High School Girls’ Postseason Basketball
Class 5A tipped off the 2025 state tournament yesterday and #1 Johnston showed why they are the defending champions by running #8 Iowa City Liberty out of the gym in a 73-45 final. Amani Jenkins led the scoring with 16 points.
#4 Ankeny Centennial nearly followed the same formula, outscoring #5 Pleasant Valley 20 to 5 in the 1st quarter, but a three-point fourth quarter allowed the Spartans to close the gap but it was not enough as the Jaguars exited with the 51-47 final. Ava Martin knocked down six threes for a team high 20 points in the win. Ankeny Centennial and Johnston will collide in the semifinals on Thursday, March 6th, at 10 am.
On the bottom half of the bracket, #2 Dowling Catholic smacked #7 Davenport North 64-38 and #3 Waukee Northwest outpaced #6 Prairie 63-56 to pin the Maroons and Wolves against one another on Thursday in the semifinals.
Over in Class 3A, #1 Mt. Vernon lapped #8 West Marshall to the tune of a 75-19 final. Savanna Wright knocked in 23 points as the Mustang defense held West Marshall to just 18.2% shooting for the game.
In their own dominant showing, #5 Estherville Lincoln Central defeated #4 Cherokee Washington 57-33. Haylee Stokes delivered 23 points in the win. #1 Mt. Vernon will face off against #5 Estherville Lincoln Central on Thursday at 1:30 pm.
On the bottom half of the bracket, #2 Wahlert Catholic outlasted #7 Spirit Lake 51-46. They will take on the winner between #3 Williamsburg and #6 Des Moines Christian set to start off today’s action.
Classes 2A and 4A will begin their tournament runs today. The Class 2A matchups include #1 Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont, looking to cap out a perfect season, facing off against #8 Treynor. #4 North Mahaska will verse #5 Central Lyon. #2 Regina Catholic returns to the state tournament to compete against #7 Maquoketa Valley, while #3 Hinton will take on #6 Rock Valley.
For Class 4A, #1 Bishop Heelan will face off against #8 Xavier with the winner competing against either #4 Norwalk or #5 Central DeWitt. On the bottom half of the bracket, #2 North Polk will tangle with #7 Sioux Center and #3 Maquoketa will take on #6 Dallas Center-Grimes.
Class 1A will begin tomorrow, March 5th, with #1 Saint Albert leading off the day against #8 Dunkerton, followed by #4 Bishop Garrigan versus #5 Montezuma, #2 North Linn taking on #7 Gladbrook-Reinbeck, and #3 Newell-Fonda attempting to avoid the upset against #6 Springville.
High School Boys’ Postseason Basketball
In the Class 3A Substate 6 championship match, Keokuk rumbled with #3 Knoxville, but the undefeated Panthers were too much, winning 63-55. The Chiefs ended the season with a 17-8 record.
Knoxville is making their first trip to the state tournament since 2000 and joining them will be MOC-Floyd Valley, Storm Lake, Clear Lake, Xavier, Central DeWitt, ADM, and Ballard.
Joining North Linn in the Class 1A state tournament set to start on March 10th will be Boyden-Hull, St. Edmond, Marquette Catholic, Gladbrook-Reinbeck, Madrid, Woodbine, and Remsen St. Mary’s.
Also punching their ticket to the Class 2A state tournament with Grand View Christian were Unity Christian, West Lyon, Jesup, Grundy Center, Union Community, Treynor, and Western Christian.
All-SEC Wrestling Honors
The Southeast Conference (SEC) released the All-Conference 1st and 2nd Teams yesterday for the boys’ and girls’ wrestling teams with the Fairfield boys’ team yielding the most 1st Team selections and the Burlington girls’ team tabbing the most 1st Teamers.
Starting with the boys, Mt. Pleasant grabbed the conference title with an undefeated record against SEC competition. Helping the Panthers were three 1st Team selections in Lane Beckler, for the 126-pound weight class, Ramzy Davis, for the 150-pound weight class, and Payton Walker, for the 190-pound weight class, as they each nabbed at least 20 wins for the season.
Fairfield had five wrestlers earn All-SEC 1st Team in Cael McCabe, Aiden Westercamp, Cason Miler, Dain Burkhart, and Dre Smithburg. McCabe led the field with a bronze medal at the 2025 state tournament, while Miller finished his senior season with a 7th place performance and Co-SEC Wrestler of the Year honors.
Sharing the award with Miller as Co-SEC Wrestler of the Year was Washington’s Aaron Boone as he collected an impressive 50-4 record for the season as he also took home a bronze medal at the state tournament. Jude Carter and Blain Reese joined him on the 1st Team along with Burlington’s Braxton Hutchinson.
On the girls’ side, Keokuk’s Jalyiah Gardner took SEC Wrestler of the Year honors after collecting a 44-5 record and a runner-up position in the Class 1A 140-pound weight class.
Burlington garnered seven members of the 1st Team in Grace Navarre, Sarina Cline, Brooklyn Sparrow, Mia Oddo, Amaziah Twillie, Kiara Rodriguez, and Alannah Peterson with six total wrestlers making the state tournament.
Mt. Pleasant had two wrestlers earn 1st Team honors in Paris Phosy and Zenlynn Lee. Phosy collected a 5-3 record against SEC foes, while Lee punched her ticket to the state tournament and collected a 23-7 record for the year.
Lastly, Samantha Lyons was the lone Trojan to nab 1st Team honors as the sophomore grabbed 4th place at the state tournament and finished the season with a 35-6 record.
If you would like to look at the full list of All-SEC honorees, then follow the links provided.
Link: All-SEC Boys List
Link: All-SEC Girls List
Southeast Iowa Playbook
Tune in to KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, tomorrow night at 6 pm for a new episode of the Southeast Iowa Playbook featuring the trio of state wrestlers from WACO in Ian Maize, Gage Samo, and Louden Huisnega as they discuss what led up to the tournament and the emotions that came with competing in Des Moines.
Southeastern Community College
The men’s basketball team will host Marshalltown Community College tomorrow, March 5th, at 7 pm.
College Basketball
The #10 Iowa State men’s team will compete against BYU at home tonight at 8 pm.
The Iowa men’s team sits in 15th place in the Big Ten with two conference games left on the schedule as they look to upset #8 Michigan State on Thursday, March 6th, at 7 pm at home for their senior night.
The Iowa women’s team will get a rematch with Wisconsin tomorrow, March 5th, at 7:30 pm for their opening matchup of the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis.
The Iowa State women’s team will be gearing up for the Big 12 tournament as they received a bye into the second round, scheduled for Thursday.
This Day in Sports History
1927 – Babe Ruth becomes the highest-paid player in MLB history when he signs a 3-year, $70,000 per season contract with the New York Yankees.
1970 – Jacksonville is the first college basketball team to average 100-plus points per game.
1993 – First ESPY Awards: Michael Jordan and Monica Seles win.