News-Review Areas Teams Begin Postseason

Area wrestlers began their quest for a state berths this past Saturday. Basketball teams begin this week as Class 1A and 2A teams take to the court.

Class 1A girls open tourney play at 7 p.m. Thursday. Four of the area teams are in the 1A Region 8 bracket, which features No. 7 Montezuma (18-1) and No. 12 Baxter (15-1). Keota travels to Marengo and faces Iowa Valley (12-6) on Feb. 11. The winner will travel to Montezuma on Tuesday, Feb. 16 to face the top-seeded Bravettes, who received a first-round bye.

North Mahaska (13-3) hosts Grand View Christian (8-9) at 7 p.m. on Feb. 11. The winner will at North Mahaska on Feb. 16 against the winner of the Tri-County (1-18) and Lynnville-Sully (15-3) contest. The winners of the second round games play in Montezuma on Friday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m.

English Valleys (9-9) is the only local team in the bottom half of the bracket. They host 8-9 HLV Thursday. That winner will play the winner of the Baxter-BGM (1-19) game at Baxter on Feb. 16.

Sigourney (16-3) is the lone team in 1A Region 8, which contains mainly southern and southwest Iowa schools. The Savages popped into the top 15 this week based on their record and an upset of previously No. 14 North Mahaska. The top bracket has No. 5 Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton (17-0) and No. 11 Lenox (15-2) in in the bottom bracket.

Sigourney hosts Moulton-Udell (7-12) on Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. Sigourney will also be the host school for the second round with the winner facing either Wayne of Corydon (13-7) or Twin Cedars (9-9) in the regional semifinals.

Pekin (8-9) opens Class 2 A on Feb. 16 at Pella Christian. The winner will likely face top-seed and No. 3 ranked West Branch at West Branch. West Branch has first round bye and will take on the winner of Danville (6-12) and Wapello (8-6).

Girl’s state tournament is slated for March 1-6 at Wells Fargo Arena.

Class 1A District 11 boys bracket has the bulk of area teams. Tri-County (018) has a play-in game at 7 p.m. Feb. 12 at Brooklyn against BGM (2-16). The winner faces top seed and eighth-ranked Montezuma on Monday Feb. 15. 

Sigourney (8-10) opens on the road at Lynnville-Sully (10-6) at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 15. That winner will play at Montezuma on Thursday, Feb. 18 against the Montezuma bracket winner.

Keota (16-1) is in the bottom bracket as the No. 2 seed. They will host Twin Cedars (7-9). That winner will play at Keota against the winner of North Mahaska (13-3) and Melcher-Dallas (7-8), a game that will be played in New Sharon.

English Valleys (12-7) will play in the Class 1A District 9 bracket hosting 11-9 Belle Plaine at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 15. The top half of the bracket includes No. 1 North Linn (16-0). The winner of the EV-Belle Plaine game will plat Alburnett against the winner of the HLV (5-12)-Alburnett (9-9) contest on Thursday, Feb. 18. The district final will be contested at Vinton-Shellsburg on Tuesday, Feb. 23.

Pekin (16-1) is in a six-team bracket and comes in as the top seed. The Panthers are ranked eighth in the latest state ranking and have a bye. On Thursday, Feb. 18, they will host the winner In the Class 2A District 10 bracket, Pekin, (15-1)  ranked No. 8 in the latest state rankings and the top seed in the bracket has a bye in the first round. They will host the winner of Mediapolis-Louisa-Muscatine at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 18. The winner advances to the district final at a site to be determined on Tuesday, Feb. 23. In the lower half of the bracket, Central Lee (6-12) hosts Van Buren (0-13) on Feb. 15. That winner goes to West Burlington (12-4) on Feb. 18.

A note to fans, the boy’s association is utilizing HomeTown Ticketing for all postseason events. Fans are encouraged to order online. Most venues will have a cash option, but fans are encouraged to purchase ahead of time.

Boys substate finals will take place on Saturday, Feb. 27 and the state meet begins Monday March 8 and runs through Saturday. Opening round for Class 1A and 2A will be Monday and Tuesday morning.