Local sports briefs

Harlan rallies

CEDAR FALLS — Harlan scored 23 unanswered points to rally past Mount Vernon, 30-23, in earning the school’s 14th state football championship Friday night.

Quarterback Teagon Kasperbauer finished with 220 passing yards and three touchdowns. Jacob Birch had 11 catches for 138 yards. Matthew Sorfonden had nine tackles and a blocked PAT for the defense.

Van Meter wins

CEDAR FALLS — Van Meter rolled to a second-consecutive Class 1A state football title with a 35-7 victory over West Sioux on Friday evening at the UNI-Dome. The Bulldogs finish the 2022 season with a 12-1 record and are state champs for the third time in school history after previously winning last year and in 2017.

Sophomore Jay Haley, formerly of Creston, is a member of the Van Meter squad.

Also on Friday, Abu Sama had a record 372 yards rushing and six touchdowns as Southeast Polk topped West Des Moines Valley, 49-14, in capturing its second consecutive 5A title. In Class 2A, George-Little Rock beat Willamsburg, 10-6.

On Thursday, Cedar Rapids Xavier topped Lewis Central for the 4A title in a 45-38 shootout. Remsen-St. Mary’s, which beat Lenox in the semifinals, took the eight-player crown with a 38-16 victory over WACO. Grundy Center prevailed in Class A over West Hancock, 27-0.

Girls wrestling

NEVADA — The Highway 34 girls wrestling team had 65 points and took 12th place at the Central Iowa Kickoff.

Jaycee Fitzgerald placed third at 110 pounds and scored 21 team points for the team that includes Creston, Lenox and East Union. Fitzgerald pinned Miah Huff of Nevada in 13 seconds in the third-place match for one of three wins by fall in the tournament.

Zoey Vandevender placed third at 145 pounds and scored 19 team points. She won by falls in round two and quarterfinals before losing by fall in the semifinals. She came back to beat Addison Herrick of Raccoon River-Northwest, 6-3, in overtime in the third-place match.

Mila Kuhns placed seventh at 135 pounds and scored 10 team points. Kuhns won by fall, lost by fall in the quarterfinals, lost by fall in the consolations and then pinned Julia Gardner of Eagle Grove for seventh place in 47 seconds.

Aubrie Mohr won one match by fall and lost by fall twice at 170 pounds. Grace Keeler won by fall and then lost by fall twice at 140 pounds. Riley DeGonia and Grace Keeler also went 1-2 with a win by fall at 145 and 140 pounds, respectively. Quynn Foster scored six team points at 115 pounds, winning twice by fall and losing twice by fall. Hope Woods placed eighth at 100 pounds, losing by fall to Sabrina Johnston of West Marshall by fall in the seventh-place match.