Men’s Basketball

Simpson took its 6-1 conference lead into weekend matchups on the road as the team took on Dubuque University and Loras College on the only overnight trip of the season.

The Storm defeated Dubuque University 63-51. Senior forward Jesse Harris led Simpson with 13 points and 8 rebounds. Junior Matt Brown chipped in 9 points and led the Storm with 12 rebounds in a less than spectacular win.

“A win is a win,” said assistant coach Steve Ellens. “Any time you can go on the road and get a win it is a good one.” Simpson was slowed by 19 turnovers that translated into 16 points for Dubuque.

The Storm’s offensive efforts matched the cold, blustery conditions of Saturday night. Simpson shot just 37.9 percent from the field for the game on its way to an 11 point loss.

The DuHawks hit a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to take the push the lead to 29-22 and never looked back. The Storm squandered opportunities at the free throw in just their second conference loss.

“We shot 12 of 24 from the free throw line and we lose by 11. If we make our free-throws we win,” said Ellens. “Give Loras credit they did a great job of taking us out of what we were trying to do.”

The weekend’s split saw Simpson move to 12-4 overall and 7-2 in conference play. Simpson traveled to Luther on Tuesday.

Simpson takes on visiting Wartburg College and Buena Vista University this coming weekend in Cowles Fieldhouse.

Women’s Basketball

The Simpson College women have been tearing through the Iowa Conference.

The Storm took its 7-0 conference leading record and the No. 25 national ranking into Dubuque last weekend. The Spartans of Dubuque were yet another victim of the Storm.

Seniors Tiff Whitsell and Sara Sonderman led the charge. Whitsell had 24 points and Sonderman had 19 points and 7 rebounds as the Storm amounted 102 points to Dubuque’s 77.

The game saw 13 Simpson players get into the scoring column on some hot shooting. Simpson shot 52.9 percent from the floor and 56.3 percent from behind the arc.

“We played really well offensively, but we gave up too many points defensively,” said Head Coach Brian Neimuth. “I was disappointed in how we played defense, but I am happy in how we played up to this point in the season.”

Saturday night’s game at Loras didn’t yield the same results, as it saw the Storm drop its first conference game of the season.

The story in this game was free throw shooting. The DuHawks shot 35 free throws, making 28 of them. Amy Jones of Loras was 13 of 15 from the stripe and led all scorers with 30 points.

Whitsell’s 23 points on five of 10 three-point shooting wasn’t enough to keep the Storm undefeated in the Iowa Conference.

“They did a great job of controlling tempo,” said Niemuth. “They kept it at the pace they wanted it at. It was just the wrong kind of tempo for us.”

After the weekend, Simpson dropped to 13-3 overall and 8-1 in conference action. The Storm traveled to Luther on Tuesday Jan. 28. The team takes on visiting Wartburg College and Buena Vista University this weekend.

Wrestling

Simpson College’s Wrestling team faced four of the top 16 teams at last weekends Iowa Conference Duals at the Regents Center in Decorah.

The No. 21 Simpson Storm first battled Luther. Simpson came out on top of the No. 8 team in the nation defeating the Norse 22-20.

Sophomore Clint Manny highlighted the weekend with a victory over former national champion and runner up Garret Kurth 6-3.

“Beating Luther at Luther was a big win for us,” said Storm Head Coach Ron Peterson.

Simpson then went on to face No. 16 Coe College. The Storm lost a heartbreaker when it ended the match even in points and had to move on to the criteria.

The Storm lost on the sixth criteria, which is most near-falls. The Kohawks had two near-falls to Simpson’s one. Simpson also dropped a close decision to No. 7 Buena Vista University 25-24.

The brutal weekend concluded with a match-up with the No. 5 Loras DuHawks.

Loras handed Simpson their third straight loss in dominating fashion, the final being a 33-6 defeat.

Peterson seemed to be on the fence about his team’s effort over the weekend. “We had mixed reviews, we had some kids wrestle real well and some kids who need to work a little harder,” said Peterson.

Peterson was also disappointed with the Loras match. “I don’t know if it is a matter of wrestling four ranked teams in a row, I guess we had a let down.”