It was a tough night for Norwalk High School athletics on Tuesday. The Warrior basketball teams were swept by Dallas Center-Grimes in a girl-boy doubleheader while the boys wrestling team lost to Iowa City High in Class 3A regional duals.

As heard live on 94.3 KNIA, the Class 4A fourth-ranked DC-G girls defeated No. 8 Norwalk 66-40 to sweep the season series. The DC-G boys then handed the 4A 10th-ranked Warriors their first loss of the new year, 68-49, to split the season series and force a tie atop the Little Hawkeye Conference standings.

The Norwalk girls used an early 8-0 run to take their only lead at 10-8, but it was all Mustangs the rest of the way. DC-G scored the next 10 points, finished the first half on a 17-4 surge to go up 36-19 and extended the margin to nearly 30 points in the third quarter. 

The Mustangs knocked down a dozen 3-pointers on the night and were paced by Kayla Reis with four treys and 16 points. Devon Carlile had the hot hand early with three 3-pointers and finished with 14 points. Norwalk junior Bailey Birmingham scored a game-high 30 points, making 10-of-10 free throws and adding two 3-pointers. The Warrior girls dropped to 13-4 overall and 5-3 in conference play.

The boys game wasn’t much closer as DC-G took control with a 22-point first quarter and built a 40-23 halftime advantage. Norwalk narrowed the gap to 45-33 early in the third, but that’s as close as it would get. The Warriors (11-3 overall) and Mustangs (12-3) are now tied for first in the LHC standings at 7-1.

DC-G scored effectively from inside, outside and in transition as seniors Jackson Green (18), Calix Cahill (16) and Jonathan Howard (13) combined for 47 points. Brogan Fuller added nine points off the bench. Norwalk’s Redek Born scored 16 of his team-high 19 in the first half and Tim Koerselman hit three second-half treys for nine points.

The Norwalk basketball teams return to action Thursday night, hosting Oskaloosa.

WRESTLING

Iowa City High won the final five matches to rally past the Norwalk wrestling team 45-23 in the first round of Class 3A regional duals at Southeast Polk. The top-ranked Rams then defeated City High 66-15 to advance to this weekend’s State Dual Tournament.

The Warriors, who finished the dual season at 13-10, led 23-21 through nine matches. They ended up going 5-9 on the night with two pins and two major decisions. City High scored bonus points with their five pins, one technical fall and one major.

Winning by fall for Norwalk was Harrison Tripp at 215 pounds and second-ranked Tyler Harper at 113. Dominic Tigner (165) and Tyler Stanford (175) both won by major decision and 150-pounder Kadan Borcherding-Johnson also scored a victory.

Norwalk will now have some time off before hosting a Class 3A District Tournament on Saturday, February 10, at 10:00 a.m.