With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson….

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The Iowa Hawkeyes play Coppin State today (Saturday) in Iowa City, in their final non-conference game before the Christmas break. Iowa opens the Big Ten season hosting Indiana in Iowa City on December 31st. You can hear the game on KJAN, beginning at 11-a.m.

Coach Fran McCaffery says they want to finish this portion of the schedule on a good note. “We wanna keep playing the way we’re playing, hard, solid D, sharing the ball, a lot of different guys feeling good about their game, and that’s the way you want to go into Indiana,” McCaffery said. The Hawkeyes have been shooting the ball well lately, and freshman guard Mike GeSsell says it’s a matter of being confident.

“Whether you miss your last one, missed your last five, you have to continue to shoot with confidence. We are really confident the players we have on this team can shoot the ball,” GeSsell said. He says coach McCaffery is going to continue giving them the green light to shoot, even if they miss a few shots. While they have a winning record and have been shooting the ball well, GeSsell said after the win over South Carolina State that they still have room to improve on defense.

“You know that was kind of our weakness as a team last year and we still have some breakdowns at times,” GeSsell said. He says if they can cut out the breakdowns they will improve as a team. Iowa is 10-2 heading into Saturday’s game.

(Radio Iowa/Sports)

The Iowa State Cyclones are off until January 1st when they face Yale and then open the Big 12 season January 9th at Kansas. I-S-U wrapped up their final game of this year with a 76-61 win over Missouri-Kansas City. Coach Fred Hoiberg said after their last game that they have some things to work on before returning to action. “We’ve got to tighten everything up. When we’re playing well, when we’re clicking, when everybody is all in together, we are a pretty darn good team. When we are not, we struggle a little,” Hoiberg said.

He says the team has learned from its loses so far and improved. “You know I like the way we’re playing right now…and hopefully we’ll keep making strides,” Hoiberg said. I-S-U wraps up this portion of the season with a 9-3 record.

(Radio Iowa/Sports)

BOYS BASKETBALL
Creston 64, Red Oak 50
IKM-Manning 79, OA-BCIG 49
Sioux City, East 60, Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln 46
St. Albert, Council Bluffs 73, Clarinda Academy 59
Villisca 79, Heartland Christian 33
West Monona, Onawa 74, Siouxland Community Christian 31

POSTPONEMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS
Lewis Central vs. Atlantic, ppd.
Kuemper Catholic, Carroll vs. Denison-Schleswig, ppd. to Jan 22.
Glenwood vs. Harlan, ppd. to Feb 4.
Carroll vs. Carlisle, ppd.
Coon Rapids-Bayard vs. Madrid, ppd.
Earlham vs. West Central Valley, Stuart, ppd.
CAM, Anita vs. Ankeny Christian Academy, ppd.
Panorama, Panora vs. Woodward Academy, ppd.
Grandview Park Baptist, Des Moines vs. Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton, ppd.
Clarinda vs. Shenandoah, ppd.
Glidden-Ralston vs. Orient-Macksburg, ppd.

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln 42, Sioux City, East 37
Heartland Christian 48, Villisca 42
IKM-Manning 93, OA-BCIG 62
Red Oak 64, Creston 31
West Monona, Onawa 60, Siouxland Community Christian 36

POSTPONEMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS
Denison-Schleswig vs. Kuemper Catholic, Carroll, ppd.
Atlantic vs. Lewis Central, ppd.
Harlan vs. Glenwood, ppd.
Carroll vs. Carlisle, ppd.
Coon Rapids-Bayard vs. Madrid, ppd.
Earlham vs. West Central Valley, Stuart, ppd.
Ankeny Christian Academy vs. CAM, Anita, ppd.
Clarinda vs. Shenandoah, ppd.

AKRON, Iowa (AP) — A judge has dismissed sex charges against a former wrestling coach in northwest Iowa. Chad Utesch of Ireton had the charges dismissed earlier this week. They included one count of felony sexual exploitation by a school employee and several misdemeanor counts of the same charge. The judge ruled Utesch, a former wrestling coach at Akron-Westfield High School, did not meet the statutory definition of a school employee at the time of the alleged offenses because he did not have valid coaching authorization.

The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department says Utesch had inappropriate contact with a 17-year-old female student in 2011.

1-A Dual Team Rankings Overall Ranking Record through Dec. 15

1. Alburnett 13-1
2. Woodbury Central 12-2
3. Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 4-0
4. Don Bosco, Gilbertville 10-6
5. Lake Mills 10-0
6. Emmetsburg 6-2
7. Audubon 16-1
8. West Marshall 9-4
9. Maquoketa Valley 9-6
10. Sumner-Fredericksburg 6-2
11. Tri-Center 7-2
12. Iowa Valley 12-1
13. Northwest Webster 5-0
14. Underwood 2-6
15. Clarion-Goldfield 4-1
16. Wilton 7-1

2-A Dual Team Rankings Overall Ranking Record through Dec. 15

1. West Delaware 17-2
2. Davenport Assumption 13-2
3. Mediapolis 13-0
4. Charles City 10-3
5. Spencer 9-0
6. Creston/O-M 5-1
7. Humboldt 12-0
8. Union 10-3
9. Osage 6-5
10. Crestwood 7-3
11. New Hampton 9-5
12. South Central Calhoun 13-1
13. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 7-1
14. Washington 9-0
15. Independence 7-2
16. Forest City 10-1

3-A Dual Team Rankings Overall Ranking Record through Dec. 15

1. Southeast Polk 12-0
2. Cedar Rapids Prairie  13-2
3. Linn-Mar 9-6
4. Waverly-Shell Rock 9-2
5. Bettendorf 3-1
6. Pleasant Valley 11-3
7. Ankeny 9-0
8. North Scott 14-3
9. Iowa City West 11-5
10. Dowling Catholic 8-2
11. Western Dubuque 12-8
12. Sioux City North 10-0
13. Burlington 4-1
14. West Des Moines Valley 6-5
15. Clinton 3-1
16. Thomas Jefferson 10-1

When gymnast Gabby Douglas allowed herself to dream of being an Olympic champion, she imagined having a nice little dinner with family and friends to celebrate.   Maybe she’d make an appearance here and there.  She says it’s gotten far crazier than she ever thought it would.

And now the teenager who became the first African-American gymnast to claim gymnastics’ biggest prize – the all-around Olympic title – has a new honor. She is The Associated Press’ 2012 female athlete of the year, edging out swimmer Missy Franklin in a vote by U.S. editors and news directors.

She is the fourth gymnast to win the award, and first since Mary Lou Retton in 1984.

w/ Ric Hanson

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles says he’s focused on finishing strong after coming back from a devastating knee injury and then dealing with a murder-suicide that hit close to home. Charles tore his left ACL early last season, but has returned to be one of the few bright spots for the 2-12 Chiefs. He’s run for 1,230 yards and four touchdowns this year. What he’s overcome physically pales in comparison to what he’s dealt with emotionally.

Three weeks ago Saturday, Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher shot to death his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, and then drove to Arrowhead Stadium and committed suicide. Perkins was the cousin of Charles’ wife, Whitney, and Charles introduced her to Belcher. Charles declined to talk about the shootings Thursday, saying “I just want to talk about football.”

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Arrowhead Stadium hasn’t been much of a home-field advantage for the Chiefs lately. Kansas City must win its home finale Sunday against Indianapolis to avoid having a single home win over the course of a season for the third time in five years. Prior to that, the Chiefs had won more than once at Arrowhead Stadium every season since 1977.

Kansas City is a combined 12-27 over the past five seasons, a winning percentage of .308 — well below the Chiefs’ success rate of better than 57 percent at their 40-year-old home. Empty seats have been multiplying with every loss the past two seasons, too. While the Chiefs’ average home attendance remains 69,304 — good for 13th in the NFL — it also represents just 90.3 percent of capacity, better only than six teams in the league.

Class 5-A