(From Cyclones.com) AMES, Iowa – Iowa State senior linebacker/quarterback Joel Lanning is one of 21 finalists for the Lombardi Award, announced today by the Lombardi Foundation.

The Lombardi Award, formerly given to defensive linemen of linebackers, is presented to a college football player, regardless of position, based on performance, as well as leadership, character and resiliency.

The list will be trimmed to seven finalists on Jan. 22.

A true three-way player, Lanning had a remarkable senior season, leading the Cyclones into the national rankings for the first time since 2005 and a victory in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl with his uncanny versatility.

The two-time team captain and first-team All-American switched to linebacker prior to the 2017 season after spending his first four years in Ames as a quarterback, perhaps making Lanning one of the best comeback stories in college football history.

He didn’t play a down in his final game as a junior before Campbell convinced him to try linebacker for his senior season, a position he hadn’t played since eighth grade.

His transition was remarkable, leading the Cyclone defense, which ranked 26^th nationally in scoring defense (20.9), at the Mike linebacker spot.

Lanning ranked 37th nationally in tackles per game (8.8), registering a team-high four double-digit tackle performances, including a career-high 20 stops vs. Texas. His 20 tackles vs. the Longhorns ranks ninth in school history and ties for fifth among FBS players this season.

Lanning was second on the team in sacks (6.0), third in TFL (11.0) and had a fumble recovery and interception on the season.

Lanning first appeared on the national radar with his incredible “Iron Man” performance at Oklahoma on Oct. 7. With Lanning playing 78 total snaps (57 on defense, 13 on offense, eight on special teams), the Cyclones upset No. 3 Oklahoma (38-31) en route to their first-ever win over a top-five opponent on the road.

Lanning finished the Oklahoma game with eight tackles, a sack, a fumble recovery, 35 rushing yards and 25 passing yards in one of the most memorable performances in school history. He was named Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts.

A native of Ankeny, Iowa, Lanning’s overall season snap count was astounding (1,001 snaps: 822 on defense, 128 on special teams, 51 on offense).

Lanning, who ranked third on the team in rushing (135) and fourth in passing (47), was utilized by the Cyclone offense in crucial situations throughout the season. He was perfect in “Money” down conversions, going 5-of-5 on third down and 5-of-5 on fourth down conversion rushes.

Lanning will participate in the East-West Shrine Game on Saturday (Jan. 20). Kickoff is at 2 p.m. on the NFL Network.

2017 Lombardi Award Nominees
Saquon Barkley, Penn State
J.T. Barrett, Ohio State
Bradley Chubb, N.C. State
Tyrell Crosby, Oregon
DeShon Elliott, Texas
Minkah Fitzpatrick, Alabama
Shaquem Griffin, UCF
Lamar Jackson, Louisville
Derwin James, Florida State
Joel Lanning, Iowa State
Bryce Love, Stanford
Hercules Mata”afa, Washington State
Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma
Quenton Nelson, Notre Dame
Ed Oliver, Houston
Da’Ron Payne, Alabama
Rashaad Penny, San Diego State
Roquan Smith, Georgia
Vita Vea, Washington
James Washington, Oklahoma State
Christian Wilkins, Clemson

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BOYS BASKETBALL

East Union 87, Orient-Macksburg 20

Logan-Magnolia 78, West Monona 69

Mount Ayr 44, Murray 31

OA-BCIG 57, Westwood 42

Treynor 76, Missouri Valley 46

Tri-Center 51, Council Bluffs, Thomas Jefferson 43

POSTPONEMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS
Ar-We-Va vs. Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton, ppd.

CAM vs. Coon Rapids-Bayard, ppd. to Feb 3.

Greene County vs. Winterset, ppd. to Jan 22.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Council Bluffs, Thomas Jefferson 53, Tri-Center 20

Creston 60, Clarke 48

East Union 54, Orient-Macksburg 23

Logan-Magnolia 62, West Monona 42

Murray 56, Mount Ayr 52

Treynor 70, Missouri Valley 20

Westwood 59, OA-BCIG 46

Corner Conference Tournament
First Round
South Page 35, East Mills 32

Essex 36, Stanton 23

Fremont-Mills 65, Heartland Christian 21

POSTPONEMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS
CAM vs. Coon Rapids-Bayard, ppd. to Feb 3.

Greene County vs. Winterset, ppd. to Jan 22.

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ men’s college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Jan. 14, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week’s ranking:

Our intended broadcast basketball games tonight: CAM at Coon Rapids-Bayard doubleheader have been postponed to Saturday, February 3rd. Since we will no longer have high school basketball tonight on KJAN we will bring you Hawk Talk with Fran McCaffery at 7:00pm.

The Jenny Ed Sports Med MAC Shootout will have two final games on Monday night after wrapping up their original schedule on Saturday night. Four games were wiped out due to weather conditions on Thursday: Tri-Center vs. Logan-Magnolia girls and boys and Lourdes Central Catholic vs. Thomas Jefferson girls and boys were cancelled Thursday. With those cancellations, event organizers were able to schedule two games to be played tonight that will feature two of those teams. The Tri-Center Trojans will face the Thomas Jefferson Yellow Jackets in a girls and boys game. The girls game is set for a 5:30pm tip-off and the boys will follow with a 7:00pm start.

The rest of the weekend schedule went on as planned with 13 games being played between Friday and Saturday. We had coverage of the first two games as Underwood took both games of a doubleheader with Riverside. The Eagles took the girls game  54-17 behind 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 steals from Karley Larson. Lauren Shapcott was just shy of a double-double with 14 points and 9 rebounds as the Eagles improved to 10-4.

Underwood ran away with a win in the boys game as well 71-37. It was only an 8 point lead at halftime but the Eagles outscored the Bulldogs 29-3 to take full control of the game and a running clock came into play in the fourth quarter. Thomas Conn had 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals to lead the Eagle victory. Underwood improved to 8-5 with the win.

We picked up our coverage again on Saturday with the Fremont-Mills Knights boys picking up a 56-34 win over the Louisville, NE Lions. The Knights steadily increased their lead throughout the game and shared the ball very well. Jaeger Powers had 14 points to lead the Knights. Mason Vanatta had 10 points and 9 rebounds, Austin Gartner and Eli Owen each added 9 points for F-M.

The next game up was the AHSTW Lady Vikes taking on the Bennigton, NE Badgers. Both teams struggled offensively throughout the game. The Lady Vikes took a one point lead into the final quarter but the Badgers would have a big final period to take the win 42-31. Bailey Jones had a monster fourth quarter for Bennington with 10 points in the period on her way to 16 overall that lead all scorers. Jones hit two big three-pointers in that fourth quarter burst. Kinsey Scheffler had 7 points and 14 rebounds in the loss for AHSTW.

Our final coverage game from the event had the Atlantic Trojans boys sqauring off against the Bishop-Neumann, NE Cavaliers. That game also proved to be an offensive struggle for both teams and it was a 22-all game at halftime. Bishop-Neumann built a lead as big as 14 in the third quarter at 41-27. The Trojans went on an 18-5 run from that point that brought them within one at 46-45 but that’s as close as they would get. Bishop-Neumann hit some big shots and milked away the clock down the stretch to pull off a 50-46 win. Trey Ahrens led the Cavaliers with 17 points, including a big three off a scramble situation in the fourth quarter. Scott Leonard led Atlantic with 21 points and 11 rebounds. The Trojans suffered their second close loss in as many nights after falling 59-54 at Lewis Central on Friday night.

The Saturday slate featured 9 games that were all border battle games facing Iowa teams against Nebraska squads. Iowa teams took the first four games but then Nebraska teams won the last 5 to take the border battle series 5-4.

Griswold Duals

Southwest Valley 5-0
East Mills 3-2
Nodaway Valley 3-2
Tri-Center 3-2
Griswold 2-3
Clarinda Academy 1-4
St. Albert 1-4
Exira-EHK 0-5

ADM Tiger Invitational

Red Oak had five finalists and two came away with titles. Justin McCunn won at 152lbs and Thomas Bentley was a champ at 182lbs.  Dalton Arnold was a champion for Coon Rapids-Bayard at 220lbs and stayed unbeaten on the season.

Kuemper Catholic Dual Tournament

1. Missouri Valley 5-0
2. Storm Lake 4-1
3. AC/GC 3-2
4. Kuemper Catholic 1-4
5. Audubon 0-5

Nick Haynes, Nathan Haynes, and Connor Lange led the Big Reds to the title as they all had four pin victories. Audubon’s Dylan Obermeier also had a strong day with four pins.

LeMars Invite

AHSTW had four finalists at the tourney with Gabe Pauley picking up a title at 170lbs.  Jaeden Rasmussen at 126lbs, Joe Kenkel at 182lbs, and Braday Canada at 220lbs were all runner-up finishers.

Perry Invitational

Logan-Magnolia had seven wrestlers finish in the top 5. Garret Thompson was a champion at 145lbs. Briar Reisz was a runner-up at 113lbs for the Panthers.

Ron Scott Memorial Dual Tournament @ Mt. Ayr

Lathrop (MO) 8-0
Martensdale-St Marys 7-1
Riverside 5-3
Shenandoah 5-3
Harlan 5-3
East Union 3-5
Mount Ayr 2-6
Central Decatur 1-7
Durant 0-8

The Atlantic-CAM wrestling team took a third place finish at the Loyd Shaffer Invitational at Marion on Saturday.  The Trojans finished behind Williamsburg and Overland Park-Blue Valley Northwest.

Chase McLaren took the 132 pound title while John McConkey grabbed the top spot at 285.  Joe Weaver was the runner-up at 106lbs and Kole Hansen was the runner-up at 126lbs.

Team Scoring:

1. Williamsburg 244.5
2. Overland Park-Blue Valley Northwest 175
3. Atlantic 166.5
4. Mount Vernon 143
5. Grinnell 141
6. Wilton 136.5
7. Marion 126
8. Louisa-Muscatine 89.5
9. Monticello 83.5
10. Cedar Rapids Xavier 83
11. Maquoketa 78
12. North Linn 76
13. Benton Community 68
14. Keokuk 62.5

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The seventh ranked Iowa wrestling team won six of ten bouts to top third ranked Oklahoma State 20-12 in Iowa City. Iowa coach Tom Brands said it was a good win for his 9-0 Hawkeyes but a lot of improvement is needed. 184-pounder Mitch Bowman provided the Hawkeyes a big lift with a 10-6 win over Keegan Moore.