Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Yadier Molina, Jedd Gyorko and Randal Grichuk went deep, the Cardinals scored so much in the fifth inning that they broke the scoreboard, and St. Louis rolled to a 10-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night. Michael Wacha allowed a three-run double to Cheslor Cuthbert but otherwise kept the Royals in check, surrendering six hits over six innings to win for the sixth time in seven decisions.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Hall of Fame quarterback-turned broadcaster Len Dawson, who led the Kansas City Chiefs to three AFL titles and their only Super Bowl, will retire from the radio booth after the upcoming season. The Chiefs and their radio network announced Dawson’s decision in a joint statement Tuesday.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Kentucky, Syracuse and the Big Ten recorded three of the top NCAA basketball attendance marks during the 2016-17 season. In a short video released by the NCAA on Tuesday, the two storied programs and the powerhouse league were recognized for their accomplishments.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Former Nebraska receiver Keyshawn Johnson Jr. will enter a pretrial diversion program on two marijuana charges. The case was sent to diversion Monday in Lancaster County Court. Charges would be dismissed if he complies with terms of the program for one year.

Atlantic senior to be Austin Alexander announced on Tuesday his commitment to continue his basketball career at Northwestern College in Orange City.

The point guard averaged 11.9 points and 4 assists per game during his junior season in which the Trojans earned their way to the Class 3A State Basketball Tournament.  Alexander shot 46% from the field and from three point range last year. Austin has also been active on the AAU basketball circuit this summer.

The Northwestern College Red Raiders play in the NAIA’s Great Plains Athletic Conference and went 27-7 last season under Head Coach Kris Korver.

Alexander will be one of 4 returning starters for Coach Alan Jenkins’ Trojan squad this season.

(IHSAA) At its August 4th meeting, the Iowa High School Athletic Association’s Board of Control approved administrative recommendations effecting the State Swimming Meet and State Basketball Tournament, effective this winter.

The changes approved a three-year contract to return the State Swimming Meet to the campus of the University of Iowa, while the State Basketball Tournament will become a Monday through Friday event and remain at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Neither of the changes will impact how teams and/or individuals qualify for the State Tournament. Both changes are supported by the advisory committees and coaches’ associations in their respective sports.

IHSAA Executive Director Alan Beste commented, “The Marshalltown YMCA/YWCA and Marshalltown Community Schools were exceptional hosts and the Y provided a great venue for our state swimming championships. The move to The University of Iowa’s Campus Recreation and Wellness Center provides an opportunity for our championships to be held at a site where the NCAA Men’s Championships have been held and will be held again in the future.”

He continued, “Our goal in moving the state basketball tournament to a 5-day event is to reduce conflicts with college basketball tournaments and spring breaks that many school districts are engaged in and provide our schools, communities and fans a shorter tournament week experience. We believe we can create more of a championship environment by playing all championship games on the same day – Championship Friday. Each day/evening of the tournament will be considered a single session ticket whereby all games on a given day will be included in the admission price.”

A five-day State Basketball Tournament is the first major move in the tournament since moving from three to four classes in 1985 and marks the first time the final day of the tournament is not scheduled on a Saturday.
There will be seven games on Monday and Tuesday of Tournament Week starting at 9:30 AM and six on the remaining three days, starting at 10:30 AM. Consolation games, which have been played since 1929, will continue to be played under the new format, with the four championship games being played Friday afternoon and evening. The order of the games will continue to be class 1A – 4A.

Full 2018 State Basketball Schedule: 2018-BOYS-STATE-TOURNAMENT-SCHEDULE

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Jacob Park hopes to complete a rarity at Iowa State: Start and finish the season as the Cyclones’ starting quarterback. The native of Charleston, South Carolina, began last season as the back up to Joel Lanning before taking over as the starting signal caller the final five games. He finished 2016 with nearly 1800 yards of passing and 12 touchdowns and says the experience has helped his confidence.

The redshirt junior began his college career at Georgia and feels much more comfortable in his second year with the Iowa State program. Park says his expectations for this season are much higher. Park will have plenty of weapons at his disposal with experience at running back and receiver.

The Cyclones open September second against Northern Iowa.

(Learfield Sports)

Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Matt Carpenter hit a three-run homer in St. Louis’ six-run fourth inning, and the Cardinals beat the Kansas City Royals 11-3 on Monday night for their third consecutive victory. Paul DeJong and Kolten Wong also connected for the Cardinals, who returned to .500 at 56-56.

MANKATO, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor tells The Associated Press he is ready to give Andrew Wiggins a max contract extension on his rookie deal worth close to $150 million. Taylor says he first wants a face-to-face meeting with Wiggins to hear from the former No. 1 overall pick that he is ready to commit to the organization and take his game to another level.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Javier Baez hit an inside-the-park homer to back Jake Arrieta’s 11th win and Chicago beat the Giants 5-3 in the champion Cubs’ first visit to AT&T Park since eliminating San Francisco in Game 4 of the NL Division Series last October. The NL Central leaders moved 1 1/2 games ahead of second-place Milwaukee.

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) – Hendrick Motorsports and driver Kasey Kahne have agreed to part ways after six years. The team said in a statement Monday that Kahne has been released from the final year of his contract, allowing him to begin pursing a Monster Energy Cup ride for 2018.

The Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association has released their 2017 All-State Teams. A number of area athletes were honored.

Senior shortstop Dillon Sears of Harlan was named to the 2017 All-State Super Team.

In Class 4A senior utility player Blake Elam of Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln was named to the First Team.

In Class 3A sophomore pitcher Brett Sears of Harlan was a Second Team selection.

Class 2A First Team selections included senior shortstop Brett Daley of Treynor,  junior outfielder Izak Baumhover of Kuemper Catholic, and senior utility player Tyler Laing of Kuemper Catholic. Second Team selections included junior catcher Dean Bedell and junior first baseman Justin Cox both of Treynor, and junior third baseman Kaleb Harrison of Tri-Center.

In Class 1A First Team selections included junior shortstop Garret Reisz of St. Albert and senior outfielder Brandon Riley of Coon Rapids-Bayard. Second Team selections included senior catcher Quentin Sefrit of Bedford, 8th grade second baseman Cy Patterson of St. Albert, and senior outfielder Marcus Daugherty of CAM.

Full teams here: 2017 IHSBCA ALL STATE TEAMS

Atlantic/CAM wrestler John McConkey announced over the weekend his commitment to continue his wrestling career at the University of Northern Iowa. The standout heavyweight grappler is coming off a state runner-up finish in Class 2A this past season. He went 53-4 during his Junior season and heads into his senior year with high expectations.

McConkey has had a strong summer of wrestling as well, competing at the Disney Duals on Team Iowa Black and going 4-2 at the Junior Nationals Freestyle Tournament in Fargo.

He chose UNI over other Division I offers from Nebraska and Northern Illinois. He currently is ranked at #9 in the FloWrestling national high school heavyweight rankings.

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The Iowa Hawkeyes entered fall practice with some coaching changes and questions about who will step up to fill key positions. Head coach Kirk Ferentz says that’s nothing unusual for him.”This is my 28th year now at Iowa — 19th as head coach — and it’s like every year, every time you start a new season you have new challenges, new opportunities. It’s a different equation than any other year and the trick is to put it all together. And that’s the beauty in my mind of college football. That’s probably why it’s such a popular sport,” Ferentz says.

Ferentz is looking for a new starting quarterback and says Nathan Stanley and Tyler Wiegers have both done a good job competing and are making strides. He says the decision on the starter will come down to one thing for the coaching staff. “It really gets down to leading the team, that’s what it gets down to,” Ferentz says, “and all of us have an opinion on that certainly. We’ll keep observing, we’ll watch, we’ll pull information. At some point, we’ll have to make some decisions and go from there. But it will be a group effort.”

Ferentz doesn’t have to worry about experience at running back as Akrum Wadley enters his senior season. “We’ve seen him, we’ve witnessed him, and he is, you know — boy, he’s right on task right now. His weight’s good, his attitude has been tremendous. He’s practicing really well. Again, only six workouts, but he’s looking like a senior player and a good senior player, and that’s — referencing the quarterback, we know whoever it is, we’re getting a new quarterback. So our best guys better be out there doing it,” Ferentz says.

He says graduate transfer James Butler has added important depth at the position. “Like last year, we were better when we had two guys that could help us there,” Ferentz says “If we have three, that would be great too. So that’s just going to give everybody a better chance to play better. That will be easy to have those guys complement each other. We’ve got to make sure all three are ready to go.”

Another big change has Brian Ferentz taking over as offensive coordinator this year. He will be calling the plays, and the elder Ferentz says he called plays one year as a coach, but that was never his dream. He says Brian is ready for the new challenge. “Brian’s been intrigued. A lot of that goes back to his time spent in New England, worked on both sides of the football. That’s a pretty cerebral outfit up there, certainly, with their quarterback starts there, Bill O’Brien as coordinator, and then Coach Belichick. He’s run some guys. I think he’s very inquisitive that way. I was more of just like a dumb line coach, just block that guy or whatever. So we’re cut from a little different cloth that way, and I think he’s ready for it,” Ferentz says.

He knows it’s a position that’s always in the spotlight and everyone has an opinion on. “You know, he’s good right now until the first time we have to punt,” Ferentz says. Iowa opens the season September 2nd hosting Wyoming in Kinnick Stadium.

(Learfield Sports)