MV's district qualifiers reach State

Wrestling

     Four Maquoketa Valley wrestlers will represent their team at the State Class 1A Wrestling Tournament after qualifying out of the district tournament Saturday, Feb. 11 at Starmont in Arlington.

     Two of them, Alex McDowell and Eric Heims, will be making their second trip to the Feb. 16-18 state tourney at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

     McDowell won the 182-pound championship, scoring a 10-1 major decision over Bodie Garnier of Sumner-Fredericksburg in the finals.

     Chance Downs (145) and Norman Wilson (170) had to win wrestleback matches to earn the trip to state, and both won in overtime.

     Eric Heims also won a wrestleback match at 220, winning 2-1 in an ultimate tie-breaker, to earn his return trip to Des Moines.

     “We had an unbelievable day at the district wrestling meet,” Maquoketa Valley coach Tim Andrews said. “To come in with four qualifiers and get them all to qualify for State is great for our school, program and community.

     “These guys have been working very hard for this, and to see their hard work pay off is awesome.”

Boys basketball

     Maquoketa Valley (7-5, 9-12) played at Clinton Prince of Peace Feb. 7 for its final regular season game, and lost 49-34. Tyson Tucker led the team in scoring with 13 points, shooting 5-for-10 from the field, including 2-for-4 from three-point range. Garrett Hogan added eight points, and Cole Willenbring scored five. Jake Bonert had eight rebounds, whiel Brock Hillers and Clint Krapfl had five apiece. Hillers and Bonert had three steals each.