High School Wrestling
The girls’ state tournament finished up yesterday and 28 champions were crowned. Southeast Iowa was well represented with two wrestlers bringing home the silver medal.
In Class 2A, Fort Madison’s #4 Mara Smith competed in the third-place match but fell to #3 Kylee Shoop of West Delaware by major decision. Smith finished the year with a 46-6 record.
In the 155-pound weight class, Amaziah Twillie of Burlington could not find a win on day two as the freshman finished in 6th place.
Burlington’s #15 Macey Peterson also took home 6th place in the 170-pound weight class, while #3 Kiara Rodriguez had her day end early due to a medical forfeit, which gave her 8th place in the 190-pound weight class, and #4 Alannah Peterson took home 5th place in the 235-pound weight class after defeating Delilah Subsin of Ottumwa by fall in a rematch.
In Class 1A, Wapello’s #2 Kenadee Helscher punched her ticket to the championship match with a win over #3 Lily Webster of Colfax-Mingo; unfortunately, Helscher would end the year 35-1, losing to #5 Ainsley Hemann of Osage, earning 2nd place.
In the 105-pound weight class, #9 Lexa Nelson of Pekin finished in 6th place, while Wapello’s #7 Clara Ball also collected a 6th place finish.
#9 Ashlee Farrier of Mid-Prairie concluded the season with a win in the 5th place match for the 130-pound weight class, gathering a 40-4 record for the season.
In the 140-pound weight class, Keokuk’s #3 Jalyiah Gardner upended #2 Andelyn Cabalka of East Buchanan in the semifinal, which set up a matchup against #8 Teagan Carritt of Logan-Magnolia-Woodbine for the state championship. Gardner fell to Carritt, gathering 2nd place and finishing the season with a 41-4 record.
Lastly, Fairfield’s Samantha Lyons ended the season in 4th place, going 1-2 on the day in the 170-pound weight class. She ended the season with a 35-6 record.
The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union and WACO boys’ teams will travel to Mid-Prairie today 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
Mt. Pleasant struggled against Keokuk last night with both teams suffering one-sided losses. A depleted girls’ team could not keep up with the Chiefs, losing 73-22. Paityn Ensminger led the team with six points. The boys’ team hung in for the first quarter with a nice barrage of three-pointers but the offense was not enough in a 75-48 final, despite Aiden Humble pouring in 27 points on seven made threes.
Mt. Pleasant will take on Ottumwa on Monday, February 10th, with the girls’ hitting the road with tip-off at 7:45 pm and the boys’ hosting the Bulldogs at 7:30 pm at Central Campus Gym.
Fairfield was swept by Burlington last night with the girls’ team losing 58-42 and the boys’ team falling short in the comeback attempt 57-54. The Fairfield girls’ team will face off against Knoxville, while the boys’ teams will travel to Mid-Prairie with both games scheduled for 7:30 pm on Tuesday, February 11th.
The Winfield-Mt. Union girls’ team clobbered Cedar Valley Christian 61-24 as Madisen Kellogg and Kynlee Buffington each finished the game with double-doubles as Kellogg collected 23 points and 15 rebounds and Buffington scored 18 points and gathered 10 rebounds.
The Southeast Iowa Super Conference Shootout continued last night for the boys’ teams and here were the results for the #3-#8 seed games.
The Holy Trinity Catholic boys’ team steamrolled Pekin in the #3 seed matchup 76-45 as Luke Hellige poured in 26 points for the Crusaders.
In the #4 seed contest, the Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team skirted past Mediapolis 45-36. Jake Edwards led the scoring with 17 points while collecting five steals.
Winfield-Mt. Union will host Pekin on Tuesday at 7:30 pm.
Mediapolis will travel to Tipton on Thursday, February 13th, at 7:30 pm.
In the #6 seed clash, the Danville boys’ team demolished Lone Tree 61-41.
The Van Buren County boys’ team won the #7 seed game with ease against Columbus 80-54. The Wildcats will take on Louisa-Muscatine on Tuesday at 7:30 pm on the road.
In the #8 seed matchup, the New London boys’ team was handled by Wapello 64-36. The Tigers will hit the road to compete against Davis County on Tuesday with tip-off at 7:30 pm.
The Wapello boys’ team will host WACO on Tuesday at 7:30 pm.
The Danville girls’ team will take on Lone Tree at SCC in the battle of the #2 seeds at 2 pm today.
The Columbus girls’ team will challenge Mediapolis in the #1 seed game today at SCC with tip-off at 3:30 pm.
The WACO boys’ team will compete against Burlington Notre Dame tonight in the two-seed game at 5 pm at SCC.
The West Burlington boys’ team will face off against Hillcrest Academy tonight in the #1 seed game at 6:30 pm at SCC.
Holy Trinity Catholic will compete against Clark County on Monday at 6 pm on the road.
WACO will host Van Buren County on Monday at 6 pm.
Central Lee will face off against Cardinal on Monday at home at 6 pm.
West Burlington will host Mt. Pleasant on Tuesday at 6 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 5:45 pm.
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 Monday 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 the Southeast Conference (SEC) tournament scheduled for Monday, 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 will host Illinois Central College on Wednesday, February 12th, at 7 pm.
College Basketball
The #8 Iowa State men’s team will host TCU today at 11 am.
The Iowa men’s team will compete against #21 Wisconsin today with game time at noon.
The Iowa women’s team will take on Nebraska on Monday, February 10th, at 7 pm on the road.
The Iowa State women’s team will face off against Colorado today at home at 4 pm.
This Day in Sports History
1936 – First-ever NFL Draft: the Philadelphia Eagles select Jay Berwanger from the University of Chicago as the first pick. The first Heisman trophy winner opts not to play in the NFL.
1945 – Paul Brown agrees to coach the new American football expansion team in Cleveland, which would later be named the Cleveland Browns after their coach.
1960 – Boston Celtic Bill Russell becomes the first NBA player with 50 rebounds in a game with 51.