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SPORTSBRIEFING STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Landess pushes Tigers over the top CHAMPION — Madelyn Landess rolled three strikes in the 10th frame of the third and final baker game to give Wellsville a 2,138-2,112 win over Warren JFK at Champion Lanes on Thursday. The Tigers — who finished sixth in the OVAC Class 1-2A tournament on Saturday — improve to 16-1 on the season. Madelyn Landess led the Tigers with a 213 game and 399 series. Makayla Landess had a 187 game and 359 series and Cameron Taylor a 179 game and 357 series. Wellsville will play East Liverpool and Beaver Local at Walnut Lanes on Wednesday. Junior ...

Even Caitlin Clark can’t save girls basketball

NEWELL, Iowa — The streets of Newell and Fonda are quiet. Rural decline has taken a toll on these northwest Iowa towns with main street storefronts shuttered and vacant houses scattered here and there. Yet the heart of these communities separated by 9 miles isn’t hard to find. It still beats at the Newell-Fonda High School gym, where many of Newell’s 850 residents, Fonda’s 600 and folks from surrounding farms dress in blue and fill it up to cheer on their beloved girls basketball team that is known across Iowa. With 21 of the school’s 71 girls in grades 9-12 playing on the ...

SPORTSBRIEFING STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

EOWL tourney coming up AUSTINTOWN — The 2026 Eastern Ohio Wrestling League tournament is slated to be held Friday and Saturday at Austintown Fitch High School. Beaver Local, Columbiana, Crestview, Salem, Southern, United and West Branch are scheduled to take part. A total of 29 teams and more than 300 wrestlers are expected to compete. The event will feature 25 wrestlers who are ranked in the top 10 in the state. Action will start at 3:30 p.m. on Friday and continue on Saturday. The finals will begin at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and will be broadcast by wkbn.com and WKBN+. ...

Malone guides Southern

SALINEVILLE — New Southern Local head football coach Jimmy Malone has felt the community support for years. “They stepped up four years ago when I was diagnosed with hodgkin’s lymphoma,” he said. “The community and the kids supported me. I felt like this was the time for me to step up and lead the team for the upcoming fall.” Malone was hired as the new head coach by the Southern Local board of education by a 5-0 vote during a special meeting Tuesday night. That came after the board voted to non-renew Zack Almy as head coach. “With the situation we had to deal with ...

SPORTSBRIEFING

Indians game set for Feb. 11 SALINEVILLE — The Columbiana at Southern Local girls basketball game to decide the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference champion has been rescheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 11. It will be a varsity-only contest beginning at 6 p.m. The game was orginally scheduled for Monday and moved to Tuesday due to the snowstorm, but was postponed both days. The Southern girls are 12-0 and Columbiana is 11-1 in EOAC play. They are scheduled to resume EOAC play on Thursday with Southern hosting Wellsville and Columbiana visiting Lisbon. Turkey shoot rescheduled CHESTER, ...

Potters’ McGonigal wins with three pins

CANAL FULTON — East Liverpool junior Alannah McGonigal recorded three pins in 4:06 to highlight the Fear the Spear girls wrestling tournament Saturday at Northwest High School. McGonigal captured the 170-pound title by pinning Fairless senior Kaitlynn Berresford in 2:38 in the championship match. The Potters tied seventh out of 44 teams with 75 points. Also for the Potters, junior Paige Cowan was second at 125 pounds and junior Keira Coil was fourth at 145 pounds. United was ninth in the team standings with 69 points and West Branch was 11th with 50 points. United had a pair of ...