Metro Sports Report

Mount Mercy women bowl to nationals

SMYRNA, Tenn. - The Mount Mercy women's bowling team is headed to the ITC national tournament for the second time in three years.

Coach Andy Diercks and the Mustangs finished fourth out of 16 teams at the 2019 Intercollegiate Team Championships sectional qualifier Sunday with a total score of 12,010.

St. Ambrose won the sectional title, followed by Stephen F. Austin State, Indiana Tech and Mount Mercy.

The ITC national tournament will be held in Dayton, Ohio from April 17-20.

Mount Mercy baseball drops twinbill

LAWRENCE, Kan. - The Mount Mercy baseball team was swept by  Benedictine Sunday in a Heart of America Conference doubleheader, 7-1  and 8-1.

The Mustangs (4-10, 1-5) collected only nine hits in the twinbill.  Chili Moseley went 3-for-7 with a double in each game.

The games were originally scheduled for Cedar Rapids, but were moved to Benedictine due to field conditions and weather. Mount Mercy served as the home team in both games.

Wilson, Eagles soar to nationals

Doug Wilson is a proud man, but he's also a humble man who rarely shows his emotions in public.

That changed Saturday. Dramatically.

First the Kirkwood superstar was named the MVP of the regional tournament and quickly dissolved in tears, only partially obscured by the towel he placed over his face in a failed attempt at privacy.

A few minutes later the 6-foot-7 sophomore from Des Moines was honored as the Outstanding Player for the entire season in Region XI and the tears flowed again.

This all happened after the second-ranked Kirkwood Eagles tamed seventh-ranked NIACC, 84-72, in a slugfest in the regional championship game at Johnson Hall Saturday afternoon.

Wilson poured in 27 points despite missing the final 11 minutes, 22 seconds of the first half with two fouls. He scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half to help the Eagles earn a spot in the NJCAA national tournament.

KCC women eye regional title

MASON CITY - To no one's surprise, the fourth-ranked Kirkwood Eagles  and second-ranked NIACC Trojans will battle for the regional title in  women's basketball Sunday.

To everyone's chagrin, only one of these premier teams will qualify  for the national tournament and the other one will be done for the year.

Only the regional champion reaches the national tournament. There are  no at-large bids in NJCAA Division II basketball, so one of the best  teams in the country will not make it.

Kirkwood reached the regional finals by topping DMACC, 68-60, in the  semifinals Saturday in Mason City. NIACC advanced by stomping Iowa  Central, 88-49, in the other semifinal.

Kirkwood (27-6) and NIACC (26-5) will tangle Sunday at 1 p.m. on  NIACC's home floor in Mason City. The two teams tied for the  conference title and swapped six-point victories on their home courts,  but NIACC won the tiebreaker and was awarded the home-court advantage  in the regional.