Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The team that would eventually take the Kansas City Chiefs back to the Super Bowl for the first time in 50 years was under construction long before general manager Brett Veach and coach Andy Reid finally laid the cornerstone. That came in the form of Patrick Mahomes, their record-setting quarterback. Once they drafted him a couple of years ago, it was a matter of adding a couple of pieces around him on offense and then overhauling an inept defense that kept holding Kansas City back.

UNDATED (AP) — It has been a while since a Super Bowl has appeared to be such a toss-up. This one between the NFC champion San Francisco 49ers and the AFC champ Kansas City Chiefs is a difficult game to judge. The 49ers have gone from the No. 2 pick in the draft last April to the verge of another championship. The Chiefs were in the AFC title contest last year and fell in overtime. In 2019, both teams were dynamic and won a bunch of big games. Now they meet in the biggest one.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Pérez took the oath of U.S. citizenship during the team’s annual FanFest on Friday. Pérez is a six-time All Star and a five-time Gold Glove winner who missed last season after Tommy John surgery, His return will be key for the Royals following back-to-back 100-loss seasons. New manager Mike Matheny is excited to have Pérez back behind the plate. Matheny is also glad that left fielder Alex Gordon decided to return for one more season.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Alex Gordon has agreed to consent to a trade by the Kansas City Royals starting June 16, an unusual provision in the outfielder’s new $4 million, one-year contract. Gordon has spent his entire career with the Royals and has the right to block trades under baseball’s labor contract because his has at least 10 years of major league service, including five or more with his current team. If he is traded, he would receive a $500,000 assignment bonus each time he is dealt. In addition, if he is traded he would be eligible for $500,000 in performance bonuses based on plate appearances.

The Iowa High School Athletic Association released the District assignments for boys postseason basketball on Friday. Check out the files below to see where area teams landed.

2020-Basketball-Assignments-2A

2020-Basketball-Assignments-1A

The first day of competition at the IWCOA Girls State Wrestling Tournament was Friday in Waverly. Atlantic-CAM had three wrestlers in action. Here are there results from Day 1:

126
Aleigh Bean (5-4) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.

Champ. Round 1 – Aleigh Bean (Atlantic-CAM) 5-4 received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 – Emily Waters (Anamosa) 12-10 won by fall over Aleigh Bean (Atlantic-CAM) 5-4 (Fall 2:47)
Cons. Round 2 – Aleigh Bean (Atlantic-CAM) 5-4 received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 3 – Kirstyn Beaman (Humboldt) 6-5 won by fall over Aleigh Bean (Atlantic-CAM) 5-4 (Fall 2:41)

152
Kenzie Hoffman (4-3) place is unknown and scored 4.0 team points.

Champ. Round 1 – Kenzie Hoffman (Atlantic-CAM) 4-3 won by fall over Maggie Friederick (Wahlert, Dubuque) 1-7 (Fall 0:32)
Champ. Round 2 – Allison Baxter (AHSTW) 6-1 won by fall over Kenzie Hoffman (Atlantic-CAM) 4-3 (Fall 0:38)
Cons. Round 2 – Sam Hendrian (Roland-Story) 3-8 won by fall over Kenzie Hoffman (Atlantic-CAM) 4-3 (Fall 3:02)

195
Lexie Trotter (4-3) place is unknown and scored 4.0 team points.

Champ. Round 1 – Lexie Trotter (Atlantic-CAM) 4-3 won by fall over Morgan Smith (Denver) 7-3 (Fall 2:29)

Check out results for other area teams and the team standings HERE. Competition will conclude on Saturday.

Day one of action is in the books for the 65th annual John J. Harris Wrestling Tournament in Corning. Tourney favorite Winterset leads the team standings with 91 points. Defending Champion Atlantic-CAM is 4th with 67.5 points.

The Trojans advanced 7 wrestlers into the semifinals and 4 into the consolation bracket for Saturday. Semifinalists are: Easton O’Brien (106), Aybren Moore (113), Ethan Follmann (120), Joe Weaver (126), Jaxson Bell (132), Kadin Stutzman (152), Cale Roller (285).

Full results HERE.

Action picks back up at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Hawkeye Ten Conference
Creston 56, Kuemper Catholic 39
Denison-Schleswig 57, St. Albert 54
Glenwood 95, Red Oak 67
Harlan 59, Clarinda 26
Lewis Central 73, Shenandoah 30

Western Iowa Conference
AHSTW 63, Audubon 61 (OT)
IKM-Manning 72, Tri-Center 34
Logan-Magnolia 44, Treynor 35

Rolling Valley Conference
Boyer Valley 43, Glidden-Ralston 32
CAM 57, Ar-We-Va 50
Exira-EHK 68, Woodbine 23
Paton-Churdan 53, Coon Rapids-Bayard 44

Corner Conference Tournament
Championship: Stanton 39, Sidney 21
Consolation: East Mills 53, Fremont-Mills 31

Pride of Iowa Conference
Lenox 45, Southeast Warren 41 (OT)
Mount Ayr 50, Martensdale-St Marys 47
Nodaway Valley 71, Central Decatur 52

West Central Activities Conference
Van Meter 46, Earlham 24
Des Moines Christian 59, Pleasantville 41
Woodward-Granger 50, Ogden 35

Other Scores
Bondurant-Farrar 73, Carroll 52
Ballard 58, ADM 34
Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln 43, LeMars 26
Winterset 55, Boone 48

BOYS BASKETBALL

Hawkeye Ten Conference
Atlantic 52, Saydel 49
Glenwood 71, Red Oak 41
Harlan 78, Clarinda 60
Creston 60, Kuemper Cahtolic 58

Rolling Valley Conference
Boyer Valley 72, Glidden-Ralston 33
CAM 55, Ar-We-Va 48
Coon Rapids-Bayard 64, Paton-Churdan 58
Exira-EHK 52, Woodbine 50

Western Iowa Conference
AHSTW 60, Audubon 53
Riverside 42, Missouri Valley 35
Treynor 64, Logan-Magnolia 40
Tri-Center 55, IKM-Manning 29

Pride of Iowa Conference
Central Decatur, Leon 54, Nodaway Valley 48
Lenox 51, SE Warren 50
Martensdale-St. Marys 62, Mount Ayr 45

West Central Activities Conference
Van Meter 64, Earlham 38
Woodward-Granger 52, Ogden 34

The AHSTW Vikings found a way to rally in the fourth quarter and pull out a 60-53 win over Audubon on Friday night. The Vikings trailed much of the game but Raydden Grobe and Sam Porter came up big in the fourth quarter to improve their record to 13-2. Grobe scored 11 of his game high 20 points in the fourth and Porter made 7 straight free throws down the stretch to seal the victory. AHSTW Head Coach GG Harris thought his guys showed some guts in the win.

The Vikings made 11 of 14 free throws in the second half, where as the Wheelers were only 7 of 17. Audubon led from late in the first quarter at 12-11 until midway through the fourth quarter when a Raydden Grobe three put the Vikings in front 49-48. The Vikings would never trail the rest of the way. Foul trouble was a problem all night for both teams with a total of 48 fouls called and two players fouled out

Porter finished with 15 points and Brayden Lund had a big night off the bench for AHSTW with 14. The Vikings will travel to Missouri Valley on Tuesday.

Audubon had three players finish in double figures; Marcus Olsen 13, Skyler Schultes 11, and Ethan Klocke 10. Audubon falls to 6-8 and will travel to IKM-Manning on Monday.

Kailey Jones rebounded a Claire Denning miss and put it in as time expired to give AHSTW a thrilling 63-61 overtime win over Audubon on Friday night. Aleah Hermensen had just tied the game at 61 with a long three with about 10 seconds to play before Denning raced up the floor and got free for a floater that bounced left off the rim to Jones. After the game Denning said it was a night to remember.

AHSTW Head Coach Steve Sauvain said they run a drill that tries to simulate those type of late game situations and he had a feeling they would at least get a look at the winning bucket.

Jones finished with 26 points to lead all scorers on the night, 14 of those coming in the fourth quarter and overtime. Claire Denning finished with 18 and Claire Harris had 12. The Vikings were able to avenge their only loss of the season, which was another overtime game on December 13 against the Wheelers that they dropped 54-48. Coach Sauvain said he was proud of the way the team battled.

The game was back and forth all night long with both teams making great plays. The Lady Vikes led 20-16 at the end of the first, Audubon grabbed a one point lead at half 30-29, and it was tied after three at 41 and at 53 at the end of regulation. The Lady Vikes improved to 14-1 with the victory and will now head to Missouri Valley on Tuesday.

Audubon was led by 20 points from Aleah Hermensen, 12 from Rylie Hartl, and 11 from Leah Subbert. The Wheelers fall to 10-4 and will next travel to IKM-Manning on Monday.

The Audubon Wheelers play host to the AHSTW Lady Vikes and Vikings tonight for a Western Iowa Conference basketball doubleheader and we’ll have coverage on KJAN. It’s the second meeting of the season for the teams after playing in Avoca back on December 13th.

Audubon pulled off a win in the girls game the last time 54-48 in overtime. It was a great back and forth game and Rylie Hartl came up big for Audubon with four 3’s and 16 total points to help the Wheelers get the W. That remains the lone loss on the season for the 13-1 Lady Vikes. The Wheelers enter tonight with a 10-3 record.

The boys game was won by AHSTW last time 75-59. The Vikings used a big third quarter in that game to pull away from the Wheelers. Michael Mantell led the Vikings that night with 14 points. The Vikings are now 12-2 coming into tonight against the 6-7 Wheelers.

Chris Parks has the call tonight from Audubon with pregame at 5:50 p.m. before the girls game starts at 6:00 p.m. with the boys to follow. Tune in on AM 1220, FM 101.1, and online at kjan.com

The 65th Annual John J. Harris Wrestling Tournament will be contested Friday and Saturday in Corning. 22 teams are scheduled to compete at this year’s event and over 20 ranked wrestlers will be on the mat.

Atlantic/CAM is the defending tournament champion and will be expected to compete in the top 5 again this year. Winterset comes in ranked 4th in the latest Class 2A rankings from IAWrestle and will be the favorite to win. Red Oak, Creston/O-M, Missouri Valley, and Riverside are other strong teams in the field.

The tournament begins today with weigh-ins at 2 p.m., coaches meeting at 3 p.m., and action starts at 4 p.m. The first night will have pigtail matches, first round, quarterfinals, and first round consolations contested.

Day 2 on Saturday will pick up with second round consolations at 10:00am. The semi-finals and 5th place matches are scheduled for about 2:45 p.m. with the Championships and 3rd place matches following at about 3:50 p.m.

You can hear more about the Atlantic/CAM squad from Coach Tim Duff on our Saturday morning coaches show at 8:30am Saturday morning.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Jim Field.

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