Mount Ayr Community's Raider boys basketball team saw their season come to a close after a tough battle with Ankeny Christian Academy forbore a 62-53 loss in Des Moines Saturday night.

Tim Olejniczak was a player that the Raiders could not answer and he was able to score 24 points to lead the Eagles to the win over the Raiders.

The Raiders finished the season with a 16-8 record, reaching the furthest along the tournament trail they have since the mid 1970s.

Watch for more details in next week's Mount Ayr Record-News.

 It’s on to the Class 1A district finals for the Mount Ayr Community Raider boys basketball team.

The Raiders downed Lamoni 62-42 in Lamoni Tuesday night, avenging an earlier three-point loss this season, to reach the district finals.

On the other side of the bracket, Murray defeated Southeast Warren 73-64 to reach the district finals.

The game will be played tonight (Thursday, Feb. 25) at 7 p.m. at Interstate 35 in Truro.

In the opening game of the season for Murray, the Raiders won 79-60 back on November 30.

Both the Raiders and Murray come into the game with 15-7 season marks.

In the boys competition, the district champ meets another district champ in a substate game to qualify for the state tournament.

A victory over Murray tonight would send the boys to a substate game with the winner of the Ankeny Christian Academy and Grandview Park Baptist game at Valley High School of West Des Moines at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27.

State play for the Raiders, if they make it that far, would begin Monday, March 8, at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

  First action for the Mount Ayr Community Raiderettes at the Class 1A state girls basketball tournament will come Monday, March 1, at 1 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines when they face North Sentral Kossuth.

North Sentral Kossuth comes into the contest ranked fifth in the state while the Raiderettes are ranked eighth. North Sentral Kossuth has a 22-2 record coming into the state tournament, where only the top eight teams in the state qualify.

NSK’s 5’9” guard Rebekah Rolling led the team in scoring with a 19.4 point per game average. Kelsey Gerhart, another 5’9” guard has an 11 point per game average. Six foot center Amber Goraczkowski is the top rebounder on the team.

The team has two losses this season -- a 41-27 loss to Manson Northwest Webster and a 43-34 loss to Woden-Crystal Lake-Titonka. To make it to the state they defeated 10th ranked Mason City Newman 65-56.

The Raiderettes have a history in the state tournament, but this is only the second time in the five-player game period that the girls have made a trip to state.

The first trip in five-player ball was made in 1998 when the girls went to state with a 22-1 record. Their only loss that year came at the hands of Lenox, which was not part of the conference that the girls won the title in with a 14-0 record. The the girls were defeated by West Marshall in the first round of the tournament.

Members of that team, coached by Mark Larsen, included  Melissa Eighmy, Kristin McKern, Katie Routh, Brandie Shields, Rachel Derscheid, Jess Gepner, Annie Johnson, Tricia Routh, Amy Schlapia, Cara Smith, Debbie Stephens, Angie Shields and Jolene Frost.

Mount Ayr high school was one of 24 teams that took part in the first girls’ state tournament in 1920. Over the years several other county teams made it to state as well.

The last time a Mount Ayr team was at state in the six-on-six days was in 1966, when the squad had a 21-1 record heading to the tournament. That team lost to East Union during the season but then defeated East Union in the district championship. 

The girls lost to Ellwood in the first round of the state tournament that year.

Members of coach Jerry Horton’s squad then included Julia Haley, Diane Richards, Alice Minnick, JoEllen Hainline, Patti Stull, Sharon Long, Carla Riggs, Leola Minnick, Lynn Crawford, Linda Henry, Jeannie Jackson, Diane Dailey, Gay Nichols, Debbie Richards and Edith Minnick.

  It’s on to the Class 1Adistrict finals for the Mount Ayr Community Raider boys basketball team.

The Raiders downed Lamoni 62-42 in Lamoni Tuesday night, avenging an earlier three-point loss this season, to reach the district finals.

On the other side of the bracket, Murray defeated Southeast Warren to reach the district finals.

The game will be played tonight (Thursday, Feb. 25) at 7 p.m. at Interstate 35 in Truro.

In the opening game of the season for Murray, the Raiders won 79-60 back on November 30.

Both the Raiders and Murray come into the game with 15-7 season marks.

In the boys competition, the district champ meets another district champ in a substate game to qualify for the state tournament.

A victory over Murray tonight would send the boys to a substate game with the winner of the Ankeny Christian Academy and Grandview Park Baptist game at Valley High School of West Des Moines at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27.

State play for the Raiders, if they make it that far, would begin Monday, March 8, at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

 Mount Ayr Community's Raiderettes battled back from a 15-point deficit to defeat Sidney 48-39 in Clarinda Monday night to advance to the state tournament for the first time in more than 10 years.

The girls will now play North Sentral Kossuth in the first round of the state tournament Monday, March 1, at 1 p.m. at  Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Second round games are Wednesday, March 3, with the finals Friday, March 5 for Class 1A.

Watch for pictures and the complete story in this week's Mount Ayr Record-News.

Mount Ayr Community's Raiders defeated Orient-Macksburg 76-52 Thursday, Feb. 18, to advance in the Class 1A boys basketball tournament.

The are set to meet Lamoni Tuesday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m. in Lamoni.

Diagonal was eliminated from the tournament when they lost to Lenox 74-37 in Lenox. 

Dylan Lame lost his wrestling title match 4-2 in double overtime to Caleb Wilkin of Nashua Plainfield at the state wrestling tournament Saturday and Cade Lambson finished sixth in the consolation finals Saturday.

Look more pictures and more details in the Mount Ayr Record-News this week.

Dylan Lame moved to the championship match and Caleb Lambson moved to the consolation bracket in wrestling Friday night in Des Moines.

Lame pinned Joe Koehn on Valley in :51 to move into the finals against Caleb Wilken of Nashua Plainfield Saturday night in Des Moines.

Lambson lost his semifinal round to Jordan Simon of Applington-Parkersburg in a wild 19-15 decision, then lost a 7-2 consolation round match to Al Horstman of West Hancock.

He will face Mitch Montgomery Lisbon Saturday afternoon in the consolation finals in the match for fifth place in the tournament. He beat Montgomery 10-4 earlier in the tournament.

Quarterfinal round

Caleb Lambson and Dylan Lame reached the semifinals of the state wrestling tournament Friday morning after defeating their opponents by decisions.

Cade Lambson at 215 pounds defeated fourth-ranked Mitch Montgomery of Lisbon on a 10-4 decision and Dylan Lame at heavyweight defeated Landon Worden of Belmond-Klemme 7-0 to advance to the semifinal round at 6:30 p.m. Friday night.

In the consolation bracket, Wes Pierschbacher at 130 was defeated 8-1 by Drew Proctor of Tipton to be eliminated from the tournament.

In Friday night's wrestling, Lambson will wrestle Jordan Simon of Applington-Parkersburg while Lame will take on Joe Koehn of Valley. A win would put them in the finals Saturday night. A loss would put them in the consolation rounds. Both are assured of at least an eighth place finish.

All three Raider wrestlers advanced from the first day of action in the Class 1A state wrestling meet at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines Thursday morning.          

At 130 pounds, Weston Pierchbacher was in the match until making a mistake and getting pinned by Caleb Smothers of Northwest Webster in 3:51 in his first match. In the first round consolation bracket he came back and pinned Josh Taylor of Akron-Westfield in 1:05. He advances to the consolation round at 9 a.m. Friday, Feb. 19, where he will face the loser of a match earlier in the day between Nelson Oviatt of Logan-Magnolia and Drew Proctor of Tipton.

At 215 pounds, Caleb Lambson was able to pin Max Wacha of Alburnet in 2:35 in his first match of the meet to advance in the championship bracket. In the second round, he will face fourth-ranked Mitch Montgomery of Lisbon, who also won by pin in his first round match in the quarter finals in the session Friday morning.

Heavyweight Dylan Lame made quick work of Dustin Schwaller of Okoboji with a pin in :51 in his opening match Thursday. He will advance to take on Landon Worden of Belmond Kelmme in the quarterfinal match in the session Friday morning as well.

Wins in the Friday morning session would advance the wrestlers to the Class 1A semifinals and third round consolation matches at 6:30 p.m. Friday night.

The consolation finals for third through eighth places will be held Saturday at noon and the finals are at 6 p.m. Saturday night.

Matches will be updated on the internet and next week’s Mount Ayr Record-News will give complete details.

After the first session, the Raiders were tied for fifth place in the team standings with 11 points.

First round wrestling for the three Mount Ayr Community Raider wrestlers who made the state tournament will be held today (Thursday) in a session beginning at 9 a.m. at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Senior Weston Pierschbacher, who was the champion at 130 pounds at the district meet, will meet Caleb Smothers of Manson Northwest Webster in the first round.

Smothers, a sophomore, comes into the contest with a 31-16 record while Pierschbacher has a 30-12 mark for the season.

A win by Pierschbacher would put him in a second round match Friday morning in the 9 a.m. session against the winner of top ranked Derric Thomas of Mason City Newman and  third ranked Tanner Taylor of Okoboji. A loss by Pierschbacher would put him in a first round consolation match to be held later Thursday morning against the loser of that match.

First foe for Cade Lambson in the 215-pound class will be Max Wacha of Alburnet, a senior who comes into the tournament with a 34-6 record. Lambson, ranked third in the state, has a 35-4 mark so far this year, with two of those loses coming at the hands of Class 1A top-ranked Jon Meyers of Coon Rapids-Bayard and two at the hands of Class 2A second-ranked Marcus Streit of Harlan.

A win would match Lambson against the winner of the opening match between fourth-ranked Mitch Montgomery of Lisbon and Zach Cartensen of Southeast Webster in action Friday morning.

A loss would put him against the loser of that match in first round consolation action later this morning.

Raider heavyweight Dylan Lame, currently third ranked in the state, has a first round match with Dustin Schwaller of Okoboji, who is ranked second in the state.

Lame has a 31-3 record going into the match while Schwaller is 40-4. Schwaller was upset by number six Brendan Terwee of West Lyon in the Sioux Center district meet to come to state as a runner-up.

A win would match Lame against the winner of a match between ninth ranked Jacob LeClair of West Monona and Landon Wordon of Belmond-Klemme on Friday.

A loss would put Lame in the consolation first round action this morning against the loser of that match. 

The Class 1A quarterfinals and second round consolation matches will be held Friday, Feb. 19, at 9 a.m.

The Class 1A semifinals and third round consolation matches will be held Friday night at 6:30 p.m.

Consolation finals for third through eighth place will be held Saturday at noon. The finals will be held Saturday night at 6 p.m.

Mount Ayr Community's Raiderettes defeated Lamoni 45-39 Saturday, Feb. 20, in Mount Ayr in the Class 1A regional semifinal game.Mount Ayr Community's Raiderettes defeated Corning 43-38 in a game postponed to Saturday, Feb. 20, at in Mount Ayr in the regional semifinals.

The regional final game is set Monday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. in Clarinda against Sidney, which upset Stanton. A victory there would advance the girls to the state girls basketball tournament for the first time in 10 years.

See next week’s Record-News for details of the games.

 Three Mount Ayr Community Raider wrestlers will be appearing in the state wrestling tournament in Des Moines next week.

Advancing will be 130-pounder Weston Pierschbacher, 215-pounder Cade Lambson and heavyweight Dylan Lame. In addition the Raiders placed third as a team at the district meet held in Guthrie Center Saturday, Feb. 13.

Pierschbacher and Lame won district titles and Lambson finished second to number one ranked Jon Meyers of Coon Rapids Bayard.

The Raiders will wrestle in the first round of the Class 1A state tournament on Thursday, Feb. 18 at 9 a.m. at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

 Mount Ayr Community's Raiderettes handled Diagonal 75-45 in the first round of the Class 1A regional basketball tournament in Mount Ayr Thursday, Feb. 11 to advance in tournament play.

The Raiderettes will take on Lamoni in Mount Ayr Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 7 p.m. in the next round of the tournament. The winner Tuesday will take on the winner of the Corning-East Union game in Corning, also being played Tuesday night. The regional semifinal will be played Friday, Feb 19, at 7 p.m. in Mount Ayr.

Looking down the tournament trail, Bedford, Sidney, Stanton, Fremont-Mills and Essex are still alive in the other half of the regional that will lead to the regional title Monday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. in Clarinda.

There will be plenty of tough competition at the district wrestling meet in Guthrie Center at noon Saturday, Feb. 13, but there may not be a more contested weight class with state-ranked wrestlers than 215 pounds.

Mount Ayr Community’s Cade Lambson, ranked third in the state, may meet two other state-ranked wrestlers in Guthrie Center.

Lambson, who is 33-3 for the season, goes up against Christian VanSyoc of Griswold in the first round, the runner-up at the Coon Rapids-Bayard sectional. VanSyoc is ranked eighth in the state and brings a 35-5 record to the meet. The champion at the Coon Rapids-Bayard sectional is number one ranked Jon Meyers of Coon Rapids-Bayard, who has a 42-0 record so far this year.

Mount Ayr Community heavyweight Dylan Lame, ranked third in the state, will be taking on Miriam Free of East Sac County in the first round. Free comes into the meet with a 24-10 record while Lame is 29-3 so far this year. The other wrestler from the Coon-Rapids-Bayard sectional to be at district is champion Colton Greer of Coon Rapids-Bayard, who has a 17-9 record.

Brad Love, wrestling for the Raiders at 179 pounds with a 27-12 record so far this season, will face the Coon Rapids-Bayard champion Kaleb Reis of Coon Rapids-Bayard, who has a 37-6 record so far this year. Also qualifying is CR-B runner-up J. J Bierbaum of Griswold, who has a 23-11 record.

Weston Pierschbacher will be going up against Jacob Kapasta of Coon Rapids-Bayard in the first round at 130 pounds. Pierschbacher already has a win over eighth-rated Austin Christensen of Bedford-Lenox among his 28-12 record for the season. Kapasta has a 15-11 mark. Runner-up at Coon Rapids-Bayard was Trey Imermann of Guthrie Center, who comes to the match with a 30-18 mark.

 Four Mount Ayr Community Raider wrestlers qualified to advance to the district wrestling tournament set Saturday, Feb. 13 in Guthrie Center.

Cade Lambson at 215 and Dylan Lame at heavyweight both took first place while Weston Pierschbacher at 130 and Bradley Love at 189 took second place in action at the sectional tournament in Mount Ayr Saturday Feb. 6.

Interstate 35 took the team title with 199 points while Corning took second with 161.5 points.

Qualifiers from the sectional in Mount Ayr included:

103 -- 1. Christian Nook, Bedford/Lenox; 2. Justin Marn, Corning.

112 -- 1. Kole Stapes, Intestate 35; 2. Mikel Hilton, Corning.

119 -- 1. Kaleb Wessell, Nodaway Valley; 2. Taylor Brammer, Central Decatur.

125 -- 1. Jordan Johnson, Interstate 35; 2. Kevin Wessell, Nodaway Valley.

130 -- 1. Jake Winkler, Corning; 2. Weston Pierschbacher, Mount Ayr Community.

135 -- 1. Kolby Baier, Nodaway Valey; 2. Jared Smith, Bedford/Lenox.

140 -- 1. Dallas Houchins, Interstate 35; 2. Jesse McCann, Nodaway Valley.

145 -- 1. Carl Davis, Southeast Warren; 2. Connor Christensen, Central Decatur.

152 - 1. Tyler Ogburn, Corning; 2. Cody Schuman, Southeast Warren.

160 -- 1. Cody Morris, Bedford/Lenox; 2. Cory Schmelzer, Corning.

171 -- 1. Willie Lawrence, Bedford/ Lenox; 2. Grant Beck, Southeast Warren.

189 -- 1. Ethan Calvert, Interstaste 35; 1. Bradley Love, Mount Ayr Community.

215 -- 1. Cade Lambson, Mount Ayr Community; 2. Riley Shea, Central Decatur.

Heavyweight -- 1. Dylan Lame, Mount Ayr Community; 2. Matt Eads, Interstate 35.

See this week's Mount Ayr Record-News for more details.

  Mount Ayr Community will be hosting the sectional wrestling tournament Saturday beginning at noon at the high school gymnasium.

Wrestlers from Bedford/Lenox, Central Decatur, Corning, East Union, Interstate 35, Mount Ayr Community, Nodaway Valley and Southeast Warren will be taking part in the tournament here.

The top two placings in each weight class will advance from the sectional to the district wrestling tournament at Guthrie Center Saturday, Feb. 13.

The top two wrestlers from the sectional hosted in Coon Rapids will advance to the district as well.

Teams at the Coon Rapids sectional include Audubon, Coon Rapids-Bayard, East Sac County, Elk Horn-Kimballton, Griswold, Guthrie Center, Keumper Catholic and Panorama.

The top two placings at the district will advance to the state wrestling tournament in Des Moines.

 Mount Ayr Community and Diagonal Community girls basketball teams will open the Class 1A regional basketball tournament action Thursday, Feb. 11, at 7 p.m. in Mount Ayr.

The winner of the opening match moves on to play the Lamoni and Murray winner on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 7 p.m. in Mount Ayr.

Mount Ayr Community will host the regional semifinal Friday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. and the regional final will be held in Clarinda Monday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m.