LE GRAND — The East Marshall boys’ basketball team suffered consecutive losses for the first time this season, falling 67-45 to Class 2A No. 7 Union Community in Tuesday’s NICL showdown.

Caden Sorensen scored a game-high 22 points to lead Union (14-11, 11-1) to its 13th-straight win. Sawyer Spence added 19 points and eight rebounds, while Maddux DeWinter had 11 points. Tate Van Dyke pulled down 17 rebounds as well for the Knights.

Jackson Bidwell scored 19 points to lead East Marshall (10-5, 9-5), and Blake Neuroth finished with 10 points. Cael Curphy and Jaxson Boswell chipped in five points apiece.

Meling represents Mustangs on the mat

JESUP — Jordan Meling was the only Mustang to get a win as the East Marshall boys’ wrestling team went 0-2 in a Tuesday night triangular at Jesup High School.

Meling earned East Marshall’s only two wins in their eight contested matches, as he scored an 8-4 decision over Jesup’s Gavin Bell and a first-period pin of North Tama’s Drayke Dvorak.

Jesup, ranked second in Class 1A, beat the Mustangs 71-3, while North Tama prevailed 36-30 in a dual that had only two contested matches.

Trojan girls capture Heart of Iowa title

DES MOINES — The West Marshall girls’ wrestling team finished atop the five-team Heart of Iowa Conference tournament field on Monday at Saydel High School, crowning five champions along the way.

The Trojans totaled 166.5 points to finish ahead of Nevada (138), Saydel (112), PCM (92) and Perry (74), led by crowning achievements from Kielly Kasal (100 pounds), Sophia Beebe (120), Elyse Ranson (155), Reese Buschbom (190) and Reagan Buschbom (235).

Kasal, ranked eighth in Class 1A by IAwrestle, moved to 36-9 with her 18-0 technical fall over Perry’s Harper Peterson in her finale; Beebe (21-18) pinned Nevada’s Addison Good in her lone match; Ranson (34-14) won an 11-9 decision over Saydel’s Justus Buelow; and Reagan pinned Nevada’s Grayce Coree.

Reese Buschbom was the only Trojan champ who had to win twice, and she pinned both her opponents in the first period.

Second-place finishes went to Zoey Wignall (125), Sienna Edler (145) and Makaylie Tarbell (170), while Evalyn Clark (115), Jalyn Ridout (130) and Grace Greenwood (140) all placed third.

Storm girls secure first NICL championship

PARKERSBURG — The South Hardin-BCLUW girls’ wrestling team claimed its first North Iowa Cedar League championship on Monday night, sending all 13 wrestlers to the podium led by a pair of titlists.

Sisters Taya and Megyn Hollingsworth won consecutive weight classes to boost the Storm to first place with 173 team points. Sumner-Fredericksburg was second (159) and Aplington-Parkersburg/Grundy Center was third (147) in the eight-team tournament.

Taya, ranked fourth in Class 1A by IAwrestle, won the 155-pound bracket with a pair of pins. She flattened Francoise Ntumba of Waterloo Columbus and Zoey Uhlenhopp of AP/GC to improve to 46-2 this season.

Megyn moved to 37-7 with her title at 170, pinning AP/GC’s Delaney Schafer before scoring a 6-2 decision over Union Community’s Mya Ellsworth for the crown.

The Storm had two more finalists in Leila Wedgwood (130) and Ceanna White (135). Wedgwood was pinned by top-ranked Lilli Cooper of Denver, while White lost a 5-0 decision to S-F’s Ella Schares.

Third-place finishers for SH-BCLUW were Layla Price (100), Hailee Robinson (105), Casadee White (140) and Cheyenne Simmons (145), while fourth place went to Tateana Fikes (110), Reese Schaffer (125) and Kaitlynn Dickes (190).

West Marshall boys finish second in HOIAC

DES MOINES — The West Marshall boys’ wrestling team crowned four champions at the Heart of Iowa Conference tournament on Tuesday at Saydel High School and settled for second place.

Roland-Story scored 233 points to hold off the Trojans (203.5) for the team title in the eight-team tournament, as the Norsemen also crowned four champions.

West Marshall was represented atop the podium by Urijah Courter at 120 pounds, Jon Gonzalez at 126, Ben Buck at 144 and Kinnick Geers at 150.

Courter (31-0), ranked No. 1 in Class 2A by IAwrestle, went 2-0 with a pin and a 9-1 major decision over Greene County’s Jaron Jacobs for his title. Gonzalez (30-3), ranked eighth, recorded three pins — each in the first minute — to win his bracket.

Buck (26-13) and Geers (26-9) both went 2-0 with a pin followed by a technical fall in the finals.

Damian Ficken reached the 190 finals with consecutive pins before suffering a 9-0 loss by major decision to Roland-Story’s Chance Georgius. Third-place finishes went to Garrett Bear (106), Landyn Gutierrez (113), Dutch Hillers (157) and Dalton Eldridge (175).

Storm boys split NICL triangular on the road

HUDSON — The South Hardin-BCLUW boys’ wrestling team split an NICL triangular on Monday night at Hudson, falling to the host Pirates 54-23 and beating Wapsie Valley 36-30.

The Storm were led by 126-pounder Garett Bruner, who had two match victories in the triangular. Ranked No. 11 in Class 2A by IAwrestle, Bruner beat Hudson’s Rylan Fogt by technical fall, 17-0, and pinned Wapsie’s Cash Kaufman in 1:48.

Regan Eide (113), Beau Towne (157) and Ben Viles (175) each registered a pin for the Storm against Hudson. Bruner’s pin was the team’s only match victory against Wapsie Valley.