Eagles are third at Tipton

MIDLAND RECAP

Wrestling

     A third place finish in the Tipton tournament was an early-season highlight for the Midland wrestling team.

     Midland opened the season by traveling to Central City for a quadrangular meet Dec. 1, winning one out of three matches. The Eagles defeated Central City 42-6, and lost to Maquoketa Valley 45-29 and to East Buchanan 39-33.

     Three Eagles went 3-0 for the meet. Landon Hunter (160 pounds) had two falls, Griffin Gravel (126) had one, and Kasper Heiken (138) had a technical fall win.

     Going 2-1 were Slayder Hansen at 120, Jalen Huston at 170 and Brett Schoenherr at 220. Huston and Schoenherr each had a fall.

     On Saturday, Dec. 3, the Eagles competed in the Tipton tournament, and finished third out of eight teams. Southeast Polk won the meet with 237.5 points, the Cedar Rapids Jefferson JV was second with 205.5; and Midland scored 126, edging Tipton by three points for the third spot.

     Midland had five finalists. Hunter was the champion at 160 pounds, and Schoenherr won the championship. Finishing second were Hansen at 120, Griffin Gravel at 126 and Ty’Rique Turman at 285. Kasper Heiken was third at 132.

Girls basketball

     Midland lost a 42-41 heartbreaker to open its girls basketball season Nov. 22 at Lisbon. The Eagles led 35-23 after three quarters, but Lisbon came back with a 19-6 fourth quarter advantage to come away with the win. The Lions scored on a three-point shot with 3.5 seconds left, and a last-ditch Midland shot missed the mark.

     Free throws made a big difference, as Midland sank just six of 22 attempts, while Lisbon was 16-for-30.

     “I really liked our attitude and effort,” Midland coach Nathan Becker said. “If we can limit our turnovers, get a few more shot attempts and continue to improve defensively, I think we have a good chance to surprise some people.”

     Drew Jensen led the Eagles with 14 points, seven steals and four assists. Libertie Uppena and Emma Paulsen scored six points each. Delanie Uppena had 21 rebounds, followed by Paulsen with 10, Jensen with nine and Mikayla Dosland with eight.