Five Wildcats place at TRC meet

Wrestling

     Maquoketa Valley sent five wrestlers to the Tri-Rivers Conference Wrestling Tournament Feb. 1 at Starmont, and all five placed.

     Evan Elgin, wrestling at 182 pounds, reached the finals before losing a 4-3 decision to finish second.

     Three Wildcats finished third: Michael Schaul at 138 pounds, Tim Harmon at 170, and Carter Kruse at 195. Devin Smith wrestled at 220 and placed sixth.

     The Wildcats were eighth as a team, with 66 total points. Lisbon was the runaway conference champion with 293, and Alburnett was second with 149.

     Prior to the conference tournament, the Wildcats competed in two other meets last week. The first was a quadrangular meet Jan. 27 at Dyersville Beckman. MV lost to Clayton Ridge 30-23, to Beckman 72-6, and to Bellevue 27-15.

     Harmon, at 170 pounds, went 3-0 with two pins and a technical fall. Kruse, at 195, was 2-1 with a pin and a decision victory.

     On Jan. 30, the Wildcats competed in a quadrangular meet at Monticello. They lost all three matches: 63-9 to North Fayette Valley, 54-24 to Monticello and 57-12 to Ed-Co.

     In the North Fayette Valley match, Kruse won by forfeit and Smith won a 9-5 decision.

     In the Monticello match, Schaul won by pin in 3:34 and Smith won by pin in 5:44. Winning by forfeit were Kruse and Harmon.

     In the Ed-Co match, Schaul won by fall in 3:11, and Kruse won by forfeit.

Girls basketball

     Maquoketa Valley pulled out a 59-58 girls basketball win at home against Springville Jan. 23.

     Three Wildcats scored in double figures, led by Taya Tucker, who shot 7-for-8 from the field and finished with 19 points and three steals. Ella Imler added 17 points and seven assists, and Trista Elgin had 10 points and four rebounds. Brooke Elgin had a team-high six rebounds.

     At East Buchanan Jan. 24, the Wildcats (9-2, 14-2) lost 59-37, as the Buccaneers outscored MV 34-13 in the second half. Imler had 11 points and Tucker had 10 for the ‘Cats. Brooke Elgin had six points and 15 rebounds.

Boys basketball

     Maquoketa Valley won two out of three boys basketball games in recent action.

     The Wildcats (5-4, 8-8) played host to Springville Jan. 23 in a makeup game, and lost 73-37, as the visiting Orioles surged to a 40-11 lead by halftime. Andrew Holtz led MV with 11 points, shooting 4-for-4 from the field. Owen Mensen had nine points. Avery Holtz made four assists. A.J. Ambundo and Ethan Doyl each grabbed five rebounds. Devante Strickland had four blocks.

     MV bounced back to edge East Buchanan 48-45 in a Jan. 24 game in Winthrop. Avery Holtz had 16 points and seven rebounds, while Andrew Holtz scored 13 points. Ambundo had nine points and a team-high seven rebounds.

     On Jan. 28, North Linn came to Delhi to race Maquoketa Valley, and won 73-27. Andrew Holtz led MV with 12 points, and Mensen had nine. Miguel Bojorquez had five rebounds.