DCG girls stay atop conference, wrestlers compete at girls state tournament

Sean Cordy
·3 min read
DCG's Jenna Morrison defends a Norwalk player on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, in Grimes.
DCG's Jenna Morrison defends a Norwalk player on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, in Grimes.

The postseason is upon the Mustangs after an up-and-down week. (Note: Events covered Jan. 30-Feb. 5)

Girls Basketball (16-3)

With two games left, the Mustangs are one win away from claiming back-to-back conference championships after winning both their games this week.

DCG now sits at 12-0 in the Little Hawkeye. Their final opponent of the regular season, Pella, is 10-2. So long as the Mustangs beat Pella Christian on Tuesday, they’ll clinch the conference title. Otherwise, Friday’s game could be the de facto title matchup in Dallas Center.

Bringing the Mustangs to this opportunity, DCG left both Norwalk (4-14) and Indianola (9-10) in its wake with wins of 75-40 and 42-36, respectively.

The team could hardly miss against Norwalk, shooting 58 percent from the floor to put up score their season-high 75 points. Finley Fitzgerald made 6-of-10 shots for 16 points. Each scored 14 points, Vanessa Bickford made 5-of-6 shots and Emma Miner was good on 7-of-9 tries. They combined for 72 percent efficiency, the trio’s most efficient shooting night for the season.

Boys Basketball (9-8)

The Mustangs have fallen into a rough patch, losing four of their last five games after this week’s pair of losses to the top two teams in the conference.

On Jan. 31, Norwalk (14-3) came to town, eager to prove it deserves to be at the top of the league standings. The Mustangs initially put a pin in any of those dreams in front of a packed DCG crowd, leading the Warriors 37-21 at halftime with both Calix Cahill and Jonathan Howard on the top of their games.

Cahill left with 15 points while making 5-of-7 shots while Howard was 4-of-5 for 13 points. But that mostly came in the first half, as the Warriors sent the game into overtime by limiting those golden opportunities Cahill and Howard found early on. They’d walk away from Dallas Center with a 67-64 win, avenging DCG’s win in Norwalk earlier in the month.

Three nights later, Indianola completed their Mustang sweep with a 62-34 win at home.

South Tama County’s Maeley Elsbury, right, wrestlers Dallas Center-Grimes’s Bella Mulder at 135 pounds during the second round of championship at the Iowa Girl’s state wrestling tournament starts at Stream Arena in Coralville, Iowa on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023.
South Tama County’s Maeley Elsbury, right, wrestlers Dallas Center-Grimes’s Bella Mulder at 135 pounds during the second round of championship at the Iowa Girl’s state wrestling tournament starts at Stream Arena in Coralville, Iowa on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023.

Girls Wrestling

Taking part in the first-ever state tournament sanctioned by the state of Iowa, Dallas Center-Grimes placed 35th among the 138 participating teams and scored 32 points in a balanced effort from the seven-girl roster.

The team’s only podium winner, Maya Fritz (170 pounds) scored seven points after winning four straight matchups following a sudden victory loss in the opening round. Bella Mulder (135) was actually the team leader in points scored, however, going 3-2 for the day and took her eventual weight class champion to the brink, just 19 seconds from a full three rounds.

Ava Gannon (105) walked out with three wins as well, next followed by Halley Beaudet (190) with two wins and one from Josephine Bond (115.) Asia Jahangir (130) and Mackenzie Sizemore (155) rounded out the DCG depth chart.

Boys Wrestling

Taking on Waukee Northwest in the Class 3A regional duals, DCG lost 73-4. The Mustangs’ only points came from Logan Renshaw (106 pounds) in an 11-3 major decision.

Dallas Center’s season continues Saturday in Lewis Central where the Mustangs will fight for solo spots at the state tournament.

This article originally appeared on Dallas County News: DCG girls stay atop conference, wrestlers compete at girls state tournament