THE POLK COUNTY
Pulse
November 15, 2023
Football season ends for Bearcats and Lions By Ethan Nahté
Basketball
11/16 - Acorn vs. Mount Ida
Basketball
11/16 - Umpire vs. Kirby 11/17 - Umpire vs. Murfreesboro 11/17 - CRHS vs. De Queen
Basketball
11/14-11/18 - Mena Jr. Teams Nashville Tournament 11/18 - Mena vs. Waldron (7th boys/girls) 11/20 - Mena @ Bentonville West
Wrestling
11/17 - Mena Red & Black Scrimmage
Basketball
11/15 - Mount Ida @ Maumelle Charter 11/16 - Mount Ida @ Acorn
Both the Mena Bearcats and the Mount Ida Lions football teams have been eliminated in the first round of the 2023 Arkansas Centennial Bank State Playoffs last Friday night. Mena traveled a long way across Arkansas and north of West Memphis to take on the No. 1 Rivercrest Colts in 4A play. The return trip probably felt even longer after a 36-0 loss. The Bearcats beat the Waldron Bulldogs for the 28th straight time on Nov. 3, bumping the Bull-dogs and sending themselves to the playoffs for a record-setting sixth season in a row. They took on Rivercrest as the No. 5 seed. The Bearcats ended their season 5-6 overall. In 2A play, No. 1 seed Bigelow beat No. 4 seed Mount Ida 41-13. Bigelow will play Des Arc in the second round. The lions trailed 28-6 after the first quarter. Bigelow would tally another 13 in the third while Mount Ida would score another 7 in the final quarter. The Lions ended their season 3-7 overall. Single elimination tournament. The championships are scheduled to be played Dec. 1. A few of the other schools from the western part of Arkansas to advance to the second round this coming Friday include Murfreesboro, Nashville, Mansfield, Jessieville, and Ashdown.
Sports 19
Red and Black wrestling scrimmage on Friday
By Ethan Nahté
The Mena wrestling team will kick off their second season this Friday with the “Red and Black” scrimmage at Mena Middle School’s Jim Rackley Gym, 6 p.m., Nov. 17. They will have a donation jar to help raise money for some travel suits. They invite the public to come out and
watch boys and girls wrestling. For those unfamiliar with the gym, it is located on Dallas Avenue between the middle school’s main building and the high school. The Pulse also conducted an interview with head wrestling coach Zen Valencia before the 2023-2024 school season began. Watch for it in an upcoming issue of the paper.
Mena head wrestling coach Zen Valencia looks on as wrestlers battle to see who can pin the other in practice. (Ethan Nahté/Pulse)
