach, Kael Cook, Dirk Boyles, and Blake Wilson as they all went 3-0.
The Wildcats were led by the Zapiensz’s as Markel took the crown in the 215-pound weight class and Itai finished with the gold in the 285-pound weight class. Bowen Thomson took home the silver in the 132-pound weight class.
Mediapolis finished in fourth place overall as Kyler Crow continued his undefeated season in the 175-pound weight class with a win by fall in the championship match.
WACO’s trio led the charge as Louden Huisenga took the crown in the 190-pound weight class. Gage Samo and Ian Maize grabbed second place in their respective weight classes, as Maize lost on a tiebreaker to Kohen Dietzenbach.
Wapello’s lone conference champion was Cohen Wolford with a 12-7 decision win over Tate Sherwood of Burlington Notre Dame in the 144-pound weight class. Elijah Westercamp took third place for Van Buren County and New London had Gage Burden and Gavin Menke-Bailey claim second place in their respective weight classes.
The Fairfield boys’ team hosted the Southern Iowa Classic over the weekend and ended with the team high in points with 194, while Mt. Pleasant grabbed 4th place with 151.5 points.
For the Trojans, six wrestlers captured the gold in their respective weight classes in Cael McCabe, Aiden Westercamp, Zandrik Allison, Cason Miller, Dain Burkhart, and Dre Smithburg.
The Panthers were led by Ramzy Davis (150-pound weight class) and Payton Walker (190-pound weight class) as both wrestlers collected 4-0 records and first place in their respective weight classes.
The boys’ district meet is scheduled for Saturday, February 15th, with Van Buren County, WACO, and Wapello traveling to Pleasantville and New London will head to Wilton in Class 1A. For Class 2A, Burlington Notre Dame, Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union, and Fairfield will compete in Centerville and Mt. Pleasant and Mediapolis will venture to Williamsburg.
The girls’ state tournament is scheduled to begin on Thursday, February 6th, in Coralville. KILJ will be giving live updates, following our 20 local wrestlers throughout the tournament.
The matchups for the boys’ regional dual has been set and scheduled for tomorrow, February 4th, at 6 pm with the top eight teams moving on to the State Dual Tournament on Saturday, February 8th, in Coralville.
In Class 2A at Davenport Assumption, #12 Burlington Notre Dame will face off against #11 Mount Vernon in the semifinals with the winner moving on to face #6 Assumption to see who will advance to state.
Dan Gable Ms. and Mr. Wrestler of the Year
IAwrestle and Iowa Corn in coordination with the Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association (IWCOA) has released the top 15 wrestlers for the Dan Gable Ms. and Mr. Wrestler of the Year Awards and southeast Iowa has three competitors in the running.
In Class 1A, WACO’s Louden Huisenga is a strong contender for the award at the 190-pound weight class. He has compiled a 25-0 record against fellow 190-pound contenders.
Over in Class 2A, Kaiden Dietzenbach of Burlington Notre Dame is back in the top 15 after being placed on the list last year. The Nike is continuing his reign of terror on the area in the 138-pound weight class with a perfect 27-0 record, so far through his senior campaign.
Fairfield’s Cael McCabe is also up for the award in Class 2A as the junior boasts a 22-2 record in the 113-pound weight class. McCabe has won the Bob Murphy and Bill Van Horn Invitationals this season.
Fans can vote once per list at Facebook.com/IAwrestle for their favorite wrestler in each category until February 9th, when the list will be narrowed down to the top 7. The next round of voting, from February 10th to February 23rd, will determine the top 3 finalists, with the winner announced at the banquet on February 27th at the Fareway Conference Center in Boone, Iowa, on February 27th at 11:30AM.
High School Bowling
Fairfield will host a triangular at home today.
Mt. Pleasant will travel to Keokuk tomorrow, February 4th.
The girls’ state qualifying meets are scheduled for Monday, February 17th, and Fairfield and West Burlington will compete at Davis County, while Mt. Pleasant will travel to Keokuk.
The boys’ state qualifying meets will take place on Tuesday, February 18th, and Mt. Pleasant will make the trip to Keokuk to compete.
Southeastern Community College
The men’s basketball team lost to Triton College over the weekend 71-60. The Blackhawks will travel to Marshalltown Community College on Wednesday, February 5th, with tip-off at 7 pm.
College Basketball
The #3 Iowa State men’s team suffered an embarrassing upset over the weekend, losing 80-61 to unranked Kansas State. Tamin Lipsey scored 20 points in the loss. The Cyclones will be tasked with #11 Kansas tonight on the road with game time at 8 pm.
The Iowa men’s team will compete against Purdue tomorrow, February 4th, at home at 6 pm.
It was a perfect day for the Iowa women’s team, not only did the Hawkeyes celebrate Caitlin Clark by retiring her jersey, they also knocked off #4 USC 76-69. Lucy Olsen led the effort with 28 points. Iowa will travel to Minnesota on Thursday, February 6th, at 7 pm.
The Iowa State women’s team gave #9 TCU all they had over the weekend, but it was not enough in an 82-69 loss at the hands of the Horned Frogs. Addy Brown dropped a career high 31 points with Audi Crooks following behind with 29 points of her own. The Cyclones will take on Cincinnati on Wednesday, February 5th, at 5:30 pm on the road.
This Day in Sports History
1876 – Albert Spalding invests $800 to start a sporting goods company, manufacturing the first official baseball, tennis ball, basketball, golf ball and football.
2008 – Super Bowl XLII, University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ: the New York Giants upset the New England Patriots, 17-14; MVP: Eli Manning, New York, QB. Thus, ending the Patriots bid for a perfect season.
2013 – Super Bowl XLVII, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, New Orleans, LA: the Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers, 34-31; MVP: Joe Flacco, Baltimore, QB. First Super Bowl loss in 49ers history.