High School Basketball
Mt. Pleasant will host Fairfield tonight with the girls leading off the night at 6 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will have the call with the pregame show at 5:45 pm.
New London will travel to face off against Burlington Notre Dame tonight with the girls’ game scheduled at 6 pm.
Winfield-Mt. Union will take on Lone Tree tonight at home with the boys’ team leading off the night at 6 pm.
WACO will compete against Pekin tonight at home with the girls’ game going at 6 pm.
Holy Trinity Catholic will take on Central Lee tonight in a road matchup.
The Van Buren County girls team pulled off the upset last night against Columbus, winning 44-40. The Wildcats were led by Isabel Rendon’s 16 points. The Van Buren County boys’ team also snuck out with the victory over Columbus last night 59-56.
Mediapolis will travel to take on Van Buren County tonight with the girls’ game scheduled for 6 pm.
Danville will face off against West Burlington tonight with the girls leading off the night at 6 pm in a road matchup.
High School Wrestling
The WACO boys’ team wrestled against Fort Madison and Washington last night and the Warriors fell to the Bloodhounds 59-15 and the Demons 66-12. Louden Huisenga picked up a win on a 6-4 decision against Isaac Thacher, while Gage Samo and John Mclaughlin picked up wins by fall. Huisenga and Samo were the lone winners in their matches against Washington as they both won by fall.
The Mt. Pleasant boys’ teams put up a good fight in their quad at Sigourney, but ultimately fell to Iowa Valley, 48-24, North Mahaska, 48-27, and Sigourney-Keota, 43-30. Ramzy Davis picked up a win by fall against Dane Smith of Iowa Valley. Against North Mahaska, William Birdsell and Juan Lopez won their matches by fall, while Davis took his match by a 2-0 decision. Lane Beckler picked up a win by fall against Sigourney-Keota’s Jack Griener, while Keegan Birdsell and William Birdsell won their matches by decision. In extra matches, Jared Dorothy, Jaxsen Stuecker, and Kayden Jackson each won their contest by fall.
New London competed in a quad yesterday and lost to Durant, 36-18, Cascade, 45-24, and Tipton, 52-9. Gavin Menke-Bailey finished the night 2-1 with both of his wins coming by fall. Killian Kelly won his match by fall against Eli Fritz of Cascade. Lastly, three Tigers won their matches against Tipton with Gage Burden winning on a 7-2 decision, Michael Raines taking it on a 6-4 decision, and Kane Forseen winning by a 7-0 decision. The boys’ teams of Mt. Pleasant, New London, WACO and Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union will participate in a tournament tomorrow, January 6th, at Highland.
The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union, Mt. Pleasant, and WACO girls’ teams will compete at a tournament today at Highland.
High School Bowling
Mt. Pleasant will bowl in the Louisa-Muscatine tournament tomorrow, January 6th.
College Basketball
The #4 Iowa women’s team will travel to take on Rutgers tonight at 5 pm.
The Iowa State women’s team will face off against BYU tomorrow, January 6th, at 5 pm in a road matchup.
The Iowa State men’s team will travel to Oklahoma tomorrow at 5 pm.
The Iowa men’s team will compete against Rutgers at home tomorrow at 11 am.
College Football
Iowa’s star defensive back Cooper DeJean declared for the 2024 NFL draft yesterday. Despite missing the final couple games of the season, DeJean was a unanimous All-America selection after grabbing two interceptions and not allowing a touchdown in 388 snaps of coverage, while returning a 70-yard punt return for a touchdown against Michigan State.
NFL draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. has DeJean listed at the number 13 overall prospect.
This Day in Sports History
1931 – Lucille Thomas becomes the first woman to purchase a professional baseball team when she buys the Class-A Topeka Senators team of the Western League.
1971 – The Harlem Globetrotters lose 100-99 to the New Jersey Reds, ending their 2,495-game winning streak.
2021 – 86th Heisman Trophy Award: DeVonta Smith, Alabama. Just the third wide receiver to win the award.