(Radio Iowa) – The legislature has sent the governor a bill that would set up a new January hunting season for deer in counties where some of the state licenses for harvesting antlerless deer were not sold. Senator Ken Rozenboom says the bill would let deer hunters use semi-automatic rifles during that period. “The purpose of this season is not to hunt for sport, but rather to manage the size of the herd,” Rozenboom says, “which is why more efficient and effective firearms are being authorized.”

The bill cleared the Senate unanimously in April and the House approved it today (Tuesday) on a 56 to 34 vote. Representative Todd Prichard, a Democrat from Charles City, says it’s a dangerous idea to use A-R 15’s to hunt for deer. “The range that I’m familiar with this type of weapon and round is 3400-3600 meters,” Prichard says. “It’s about two and a half miles…five miles in diameter.” Prichard, who is a major in the U.S. Army Reserve, says an experienced person using an A-R-15 can hit a target that’s about six football fields away, but the bullets can fly a lot farther.

“I think I had something like 200 hours of basic rifle marksmanship to learn how to handle a similar weapon to qualify and to be combat certified,” Prichard says. “Are we going to require that for deer hunters now? I doubt it.” Senator Rozenboom’s bill also calls on the Iowa Insurance Division, the Iowa D-O-T, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Iowa State University to complete a study of the state’s deer herd by the fall of 2023.

“To get a thorough look at the overall deer population and it’s impact on crops, on trees (and) property loss, medical costs and fatalities due vehicle accidents with deer,” Rosenboom says. Rozenboom, who is from Oskaloosa, says this won’t be the last bill he sponsors on the subject. “I have become convinced that the deer population in parts of the state, including in my senate district, that those populations are sometimes out of control,” Rozenboom said, “or out of balance anyway.”

The bill also reduces the civil fine for hunters caught illegally shooting an antlerless deer. The Iowa Farm Bureau supports the legislation, arguing deer are damaging and eating crops. Pheasants Forever, the Iowa Bow Hunters Association, the Iowa Conservation Alliance and the State Police Officers Council are opposed to the bill.

(Iowa DNR News) – Water levels in oxbow lakes adjacent to the Missouri River are lower than normal going into the summer due to consecutive years of abnormally dry conditions in western Iowa and historic low flows in the Missouri River this past winter. Access to these lakes may be compromised.

Carter Lake (Pottawattamie County), a popular recreational boating lake in the Omaha/Council Bluffs metro area, is three feet below crest. Lake Manawa is in better condition because it can divert water from nearby Mosquito Creek. Its water level has been down between one and two feet all spring. Affected lakes include Blue Lake (Monona County), DeSoto Bend (Harrison County), Snyder Bend (Woodbury County), Browns Lake (Woodbury County), and a host of smaller borrow lakes along the Interstate 29 corridor.

“These oxbow lakes have a hydrologic connection with the Missouri River,” explains Bryan Hayes, Iowa DNR fisheries biologist. “There is a lag time between when river levels are restored and water levels in these oxbow lakes. Trying to predict when water levels will return to normal is difficult.”

OMAHA, Neb. – University of Iowa redshirt sophomore Adam Mazur was selected as the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and Keaton Anthony was tabbed as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, it was announced Tuesday by the league office.  The Hawkeyes had four student-athletes earn All-Big Ten recognition and two players were named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.

Mazur and redshirt sophomore Peyton Williams were first-team All-Big Ten selections and Anthony and redshirt senior Ben Beutel earned second-team honors.  Anthony and Brody Brecht were named to the All-Freshman team, while redshirt junior Brendan Sher was Iowa’s Big Ten Sportsmanship recipient.

Mazur is the second consecutive Hawkeye (and second player in school history) to earn Big Ten Pitcher of the Year honors, following Trenton Wallace in 2021. (Starting pitcher Brett Backlund was a Big Ten Player of the Year in 1992.)  It is the fifth time in Big Ten history that a school has had two straight honorees and the first since Illinois in 2015 and 2016.

Anthony is the second player in program history to earn Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors, joining second baseman C.J. Thieleke in 1994.

Iowa’s four All-Big Ten selections give head coach Rick Heller 30 selections in his nine seasons in Iowa City.  Heller has coached at least one first-team All-Big Ten selection in seven of his eight seasons when awards were handed out (there were no honors in 2020).  Anthony and Brecht are the program’s first All-Freshman team honorees since 2011 (Taylor Zuetenhorst).

Mazur earned the top pitcher and first-team All-Big Ten honors after going 7-2 with a 3.05 ERA in 14 regular season starts.  The right-hander posted nine quality starts and fanned 90 batters (to 26 walks) over 88 2/3 innings.  The Woodbury, Minnesota, native went 5-1 with a 2.59 ERA in eight Big Ten starts where he led the league in ERA (2.59), wins (5) and innings (55 2/3).

Mazur is the fourth starting pitcher to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors under Heller.

Anthony earned Freshman of the Year, second-team All-Big Ten and All-Freshman team honors after hitting .360 (67-of-186) with 20 doubles, 14 home runs, 53 RBIs and 43 runs scored during the regular season.  Ten of Anthony’s home runs came in Big Ten play and his 20 doubles are second-most in program history.

The Hoschton, Georgia, native hit safely in 40 games, reached safely in 45 contests and posted 21 multi-hit games.  He earned a Big Ten record six Freshman of the Week honors during the regular season.

The outfielder ranked third in the Big Ten in doubles (20), fourth in slugging percentage (.694) and OPS (1.135), seventh in batting average (.360) and 10th in home runs (14) during the regular season.  In league games, Anthony tied for fourth with 10 home runs, ranked fifth in slugging (.768), tied for sixth in RBIs (30) and seventh in OPS (1.193).

Williams earned first-team honors after hitting .356 wit 38 RBIs, 51 runs scored and having 31 extra base hits (17 doubles, 12 home runs and two triples) during the regular season.  The Johnston, Iowa, native hit safely in 37 games and reached safely in 45 contests.  Williams ranks in the top eight in the Big Ten in four categories, including being fifth in on-base percentage (.477) and OPS (1.131), sixth in slugging (.654) and eighth in batting average (.356).

Williams is the second Hawkeye first baseman (Jake Adams) to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors under Heller.

Beutel enjoyed a breakout regular season as a key Hawkeye reliever, going 3-0 with a 1.33 ERA and four saves in a team-high 26 appearance.  The Davenport, Iowa native has allowed just 17 hits, struck out 36 and walked just four batters over 27 innings and he hasn’t allowed a run in 22 of his 26 appearances.  The southpaw has made multiple weekend appearances nine times this season.

Brecht earned All-Freshman team honors after going 1-3 with a 2.42 ERA in 16 relief appearances.  The Ankeny, Iowa, native has 44 strikeouts over 22 1/3 innings and has only allowed one extra base hits all season.  The flame-throwing right-hander has hit 100 or above (at least) 37 times this season (when Trackman data was available).

Sher was selected as Iowa’s Big Ten Sportsmanship Award recipient. The distinction is presented to student-athletes who display sportsmanship and ethical behavior, are in good academic standing, and demonstrate good citizenship outside of athletics.

Former Iowa All American Keegan Murray says he will be working out for and meeting with several teams leading up to next month’s NBA Draft. Murray took part in the draft combine which wrapped up Sunday in Chicago and is considered a possible top five pick.

Murray feels there is still a lot of room for growth in his game.

Murray feels he will be good enough defensively to adapt to the next level.

Murray says he has already met with more than a half dozen of the teams.

The draft is June 23rd.

Former Iowa State standout Eyioma Uwazurike is working at defensive end in Denver. The Broncos selected the All Big 12 defensive lineman in the fourth round of the NFL Draft.

Uwazurike says the key right now is to get up to speed with how the Broncos play defense.

Uwazurike played both inside and on the edge at ISU and rarely came off the field. He feels that prepared him for the NFL.

Not only did his game develop at Iowa State but so did his work in the classroom. Uwazurike went from a struggling student to an All Big 12 academic selection.

SOFTBALL

Atlantic 13, Lenox 3 (5 innings) (A: Zoey Kirchhoff 2-4 with a triple and double. Ava Rush 3-4 with 4 runs scored. Malena Woodard WP 2K’s 3 Hits 0 ER)
Audubon 5, Earlham 4
Boyer Valley 13, Whiting 1
CAM 16, Ar-We-Va 0 (3 innings)
CB Abraham Lincoln 4, St. Albert 2
Denison-Schleswig 13, Westwood 0
Exira-EHK 6, Coon Rapids-Bayard 0
Gilbert 6, Carroll 3
Glenwood 11, Fremont-Mills 1
Griswold 10, Shenandoah 0 (5 innings) (G: Mckenna Wiechman, Karly Millikan with 3 hits each. Wiechman 2 RBI, Millikan 3 RBI and was winning pitcher with 14 strikeouts.
Harlan vs. Dallas Center-Grimes
Logan-Magnolia 2, Kuemper Catholic 0
Madrid 9, Glidden-Ralston 4
Melcher-Dallas 4, ACGC 3
Missouri Valley 15, Riverside 6
Orient-Macksburg 16, Mormon Trail 3
Southwest Valley 17, Stanton 0 (2 innings)
West Monona 4, Lewis Central 0

BASEBALL

Lenox 7, Atlantic 3
CAM 6, Ar-We-Va 0 (C: Lane Spieker winning pitcher with 16 strikeouts. Spieker and Joe Kauffman both with 2 RBI.)
Earlham 6, Audubon 2
Lewis Central 10, Sioux City North 0
Missouri Valley 10, Riverside 1
Spencer 11, Denison-Schleswig 1 (5 innings)
West Harrison 11, Woodbine 0 (3 innings)

Girls regional soccer play continues on Tuesday night with Regional Semifinals being played. Here is a look at area matches.

CLASS 1A

Region 2

St. Albert @ Underwood 6:00 p.m.
Treynor @ Tri-Center 5:00 p.m.

Region 3

Panorama @ Des Moines Christian 6;00 p.m.
Hampton-Dumont @ Garner-Hayvield-Ventura 6:00 p.m.

CLASS 2A

Region 1

Spirit Lake @ Spencer 6:00 p.m.
Denison-Schleswig @ LeMars 6:00 p.m.

Region 2

Atlantic @ Lewis Central 6:00 p.m.
Glenwood @ ADM 6:00 p.m.

CLASS 3A

Region 1

Sioux City East @ CB Abraham Lincoln 5:00 p.m.
Sioux City West @ CB Thomas Jefferson 7:00 p.m.

State singles and doubles boys tennis tournaments begin on Tuesday and will finish up on Wednesday. Class 1A players are competing at Byrnes Parks in Waterloo. Class 2A is playing at Veteran’s Memorial Tennis Complex in Cedar Rapids.

In Class 1A singles Atlantic’s Ethan Sturm will open up with a first round match against Daniel Skrade of Decorah. Clarinda’s Nathan Brown plays an opener against Roan Martineau of Dubuque Wahlert. Shenandoah’s Andrew Lawrence will open against Joseph Li o St. Edmond.

In the Class 1A doubles bracket Denison-Schleswig’s Colin Reis and Harrison Dahm will open against Jake Ross & Jayden Cattell of Ballard. Denison’s Carson Seuntjens and Wyatt Johnson will open against Caleb Briggs and Jack Briggs of Pella.

In Class 2A Doubles Ty James and Chris Wailes of CB Abraham Lincoln will face Kellan Croatt and Jake Nelson of Waukee Northwest in their opening match.

The 2022 Boys State Golf Tournaments hit the links Monday at various courses around Ames and will finish Tuesday. Here’s a look at standings after round one.

Class 1A State Tournament
Ames Golf & Country Club

Bennett Berger of Lake Mills is the individual leader with an opening round of +5, 76.

Area Invidiuals: Cory Bantam, Woodbine: 16th, +19. Ryan Stiles, Earlham: T-31st, +24.

Class 2A State Tournament
Coldwater Golf Links

Jake Weissenburger of Des Moines Christian is the individual leader after an opening round -2, 69.

Area Individuals: Jackson Tennis, Missouri Valley: T-37 +13. Axton Miller, OABCIG: T-3 +1.

Class 3A State Tournament
Veenker Memorial Golf Course

Hogan Hansen of Waverly-Shell Rock is the individual leader after an opening round of -3, 69.

Area Individuals: Jordan Greenwood, Lewis Central: T-9th +8.