Quarter One Year in Review Presented by Two Rivers Bank and Trust
By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
Broeker Chooses Simpson:
Mount Pleasant senior Samantha Broeker made her college decision final in January of 2020. The tremendous middle of the order bat decided to take her talents to Indianola, to play college softball for the Simpson Storm.
Broeker, who hit a team best .400, also belted two home runs and drove in 40 runs in her junior season.
She hit over .600 in her senior season this summer.
She told KILJ her initial plans are to catch for the Storm.
Broeker, who plays softball nearly year-around, said playing college was a dream of hers since a very young age. Consider one dream checked off.
Simpson finished the 2019 season 21-19 overall going 7-9 in American Rivers Conference play.
Pair of Panthers Named Academic All-Staters in January 2020:
A pair of Mount Pleasant senior football players have been named to the 2019 Academic All-State list in January of 2020.
Seniors at the time, both OL/DL Keegan Kohorst and LB Jaden Davis were recognized for their terrific efforts both on and off the field.
Davis led the team in tackles with 52.5 on the season, while Kohorst was right behind him with 46.5.
Kohorst also finished with three sacks and four tackles for loss.
He now plays for Saint Ambrose.
The Mount Pleasant football team went 6-3 in the 2019 season.
February: IHSAA Redistricts Area Football
The Iowa High School Athletic Association announced new football districts for 2020 in February.
Starting with Mount Pleasant, in 3A, it was a heck of a draw.
With Solon bounced to 2A, Mount Pleasant and Washington were the top dogs in Class 3A District 5.
Class 3A-5:
- Mount Pleasant
- Washington
- Keokuk
- Burlington
- Fairfield
- Fort Madison
Burlington moves down from 4A to join the ranks of 3A-5.
In 8P, things largely remained the same for KILJ-area teams.
Class 8P-4:
English Valleys, North English
- Lone Tree
- Montezuma
- Moravia
- New London
- Tri-County, Thornburg
- Twin Cedars, Bussey
- WACO, Wayland
- Winfield-Mt. Union
KILJ Area Produces Nine Medalists at 2020 State Wrestling Tournament:
3A:
3A-113 Consolation Final – #3 Blaine Frazier (Notre Dame-West Burlington-Danville) loses via fall to #2 Trever Anderson (Ankeny). Anderson, a state champion last year, gives Frazier his first fall defeat in an IHSAA-sanctioned match. Frazier finishes 4th in his first season in 3A.
3A-132 5th Place Match – #5 Duncan Delzell (Burlington) loses via decision to #7 Trevon Wells (Dallas Center-Grimes) 6-4. Delzell will take home a 6th place finish and a podium spot.
3A-138 5th Place Match – #3 Grifen Molle (Notre Dame-West Burlington-Danville) wins via fall (3:44) over #4 Christian Stanek (Cedar Rapids Xavier). Molle earns himself a 5th place medal, earning a podium spot alongside teammate Blaine Frazier.
3A-220 5th Place Match – Diego Lozano (Fort Madison) loses via major decision (8-0) to #10 Hunter Randall (Clinton). Lozano took the long way home, losing his first round matchup – but winning his next three to get the podium in his final season donning the red and black of Fort Madison.
2A:
2A-106 5th Place Match – #5 Lane Scorpil (Columbus Community/Winfield-Mount Union) drops via fall (5:02) to #7 Carter Kolthoff (SH-BCLUW). Scorpil takes homes a podium spot and 6th place finish in his sophomore season.
1A:
113-lb State Final – #1 Marcel Lopez (New London) wins via decision, 6-2 over #3 Clayton McDonough (Central Springs). Lopez is now New London’s only two-time state champion.
126-lb 7th Place Match – #9 Quinten Aney (Mediapolis) lost to Mason Dye (Sigourney-Keota) via decision 7-3. Aney, the Bulldog sophomore, on the podium with an 8th place finish.
1A-138 3rd Place Match – #5 Dominic Lopez (New London) loses via decision 2-1 to #9 Heath Moyer (North Linn, Troy Mills).
1A-160 3rd Place Match – #4 Gabe Carter (New London) loses via decision in SV-1 to #5 John Ebaugh (Denver) 4-2. Carter earns a 4th place finish and a trip the podium.
Lowery, Kohorst Headline All-SEC Basketball Team:
The Southeast Conference has announced their 2019-20 All-Conference basketball list.
The Mount Pleasant Panthers (12-11) have two first-team selections.
First, Clayton Lowery was a unanimous selection after leading the Panthers with 13.1 points per game this during the 2019-20 season.
Lowery was also a stalwart defensively, leading the team with north of two steals per game as well.
Joining him on the 1st-Team was senior guard Keegan Kohorst.
Kohorst scored 9.2 points per game on 49% shooting while leading the Panthers in assists.
The rest of the first team was Keokuk’s Anthony Potratz — also the Player of the Year — and Isaiah Seay, as well as the Washington tandem of Kasen Bailey and Luke Turner.
Senior Jaxon Hoyle was named a second-team selection for the Panthers this year.
Hoyle averaged just shy of 10 points per game while hitting a team-best 40 threes.
Brody Bender and Brevin Wilson were both Honorable Mention selections, as well.
Stewart Named Second Team All-SEC:
Mount Pleasant senior Lydia Stewart was honored in March by the Southeast Conference as a second-team all-conference choice.
No Panthers were first-team selections.
Stewart helped steer Mount Pleasant to an 8-win season in 2019-20 by averaging a team-best 8.0 points per game.
The Panthers also had two Honorable Mention choices in Emma Huckabone and Tristian Shull.
March 2020: Coble Named All-State:
WACO’s (1A) Nik Coble was named 2nd Team All-State last night by the IPSWA.
Coble helped guide the Warriors to a 22-1 record, averaging a team best 14.6 points, 13.2 rebounds and 5 assists per game.
Norwalk’s Bowen Born was named Iowa Mr. Basketball. Born led the Norwalk Warriors to their first team state championship in Class 3A.
Born is headed to the University of Northern Iowa on a full-ride scholarship. He was 17 points shy of scoring 1,000 points in his senior season alone, averaging 36.4 points per game. The 5-foot-11 guard was sixth on the Iowa High School boys’ basketball all-time career scoring list.
March: COVID Closures Roll In:
Following announcements from Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, all spring activities of Iowa’s high school Unified Activities partners – the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, the Iowa High School Athletic Association, the Iowa High School Music Association, and the Iowa High School Speech Association – were prohibited through the state’s K-12 school recommended closure of four weeks.
Of course, the entirety of the season was scrapped just weeks later as COVID concerns climbed to an insurmountable high.
Also in March, Iowa Wesleyan saw their spring seasons shut down due to the rapid influx of COVID concerns.