Historic year for New London sports

NEW LONDON — With big expectations coming into the 2020-21 school year, there were a lot of eyes on the New London Tigers.

The school had showed promise in all four spring seasons, and early success in the fall birthed the mantra, “Year of the Tiger,” which was repeated on New London social media sites as fans prepared for what could be a landmark athletic year.

Tiger nation was not let down.

Last week’s state baseball tournament appearance was just the latest in a series of New London accomplishments in 2020-21. No matter the season, the Tigers were in the mix.

The Tigers were everywhere in the fall. New London advanced late in the postseason in every single fall sport.

As the leaves turned, the Danville-New London cross-country teams won meet after meet. The boys’ team won the biggest of them all, taking the Class 2A state championship by 22 points.

The girls’ cross-country squad made waves of its own, advancing to the state meet and finishing 13th overall.

New London’s football team went deep into the playoffs. The Tigers won two playoff games in the Class 8-Player tournament, knocking out both WACO and English Valleys before getting ousted in the round of 16 by Janesville.

New London’s volleyball team ended a six-year state tournament drought. In head coach Maureen Heath’s last year with the team, the Tigers made it to Cedar Rapids and the Class 1A tournament, sweeping Southeast Warren in the regional final to take the Tigers to the promised land for the first time since 2014.

When the winter came around, the Tigers kept winning, especially on the wrestling mat. New London advanced six wrestlers to the state tournament in Des Moines.

Junior Marcel Lopez climbed toward Iowa wrestling history. He won his third state tournament in a row to put himself in position to become a rare four-time champion. Little brother Dominic Lopez flirted with a state title as well before finishing third.

The Tigers were players in the basketball season as well. New London’s boys’ basketball team came one game away from the state tournament, advancing to the substate final before suffering a loss to Easton Valley.

In the spring, one of New London’s most successful programs continued to shine. The Tiger girls’ golf team advanced to the state tournament and took fourth place, led by a Top-10 finish by freshman Taylor Phillips.

On the boys’ side, Clayton Phillip won the Southeast Iowa Super Conference championship in his senior year of school.

Even when they weren’t wearing New London colors, Tigers continued to be found at the top of the pack. Sophomore Elly Manning finished the girls soccer year with 32 points, which helped lead the Mt. Pleasant Panthers to a Southeast Conference championship.

And then of course, summer came around. New London’s baseball team lost just one game all year before the postseason. They defeated Mount Ayr 4-2 in the substate title game to advance to Carroll and the Class 1A state tournament.

All-in-all it was a historic year for New London athletics.