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- Written by: Matt Wilson - Breese Journal Reporter
Central's Abigayle Haller pins her Centralia opponent during the Cougars' first ever home match on Thursday, Jan. 16. Haller also won her match against Sparta by forfeit. PHOTO BY MATT WILSON The Central Cougar wrestling club made the most of its first ever home meet.
The Cougars defeated Sparta 42-27 and Centralia 42-33 in front of a packed crowd in the east gymnasium at Central Community High School on Thursday, Jan. 16.
It was the first ever home meet for a Central wrestling club that is in its second year of having a full squad. Fans filled the stands and extra chairs had to be brought out to accommodate the large crowd.
Centralia and Sparta wrestled first. After the Centralia victory, Central took the mat against Sparta.
The match opened at 165 pounds with a Sparta pin to put the Bulldogs up 6-0. Central’s Jonathan Moss earned a forfeit win at 175 pounds to tie the match 6-6.
Central’s Zeke Matthews won by forfeit at 190 pounds to put Central up 12-6. In one of the more exciting matches of the night, Central’s Brody Beckmann avoided being pinned a couple of times and ended up pinning his opponent in the 215-pound match to put the Cougars up 18-6.
Sparta picked up a win by pin at heavyweight to get within 18-12.
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- Written by: Jeremy Chawgo - Breese Journal Sports Editor
Get to the floor — Mater Dei senior Maris Zurliene goes to the floor to fight for a loose ball with Incarnate Word’s Nevaeh Lucious in the second quarter of the Lady Knights’ road loss on Thursday. Zurliene had two points and four rebounds in the loss. PHOTO BY JEREMY CHAWGO The Mater Dei Lady Knights had a trio of games last week with wins over Belleville East and Granite City while dropping a road game at the nation’s #1 -ranked Incarnate Word Academy on Thursday.
The win for the Lady Knights over Belleville East on Saturday in Highland moved them to the second-round of the Highland Invite where they played Civic Memorial late on Tuesday night.
Mater Dei is currently 17-6 on the season and they are ranked 10th in Class 2A according to maxpreps.com
Mater Dei 56, Belleville East 45: The Lady Knights won their opening round game at the Highland Girls Tournament late on Saturday night.
The Knights got a great individual effort from senior Alyssa Koerkenmeier and strong supporting roles from fellow seniors Maris Zurliene and Dixie Ottenschnieder in the win.
Koerkenmeier scored in each quarter and finished with a game-high 21 points that included five-of-five from the line.
Zurliene added 13 points and Ottenschnieder ended with nine points, seven of those coming in the first half. MD was 16-of-24 from the line.
Using the left — Mater Dei junior guard Marlee Loepker dribbles past Incarnate Word defender Peyton Olufson in the first quarter of the Lady Knights loss in Normady on Thursday. Loepker had three points. PHOTO BY JEREMY CHAWGO Belleville East had a three-headed attack with 17 points from Hailey Gray and 10 points from both Vanessa Stacy and Ramiyah Young.
Mater Dei set the tone with buckets from four players in the opening quarter with Koerkenmeier netting five points and Marlee Loepker scoring four points. Gray had nine points for the Lancers who led 18-15 after eight minutes of play.
East managed just two buckets in the second quarter as MD ran into a 34-24 halftime lead with five points from both Myah Pollmann and Koerkenmeier while Ottenschnieder added two buckets to help in the 10-point lead.
Both defenses played well in the third quarter where MD outscored the Lancers 7-4 with another bucket from Koerkenmeier, as Mater Dei led 41-28 entering the final session.
Koerkenmeier sealed the win with three buckets over the final eight minutes as she was also three-of-three from the line. Zurliene hit for four points as MD advanced to the second round.
Incarnate Word 68, Mater Dei 31: The Red Knights continued their national-record winning streak with a win over the visiting Knights on Thursday in Normandy.
Surveying the defense — Mater Dei junior forward Addison Ringwald looks at the Incarnate Word defense as she moves past IWA defender Peyton Olufson in the second quarter of the Red Knights’ 68-31 win over MD. PHOTO BY JEREMY CHAWGO The Red Knights won their 141st consecutive game in a match-up with the visiting Knights.
IWA featured eight players in the scoring column with four of them hitting at least one three-pointer in a game where they only turned the ball over six times.
Meanwhile, the Lady Knights of Breese had seven players in the scoring column with 17 turnovers.
The Red Knights led throughout the contest after getting a three-pointer from Peyton Olufson 60 seconds into the game before a pair of charity shots from MD senior Maris Zurliene got them within 3-2.
That was as close as MD would be as the Red Knights scored the next 10 points with another three-pointer from Olufson and one from Savannah Stricker and driving buckets from Nevaeh Caffey and Nevaeh Lucious as they led 13-2.
MD seniors Alyssa Koerkenmeier and Dixie Ottenschnieder had the lone two buckets for the Knights in the quarter as the Red Knights led 20-6 at the break. Lucious had six points in the quarter where MD turned it over seven times.
