Kinsella seeded fifth at nationals

KEARNEY, Neb. — Redshirt junior Jackson Kinsella of Creston is among 10 starters qualifying for the NCAA Division II Championships from the second-ranked Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team.

The Lopers tallied 155 points, ending with a 33-4 overall record, in leading the field of 12 teams at the Super Region VI tournament on March 1.

Kinsella, ranked fifth at 197 pounds, beat ranked opponents in the semifinals and finals. He opened with two technical falls before earning a 13-0 major decision over No. 11 Ryan Cody of Colorado Mines and a 4-1 decision over No. 10 Tereus Henry of Fort Hays State.

No. 1 ranked Loper heavyweight Crew Howard of Clarinda won by three straight falls in cruising to the 285-pound title.

The NCAA Division II finals will be held Friday and Saturday in Indianapolis. Kinsella,19-7 this season will face Elie Reese (1206) of Gannon, Pa. His second-round opponent would be No. 4 Max Ramberg of Augustana or Wyatt Miller of Grand Valley State.

Mustangs advance

PARK CITY, Kan. — The Morningside University men’s wrestling team sent four athletes to the NAIA National Championships last weekend. Senior heavyweight Jakob Jerabek had the highest placing for the Mustangs, falling in the fourth consolation round.

Other Morningside wrestlers were Caden Eggleston (157), Blaine Christo (165) and Alex VanDyke (174).

Morningside placed second behind Doane in the Great Plains Athletic Conference championships with 153.5 points. Christian Ahrens of Creston placed sixth at 133 pounds for the Mustangs. He lost in the quarterfinals to Dariux Black of Briar Cliff before going 2-2 in the consolation rounds.

Mustang 149-pounder Chris Aragon placed fifth. Aragon also lost in the quarterfinal round to Tyler Okada of Waldorf and then went 2-2 in the consolation bracket after receiving a bye. Kaden Street of Creston represented Morningside at 184 pounds, ending 0-2.

Sistad places

INDIANOLA — Savannah Sistad of Creston placed sixth at 207 pounds for the Simpson University women’s wrestling team at the NCWWC Region 7 tournament.

Sistad, 17-18 in her first season with the Storm, received a bye before losing to teammate Morgan Miller, who placed fifth. Sistad won by a technical fall in going 1-1 in the consolation bracket.

National tourney

DES MOINES — Junior Brianna Fields of Creston is a member of the Grand View University women’s basketball team that earned an at-large bid in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) women’s basketball championships opening Friday and Saturday.

Second-round winners advance to the championship finals March 20-25 at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City. Grand View (20-5) received an at-large bid as the No. 8 seed in the Liston Quadrant and will travel to Marion, Indiana, for a first-round matchup 6:30 p.m. Friday at Indiana Wesleyan against No. 9 seed Olivet Nazarene.

Fields shot 2-of-3 from the field and finished with four points and one rebound in 15 minutes of action for Grand View in an 80-67 loss to Benedictine in the semifinals of the Heart of America Conference Tournament. She averaged 2.2 points and 1.8 rebounds per game for the Vikings.

Winning season

INDIANOLA — The Simpson College women’s basketball team fell 96-89 in double overtime to Central College in the American Rivers Conference Tournament on Feb. 25.

The Storm ended with a 15-11 season record, including 11-5 in ARC play. Doryn Paup of Creston had 11 points and three rebounds for Simpson in the loss. Paup averaged 4.6 points and 3.2 rebounds this season.

Maddax DeVault of Nodaway Valley contributed six points and one rebound. She averaged 7.4 points, 1.1 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 1.0 assists.