By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
Prep Football: Mount Pleasant Moves to 4A, 8-P District Remains Same:
The Mount Pleasant Panther football team is the making the leap to Class 4A this season.
Following the addition of Class 5A, the Panthers were bounced up to Class 4A, where they will compete in District 3.
There, the Panthers will meet up with defending state champion North Scott, Burlington, Clinton, Fort Madison and Iowa City Liberty.
An even 36 teams will play 4A this fall, with six districts with 12 automatic qualifiers (top two per district).
Four at-large teams will be accepted into the Class 4A field, which will be based on RPI.
Each team will play nine regular season games, five district and four non-district games.
In Eight-Player, area teams will play in District #6.
That district will house New London, WACO, Winfield-Mount Union amongst others.
Week One of the 2021 season is scheduled begin Thursday, August 26th.
Women’s College Soccer: Wesleyan Wins Their Second:
Izela Avalos scored two goals, one in the first half and one in the second as the Iowa Wesleyan women’s soccer team picked up their second win of the season in dominant 5-1 fashion over Eureka College, on Saturday.
The Tigers outshot Eureka 27-1 and put 14 shots on goal.
Also scoring for Iowa Wesleyan were Ingryd Lima and Jacqueline Campos.
Now 2-1, the Tigers will take on Westminster tomorrow on the road.
Match time is set for 5:00 p.m.
Men’s College Soccer: Tigers Cap Off Sweep of Eureka:
Francisco Javier Saldana had a hat trick, scoring three goals, while Xavier Lozada had two assists as Iowa Wesleyan throttled Eureka 10-0, Saturday night.
The Tigers had 50 shots, including 21 on goal as they peppered the Eureka nets over and over again.
Saldana finished with 16 shots of his own.
Wesleyan scored three goals in the first 10 minutes of the game.
The win moves the Tigers to 2-0.
They’ll play in the second leg of a SLIAC doubleheader on Tuesday against Westminster, with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m.
College Volleyball: Wesleyan Swept by Fontbonne:
The Iowa Wesleyan volleyball team fell 3-1 and 3-0 in a pair of SLIAC matches to Fontbonne over the weekend, falling to 5-6 on the season.
Malia DaMate led the offensive attack in both matches with eight kills apiece.
Lindsay Fernandez had 25 assists in match one, while coming back in the second to have 16.
Jenna Murphy had 40 digs between the two matches.
The Tigers will be back at home on Wednesday when they take on Westminster.
First serve is set for 7:00 p.m.
Men’s College Basketball: Field of 68 Set:
The NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament field is officially set.
Iowa and Drake are both playing in the West Region along with the top seed in the tournament, Gonzaga.
Iowa, a two-seed, will play Grand Canyon University on Saturday at 5:25 p.m.
Drake is an 11-seed, they’ll meet up with the Shockers of Wichita State at 5:27 p.m. on Thursday in a First Four contest.
The KILJ Bracket Challenge is live as well.
Fill out your bracket and either e-mail it to sports@kilj.com or bring it to the KILJ Studios by Thursday.