Indianola–The Statesmen wrestling team hit the mat one final time before break as it competed at the Simpson Luther L. Hill Invitational Saturday.

Ten different wrestlers were victorious on at least one occasion with John Altieri (Fr., Warwick, R.I., Sociology) posting the best day with a pair of falls at 125 pounds.  157-pounder Christian Padilla (Sr., Tampa, Fla., Secondary Education), with one fall and one technical fall, and 174-pounder Tyler Foubert (Fr., Gibson, Iowa, Business Management), with one pin, also won twice.

Bryan Pittman (Sr., Flossmoor, Ill., Information Technology), at 141 pounds, and Kionte Crocker (So., Brandon, Fla., Industrial Technology), at 149 pounds, each pinned an opponent, while 197-pounder Aaron Allen (Sr., Bolivar, Mo., Secondary Education) managed a technical fall and heavyweight Mark Gadson (Sr., Deerfield Beach, Fla., Physical Education) had a major decision.

The trio of 133-pounder Bryce Castagna (So., Willcox, Ariz., Digital Communication), 197-pounder Chris Rodriguez (Fr., Tampa, Fla., Sociology), and heavyweight Matthew Cuthbert (Fr., Yucaipa, Calif., Sociology) each won once as well.

Next Up: William Penn is off nearly a month before traveling to Pella on January 9 to compete in the Central Invitational.  Action begins at 9 a.m.

Story provided by Wade Steinlage

Oskaloosa–It was a three-man show for the Statesmen men’s basketball team as it pushed its winning streak to a dozen with a 92-76 Heart of America Athletic Conference victory over #13 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.).

With its win and losses to Graceland and Culver-Stockton, #6 WPU (12-1, 5-0 Heart) now owns a full two-game lead entering the second half of the league slate.

Both sides shot 43.5{99cd714f394079a7f0ed2eb1518dd31342ff3ceb5b6c267c3ad8acd5b5a7d66b}, but a dominant 51-34 rebounding edge helped the victors to seven more shots; an 18-8 advantage on the offensive glass led to a 14-9 mark in second-chance points.  The navy and gold won the three-point (9-5) and free-throw (23-17) categories as well.

After the teams exchanged one bucket each in the opening minute, the Pioneers (8-3, 3-2 Heart) took control to lead 25-14 midway through the first half.  A 14-3 WPU run tied the game, but MNU answered right back to make it 40-32 with only 1:13 left until halftime.  Fortunately, back-to-back three-pointers in the final seconds by Jessie Pernell (Sr., North Augusta, Ga., Physical Education) and Dondre Alexander (Jr., Iowa City, Iowa, Physical Education) helped get the home team within one entering the locker rooms at 40-39.

Neither side could force much separation (biggest lead was five by MNU) early in the second session as the game was tied for the seventh and final time at 55-55 with 12:48 to go.  The Statesmen then showed what so many have seen over the last 12 contests by producing a 19-5 run and rolling to the victory.

Pernell and Alexander each made nine field goals and combined for WPU’s nine trifectas as both players posted 29 points.  Alexander also assisted four times and blocked two shots, while he and Pernell joined Steven Roundtree (Sr., Jacksonville, Fla., Physical Education) with two steals.

Brady Burford (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) was the most efficient Statesmen on the court, though, going 10-for-13 from the field for 25 points.  He also pulled down 11 rebounds for a double-double.

Roundtree added six points, while Jeff Drew (Sr., Little Rock, Ark., Sociology) was William Penn’s best bench player; he did not score any points but did tally eight rebounds.

“This was the perfect way to finish the first half of our season,” Head Coach John Henry said.  “Our rebounding effort was amazing to watch and, in my opinion, wore out our opponents.”

Next Up: William Penn is off nearly a month, traveling to Canton, Mo. on January 6 to face Culver-Stockton in Heart action at 7:30 p.m.

Story provided by Wade Steinlage

The Oskaloosa Indian Boys Swim Team traveled to Newton to take part in the Cardinal invite that included Indianola, Decorah, Newton/Pella, Oskaloosa, Grinnell, and Vinton-Shellsburg schools. Osky had some outstanding races as they placed in the top half of the heats and earned 202 points on the day beating Vinton and Grinnell and coming close to surpassing Newton as well. The Indians earned 2 gold medals on the day as Jack Miller won the 200 Free and Dawson Sarver won the 100 Breaststroke and the Indians earned a silver medal as well with Jack Miller taking second place in the 100 Backstroke.

Newton has a meter pool which takes a little getting used to as it is longer than the normal pool measured in yards so with the conversion utility tool the following is the list of times that the Indians achieved on the day.

200 Medley Relay event started off the day as Osky sent 2 teams into the varsity relay and came away with a 5th place finish by John Hammes, Dawson Sarver, Connor Swim, and Colton Berg with a time of 1:58.50 and a 6th place finish of 1:59.98 by Jack Miller, Jarod Miller, Carter Huyser, and Nik Dykstra.

In the 200 Free Jack miller came away with a 2:09.64 for a first place finish and was followed by Nik Dykstra with a 2:19.74.

Up next was the 200 Individual Medley and Jarod Miller took 5th place with a time of 2:25.36 and was followed by John Hammes with a 2:37.03.

The following event was the 50 Free and Connor Swim led the way for the Indians with a 6th place finish while swimming a 25.81, Ean Beenken had a 26.80, and Jacob Spear swam a 31.59.

After the 50 Free there is a 10 minute break for the teams to cool-down from their last events or to get warmed up for the events that follow. The first event coming out of the break is the 100 Butterfly and Carter Huyser earned a 5th place finish while swimming a 1:06.98 and was followed by Connor Swim with a 1:14.30.

The 100 freestyle was next and the Indians sent Nik Dykstra who earned a 5th place finish in a time of 58.26 and was followed by Carter Huyser with a 1:01.75 and Sam Carmichael with a 1:14.77

The 200 Freestyle Relay was next as Osky earned a 6th place finish here with Jarod Miller, Colton Berg, Ean Beenken, and Dawson Sarver swimming it in 1:41.15.

The 100 Backstroke was next and Jack Miller earned a second place finish in the event while swimming a 1:04.87 and was followed up by John Hammes who swam a 1:11.85.

Dawson Sarver led the 100 Breast event from start to finish as he earned a first place finish in a time of 1:06.44 and he was followed by Jarod Miller who swam a 1:18.82 for a 6th place finish.

For the last event of the night, 400 Freestyle Relay, the Indians sent Connor Swim, Carter Huyser, Nik Dykstra, and Jack Miller to the blocks. They came away with a 3:55.43 and earned a 4th place finish to wrap up the meet. Next week the Indians swim at Marshalltown against them and Johnston on Tuesday and they drive to Grinnell on Saturday.

Story provided by Todd Miller