Mildred, Venus, Italy White and Italy Gold each participated in the Italy Junior High Basketball Tournament this past Saturday. A fairly even field, all the teams won at least one game before the end of tournament play.

The 2011 Italy Powerlifting Team is powered by pride and guided by IHS Athletic Director Craig Bales and coaches Jeff & Heather Richters. Team members have competed in three meets thus far, in Forney, Rice and Blooming Grove, and have continued to surpass previous bests one lift at a time.

Italy’s 7th & 8th grade Junior High girls challenge the Rio Vista Eagles at home in the dome.

The Gladiators and Lady Gladiators’ Varsity and JV teams saddled up and journeyed to Axtell to tangle with the Longhorns Friday night. After Axtell’s fans made it tough on the Lady Gladiators, Italy’s faithful returned the favor in the Varsity boy’s finale. All in good fun, of course!

The Italy Gladiators and Lady Gladiators’ Varsity and JV squads traveled to Maypearl to take on the Panthers in what proved to be an exciting night of Texas 2A Basketball.

Italy — During the Italy J.V. Boys Basketball Tournament held in Italy on Saturday, the JV Gladiators needed to move past Rice in the first round to make into the championship game.

Grandview — The Grandview Zebras have had a consistent basketball program for years, respected for their long-range shooting abilities. Often, varsity games between Italy and Grandview must be decided in the final minutes and Friday night was no different.

The Italy Youth Athletic Association (IYAA) hit the gym floor running this past Saturday to open their 2011 basketball season. The IYAA entered ten teams in five separate divisions and over one-hundred players ready to compete against teams representing the Hillsboro Sports Association.

Total team efforts get the job done as both Italy Junior High boys teams were victorious in their two outings against the Keene JH Chargers inside Italy Coliseum on Thursday.

Italy — Italy’s JV Gladiators went old school in the old Italy gym and handed the Clifton Cubs an old-fashion blow-out loss. Reminiscent of Gladiator teams of old, the JV Gladiators conquered Clifton from both the air and inside the paint.

The Junior High Lady Gladiators Basketball Team will travel to Blooming Grove on January 15, 2011 to compete in their annual Junior High Girls Basketball Tournament. Both the 7th grade and 8th grade teams will play their first round games against Wortham.

Dallas — After a 10:00 a.m shoot-around inside Italy Coliseum, the 2A Italy Gladiators players, coaches and cheerleaders loaded onto the school bus and ventured into downtown Dallas to challenge the 3A Mineral Wells Rams inside the American Airlines Center (AAC) on Thursday.

Additional photographs documenting the Italy Gladiators and their recent journey into Dallas to play a basketball game against the Mineral Wells Rams inside the American Airlines Center. After a post-game meal, Gladiator Nation returned to the AAC to watch the Dallas Mavericks take on the San Antonio Spurs….what a day!

The Italy Lady Gladiators played three rounds in the 2010 Kiwanis Classic Basketball Tournament on the Navarro College campus in Corsicana. There were highs and lows along the way but Italy finished the tournament strong hoping to carry some momentum with them upon returning to district play.

With a final score of 58-54 against the Venus Bulldogs, the Italy Varsity, led by Coach Aiden Callahan. “The Bulldogs played with an expect to win attitude. They are a great club,” said Coach Callahan. “They did a good job taking care of the ball. However, our kids persevered and played through. I am proud of them.”

The Italy Gladiators will travel, to the big city of Dallas, and play a game against the Mineral Wells Rams inside the American Airlines Center on Thursday, December 30 with a start time of around 2:15 p.m.

The Italy J.V. Gladiators’ basketball team wins three of the four games they played during the Ferris JV Tournament to finish in 3rd place. You can catch the Italy JV team in action, tonight at the Junior High gym in Whitney, starting at 5:00 p.m.

Coach Callahan and his varsity Gladiator basketball team will travel to Castleberry High School in Fort Worth to compete in their annual holiday tournament. Italy first game will be on Monday, December 27th at 1:30pm. See bracket for more details.

The Lady Gladiators will be matched up with the Kerens Lady Bobcats in their first game of the 2010 Kiwanis Classic Basketball Tournament. Game time will be 6:30pm on Monday, December 27 at the Wolens Special Events Center located on the Navarro College campus in Corsicana.

Italy — After an eventful four games played between Italy’s and Axtell’s junior high girls’ basketball squads on Monday, Axtell’s teams managed to escape with 3-out-of-4 wins. However, much improved Italy teams made the task for Axtell more difficult as opposed to an earlier season matchup between our two towns.

Final IYAA Basketball Sign-ups are scheduled for Thursday, December 16 and Saturday, December 18. Eligible players are kindergarten thru 6th grades. There will be no sign-ups allowed after Saturday so please do not delay.

Twelve Italy Gladiators received All-District honors for their efforts on the grid-iron this past season. The Gladiators finished with a 5-5 record, under third season head coach Craig Bales, and made an impact with the All-District selection committee during their return to 2A football.

The Italy Gladiators and the Italy J.V. Gladiators seem to be hitting their strides and hitting plenty of shots in the process. In Rice, both Italy teams shot their way to early leads and then coasted in the second halves.

An amazing three days of basketball, the 2010 Italy Invitational Tournament ended with both the Italy Lady Gladiators and the Gladiators Varsity teams winning Championships.

The Lady Gladiator Varsity Basketball Team will travel to Venus tomorrow, December 9, for their first game in the Venus Subway Classic Basketball Tournament. Game time on Thursday will be 6:00pm. Coming off of their tournament championship last weekend these ladies have their sights set on another trophy. The Ladies’ JV team will play this Saturday, December 11, in a one-day tournament hosted by Itasca. See brackets.

Just as your heart has returned to its normal rhythm from last weekend’s tournament championship the Gladiators will be battling on the hardwood again this weekend in West. The Kolache Klassic Invitational Tournament is set to begin this Thursday, December 9, with the finals on Saturday, December 11. Enjoy the ride!

The 2010 Lady Gladiators Volleyball Team received well deserved recognition for their efforts this season. Seven separate Lady Gladiators made the All-District list including four Academic All-District performers.

The annual Italy Invitational Basketball Tournament will begin this Thursday, December 2 and run thru Saturday, December 4. Both Italy varsity teams (boys and girls) will be competing in this tournament. See brackets for game times.

After the holiday break, Italy’s Junior High basketball teams returned to the hardwood against the Whitney Wildcats on Monday. The boys teams competed in Italy while the girls teams battled for bragging rights in Whitney.

There will be back to back meetings for the Gladiator Band Boosters and Gladiator Athletics Booster Clubs on Wednesday, December 1. Band Boosters will meet at 5:30pm followed by the Athletic Boosters at 6:00pm. These meetings will be held in the Italy High School Library. All supporters of the Italy High School Band and Athletics programs are welcomed to attend.

The Italy Gladiators, under first year head coach Aidan Callahan, got their 2010-2011 season off to a positive start with a decisive win over the Hubbard Jaguars last Friday in Hubbard. The JV Gladiators saw action also as both Italy teams hope to duplicate some of the magic from last season.

The IYAA B-Team Gladiators (3rd & 4th) go back-to-back as undefeated Superbowl champions by defeating the Scurry-Rosser Wildcats 33-13. The IYAA C-Team Gladiators (K-2nd) lead at halftime but fall to the Ferris Yellow Jackets 25-13 and finish the 2010 season as Superbowl runner-ups.

The IYAA would like to invite Gladiators fans to Blooming Grove on Saturday, November 20, for the NESA 2010 Superbowl games between Italy’s C-Team Gladiators (K-2nd) and the Ferris Yellow Jackets, starting at 10:00 a.m., followed by the IYAA B-Team Gladiators (3rd & 4th) and the Scurry-Rosser Wildcats starting at 11:30 a.m.

The IYAA (Italy Youth Athletic Association) and their C-Team and B-Team Gladiators and cheerleaders will represent Italy in the 2010 NESA B & C-Division Superbowls this coming Saturday in Blooming Grove after both squads won their Conference Championship playoff games this past weekend in Scurry-Rosser.

As you enter George E. Scott Memorial Gymnasium, a faint cheering of fans can be heard as excitement fills the lobby where trophy after trophy reminds us of our great Lady Gladiator and Gladiator legends from the past. After grabbing a snack from the concession stand, guests make their way into the gym where the intensity on the court merges with the roar of the crowd. It’s game time again!

Tuesday night gave the Italy Lady Gladiators’ fans a glimpse of what we can expect to see during the 2010-2011 basketball season. By all indications, this is going to be another exciting run for the varsity ladies after they took care of business against the Kemp Lady Yellow Jackets to start their season 1-0. Just as impressive was Italy’s JV team who played very aggressively against Kemp and set the tone for the entire season.

ITALY — It was Senior Night in Italy as the Gladiators (5-5, 2,3) hoped to conclude their season with a win over the Centerville Tigers. Italy’s football seniors including Jasenio Anderson, Heath Clemons, Colton Campbell, Eddie Garcia, Tavarus Griffin, Jacob Lopez, De’Andre Rettig, De’Andre Sephus, Ethan Simon, Kyle Wilkins and Bobby Wilson were recognized before the game along with their families.

Axtell — The Axtell Longhorns (7-2,4-0) stay undefeated in district play and improve to 4-0 against their 2A-2 Region II District 11 competition after deflating the playoff hopes of the Italy Gladiators (4-5,1-3) Friday night in Axtell, 35-28.

The Cleburne Lady Jackets and the Midway Lady Panthers will battle for a 4A Bi-District title at the Italy High School Coliseum on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Game time is 7:00pm. Admission prices are $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for students.

Most athletes refuse to accept moral victories. However, every so often, the Football Gods will send you a sign that your team is heading in the right direction. On Thursday, the Italy Junior High Gladiators ended their game with the Axtell Longhorns in a 22-22 tie, Italy’s first ‘non-loss’ of the season. And moral victory or not, it sure was fun being a Junior High Gladiator on Thursday.

With each team having a bye next week, the IYAA’s cheerleaders and players had much riding on their games against Mildred on Saturday. All three IYAA teams (A, B and C) played hard and after the final buzzer sounded, signaling the last Italy games of the regular season, two IYAA teams had definitely qualified for the playoffs while the third waits for their fate.

The Italy Junior High Gladiators football team traveled to Leon to take on the Cougars this past Thursday. Although Italy turned in several exciting plays, the day belonged to the Cougars who were charged with defending their home turf.

The Kopperl Lady Eagles and the Kerens Lady Bobcats will battle for the 12A-13A Bi-District title at the Italy High School Coliseum on Monday, November 1, 2010. Game time is 7:00pm. Admission prices are $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for students.

As the playoff picture comes into focus, the IYAA (Italy Youth Athletic Association) Gladiators ventured to Hubbard, home of the Jaguars, Saturday with the hopes of keeping pace with the teams in their divisions.

Overcoming a week one loss to Axtel, 42-27, the Leon Cougars have pounced back into contention within 2A-2 Region II District 11 with wins over Centerville, 33-6, and now the Italy Gladiators with a dramatic fourth quarter comeback.

City of Italy’s Mayor Frank Jackson once again proclaims October 11, “IYAA Day,” within the City of Italy. Members of the IYAA family (Italy Youth Athletic Association) joined Mayor Jackson, council members Greg Richards, Dennis Perkins and Bruce Utley and city employees for cake, cookies and punch inside the council chambers at Italy City Hall to celebrate the proclamation.

The Buffalo Bison (5-3,1-1) bulled their way over the Italy Gladiators (4-3,1-1) by a score of 41-21 in week two of the of the 2A-2 Region II District 11 race. The loss puts the Italy in a four-way tie for second place with Buffalo, Centerville and Leon who the Gladiators take on this Friday in Italy.