Sports, February 5th

High School Basketball

WACO celebrated their senior night with a sweep of Winfield-Mt. Union after a pair of tough defensive outings. In the girls’ game, the Warriors rattled off 28 second-half points to come out on top 42-25. Brenna Graber was the force behind the surge, leading the way with 20 points. Madisen Kellogg put up 12 points for the Wolves. 

The WACO boys’ team overcame a three-point second quarter to scrape by with a 45-40 victory. Christian Stacy finished the game with a gritty 18 points as Isaac Rich knocked in 11 points, while the Wolves were led by Cooper Buffington’s 10 points. WACO head coach Chayse Roth was proud of the effort shown by his squad last night,

“Yeah, this was a big win. We accomplished a lot of our goals that we set out for the beginning of the year, you know, we wanted to be top two. We wanted to get down to Burlington and I think tonight sealed it for us. So, coming into the game, I mean having a game where it’s a must win type situation. It’s obviously really good to come out on top and obviously it’s really good that you know how it came against Winfield-Mt. Union. I know this WACO, Winfield rivalry has been going on for a long time, so anytime WACO can beat Winfield, it’s obviously, you know, good on our end.”

In the #4-seed contest, the WACO girls’ team will take on Central Lee at Holy Trinity Catholic with tip-off at 6 pm tomorrow, February 6th, while the WACO boys’ team will compete against Burlington Notre Dame on Saturday, February 8th, in the two-seed game at 5 pm at SCC. 

The Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team will face off against Rivermont Collegiate tomorrow at 7 pm at home. 

The New London boys’ team broke into the winner’s column last night for the first time this season with a 69-59 win over Twin Cedars for their senior night. The Tigers will travel to Columbus to compete against Wapello for the SEISC shootout at 6 pm on Friday, February 7th. 

The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team fell to Fairfield last night 40-35. Grace Lyon dropped 17 points for the Trojans, while Kynlee White tallied 13 points for the Panthers. 

Mt. Pleasant will travel to Keokuk on Friday with tip-off at 6 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call. 

Fairfield will hit the road to take on Burlington on Friday with game one at 6:30 pm. 

The Fairfield boys’ team lost to Holy Trinity Catholic last night 57-31. Luke Hellige put up another double-double performance with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

The Holy Trinity Catholic boys’ team will face off against Pekin on the road on Friday for the #3 seed game for the SEISC shootout. The girls’ team will also compete in the #3 seed game tomorrow against Highland at home with both games at 7:30 pm.  

Burlington Notre Dame was swept by Regina Catholic last night 81-15 in the girls’ game and 61-53 in the boys’ game. The Nikes girls’ team will take on Louisa-Muscatine at home at 7:30 pm tomorrow for the #7 seed contest. 

West Burlington split their matchup against Burlington last night with the girls’ losing 63-11 and the boys’ handling the Grayhounds 77-48. 

The West Burlington girls’ team will compete against Pekin at 6 pm tomorrow at Van Buren County, while the boys’ team will face off against Hillcrest Academy on Saturday in the #1 seed game at 6:30 pm at SCC.

The Columbus girls’ team secured their first SEISC-North title in program history in a 45-28 dismantling of Pekin last night. The boys’ team struggled against the Panthers, losing 68-37. 

The Columbus girls’ team will challenge Mediapolis in the #1 seed game on Saturday at SCC with tip-off at 3:30 pm. 

High School Wrestling

The boys’ regional dual commenced yesterday and in class 2A at Davenport Assumption, #12 Burlington Notre Dame lost a close match to #11 Mt. Vernon 37-35. Kohen Dietzenbach, Rowan Berndt, C.J. Davis, and Joey Glendening each won their match by fall, while Kaiden Dietzenbach picked up a win by technical fall. Dirk Boyles won his match by major decision and Blake Wilson shut out Cooper Hird by a 7-0 decision. The Mustangs went on to upset #6 Assumption 34-31 to advance to the state duals on Saturday, February 8th. 

The Wapello and Mediapolis boys’ teams competed in a triangular last night and Mediapolis finished with a 1-1 record, scraping past Wapello 36-33 and losing to Muscatine 48-21. Mason Johnson, Peyton Johnson, Kyler Crow, and Tanner Anderson each finished undefeated last night. Wapello fell to Muscatine 51-15. Sam Boysen, Cohen Wolford, and Carter Ball each ended the night without a loss. 

The New London and Van Buren County boys’ teams will travel to Davis County tomorrow, February 6th, for a quad. 

The girls’ state tournament is scheduled to begin tomorrow in Coralville. KILJ will be giving live updates, following our 23 local wrestlers throughout the tournament. For a full breakdown, follow the link provided: Girls’ State Qualifiers

The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union and WACO boys’ teams will travel to Mid-Prairie on Saturday for the Colton Allen Memorial Tournament. 

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. 

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

Mt. Pleasant will take on West Burlington/Notre Dame tomorrow, February 6th, at home. 

Fairfield will host the Southeast Conference (SEC) tournament scheduled for February 10th. 

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. 

Southeast Iowa Playbook

Tune in to KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, tonight at 6 pm for a new episode of the Southeast Iowa Playbook. Zenlynn Lee of Mt. Pleasant will be our special guest as she gets ready to wrestle at the state tournament tomorrow, February 6th. 

Southeastern Community College

The men’s basketball team will travel to Marshalltown Community College tonight with tip-off at 7 pm. 

College Basketball

The #8 Iowa State men’s team will host TCU on Saturday, February 8th, at 11 am. 

The Iowa men’s team held strong with #7 Purdue last night but faded down the stretch, losing 90-81. Josh Dix cashed in for 27 points in the losing effort. The Hawkeyes will compete against #21 Wisconsin on Saturday with game time at noon. 

The Iowa women’s team will travel to Minnesota tomorrow, February 6th, at 7 pm. 

The Iowa State women’s team will take on Cincinnati tonight at 5:30 pm on the road. 

This Day in Sports History

1943 – Jake LaMotta defeats future multi-weight world boxing champion Sugar Ray Robinson by unanimous points decision in Detroit in the 2nd of their 6 meetings; his only win of their rivalry. It was Robinson’s first loss in his first 40 pro bouts. 

1989 – Kareem Abdul-Jabar becomes the first NBA player to score 38,000 points.

2017 – Super Bowl LI, NRG Stadium, Houston, TX: New England Patriots defeat Atlanta Falcons, 34-28; MVP: Tom Brady, New England, QB. The first Super Bowl to be decided in overtime.