High School Basketball
The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team will host Ottumwa and the boys’ will travel to Ottumwa tonight with the girls’ game at 6:45 pm and the boys’ game at 7:30 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will cover the boys’ game with the pregame show at 7:15 pm.
The Danville girls’ team clobbered Columbus over the weekend 60-18 in the two seed game of the Southeast Iowa Super Conference shootout (SEISC). Kenna Furnald led the Bears with 18 points as the Bears tallied 25 steals. The Danville boys’ team has now won three games in-a-row after taking down Collins-Maxwell 73-48. The Bears will take on Holy Trinity Catholic tonight at 7:30 pm at home.
The Holy Trinity Catholic girls’ team claimed the SEISC title after dominating Lone Tree over the weekend 50-26. The Crusaders will host Mediapolis tonight at 7:30 pm. The Holy Trinity Catholic and WACO boys’ teams collided over the weekend in a matchup of the #2 teams in the SEISC. In an instant classic, Connor Gehling finished off Holy Trinity Catholic’s comeback with a lay-up with two seconds remaining to win 54-53. Gehling finished with 24 points as Colton Leichty led WACO with 16 points.
The WACO boys’ team will travel to Pekin tomorrow, February 6th, at 7:30 pm.
Van Buren County was swept by Davis County over the weekend with the girls losing 65-44 and the boys falling 67-52. The Warriors will take on Cardinal tomorrow with the girls’ team playing at 6 pm at home.
The #4 Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team could not stop #10 West Burlington’s conference supremacy over the weekend as the Falcons defeated the Wolves 45-38. Cam Buffington led the effort with 14 points as West Burlington has now won back-to-back SEISC titles. Winfield-Mt. Union will travel to Lone Tree tomorrow at 7:30 pm.
Central Lee will take on Cardinal tonight with the girls’ team playing at 6 pm on the road.
The Mediapolis boys’ team will face off against Central Lee tomorrow at 7:30 pm on the road.
Girls’ Basketball Regional Pairings
The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union has released the regional pairings for classes 1A, 2A, and 3A and here’s some of our local matchups. In Class 1A Region 7, Lone Tree will host Winfield-Mt. Union. Danville will take on Burlington Notre Dame with the Bears acting as host. The winner of the two games will compete against one another.
In Class 1A Region 8, WACO will face off against Hillcrest Academy at home and New London will travel to Holy Trinity Catholic. All Class 1A games are scheduled to take place on February 8th at 7 pm.
For Class 2A Region 6, Van Buren County hits the road to face off against Pleasantville on February 10th at 7 pm. Columbus will host West Burlington on February 13th at 7 pm.
In Class 3A Region 1, Mediapolis will host Central Lee on February 10th at 7 pm.
In Class 3A Region 5, Fairfield will take on the top seed Solon on the road and Washington will host Davis County. Both games will take place on February 10th at 7 pm.
High School Wrestling
WACO hosted the Warrior Invite over the weekend and finished in 6th place with 104 team points. Mediapolis and North Mahaska tied for 1st place with 174 points, while Mt. Pleasant finished in 3rd with 157.5 team points.
For WACO, Gage Samo finished in first place in the 113-pound weight class after defeating Nate Edmonds of Washington by fall. John McLaughlin took third place by fall in the 126-pound weight class. Louden Huisenga picked up the gold in the 190-pound weight class after taking down Parker Lange of Mediapolis by fall.
Mt. Pleasant had Lane Beckler of the 126-pound weight class and Ramzy Davis of the 150-pound weight class each claim 2nd place for the Panthers. Keegan Birdsell defeated fellow Panther Jahmal Dodson in the 144-pound weight class to claim 3rd place. William Birdsell grabbed 3rd place in the 215-pound weight class with a win by fall.
New London and WACO will travel to Wilton to compete in districts. Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union will wrestle at Solon, while Mt. Pleasant will travel to Fairfield with Burlington Notre Dame, Keokuk, and Mediapolis also in attendance. Districts will take place on Saturday, February 10th, at 10 am.
High School Bowling
Mt. Pleasant will travel to Louisa-Muscatine today.
The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team will be heading to Oskaloosa on Monday, February 12th and the boys’ team on Tuesday, February 13th, to compete in the state qualifying meet. Burlington and Keokuk will also be making the trip.
College Basketball
The #3 Iowa women’s team defeated Maryland over the weekend 93-85. Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin each finished with double-doubles as Clark scored 38 points and dished out 12 assists, while Martin cashed in for 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. The Hawkeyes will host Penn State on Thursday, February 8th, at 8 pm.
The Iowa State women’s team has gone 1-4 in their last five games after losing to UCF over the weekend 71-66. Emily Ryan led the Cyclones with 18 points as Audi Crooks scored 15 points and collected 11 rebounds for her fifth double-double. Iowa State will compete against Oklahoma on Saturday, February 10th, at 6 pm at home.
The #12 Iowa State men’s team had their game-winning basket waved off against #18 Baylor over the weekend as the Cyclones fell 70-68. Keshon Gilbert led the way with 24 points. The Cyclones will travel to take on Texas tomorrow, February 6th, at 7 pm.
The Iowa men’s team will face off against Penn State on the road on Thursday at 6 pm.
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.