High School Basketball
The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team fell to Mediapolis over the weekend 74-55 on the road. The offense was on full display for the Bulldogs as they knocked down nine three-pointers in the game. Liz Lane finished with a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. The boys’ team extended their win streak to 9 games despite a slow start against the Bulldogs in a 60-43 final. Four starters finished with double-digit points with Payton Hagans totaling 16 points, Owen Vansickle cashed in 15 points, Aaiden Ashton finished with 11 points, and Nate Stroud scored 10 points. The girls team will be facing off against Fairfield tomorrow, January 31st, at home, while the boys’ will be going against Regina Catholic on the road tomorrow. KILJ will be on the call for the boys’ game with pregame at 6:15 pm.
Central Lee will be celebrating senior night tomorrow against Holy Trinity Catholic with the girls’ playing at 6 pm and the boys to follow.
New London will travel to take on Burlington Notre Dame tomorrow with the girls going at 6 pm.
The Danville Bears will be facing off against West Burlington tomorrow.
WACO will be at home against Lone Tree tomorrow.
The Winfield-Mt. Union Wolves will be hosting Highland tomorrow.
High School Wrestling
The first official girls’ regional qualifier is in the books with a couple of wrestlers from Southeast Iowa earning their way to state. Ella McNamee of Mt. Pleasant went 5-1 on the day including two byes as she took third place over Jacey Mason by fall. Rylee Rice and Bralyyn Wagler of WACO finished in second place in their respective weight classes as they both went 4-1 on the day including their byes. Grace Fort of WACO snuck into state with a fourth place finish as she defeated Zenlynn Lee of Mt. Pleasant earlier in the evening by fall resulting in a no contest. Hailey Kemper of Fort Madison took first place by fall, defeating Gabi Robertson of Mid-Prairie. The State Tournament will take place on February 2nd and 3rd. Stay tuned to KILJ for interviews with McNamee, Rice, Wagler, and Fort.
The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team competed at the Southern Iowa Classic over the weekend. Landon Beckler went 2-3, winning both of his matches by fall, on the weekend finishing in third. Ramzy Davis worked his way through the Consolation Bracket to win fifth place by major decision. William Birdsell was the best finisher for the Panthers taking second place on a 2-1 record for the weekend. The next competition for the boys’ team will be at the Class 2A District 9 postseason meet. To make it to state, wrestlers in Class 1A or 2A must finish in first or second-place and third-place finishers in Class 3A District Tournaments will also qualify.
The Regional Duals for boys’ wrestling has been set with Burlington Notre Dame going against Knoxville in the first round with the winner matching up against Williamsburg for Class 2A tomorrow.
High School Bowling
Mt. Pleasant will travel to face off against Keokuk tomorrow.
Iowa Wesleyan Athletics
The women’s basketball team improves to 5-0 in Continental Athletic Conference (CAC) play after defeating Northern New Mexico College 68-46 in day two of the Bacone Classic. The Tigers bullied the Eagles on the boards collecting 21 offensive rebounds in the winning effort. Isabell West finished with a double-double scoring 12 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. The Tigers will be back in action February 3rd at the Crowley’s Ridge Classic.
Gacoby Jones could not miss from deep against Northern New Mexico College hitting seven three-pointers and scoring 32 points in the 80-52 thrashing of the Eagles. The Tigers allowed only 12 points in the first half. The 23rd-ranked Tigers improved their win streak to 20 games and 21-1 on the season. The Tigers will be tested against #20 Florida College in a CAC Classic on February 3rd.
The men’s wrestling team competed in the Pat “Flash” Flanagan Open. Quinten Aney led the Tigers with a fourth place finish going 4-2 on the weekend after fighting his way to the third place match through the consolation bracket. The Tigers will be facing off against William Penn University tomorrow on the road.
The women’s wrestling team finished 10th out of 20 at the Spire Classic with three wrestlers finishing in the top three. #18 Sydney Manos went 4-1 in the tournament winning the third place match by fall. Zoi Smith was 2-0 going into the championship match, but fell to #17 Alisha Van Scoy by a 14-9 decision to place 2nd. Isabelle Hawley was the best finisher for the Tigers as she went undefeated in the Classic and won by fall in the championship bout to finish in first place. They will be competing in the Grand View Open on February 4th.
Lily Garnsey finished in 4th place in the women’s 5,000 meter race at the Grinnell Invitational with a new school record of 20 minutes and 11 seconds, which is tops in the North Star Athletic Association (NSAA). The team of Faith Younce, Izela Avalos, Emily Gehring, and Garnsey won the women’s 4,000 meter distance relay in a thrilling come-from-behind finish with a time of 14 minutes and 44 seconds. KeRon Blackwell tied for second in the men’s high jump. Daron Jackson finished in second for the men’s triple jump with a leap of 42 feet 8.75 inches, which is third in school history and in the NSAA. Jabez Rivers, in the men’s 60 meter hurdles, finished in 3rd place with a time of 8.82 seconds, which ties his mark for second in school history. The Tigers will be back in action February 1st at the Grand View Field Meet, which will have only throwers and jumpers compete.
This Day in Sports History
1964 – One of the most lopsided high-school basketball games, the final score is 211-29 and takes place in Louisiana.
1982 – Old Dominion ends Louisiana Tech’s women’s basketball record 54-game winning streak. The longest at the time.
2012 – American snowboarder Shaun White achieves the first ever SuperPipe perfect score (100) in Winter X Games history.