NL Tiger Sports Round Up

This week’s shining stars are the 8th grade boys basketball team for their impressive win over the Mediapolis Bulldogs. They played as a team and did a great job. They won 33 — 25. Gavin Strawhacker led the Tigers with 10 points. Owen Severson and Jaece Deterding each had nine points that included a 3-pointer from each boy. Cole Swanson added three and Dylan Burden scored two.

The seventh grade played hard and led at times, but lost to the Bulldogs 20 to 22. Next time fellas!

Varsity Girls Basketball

On Tuesday, Jan. 23, the boys and girls varsity teams traveled to Mediapolis for a game. The girls had a tough night, down 8 to 47 at the half. The final score was Tigers 9/Mediapolis 75. Mylee Miller had four points, Sophie Malott added three, and Morgan Jones scored two.

Friday night’s game was at West Burlington. At halftime, the Tigers led 23-19. As the contest went on, the Falcons warmed up as their shots started to fall. The fourth quarter started with the Tigers behind by three, 29 to 32. At the five minute mark in the fourth, the score was 34 to 32 Falcons. But turnovers and missed shots kept the Tigers at bay. The final score was 45 to 37 as the Tigers lost a heartbreaker. No individual stats were available.

Varsity Boys Basketball

The boys had their chances against Mediapolis. They were outscored in the first quarter 28 to 17, but by halftime they had closed the gap to 26 to 32. They could never quite catch the Bulldogs, with a final score Tigers 56 — Mepo 61. No individual stats were available.

The Tigers had a much more difficult time with West Burlington. The closest the score was, was early in the first quarter when it was Falcons 6/Tigers 3. The boys had to deal with a mature team that played well together and had a lot of quickness. They caused the Tigers problems that resulted in many turnovers. The halftime score was 56 to 25. The final — Tigers lost 48 to 87. But they played better as the contest went on and most importantly, they never quit competing. No individual stats were available.

Tiger Wrestling

New London celebrated their senior night by hosting a quad on Jan. 25, but fell to Burlington Notre Dame, 69-5, Louisa-Muscatine, 42-21, and tied Van Buren County, 24-24.

Michael Raines, the only senior for New London, had a great night as he won all of his matches, that included a technical fall over Burlington Notre Dame’s Bridge Anderson and a win by fall against Louisa-Muscatine.

Gavin-Menke-Bailey won his matches by fall against Louisa-Muscatine and T.J. Jirak of Van Buren County. Kane Forseen and Riley Raines both won their matches against Louisa-Muscatine and Van Buren County.

It was a night of wrestling and recognition: senior Michael Raines, the Tiger Cub wrestlers, and Mr. Chiri.

Saturday, Jan. 27 was the Conference wrestling tournament at Notre Dame. Two Tigers were in the finals. Kane Forseen and Michael Raines would be battling for the gold. Both Kane and Michael faced tough opponents and battled hard. They both took second place. Tiger Nation is so proud of each of them.

Then it was time for the other Tiger wrestlers. Riley Raines, Gavin Menke-Bailey, and Killian Kelly were still wrestling hard for a chance to finish on the podium. After the consolation round Gavin would battle for third place. Riley Raines and Killian Kelly both had losses but got to continue wrestling for fifth place.

When the dust had settled, Gavin Menke-Bailey stood on the podium as the 3rd place finisher at conference with a huge 5-2 win. Killian Kelly finished conference with a sixth-place finish. Riley Raines finished in 5th place with a nail biting finish, pinning his opponent with one second left on the clock.

These boys did a great job and Tiger Nation will be rooting them on. Next up is a dual meet on Thursday, Feb. 1 at Davis County. Then, Districts are Saturday, Feb. 10. The top two wrestlers qualify for State. Go Tigers!!!!