The Riverside Bulldogs girls wrestling team is charging towards the state tournament and looking to compete. As a team, the Bulldogs have compiled 269 individual match wins. This is nearly a 60% winning percentage. Head coach Ben Dorr believes his team’s hard work and ability to rebound has be a main reason for their success this season.

Although the Bulldogs are a younger team, they have two seniors leading the way. Molly Allen and Veronica Schechinger have not only led in the room but on the scoreboard. Schechinger is tied for the team lead in wins with 27 while Allen is not far behind with 24. However, Allen leads the squad in team points with 190. Dorr has been proud of their dedication and leadership.

Being a young team, there are bound to be young standouts and freshman Hailey Harvey has been exactly that. Currently Harvey is tied for the team lead in wins and is second in earning team points. Dorr although not surprised, said she has exceeded expectations.

As far as chemistry is concerned Dorr said the girls have taken the initiative.

As the end of season and the state tournament approaches Dorr believes his team can compete on the big stage.

Riverside will compete this Friday at the 1A regional tournament at Red Oak. It is schedule to begin at 4pm.

Drake used a late 10-0 run to break the game open as the Bulldogs beat UNI 66-52 in front of a large Knapp Center crowd.

That’s Drake coach Ben McCollum. Drake led 28-24 and closed the opening half on an 8-0 run that McCollum said was triggered by better rebounding.

Drake was 10-of-16 from three point range and several came at the end of the shoot clock as the Bulldogs controlled the tempo.

The Bulldogs improve to 9-2 in the Missouri Valley and are 19-2 overall.

The Panthers shot only 41 percent in the opening half and coach Ben Jacobson says several defensive breakdowns were costly.

Jacobson gave credit to Drake’s defense.

Bennett Stirtz led Drake with 20 points. Tytan Anderson led UNI with 16 and says the game was played at Drake’s pace.

The Panthers were without starting guard Leon Bond III who was out with what Jacobson says is a strained patellae tendon. His availability for the remainder of the season is uncertain.

Anderson says with Bond injured the Panthers will need to adjust.

The Iowa State women open a challenging week on Thursday night with a visit to 11th ranked Kansas State. The week will conclude at home against number nine TCU.

That’s ISU coach Bill Fennelly. The Cyclones are one of several teams tied at 6-3 in the Big 12. K-State is 7-1.

K-State guard Serena Sundell averages nearly 14 points and more than seven assists per game.

In a battle of two top teams the Exira-EHK girls basketball team took down the twelfth ranked Coon Rapids-Bayard Crusaders 50-34 on Tuesday night. In a game that featured solid offense vs solid defense, offense prevailed. The Spartans took over the game in the third quarter and never looked back on their way to a 16-point victory and their thirteenth win of the season.

The first half was a battle. Seemingly every time the ball hit the floor, athletes from either side were jumping, diving and scrambling for the ball. Needless to say, that rebounding was hotly contested. There were no fewer than three jump balls in the first quarter alone. However, the Crusaders got the jump out of the gate building a small lead. The other talking point was both defenses’ ability to cause turnovers. Whether it be forced or unforced both teams turned the ball over in the first half. The Spartans trailed for most of the opening half but went on a run in the final two minutes to take a 21-15 lead at the half.

The Spartans were able to carry their momentum into the second half and dominated the third quarter of play. Jaelynn and Taryn Petersen led the way as the Spartans opened up the game. Coming into the contest Coon Rapids-Bayard was allowing just 29 points per game and Exira-EHK nearly doubled that. Outside of the offense the Spartans also limited their turnovers in the second half, while continuing to force Crusader turnovers and rebound well.

The Win moves Exira-EHK to 13-3 while Coon Rapids-Bayard fell to 12-3. The Spartans will be back in action on Thursday when they travel to Panorama.

The Exira-EHK Spartans boys basketball team fell to the Coon Rapids-Bayard Crusaders 72-46 on Tuesday night. Coming in as underdogs, the Spartans were neck-in-neck with the Crusaders for a large portion of the first half. However, Coon Rapids-Bayard eventually took over and never looked back on the way to their fifteenth win of the season.

The opening minutes of the first quarter were back and forth and showcased both teams’ style of play. Coon Rapids-Bayard played most of the game in the paint, while the Spartans were deadly from beyond the arc. Whenever the Crusaders seemed poised to pull away, Exira-EHK knocked down threes to stay within striking distance. The Spartans made 13 three-pointers throughout the game with seven coming in the first half. Josh Nelson knocked down three, while Austin Rasmussen hit two. However, the pace at which the Spartans knocked down three-pointers in the first quarter was unsustainable. While Exira-EHK struggled to score in the paint, Cal Haydon dominated the paint for the Crusaders. Haydon dropped nine field goals and a three-pointer on his way to 25 first half points. Despite being a two-point game at the end of the first quarter, the Crusdaers went on a 16-4 run to close out the half to open up a 43-23 lead.

Little changed in the second half, but the Spartans never quit. Nelson hit two more threes to lead the Spartans in scoring with 20 points. On the other side, Ty Hardon and Parker Hays contributed for the Crusaders. Hardon knocked down five second half field goals on his way to 14 points. Hays was the third Crusader to reach double-digits finishing with 15. Head Coach Tony Santistaben liked his team’s effort, especially from beyond the arc, but knew that inside scoring was an issue in the matchup.

Inside defense was also a problem at times for Exira-EHK and Santistaben says it will continue to be a point of emphasis.

As the season winds down Santistaben wants his team to continue to fight.

Exira-EHK will be back in action on Thursday when they travel to Panorama.

Hannah Stuelke returned from injury to score 25 points as the Iowa Hawkeye women edged Northwestern 85-80. Stuelke had missed the last two games with a concussion.

Poor free throw shooting has plagued the Hawkeyes this season but against the Wildcats they were 18-of-20 at the line. Iowa coach Jan Jensen.

Northwestern entered the game 0-7 in the Big Ten but raced out to a 10 point first quarter lead.

Hawkeye Ten Conference 

Harlan – 65 vs Denison-Schleswig – 25

Clarinda – 60 vs Red Oak – 22

Creston – 51 vs Glenwood – 46

Western Iowa Conference 

Riverside – 57 vs AHSTW – 26

Tri-Center – 43 vs Logan-Magnolia – 32

Treynor – 71 vs Missouri Valley – 34

Underwood – 68 vs IKM-Manning – 36

Rolling Valley Conference 

CAM – 67 vs Boyer Valley – 63 (2OT)

Exira-EHK – 50 vs Coon Rapids-Bayard – 34

Woodbine 70 Glidden-Ralston 31

Corner Conference 

Griswold – 50 vs Hamburg – 11

Bedford – 47 vs Essex – 26

East Mills – 42 vs Fremont-Mills – 37

Stanton – 64 vs Sidney – 35

Pride of Iowa Conference 

Nodaway Valley – 69 vs Southwest Valley – 64

Lenox – 60 vs Mount Ayr – 50

Wayne – 32 vs Southeast Warren – 23

Martensdale-St. Marys – 52 vs Central Decatur – 39

Hawkeye Ten Conference

Harlan – 67 vs Denison-Schleswig – 45

Clarinda – 74 vs Red Oak – 70 (2OT)

Glenwood – 52 vs Creston – 45

Western Iowa Conference

AHSTW – 62 vs Riverside – 43

Treynor – 65 vs Missouri Valley – 28

Tri-Center – 56 vs Logan-Magnolia – 31

Underwood – 69 vs IKM-Manning – 54

Rolling Valley Conference

CAM – 63 vs Boyer Valley – 56

Coon Rapids-Bayard – 72 vs Exira-EHK – 46

Woodbine – 84 vs Glidden-Ralston – 44

Paton Churdan – 68 vs West Harrison – 41

Corner Conference

Griswold – 64 vs Hamburg – 56

Bedford – 94 vs Essex – 25

East Mills – 53 vs Fremont-Mills – 44

Sidney – 57 vs Stanton – 56

Pride of Iowa Conference

Southwest Valley – 67 vs Nodaway Valley – 32

Mount Ayr – 61 vs Lenox – 45

Southeast Warren – 61 vs Wayne – 56

Martensdale-St. Marys – 47 vs Central Decatur – 24

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State’s Beau Freyler has been named a 2024 College Sports Communicators First-Team Academic All-American, joining Charlie Kolar as the only players in program history to earn first-team honors twice in their careers.

Freyler, who owns a 3.91 GPA while majoring in kinesiology, became the sixth player in school history to earn first-team football honors in 2023. The program has now earned first-team accolades nine times, including seven during head coach Matt Campbell’s tenure.

A senior from Colorado Springs, Colorado, Freyler was also a finalist for the prestigious William V. Campbell Trophy in 2024. On the field, Freyler led the 2024 Cyclones with 84 tackles as the team went on to claim a school-record 11 victories, including a win the Pop-Tarts Bowl. He finished his career playing in 51 games while starting the final 39 of his career. He made 300 career tackles and had six interceptions as the Cyclones won 29 games during his four-year career.

The two-time co-captain was a three-time academic all-district selection. He was a four-time honorable mention All-Big 12 selection on the field.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa gymnast Aurèlie Tran has been named the Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week. It was announced Tuesday by the conference. She shares the honor with Teryn Crump from Minnesota. The honor is Tran’s second of the season and her career.

The Repentigny, Quebec, Canada, native earned the distinction after competing in the all-around against Minnesota where the GymHawks posted a season high, 195.625. Tran captured her second all-around title of the season scoring a season-high 39.475. She also set a season-highs on vault and floor scoring 9.875 and 9.900, respectively. Tran matched her season-best on beam with a 9.850. She had a third-place finish on bars scoring a 9.850.

Tran currently ranks 26^th nationally in the all-around and on bars with an average of 39.292 and 9.867, respectively. In the Big Ten she ranks in the top 20 on bars, beam and the all-around.

Tran becomes the fifth Hawkeye to earn freshman of the week honors multiple times in a season.

The GymHawks travel to Lincoln, Neb. On Saturday Feb. 1 to faceoff with the Cornhuskers. Action inside the Bob Devaney Sports Center will begin at 7:00 p.m. (CT) and will be streamed live on B1G+ (subscription required).