Sports, January 22nd

High School Basketball

Mt. Pleasant’ matchup against Mid-Prairie scheduled for tonight has been canceled. 

Van Buren County will square off against Danville in a road matchup with the girls playing at 6 pm tomorrow, January 23rd. 

Central Lee and Burlington Notre Dame’s games tonight have been canceled. 

Holy Trinity Catholic will compete against Burlington Notre Dame tomorrow with the girls scheduled to play at 6 pm. 

WACO versus New London has been canceled for tonight. 

The Winfield-Mt. Union girls’ team will host WACO on Thursday, January 25th, at 6 pm, while the boys’ game against West Burlington scheduled for tonight has been canceled. 

Mediapolis versus Danville has been canceled for tonight. 

The Danville boys’ team’s strong third quarter performance, which saw the Bears outscore Davis County 19 to 8, helped elevate them to a 60-43 over the weekend.

Danville’s Athletics Hall of Fame

Danville brought back some legendary names over the weekend as they celebrated the two members of the 2024 Athletic Hall of Fame Class. The 2017-2018 girls’ track and field team was introduced first as this squad was the first track and field team to bring home a state championship as they collected four first place finishes, a second place finish, and a third place finish to help bring home the hardware. Head coach Natalie Ford talked about the honor after the event. 

Ken Laffoon, 2019 Iowa basketball coach Hall of Famer, was the last member of the 2024 class to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Laffoon was a two-time state championship winner with Danville as he finished with a career record of 508-181. The six-time Substate Coach of the Year talked about how the honor reflected the community more than himself. 

High School Wrestling

The WACO boys’ team participated in the Kurt Hinschberger Invitational over the weekend and Gage Samo took second place in the 113-pound weight class as he fell by a 6-2 decision. John McLaughlin grabbed 7th place with a win by fall. The Warriors will compete in a quad on Thursday, January 25th, at Pekin. 

The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team hosted four teams over the weekend and picked up wins against Tipton, 43-30, North Scott, 54-12, and Southeast Polk, 69-12, but fell to West Liberty, 38-33. Against Tipton, Kason Dopler and Cael Phillips picked wins by major decision. Dakota Aney, Riley Kaalberg, and Ty Scorpil won by fall, while Jacob Nelson and Bowen Thomson won their matches by decision. 

Scorpil, Ian Estudillo, Nelson, Aney, Russel Coil, Dopler, and Cole Storm each won their match by fall against North Scott. Cael Phillips, Trevor Phillips, Sheaden Adams, and Cooper Buffington picked up their wins by decision. 

Against Southeast Polk, Dopler won his match by a 3-0 decision, while Cael and Trevor Phillips, Storm, Kaalberg, Buffington, Coil, Aney, Nelson, Scorpil, and Thomson won by fall. 

Storm, Kaalberg, and Nelson won by decision against West Liberty as Dopler, Coil, Aney, and Scorpil won by fall to help the Wildcats race out to a 33 to 21 lead. However, West Liberty would win the last three matches by fall to claim the dual. Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union will travel to compete in a triangular on Thursday at Lone Tree. 

New London will host a quad on Thursday. 

The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team competed at the Williamsburg Raider Invitational over the weekend and finished in 7th place with 72 team points. The Panthers had five wrestlers finish in 5th place in their respective weight classes in Landon Beckler, Sawyer Fulton, Keegan Birdsell, Payton Walker, and William Birdsell. Ramzy Davis finished the weekend with a 3-3 record as he grabbed 4th place in the 150-pound weight class. Lastly, Lane Beckler grabbed five wins on the day as he finished on the podium in 3rd place for the 126-pound weight class, which nabbed him 17 team points. The Panthers will compete in a dual on Thursday at Burlington. 

The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union girls’ team participated in a tournament hosted by Louisa-Muscatine over the weekend and saw two runner-up finishes. Quinn Smith in the 130-pound weight class and Josie Nelson in the 140-pound weight class each claimed second place after falling in the championship match. 

The WACO girls’ team traveled to Colfax-Mingo over the weekend. Rylee Rice finished in 5th place after collecting a 3-2 record at the meet. Elyssa Graber finished with a 2-2 record with both wins coming by fall. 

The Mt. Pleasant, Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union, and WACO girls’ teams will compete at Alliant Energy Power House for Super Regionals on Friday, January 26th. 

High School Bowling

Mt. Pleasant’s match at Louisa-Muscatine has been postponed to tomorrow, January 23rd. 

College Basketball

The #2 Iowa women’s team saw their 15-game win streak snapped yesterday at the hands of Big 10 foe #18 Ohio State in a 100-92 overtime thriller. Caitlin Clark splashed home seven three-pointers as she cashed in for 45 points. The Hawkeyes will look to get back in the win column on Saturday, January 27th, at 1 pm in a home matchup against Nebraska. 

The #24 Iowa State women’s team will look to rebound on Wednesday, January 24th, against Kansas in a road matchup at 6:30 pm. 

The #24 Iowa State men’s team battled with #19 TCU in a top-25 conference showdown over the weekend as the Cyclones narrowly defeated the Horned Frogs 73-72. Iowa State forced a program-best 27 turnovers with Curtis Jones notching seven steals to go along with his 17 points. Keshon Gilbert led the way with 20 points. The Cyclones will host Kansas State on Wednesday at 8 pm. 

The Iowa men’s team’s was unable to keep up with #2 Purdue’s offense as the Boilermakers won handily 84-70 over the weekend. Tony Perkins was the main source of offense for Iowa as he finished with 24 points. The Hawkeyes will take on Maryland at home on Wednesday at 6 pm. 

This Day in Sports History

1983 – Houston is the first NBA team to be held scoreless in an overtime period as the Portland Trail Blazers outscore them 17-0 and win 113-96. 

2006 – Kobe Bryant scores 81 points in a 122-104 Lakers victory over the Toronto Raptors; second-highest game total in NBA history, behind only Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game (1962). 

2018 – New Orleans Pelicans’ DeMarcus Cousins finished with 44 points, 24 rebounds, and 10 assists in a 132-128 double-OT win over the Chicago Bulls; first player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1972) with 40 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists.