High School Wrestling
The girls’ state tournament commenced yesterday and four of our local wrestlers advanced to the semifinals in the championship bracket, while another seven wrestlers are still competing for third place. Here’s a look at the path for those 11 wrestlers.
In Class 2A, Fort Madison’s #4 Mara Smith collected a 2-1 record to set up a matchup against #10 Tatum Heaberlin of Gilbert in the 130-pound weight class.
In the 155-pound weight class, Amaziah Twillie of Burlington pulled off two upsets, pinning #4 Shanona Emmanuel of Iowa City City High to begin the tournament and taking down Gracey Smith of Clear Lake in the quarterfinals. Twillie will compete against #1 Haylee McGrew of Ankeny in the semifinals today.
Burlington will have another three wrestlers competing tomorrow as #15 Macey Peterson in the 170-pound weight class, #3 Kiara Rodriguez in the 190-pound weight class, and #4 Alannah Peterson in the 235-pound weight class each finished session one with 2-1 records. Macey Peterson will wrestle #5 Kayma Burleson of Clear Lake. Rodriguez will take on #9 Maddison Wright of Lewis Central and Alannah Petterson will compete against #11 Aubrey Borcherding of Dallas Center-Grimes in the consolation bracket.
In Class 1A, Wapello’s #2 Kenadee Helscher mowed through her competition in the 100-pound weight class, pinning #15 Jersey Hilgenberg of Riverside in 30 seconds and picking up a technical fall over #7 Jazz Christensen of SWAT to advance to the semifinals. She will take on #3 Lily Webster of Colfax-Mingo in the semifinals.
In the 105-pound weight class, #9 Lexa Nelson of Pekin finished the day 2-1 and will face off against #5 Mercedes Ponce of Perry in the third round of the consolation bracket.
Wapello’s #7 Clara Ball also finished 2-1 in the 110-pound weight class and will compete in the consolation bracket against #12 Kelynn Roster of Vinton-Shellsburg.
#9 Ashlee Farrier of Mid-Prairie will face off against #5 Hayleigh Medberry in the consolation bracket of the 130-pound weight class.
Lastly, the Southeast Conference pushed two wrestlers into their respective semifinal matchups. In the 140-pound weight class, Keokuk’s #3 Jalyiah Gardner had little issue going through her two matches, setting up a matchup with #2 Andelyn Cabalka of East Buchanan.
Fairfield’s Samantha Lyons pulled off a major upset against #1 Briar Blake of North Tama to advance to the semifinals for the 170-pound weight class. #4 Nancy Bowman of Logan-Magnolia-Woodbine will be her opponent with the winner moving on to the championship match.
Stay tuned to KILJ 105.5 FM or kilj.com for updates throughout the day with the tournament starting at 10 am.
The Van Buren County boys’ teams competed in a quad at Davis County last night and finished 1-2 with a 54-24 win over HLV, while losing to Montezuma 45-30 and Davis County 42-27. Kaimrin Ellingson, Alex Scott, and Leo Jirak all finished undefeated for the night.
The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union and WACO boys’ teams will travel to Mid-Prairie tomorrow, February 8th, 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.
High School Basketball
The Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team crushed Rivermont Collegiate last night 74-35 in front of the home crowd as Jake Edwards netted 38 points and nabbed nine steals in the win.
Mt. Pleasant will travel to Keokuk tonight with tip-off at 6:15 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6 pm.
Fairfield will hit the road to take on Burlington tonight with game one at 6:30 pm.
The Southeast Iowa Super Conference Shootout tipped-off last night for the girls’ teams and here were the results for the #3-#8 seed games.
The Holy Trinity Catholic girls’ team thwarted Highland’s comeback attempt to win 54-46 over the Huskies to claim the #3 seed. The Crusaders will compete against Clark County on February 10th at 6 pm on the road.
In the #4-seed contest, the WACO girls’ team snuck past Central Lee 52-45 as Brenna Graber went off for 26 points for the Warriors in the winning effort. Kenna Sandoval cleaned up the boards with 18 rebounds and added 12 points to collect a double-double.
WACO will host Van Buren County on February 10th at 6 pm.
Central Lee will face off against Cardinal on February 10th at home at 6 pm.
The Van Buren County girls’ team took on Hillcrest Academy in the #5 seed contest and scraped by with a 59-54 victory over the Ravens. Addison Brauns and Callie Kracht combined for 37 points in the winning effort.
The West Burlington girls’ team handled business with a 41-27 win over Pekin for the #6 seed game. The Falcons will host Mt. Pleasant on February 11th at 6 pm.
The Burlington Notre Dame girls’ team competed against Louisa-Muscatine last night in the #7 seed match and the Falcons were able to pull away in the end, defeating the Nikes 46-38.
Lastly, in the #8 seed game, the New London girls’ team fell in a close one against Wapello 40-38. Mylee Miller picked up a 14 point/12 rebound double-double as she also rejected five shots for the Tigers.
The Holy Trinity Catholic boys’ team will face off against Pekin on the road tonight for the #3 seed game for the SEISC shootout at 7:30 pm.
In the #4 seed contest, the Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team will travel to Pekin to take on Mediapolis at 6 pm tonight.
The Central Lee boys’ team will tangle with Louisa-Muscatine on the road at 7:30 pm for the #5 seed game tonight.
In the #6 seed clash, the Danville boys’ team will face off against Lone Tree at 6 pm at Louisa-Muscatine tonight.
The Van Buren County boys’ team will be tasked with competing against Columbus on their home floor at 7:30 pm tonight for the #7 seed game.
The New London boys’ team will travel to Columbus to compete against Wapello for the SEISC shootout in the #8 seed contest at 6 pm tonight.
The Danville girls’ team will take on Lone Tree at SCC in the battle of the #2 seeds at 2 pm tomorrow, February 8th.
The Columbus girls’ team will challenge Mediapolis in the #1 seed game tomorrow at SCC with tip-off at 3:30 pm.
The WACO boys’ team will compete against Burlington Notre Dame tomorrow in the two-seed game at 5 pm at SCC.
The West Burlington boys’ team will face off against Hillcrest Academy tomorrow in the #1 seed game at 6:30 pm at SCC.
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 swept West Burlington/Notre Dame with the girls’ team winning 2,357-1,819 and the boys’ team sneaking past the Falcons 2,525-2,336. Shyann Smith collected 335 total pins for the girls, while the boys were led by Ethan Payne’s 429 total pins.
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.
Southeastern Community College
The men’s basketball team have now dropped four straight games after falling to Marshalltown Community College 69-60. Merquiche Lewis left it all on the court last night, cashing in for 27 points. The Blackhawks will host Illinois Central College on February 12th at 7 pm.
College Basketball
The #8 Iowa State men’s team will host TCU tomorrow, February 8th, at 11 am.
The Iowa men’s team will compete against #21 Wisconsin tomorrow with game time at noon.
The Iowa women’s team did enough to exit with the win over Minnesota last night 68-60. Hannah Stuelke ended the contest with a game high 17 points. The Hawkeyes will take on Nebraska on February 10th at 7 pm on the road.
The Iowa State women’s team will face off against Colorado tomorrow at home at 4 pm.
This Day in Sports History
1969 – Diane Crump becomes the first woman jockey to compete at a major US racetrack.
2005 – Britain’s Ellen MacArthur becomes the fastest person to sail solo around the world, taking 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes, and 33 seconds.
2021 – Sarah Thomas becomes the first woman to referee a Super Bowl in Tampa Bay, Florida.