Sports

Earleen Hinton/Shaw Media ABOVE: Fulton’s Ben Fosdick holds Richmond Burton’s Brody Rudkin to the mat in the 145-pound championship at the Polo Wrestling Invitational on Saturday. Fosdick won the match. LEFT: Erie’s Jase Grunder works on breaking a hold by Oregon’s Grant Stender during the 152-pound championship at the Polo Wrestling Invitational on Saturday. Grunder won the match.

WRESTLING

Oregon w ins Polo Wrestling Inv itational; Fulton fourth

The Oregon Hawks took the title at the Polo Invitational on Saturday, scoring 196 points to top runner-up Richmond-Burton (165) and thirdplace Parkview/Albany (153.5). Fulton took fourth (124.5), Polo was sixth (106.5), Erie-Prophetstown placed ninth (86), and West Carroll took 13th (34).

Oregon had three champions, four runners-up, a third, a fourth and two fifth-place finishers. Lane Halverson won the 138-pound title with a pin in 1:21 in the title bout, while Anthony Bauer won an 8-1 decision in the finals at 160, and Evan Flaharty won by pin in 3:00 to take the 285-pound title.

Jackson Messenger (113), Grant Stender (152), Gabe Eckerd (170) and Jonathon Alaniz (220) all placed second, while Seth Stevens (145) took third, Quentin Berry (195) finished fourth, and Jackson Glendenning (160) and Briggs Sellers (285) both placed fifth.

Fulton had champions in Ben Fosdick, who won a 15-0 technical fall for the 145-pound crown, and Zane Pannell, who won the 170-pound title bout by injury default over Eckerd. Braiden Damhoff took second at 285, Broden VenHuizen (145) and Mason Kuebel (182) both finished fourth, and Skylier Crooks took fifth at 152.

Josiah Perez was Polo’s lone champion, winning 7-4 in the 106-pound title bout. Lucas Nelson (126) and Wyatt Doty (132) both took second, Chase Bremmer (138) and Maddux Hayden (195) both finished fifth, and Jaidynn McKinney (126) and Delo Fernandez (160) were sixth.

Erie-Prophetstown’s title winners were Wyatt Goossens, a 4-1 winner in the final at 120 pounds, and Jase Grunder, who won 6-2 over Stender at 152. Luke Otten finished fifth at 182, and Aidan Jepson (138) and Victor Bonnell (145) both placed sixth.

Connor Knop led West Carroll with a runner-up finish to Perez at 106 pounds, while Noah Rannow took fifth at 126 and Dallas Bunn was sixth at 220.

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BOYS BASKETBALL: NEWMAN 46, MORRISON 43

Morrison suf fers loss to New man, but not w ithout a f ight

By TY REYNOLDS treynolds@shawmedia.com

MORRISON – Losing to the rival Newman Comets by double-digits early in the fourth quarter Jan. 4, the Morrison Mustangs weren’t about to go down without a fight.

T h e M u s t a n g s t u r n e d u p t h e defensive pressure and held Newman without a field goal for the final 6:40, but the Comets made just enough free throws and came up with the s t o p s t h e y n e e d e d i n t h e f i n a l moments to pull out a 46-43 victory in their Three Rivers crossover game in Morrison.

P l a y i n g w i t h o u t s e n i o r p o i n t guard Nolan Britt, who was injured in the final minute of the third quarter, the Comets (13-4) put themselves into some bad spots in the late stages of the game and Morrison (7-7) took advantage.

Carson Strating scored three baskets down low over the next three minutes as the Mustangs beat Newman’s 1-3-1 trap. Strating then hit a 3-pointer with 1:16 to play to cut the deficit to 44-38. A putback by Brenden Martin made it 44-40, and after two Simpson free throws, Danny Mouw nailed a 3 off a Morrison steal under the basket to get Morrison to within 46-43 with 16 seconds remaining.

Newman turned the ball over eight times in the fourth quarter, including on back-to-back-to-back possessions in the final minute. But after the final steal, Morrison missed a 3, got the offensive rebound and missed another 3 at the buzzer as the Comets hung on.

“We just tried to keep pressuring them, not play lazy defense, just get in their shorts and do what we could do to get turnovers,” Martin said of the final flurry. “I think we need to play like that all game, not just the last quarter. If we played like that the entire game, I think we would’ve had a better chance to win and it would’ve been a lot better game for us.”

Newman committed 14 of its 22 turnovers in the second half and really missed Britt down the stretch. Britt hit the floor hard after being fouled on a baseline drive with 57.5 seconds left in the third quarter, and though he briefly returned early in the fourth, he left the game again a l m o s t i m m e d i a t e l y a n d w e n t directly to the locker room. He did not return.

I s a i a h W i l l i a m s s h o t t h e f r e e throws for Britt and hit 1 of 2, then Padilla hit his fifth 3 of the game before Simpson scored inside off an assist from Cody McBride to give Newman a 40-28 lead with 6:40 to play.

After Padilla opened the second half with two 3s in the first 1:18, Britt scored on baseline drives on back-toback possessions, then hit a pair of free throws before Simpson put back his own miss with 2:20 to go to give Newman a 32-22 lead. Simpson later hit a baseline jumper to make it 34-24 before Williams split the free throws for Britt.

Strating scored inside with 26.2 seconds left in the third, then hit a pair of free throws to close the period to make it a 35-28 game heading into the fourth, when he found more room to score down low during the Mustangs’ comeback.

“The execution felt a lot better than the first half did. I felt we were getting a lot better looks inside and we kind of laid off the 3-ball until the end there, when we had to shoot it,” Strating said. “From the start of the season, when we get down, we hang our heads a lot. But tonight, as a team at halftime, we kind of all bought in together and said, ‘Let’s just go out there and give maximum effort.’”

Morrison led 9-6 after the first quarter, when Newman shot 1 for 11 from the field and missed a halfdozen shots at the rim. The Comets’ 1-3-1 made things tougher for the Mustangs in the second quarter, and Simpson’s three-point play and Padilla’s second 3 of the game capped a 12-2 run to give Newman an 18-11 lead with 3:41 left in the first half.

Morrison got a free throw from Strating and a 3-pointer from Mouw in the final 2:30 of the second period to cut the deficit to 18-15 going into halftime.

S t r a t i n g s c o r e d 2 0 p o i nt s a n d grabbed four rebounds for the Mustangs, while Martin just missed a double-double with 11 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Mouw had s i x p o i n t s , t h r e e r e b o u n d s , t wo assists and two steals, and Daeshaun McQueen added six points, six steals and three assists. Chase Newman chipped in six rebounds, four assists and two steals for Morrison, which nearly overcame 24 turnovers to win.

Simpson bounced back from some shooting struggles early to lead Newman with 21 points and 15 rebounds, and he also nabbed five steals. Padilla scored 15 points, and Britt finished with eight points, four rebounds and two assists before his injury. Kenny Boesen grabbed three rebounds and t h r e e s t e a l s , a n d W i l l i a m s a l s o swiped a pair of steals for the Comets. A y d e n B a t t e n c h i p p e d i n f o u r rebounds and three assists.

Photos by Earleen Hinton/Shaw Media Morrison’s Brenden Martin shoots a layup as Newman’s Lucas Simpson (23) and Ayden Batten (3) defend Jan. 4 in Morrison.

Girls basketball

Morrison 58, Rockridge 34: The Fillies led 26-15 by halftime, then outscored the Rockets 22-13 in the third quarter in a Three Rivers West road win.

Shelby Veltrop hit a pair of 3-pointers and led Morrison with 18 points, and Camryn Veltrop scored 17. Jordan Eads nailed three 3s and finished with 14 points, and Diana Robbins added nine for the Fillies.

Northwest Illinois Shootout

Byron 72, Morrison 56: The Tigers turned a 20-15 first-quarter deficit into a 39-27 halftime lead with a 24-7 surge to top the Fillies in Lanark.

Camryn Veltrop led the way with 27 points for Morrison, and Shelby Veltrop scored 19.

Iowa-Illinois Shootout

Wilton (Iowa) 52, Erie-Prophetstown

25: The Panthers lost in their first trip to the IHMVCU Shootout at Augustana’s Carver Center.

Boys basketball

F u l t o n 6 0 , B u r e a u V a l l e y 4 1 : T h e Steamers won at home over the Storm in a battle of former Three Rivers rivals.

Ethan Price scored 21 points to pace Fulton (8-6), while Baylen Damhoff had 15 and Ryan Eads added 10.

Fulton 54, Amboy 11: The Steamers outscored the Clippers 16-0 in the second quarter and 20-2 in the third in an NUIC South game in Amboy.

Ethan Price led Fulton with 19 points, and Baylen Damhoff scored 13.

Rock Falls Shootout

Erie-Prophetstown 62, Kewanee 30: The Panthers rolled past the Boilermakers at Tabor gym.

Wrestling

Fulton splits in Lena: The Steamers defeated Rock Falls 48-33, but fell to host Lena-Winslow/Stockton 67-10 in a triangular. The Rockets lost to Le-Win/ Stockton 65-7 in the other dual.

Zane Pannell (182 pounds) won a pair of first-period pins for Fulton, while Ben Fosdick (145) won by pin and major decision. Broden VenHuizen (132), Jeff Kane (160) and Mason Kuebel (182) added pins against Rock Falls, with Kuebel winning in 36 seconds.

Panthers split in Sterling: Erie-Prophetstown defeated host Newman 40-30, but lost to Dakota 58-10 in a pair of duals in Sterling.

Luke Otten (195) won a first-period pin against Newman, and Wyatt Goossens (126) won a 12-2 major decision; the Panthers also received five forfeits from the Comets. Jase Grunder (152) had E-P’s only contested win against Dakota with an 11-2 major decision.

Morrison splits in Port Byron: The Mustangs beat Putnam County 42-24, but lost to host Riverdale 65-15 in a triangular on the road.

Cameron McDonnell (220/285) won a pair of first-period pins for Morrison, and Evan McDonnell (220) added a 6-5 decision against Riverdale. The Mustangs received six forfeits from Putnam County.

Fulton splits in Savanna: The Steamers defeated host West Carroll 48-21, but lost to Orion 54-20 in a triangular.

Broden VenHuizen (132 pounds) won by pin and technical fall as the only double-winner for Fulton. Jeff Kane (160) added a first-period pin against West Carroll, and the Steamers also received six forfeits. Zane Pannell (195) won by pin against Orion, while Ben Fosdick (4-3 at 145), Mason Kuebel (9-5 at 182) and Braiden Damhoff (3-1 at 285) all won by decision.

Boys bowling

E r i e - P r o p h e t s t o w n 2 , 3 4 4 , S t . B e de

2,344: The Panthers and Bruins tied in a Three Rivers dual in Peru, with E-P winning the second and third games.

Robert Winters led Erie-Prophetstown with a 484 series and 190 high game, while Bryce VanDeWostine rolled a 432 series and Keith Goodson added a 403. Shawn Chandler (393), Billy Boggs-Chavez (347) and Ethan Otten (285) also bowled for the Panthers.

Erie-Prophetstown 2,402, Hall 2,390:

The Panthers edged the Red Devils in Spring Valley, led by a 515 series from Bryce VanDeWostine.

Keith Goodson was the second-highest roller for Erie-Prophetstown with a 484, Robert Winters bowled a 421, and Ethan Otten chipped in a 371. Shawn Chandler and Billy Boggs-Chavez added a 334 and 277 for the Panthers.

Boys swimming

Sterling 96, Rock Island 63: The Water Warriors won five individual events and two relay races to defeat the Rocks in a Western Big 6 dual at the Duis Center.

Skylar Drolema was part of four wins, taking the 50 freestyle (24.08 seconds) and 100 free (51.95), and also swimming on the winning 200 medley (1:52.91) and 200 freestyle (1:37.50) relays.

Sterling 103, United Township 63: The Water Warriors won 10 of the 12 events in a Western Big 6 dual victory in East Moline.

Skylar Drolema, Conner Porter and Evan Scott all had a hand in three wins for Sterling. Drolema won the 200 freestyle (1:59.06) and the 100 butterfly (56.91 seconds), Porter took the 200 IM (2:13.52) and 100 freestyle (55.51), and Scott won the 500 freestyle (5:50.13) and the 100 breaststroke (1:12.60). That trio teamed up with Peter Garland to take the 200 medley relay (1:50.98).

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