Coming off the holiday break, the Midland girls basketball team picked up its third win of the season, after a 35-25 win over Clayton Ridge on Jan. 3 in Guttenberg.
Catching up on Monticello junior varsity boys’ wrestling action, the Panthers have competed in tournaments at Center Point-Urbana, Marion and Vinton-Shellsburg.
At the CPU JV Tournament on Dec. 8, seven Panthers wrestlers competed. Kalvin Streets and Sawyer Rance both earned individual titles, and Carter Kuehler and Cole Kraus finished runner-up.
At the USTA Power Tumbling Meet in Oskaloosa on Nov. 23, many Moser School of Dance and Gymnastics earned placings. The meet consisted of 11 teams and over 200 athletes.
An RVC rivalry and a big crowd didn’t bother the Monticello boys basketball team, as the Panthers used a hot start to outlast Cascade, 60-57, Dec. 16.
“These road trips are hard, and for these young guys, the more you do, the easier it gets,” Panther coach Tim Lambert said. “I thought our young guys looked a little more settled in. You need your seniors to be seniors in these big games, and they were, they were all in double figures. I was very happy.”
The Monticello boys wrestling team swept its home quadrangular on Dec. 18, beating Springville, HLV/TC, Maquoketa Valley and Midland.
“Thursday night was a fun night,” Panther coach Ryan Luensman said. “There was lots of energy and everyone wrestled hard. It was a good way to celebrate senior night.”
The Panthers started off with a 77-5 win over Springville. Monti received forfeits at 106, 113, 120, 138, 144 and 165.
Monti won 6-of-7 contested matches, with the Orioles picking up the win at 190.
Competing at the Saber Girls Wrestling Invitational Dec. 19 inside the Central DeWitt High School, Meghan Besler and Izzy Taylor each earned fourth-place finishes.
For Besler at 155, a pin over Wilton’s Melany Fitzer in 3:34 and one over Bellevue’s Carsen Michels in 5:33 propelled her to the semifinals.
Besler fell to Davenport’s Kennedi Smith and then Muscatine’s Makyla Conklin in the third-place match.
At Idle Hour Lanes in Durant on Dec. 16, the Monticello boys bowling team took the 2,848-2,558 win over the Wildcats.
“We bowled better than a lot of times at that center,” Panther coach Brian Meyer said. “It’s just a difficult shot for us, so we moved some guys to different lanes to try and adapt and we did.”
