Some of the tests were stronger, but the Raider boys basketball team met all of them again this week as they won three straight games.

The Raiders handled East Union 80-58 in conference play Tuesday, Jan. 17, squeaked past conference foe Wayne 45-43 in Mount Ayr Friday night, then got past Clarinda Academy 69-52 in Mount Ayr Monday night.

The boys moved their season mark to 15-1 with the addition to their winning streak and are now 10-1 in conference play.

Next action

The Raiders traveled to Bedford Tuesday, Jan. 24, and to Southeast Warren Friday, Jan. 27. Tuesday, Jan. 31, they take on Nodaway Valley there.

  It was a profitable week for Mount Ayr Community Raiderette basketball as the girls were able to put a pair of wins back-to-back in Pride of Iowa conference play.

The Raiderettes rolled past East Union 40-29 in Mount Ayr Tuesday, Jan. 17, then handled Wayne 36-28 in Mount Ayr Friday, Jan. 20.

The Raiderettes are now 9-7 for the season and 6-5 in Pride of Iowa conference action.

Next action

The Raiderettes went to Bedford Tuesday, Jan. 24, to face a league leader and play at Southeast Warren Friday, Jan. 27. Tuesday, Jan. 31, the Raiderettes face Nodaway Valley in another battle with a conference leader.

  A second place finish in the tough John J. Harris wrestling tournament in Corning by 126-pouner Erik Freed was the highlight of the week of wrestling for the Mount Ayr Community Raiders this past week.

In dual action the Raiders lost to Corning 48-30 and to Van Meter in a tie breaker 36-36 in Van Meter Tuesday, Jan. 17.

The Raiders finished in 16th place in the John J. Harris Invitational with Shane Swank’s fifth place finish at 152 pounds the only other Raider placing.

With the dual match losses, the Raiders now have a 6-13 mark for the season in that statistic.

Next action

The Raiders host Clarke Tuesday, Jan. 24, for their final home meet of the season in a 5:30 p.m. meet. Today (Thursday) they face Bedford-Lenox, Maryville, MO, and Pleasantville at Lenox. They finish up the pre-tournament trail with the Quad State Invitational in Maryville, MO, on Saturday, Jan. 28.

  Mount Ayr Community high school’s Sparks drill team has been invited to perform at halftime at the state tournament and will be on television in early February.

The Sparks have been asked to perform at halftime during the Tuesday, Feb. 28 11:45 a.m.  game at the girls state tournament.  

The Iowa High School Girls Athletic Association selects outstanding dance teams across Iowa to provide the halftime entertainment. This is the first year that the Mount Ayr Sparks have been asked to perform.

The 2012 ISDTA Championships where the girls brought home two top placings will be aired on IPTV on Saturday, Feb. 4 from  8 to 10 p.m. and rebroadcast on Sunday, Feb. 5 from 2 to 4 p.m.  

The two-hour championship show will show edits of all of the championship routines along with special features about the new dance exhibit at the Iowa Hall of Pride, ISDTA’s involvement in the Exercising Your Character Program, and interviews with two of the judges.  

  Mount Ayr Community’s Raiders continued to roll up the victories in action this week with Lenox and Central Decatur.

The Raiders pounded Lenox 81-46 in Mount Ayr Tuesday, Jan. 10, then easily handled Central Decatur 74-43 in Leon Friday night.

The Raiders are now 12-1 overall and 8-1 in Pride of Iowa conference action.

Next action

The Raiders hosted East Union Tuesdasy night and Wayne comes to visit Friday, Jan. 20. Monday, Jan. 23, Clarinda Academy comes to town and Tuesday, Jan. 24, the Raiders play at Bedford.

  Harlan swept the title at the Mount Ayr Dual wrestling tournament over the weekend that saw nine rounds of wrestling between the nine teams participating.

The Raiders struggled without picking up a dual win in their eight matches of the busy weekend of wrestling.

With the streak of eight losses, the Raider dual wrestling record fell to 4-13 for the season.

Best record for the weekend for the Raiders came from 152-pounder Shane Swank, who went 7-1 for the weekend. Erik Freed won six matches by fall and lost two by decision for a 6-2 record in his first action of the season. The same mark of 6-2 was added by Joe Ricker at 285 pounds.

Wrestlers from Lathrop, MO, Council Bluffs St. Albert, Harlan, Martensdale-St. Mary’s and Penny High were named to the Ron Scott all-tournament team for making it through the tournament as unbeaten individuals.

There were some eight Iowa state-ranked wrestlers taking part in the action of the weekend, giving wrestlers some top competition. The only head-to-head match of ranked wrestlers would have come at 113 pounds when Martensdale-St. Mary’s and Durant met, but Tyler Hagen of Martensdale-St. Mary’s wrestled at 120 pounds while Durant’s Aaron Barthagenwrestlered at 113 pounds. Both won their matches by pin.

Wins by teams in the two-day event included:

1. Harlan, 8; 2. Martensdale-St. Mary’s, 7; 3. Lathrop, MO, 6; 4. Council Bluffs St. Albert, 5; 5. Riverside, 4; tie for 6. Durant, Penney and Shenandoah, 2; 9. Mount Ayr Community, 0.

Next action

The Raider wrestlers went to Van Meter Tuesday, Jan. 17, to face Corning, Panorama and Van Meter and head to the John Harris tournament in Corning Friday and Saturday.

  It’s been a see-saw season for the Mount Ayr Community Raiderettes and this week the ups and downs continued.

The Raiderettes defeated Lenox 57-39 in Mount Ayr Tuesday, Jan. 10, then fell to conference co-leader Central Decatur 44-32 in Leon on Friday, Jan. 13.

The Raiderettes are now 7-7 for the season and 4-5 in the Pride of Iowa conference.

Next action

The girls hosted East Union Tuesday night and host Wayne Friday, Jan. 20. Tuesday, Jan. 24 they travel to Bedford.

  Diagonal’s Maroonettes picked up their first win of the season in the opening round of the Bluegrass conference basketball tournament Saturday night.

The Diagonal girls were able to handle Seymour 39-24 in action at Seymour on Saturday night in tournament play.

They opened the week with a 39-17 loss to Melcher-Dallas on their home court. 

Their season mark is now 1-10 and they are 0-5 in conference play.

  Three more victories were added to the season total in a great start to 2012 for the Mount Ayr Community Raider basketball team this past week.

The Raiders handled Corning 64-57 in conference play Tuesday, Jan. 3, won a close POI game  61-57 over Martensdale-St. Mary’s Friday, Jan. 6, then rolled over Clarke 59-23 on the road Monday, Jan. 9, in non-conference play.

The Raiders boosted their season mark to 10-1 and their conference record to 6-1 with the victories.

Next action

The Raiders hosted Lenox Tuesday, Jan. 10, and travel to Central Deatur Friday, Jan. 13. Tuesday, Jan. 17, they host East Union.

  Mount Ayr Community’s Raiders dropped a home dual meet with Cenral Decatur and took fourth in the Creston Invitational tournament to get back into action for 2012.

The Raiders fell to Central Decaur 55-15 in action Thursday night in Mount Ayr to see their dual record slip to 4-5.

The Raiders placed fourth in the round-robin action in the Creston tournament Saturday with a couple of wrestlers with Shane Swank, Jacob Roach and Joe Ricker finishing with winning records.

Next action

The Raider wrestlers host the Mount Ayr duals Friday and Saturday and wrestle Corning, Panorama and Van Meter at Van Meter Tuesday, Jan. 17.

  Mount Ayr Community’s Raider wrestling team will host the 24th annual Mount Ayr Dual Wrestling Tournament on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 13-14.  

Nine teams will wrestle a round robin dual tournament during the two wrestling sessions, beginning at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 13, and resuming at 10  a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 14.

Saturday’s session will conclude with the crowning of the team champion and runner-up, as well as the presentation of the 2012 Ron Scott all-tournament team.

Participating teams will include Council Bluffs Saint Albert, Durant, Harlan, Lathrop, MO, Martensdale-St Mary’s, Riverside, Oakland, Penney High School (Hamilton, MO), Shenandoah and  Mount Ayr Community.

The Raiders face Lathrop, MO at 4:30 p.m., Harlan at 6 p.m. and Martensdale-St. Mary’s at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Saturday they wrestle Penney at 10 a.m., Riverside at 11:30 a.m., Council Bluffs Saint Albert at 1 p.m., Shenandoah at 2:30 p.m. and Durant at 4 p.m.

  A win over Martensdale-St. Mary’s was sandwiched between losses to Corning and Clarke in action for the Mount Ayr Community Raiderette basketball team this past week.

In conference play Tuesday, Jan. 3, the girls fell to Corning 49-27. The Raiderettes picked up a conference win over Martensdale-St. Mary’s Friday, Jan. 6, in a nailbiter 39-36. Monday, Jan 9, the girls fell to non-conference foe Clarke 59-32.

The girls now have a record of 6-6 and are 3-4 in Pride of Iowa conference play.

Next action

The Raiderettes hosted Lenox Tuesday night and travel to Central Decatur Friday, Jan. 14. Tuesday, Jan. 17, East Union visits.

  Diagonal’s Maroons broke in the win column after starting the season with a loss in their brightest week of action so far.

After falling to a tough Murray squad 74-23 on Tuesday night, the Maroons rebounded to handled Moravia 58-50 Friday night before the home crowd.

With the split this week the Maroons are now 1-9 for the season and 1-3 in Bluegrass conference play.

Next action

The Maroons host Melcher-Dallas Friday, Jan. 13, and then jump into the Bluegrass conference tournament. Pairings for the conference tournament were to be made Wednesday, Jan 11.

  Area sports teams jumped back into action this week with several events Tuesday, Jan. 3, and most teams seeing action sometime in this first week of January.

Tuesday night the Mount Ayr Community Raider and Raiderette basketball squads opened action in 2012 by hosting Corning squads. Friday night Martensdale-St. Mary’s comes to visit and Tuesday, Jan. 5, both teams go to Clarke.

Diagonal’s Maroons and Maroonettes jumped back into action Tuesday by hosting Murray teams. Friday, Jan. 6, they host Moravia as a home stand continues.

Mount Ayr Community Raider wrestlers host Atlantic and Central Decatur tonight (Thursday) in their first action of the new year and go to the Creston tournament Saturday, Jan. 7.

The Raider and Raiderette bowlers see their first action of the new year Monday, Jan. 9, when they host Lamoni at Lucky Lanes.

The Raider and Raiderette junior varsity basketball teams saw action against Corning Tuesday, Jan. 3. The teams host a junior varsity basketball tournament Saturday here as well and the boys play at Clarke Monday Jan. 9. Tuesday, Jan. 10, both teams host Lenox.

The junior varsity wrestlers will attend a junior varsity meet in Creston Monday, Jan. 9.

The junior varsity bowlers have a meet with Lamoni in Leon Wednesday, Jan. 11.

Mount Ayr Community middle school girls basketball picks up Friday, Jan. 6, when the girls go to East Union. The split season is over for the Mount Ayr Community Raider boys basketball team.

The first action for the middle school wrestling team comes today (Thursday) when Corning, Central Decatur and East Union visit.

  Mount Ayr Community will be hosting a junior varsity basketball tournament the opening weekend of 2012.  

The tournament will be held on January 7  in the Mount Ayr Community middle school and high school gymnasiums.  

The championship games for both boys and girls will be held in the high school gymnasium.  

The games schedule for the Saturday tournament are shown below.

Girls Division

9 a.m. -- Mount Ayr Community vs. Worth County, middle school gym.

10:30 a.m. -- Central Decatur vs. Creston, middle school gym.

12  p.m. -- Consolation game, middle school gym.

1:30 p.m. -- Championship game, high school gym.

Boys Division

9  a.m. -- Mount Ayr Community Black  vs. Worth County, high school gym.

10:30 a.m. -- Pleasantville vs. Mount Ayr Community White, high school gym.

12  p.m. -- Consolation game, high school gym.

3  p.m. -- Championship game, high school gym.