Melcher-Dallas And Pleasantville Square Off At SE Warren

The Indianola boys wrestling team took home the regular season Little Hawkeye Conference tournament championship on Thursday with a win over Norwalk, then completed the season sweep on Saturday with a LHC Tournament win scoring 234 team points. Norwalk scored 198 points to finish in third, while Pella scored 165 points to place fourth.

The Pella Christian boys basketball team has enjoyed quite a bit of success since returning to the court following Christmas Break. In their 10 games following the holiday break, the Eagles have gone 7-3 which has them positioned in fourth in the Little Hawkeye Conference standings. All three of those losses came to Newton, Indianola, and Norwalk who sit ahead of them in the league. Pella Christian will have a chance to avenage the first loss of that span to Newton on Tuesday. The Eagles returned to action following the holidays at Newton and fell 50-42. While evening the season series won’t be easy, Pella Christian head coach J.D. Boer is excited for the rematch.

The Pleasantville varsity boys basketball team improved to 9-8 overall with a 76-56 win over the Chariton Chargers Saturday at home. A big fourth quarter by the Trojans broke open a close game. The Trojans led 39-25 at halftime, but only by one point, 52-51 entering the fourth quarter. A 24 to five run in the fourth carried coach Taylor Phipps’ team to the final buzzer.

The top ten ranked teams each came out with a victory as Pella played host to Newton last night in a Little Hawkeye Conference basketball doubleheader heard live on 92.1 KRLS. The 9th-ranked Dutch girls won the opener 63-22 before the #8 Newton boys closed out the evening with a 58-40 decision.

The Melcher-Dallas Boys Basketball Squad fell to Moravia 70-44 on Friday night in the semifinals of the Bluegrass Conference Tournament. The Saints kept it close for the 1st half, the Mohawks pulled away as the game wore on. The Saints will come back to play Ankeny Christian in the 3rd place game today. Mormon Trail upset ACA in the semis. Meanwhile, the Melcher-Dallas Girls Basketball Squad will try to savage 3rd place in the Bluegrass Conference Girls Tournament today. The Saints will play Diagonal after falling to rival Twin Cedars on Thursday night. The Saints beat Diagonal on January 16th 45-38.

Battling back from a quarterfinal loss, Pleasantville Girls Wrestler Madilyn Rowson placed 3rd at 155 pounds in the Region 4 state qualifier Friday. Champ. Round 2 – Madilyn Rowson (Pleasantville) 20-10 won by fall over Ava Birchmier (Ankeny) 5-21 (Fall 1:03) Quarterfinal – Madilyn Rowson (Pleasantville) 20-10 won by...

The Knoxville Wrestling Squad won the South Central Conference meet on Friday in Albia on the strength of three individual champions and four runners-up. The champions were as expected, Luke Spaur at 138 pounds, Chaz Graves at 152 pounds and Daniel Gorskikh at 170 pounds, who set the record for the most falls in a season with 28. Runners-up included And on Trout at 145 pounds, Tristan Sinnard at 160, Wayne Johnston at 182 and Trenton Kingery at 220.

In their final dual of the season the Southeast Warren/Melcher-Dallas Wrestlers ventured to Corning to take on Southwest Valley and fell by two points 34-32. Both Melcher-Dallas students, Cael Caikoski and Connor Rauch lost their bouts. Caikoski fell by pin at 120 pounds, Rauch fell by pin at 220 pounds. The action for the Southeast Warren/Melcher-Dallas Wrestlers will be Saturday at the Charger Invitational at AC/GC High School.

The Twin Cedars Girls Basketball Squad will try to finish what they could not do last season and win the Bluegrass Conference Tournament. The Sabers will face top seed Ankeny Christian who comes in at 16-2 on the season and is loaded with talent. The Eagles have size and quickness at the guard spots, but the Sabers were only four points away from Ankeny Christian in the teams last meeting on January 13th, the Sabers were within three points at the half. But an Eagle rebounding edge of 19 and the Sabers 17 turnovers were two huge keys. Sabers Coach Theresa Davis tells KNIA/KRLS Sports, she has confidence in her three seniors, Rylee Dunkin, Kisha Reed and Cheyanne Bruns, who were on the squad last year, have experience needed to get the job done this year.

It was a Homecoming basketball split for the Pella Christian basketball teams in front of a packed home crowd Friday on Eagle Lane, in a doubleheader heard on KRLS2. Pella Christian’s girls hung tough with #8 in 3A Grinnell in a 47-35 loss, while the Eagles boys rallied in the 2nd half to win 64-52.

Two Warren County rivals collide in Norwalk tonight when the Warriors host Indianola for a Little Hawkeye Conference girl-boy basketball doubleheader. The varsity girls game will tip off at 6:15 p.m., followed by the boys contest at about 7:45. Live coverage is available on 94.3 KNIA as well as kniakrls.com and the Warrior Productions YouTube channel.

The Knoxville Wrestling Squad will try to complete one of its goal this season as the Panthers head to Albia for the South Central Conference meet tonight. Knoxville is one of the favorites along with the hosts and they will get to see a lot of each other in the coming weeks as the Demons are also in the class 2A District in Ballard on February 11th. The Panthers should be the top seed or 2nd seed in most weight classes with 138 pounder Luke Spaur having just one loss on the season, Daniel Gorskikh at 170 pounds also only with one loss. Others who also can contend for titles will be Andon Trout who when healthy has posted an 18-3 campaign, Chaz Graves, who has a 20-2 record at 152 pounds, and Wayne Johnson who is 24-10 at 182. First matches are set for 5:00pm.

The Knoxville Bowling Squads swept Creston Thursday for the Panthers’ senior day. The boys walked away with a victory 2527-2227. The Panthers were led by Tristen Carter shooting a high game of 216 and a high series of 426. The girls were victorious as well 1938-1709. Knoxville was led by Brigette Renard shooting a high game of 206 and a high series of 364.

It took a thrilling charge against #22 ranked in 2A PCM for the Dutch to ultimately sweep the Grinnell boys wrestling triangular in the final dual meets of the 2022-23 season, with Pella edging the Mustangs 41-36 and defeating the hosting Tigers 55-24. PCM also defeated Grinnell 54-28. In the...

The Twin Cedars Girls basketball Squad survived a comeback attempt by rival Melcher-Dallas in the Bluegrass Conference Semifinals Thursday in Murray 53-to-51. The Sabers controlled the game with a 14 point lead but allowed the Saints back in it but held on for the two point win. Cheyanne Bruns scored 25 points, dropping in six three point shots while Cristen Durian had 11 points. The Saints got contributions from Addi Wadle scoring 20 points, and a double-double from Gabby Overgaard also scoring 20 and grabbing 12 rebounds. Coach Kelsey Goff told KNIA Sports there were too many turnovers and they were not good enough on defense. Twin Cedars advances to the conference championship game for the second straight season where the Sabers will find Ankeny Christian waiting. That game is at 3:30 on Saturday. The Saints will head to third place game against Diagonal on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for noon.

The Central College basketball teams return back to P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium this afternoon as they host the Coe College Kohawks for an American Rivers Conference doubleheader. The Dutch women are coming off a big 69-63 road win last Saturday at the University of Dubuque. The win last weekend improved Central to 5-13 overall and 2-7 in the league. Meanwhile, the Kohawks improved to 14-5 overall and 6-4 in conference play with a 65-55 win over Luther College on Wednesday. When the two teams met in Cedar Rapids on December 10th, the Dutch fell in a heartbreaking 63-60 loss.

Four varsity high school basketball games are scheduled in the Tulip City limits tonight as Pella welcomes Newton and Pella Christian hosts homecoming celebrations with Grinnell. A few ranked teams will be featured across the four Little Hawkeye Conference contests, with the #9 in 4A Pella girls seeking momentum before...

The PCM basketball teams grabbed a pair of double digit wins Friday night over Perry in a Heart of Iowa Conference doubleheader heard live on KNIAKRLS.com. The Mustangs girls team cruised to a 57-39 victory over the Blue Jays, while the boys battled for a 59-46 win. The PCM girls...

A strong second day secured the heptathlon title for Central College men’s track and field junior Brody Klein (Rainier, Wash.) at the Dutch Winter Multi Meet Friday night. Klein won the 10-man field, besting the second-place finisher by 110 points and totaling 4,744 points. He was the top pole vaulter with a clearance of 14 feet, 11 inches. Lucas Heitz (senior, Adel, ADM HS) was third overall with a total of 4,619 points. Jaxon Thompson (junior, Marion, Linn-Mar HS) was fourth with 4,567 points and Reid Pakkebier (sophomore, Cedar Rapids, Kennedy HS) was fifth with 4,561 points.

Today marks another historic occasion for girls wrestling in Iowa as Super Regionals are held for the first time at four sites across the state. The Region 3 and Region 4 tournaments will take place at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, with competition beginning at 11:00 a.m. Area schools Indianola, Norwalk, Pleasantville and Southeast Warren/Melcher-Dallas are all competing in Region 3, which includes 25 total teams.