East Sac County 68, Cherokee, Washington 51

Lenox 64, Diagonal 29

Sergeant Bluff-Luton 77, Woodbury Central, Moville 64

Siouxland Community Christian/Whiting 71, Akron-Westfield 33

Akron-Westfield 52, Siouxland Community Christian/Whiting 48

Cherokee, Washington 95, East Sac County 42

Diagonal 51, Lenox 32

Sergeant Bluff-Luton 70, Woodbury Central, Moville 62

The director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says there are fewer hunters, but more gun owners in Iowa these days. 1975 seems to be the high-water mark for hunting in Iowa. The state issued more than 416-thousand hunting and fishing licenses that year. This past year, the state issued nearly 60 percent fewer licenses than it did four decades ago. D-N-R director Chuck Gipp says his agency’s operations are financed, in part, by those license fees. “With revenue being flat or going down like that, it’s going to be a challenge,” Gipp says.

According to a study by researchers at Columbia and Boston Universities, nearly 34 percent of adult Iowans own a gun. “People are physically using shooting as a sport or recreational activity, so they’re buying the weapons and there’s a great increase in the number of weapons that are out there,” Gipp says. “So our shooting sports and our ranges are critically important so they have a place to go and discharge that weapon.” The state owns and manages 10 shooting ranges. The rest are private or run by a county conservation board. In 2012, Gipp’s agency started awarding state grants for the development and improvement of shooting ranges around the state.

“The sale of weapons have increased. It’s incredibly important that if you’re going to use a weapon properly that you have the education and the opportunity to shoot it,” Gipp says. “Access to private lands for shooting, like when I was a kid you’d just grab a few bottles out of the county and city dump and you’d take them out to the old quarry and you’d shoot those. You can’t do that anymore and so shooting ranges are incredibly used.”

Earlier this year, more than 22-hundred Iowa kids participated in the annual “Scholastic Clay Target Program Trap Championship.” It was held near Cedar Falls, at the Iowa State Trapshooting Association Homegrounds. “The various shooting stands that they have, it’s about a mile long,” Gipp says. “And that’s not big enough, now, for some of the trap shoots that we have for the high school teams.”

The “Hunger Games” movies have spurred interest in another shooting sport — archery, but Gipp says finding shooting ranges for archers is difficult.

(Radio Iowa)

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Austin Appleby threw for 222 yards and two touchdowns, helping No. 20 Florida end a two-game losing streak with a 30-3 rout of No. 21 Iowa in the Outback Bowl on Monday. Mark Thompson scored on an 85-yard pass play in the first half and Appleby, a graduate transfer who spent the past four seasons at Purdue, tossed a 6-yard TD pass to DeAndre Goolsby to break the game open late in the third quarter. Chauncey Gardner, Jr., returned the first of his two fourth-quarter interceptions 58 yards for a 24-3 lead.

Florida (9-4) rebounded from lopsided losses to archrival Florida State and No. 1 Alabama, scoring more points on Iowa (8-5) than the Hawkeyes allowed to Michigan, Illinois and Nebraska combined while ending the regular season on a three-game winning streak.

Iowa’s C.J. Beathard led an early field goal drive, and managed to get his team close to the end zone on two other occasions. Florida’s defense stiffened both times, stopping the Hawkeyes on downs at the Gator 3 in the second quarter and forcing them to settle for a 30-yard field goal that sailed wide right midway through the third quarter.

Appleby, who actually began his career at Purdue against Iowa, shrugged off throwing interceptions on Florida’s first two drives of the day to finish 14 of 25 passing. Akrum Wadley ran for 115 yards, giving Iowa a pair of 1,000-yard rushers in the same season for the first time. The junior finished with 1,081, and LeShun Daniels wound up with 1,058 after gaining 45 Monday.

THE TAKEAWAY…

The Gators could be looking at having to replace at least three stalwarts on defense – tackle Caleb Brantley and cornerbacks Jalen Tabor and Quincy Wilson – who are expected to leave school early to enter the NFL draft. Linebacker Alex Anzalone and defensive back Duke Dawson also are considering turning pro.

Iowa: Like Florida’s Tabor and Wilson, cornerback Desmond King is a likely high NFL draft pick. He won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back as a junior and was just as good this year, though opponents’ reluctance to throw his way – three interceptions this season vs. eight in 2015 – may have hurt his chances to win the award again as a senior. The Hawkeyes will also lose quarterback C.J. Beathard, who finished his career 21-7 as a starter.

UP NEXT

Florida: Opens next season Sept. 2 against Michigan in Arlington, Texas.

Iowa: Wyoming visits Iowa City for season opener on Sept. 2nd.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A University of Iowa benefactor has donated $5 million toward the renovation of Kinnick Stadium’s north end. The university announced Sunday, during Outback Bowl festivities in Tampa, Florida, that Ted and Deb Pacha had made a contribution to the $90 million project. In October the Board of Regents approved the project plans, which include a second deck for seating, new restrooms, expanded concourses and improved concessions. The project is expected to be finished before the 2019 season.

Ted Pacha said in a university news release that he and his wife “have a great passion for the mission of Iowa athletics and are extremely proud to take a leadership role in the Kinnick Edge Campaign.”

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (3.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Thousands of Iowans are likely headed to a gym today in hopes of keeping a New Year’s resolution to exercise and lose weight. Studies suggest around 80-percent of those people will fail or quit exercising by March. Alison Phillips, an assistant professor of psychology at ISU, has studied the behaviors of people who’ve been able to develop and maintain exercise as a habit. She suggests newcomers to exercise should choose an activity they might come to enjoy — even if that’s not the case at first.

“Know that, with practice, you will come to like it more. That’s the good news, but it’s not going to be easy to develop the habit,” Phillips says.

Alison Phillips – Photo by Christopher Gannon

“The benefit of habit is once you have it, that is what’s easy to maintain. It’s still going to be tough at first, but choose something you find relatively enjoyable and know that the more you stick with it initially, the more you’re going to come to like it.”

Some people may never come to “enjoy” exercise, but Phillips suggests there are byproducts they might appreciate. “Stress reduction is a form of enjoyment, at least the way I’m speaking about it. So, you might not love your exercise, but if you feel better – less stress – while you’re doing it, that counts,” Phillips says.

Phillips’ study involved monitoring the activity levels for people just starting to work out along with those who had been exercising regularly for at least three months. The results were published in the journal Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology.

(Radio Iowa)

It’s game day in Tampa as the Hawkeyes meet the Florida Gators in the Outback Bowl. Iowa is hoping to keep the winning streak they started at the end of the regular season going. Junior linebacker Josie Jewel says that’s been the focus in their preparation for this game — trying to get in the same routine that they had in the last couple of weeks where they had success. Senior defensive back Desmond King says they have to continue doing what they do best to stop Florida’s offense.

“Just taking pride in our values — being tough, smart and physical on the field — that’s something that we always buy into. And just go out there and play with that chip on our shoulders every game,” Kings says. Iowa’s offense has struggled during the season and faces a tough Florida defense, but King doesn’t think that makes it tougher on the Hawkeye defense. “I don’t think it is pressure, I think it’s just our job as a defense,” King says. “We are supposed to go out and do what you’ve got to do and get the ball back for the offense.”

If the Hawkeyes are able to break their recent pattern of falling behind early, and win against Florida, it would end a six-year run without a bowl game victory. Both Iowa and Florida come into the game at 8-4. Kickoff is at noon Iowa time today (Monday). Pre-game coverage begins at 10-a.m., on KJAN.

(Learfield Sports)

Pack take division, Lions extend season…Chiefs win division…Falcons get a bye