It is a much different Iowa State team that will play Miami Friday night in Chicago in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Cyclone coach T.J. Otzelberger was an assistant coach on the last ISU team that made it to a regional semifinal in 2016 before falling to Virginia.

It is that defensive identity that helped the Cyclones turn things around after a 2-22 season a year ago.

Otzelberger says the players have bought in to the defense first mentality.

Otzelberger says all of the players they brought in accepted their style of play.

Drake poured in 22 points in the fourth quarter and picked up a 62-55 win over UNI in the second round of the WNIT on Monday. It was a pretty tight game most of the way with both offenses struggling to find their groove. The Bulldogs opened up the 4th on a 9-0 run and that proved to be enough to get the win.

Maggie Bair led Drake with 13 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Anna Miller had a double-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 blocks off the bench. The Bulldogs improved to 20-13 on the season and will advance on to the quarterfinals. Drake completed a three-game season sweep of the Panthers and it was their 5th win in a row in the series.

UNI was led by 11 points from Kam Finley and Grace Boffeli, Karli Rucker, and Cynthia Wolf each added 10. UNI ends the season with a record of 23-11.

Drake will play at South Dakota State on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. for the quarterfinal round.

Iowa State football coach Matt Campbell says new leaders are emerging on offense during spring drills. With veterans like Brock Purdy, Breece Hall and Charlie Kolar gone from last year’s team that finished 7-6 new leadership will be counted on.

Campbell says offensive lineman Trevor Downing and receiver Xavier Hutchinson are two of the players who have stepped up.

Ten Iowa football players looked to improve their draft stock on Monday by taking part in Pro Day in Iowa City. Defensive back Dane Belton says playing the “cash” position for the Hawkeyes has boosted his NFL prospects.

Tyler Goodson is trying to become a rare Iowa running back that makes it in the NFL.

Goodson says a key to making a roster will be versatility.

Safety Jack Koerner had a forty time of 4.51.

Koerner has been seeking the advice of Los Angeles Rams safety Jake Gervase who also started his Iowa career as a walk-on.

Photo Courtesy of Sue Fischer, Fischer Photography

The Atlantic girls track and field team is off to a good start to a new season. The Trojans will be pretty youthful this year but have seen some good numbers to start off with. Atlantic Head Coach Matt Mullenix has been using new timing technology and workout techniques to give the girls constant goals to work toward.

Coach Mullenix has had some time to implement his training techniques and he’s been really impressed with where they have started this year. He said they’ve also developed a good comradery.

Senior leader Addison DeArment said seeing a number of events head to State last season helped with experience and motivation. She said they hope to be a cohesive team and let the results come to them.

Junior Ava Rush has had some good success both on the track and on the cross country course, qualifying in three events for State last year. She is really excited for the possibilities this season and has been working hard in the offseason.

Junior Chloe Mullenix also qualified as part of three events for State last year. She said the group has worked together really well and the experience many of them gained as young competitors last year should help boost their confidence.

The Trojans have competed in some early bird competition so far this season and will get rolling with full team competition at Denison on the 31st.

The Drake men’s basketball team blew a 22-point lead and fell to UNC Wilmington 76-75 in the quarterfinal round of the CBI on Monday afternoon.

The Bulldogs raced out to a 41-24 lead at halftime and were up 19 points before giving up a 13-0 run midway through the second half to allow the Seahawks to climb back into the game. Drake never gave up the lead until the final basket. Jaylen Sims made a layup with 4 seconds left to give UNC Wilmington the lead and the win.

Shykeim Phillips led UNC Wilmington with 24 points and Mike Okauru had 13 points. The Seahawks move into the CBI Semifinals and improve to a record of 25-6.

Drake had 5 players score in double-figures led by ShanQuan Hemphill with 15 points and 7 rebounds. Tremell Murphy and Tucker DeVries both scored 14. The Bulldogs end the season with a mark of 25-11.

DETROIT — University of Iowa senior Jacob Warner dropped a 3-2 decision to Penn State’s top-seeded Max Dean in the 197-pound finals of the 2022 NCAA Championships on Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena. 

Warner and Dean traded escapes in the second and third periods before Dean countered a Warner shot and finished the deciding takedown with 36 second in the third. Warner added an escape in the final seconds for the final 3-2 score.

“I took a shot. He scored a go-behind. I have to follow through. I have to face him. I have to turn,” Warner said. “I still thought I was going to win that match. I thought I was going to get an escape to a takedown. I was going to go score to score. That is the mindset I need to have. It didn’t happen but I didn’t falter.

Warner advanced to his first NCAA finals and finished the tournament a four-time All-American. He placed seventh in 2019, fourth in 2021 and was a first-team All-American in 2020.

“I have what it takes. That is what this weekend proved to me. I can be on the top of that podium. I won a lot of hard matches this weekend and I just didn’t win the last one.

“I want to be on the top of that stand bad. I have gone up on the podium every year, seventh, fourth, second. There is only one spot left.”

Warner was one of five Hawkeyes to reach the medal stand. He advanced to the championship match by outscoring his four previous opponents 19-5. His appearance in the championship round extended Iowa’s streak of NCAA finalists to 32 consecutive tournaments.

Iowa placed third in the team race with 74.0 points and won a team trophy for the 13th time in the last 14 NCAA Championships.

Warner will return to the Iowa lineup in 2022-23 with three-time All-American Tony Cassioppi, three-time NCAA champion Spencer Lee, 2020 All-American Abe Assad, and former NCAA qualifiers Drake Ayala, Max Murin and Nelson Brands.

University of Iowa wrestlers Austin DeSanto, Alex Marinelli, Michael Kemerer and Tony Cassioppi finished their respective 2022 NCAA tournaments with All-America honors Saturday afternoon at Little Caesars Arena. 

DeSanto placed third at 133. Kemerer placed fourth at 174. Marinelli placed fifth at 165 and Cassioppi placed seventh at 285. The quartet went 5-2 in the medal round to move Iowa into third place in the team race.

DeSanto won a pair of matches in the medal round to place third for the second straight year. He recorded four takedowns in a 10-6 win in the consolation semis and used two first-period takedowns to win, 7-4, in the consolation finals.

“Wrestling at Iowa has changed my life in the best way possible,” DeSanto said. “I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else on the planet. Iowa is the place to be. Tom and Terry would do anything for me. They have made me a better person. Not just in wrestling but in life.”

Kemerer split a pair of matches to place fourth and finished the tournament with his fifth All-America honor. He is the only wrestler in program history with five All-America honors. His 6-4 win in the consolation semis was the 100th of his career. He fell to fourth place following a 12-4 loss in the consolation finals.

“I’m a competitor and I hate losing, and it’s tough to put that aside but at the same time the other voice inside me is trying to tell me how much I have to be thankful for and how good my college career has been,” Kemerer said. “All of the good things I’d tell someone else I am trying to tell myself. It’s a little battle there.”

Marinelli won by medical forfeit in the fifth-place match. He finished his career a four-time Big Ten Conference champion and four-time All-American.

“My goal and my word that I like to describe myself is a champion,” Marinelli said. “If I don’t get what I want I can still be a champion off the mat. I can still be a champion the way I carry myself. I will be a champion for Christ. I will be a champion for my wife, my teammates, my friends, my family. In the future I’d love to coach. I’d love to lead someone to a victory, and I’ll be a champion for them.”

Cassioppi finished his tournament a three-time All-American with a 2-0 win in the seventh-place match. He won his final match with a second-period rideout and third-period escape.

“I didn’t necessarily have the results I had last year,” Cassioppi said. “I took third last year and seventh this year, but I am a lot better wrestler than I was last year. I have improved a lot and I need to keep that going on the mat. I need to keep movement on the mat.”

DETROIT – All three Iowa State wrestling All-Americans won their medal matches Saturday, as the Cyclones closed out the NCAA Championships at Little Caesars Arena.

David Carr (157) finished third, Marcus Coleman (184) finished seventh and Yonger Bastida (197) finished fifth, as Iowa State crowned its most NCAA All-Americans under head coach Kevin Dresser.

In the consolation semifinals, Carr beat No. 8 Will Lewan of Michigan 6-3. Carr led 2-1 after the first period with a takedown and escaped in the second to take a 3-1 lead. After Lewan escaped to start the third, Carr sealed the match with a takedown with :16 left. In the third-place match, Carr beat Nebraska’s No. 10 Peyton Robb 7-2 for the second time this season. Carr notched a takedown with :22 left in the first period to lead 2-0, while Robb’s escape to start the second was the only points of the period. Carr started the third on bottom, as he reversed Robb and put him on his back to seal his sixth-straight victory in the consolation round.

Coleman beat No. 11 Jonathan Loew of Cornell 8-3 in the seventh-place match. Coleman led 2-1 after the first period and extended the lead to 4-2 after two periods with a takedown with :47 left in the second period. Coleman started the third on bottom and escaped with 1:47 to go. He added a takedown with :51 left that locked up the victory.

For the third time this season, Bastida met No. 2 Stephen Buchanan of Wyoming in the consolation semifinals. Buchanan used a late takedown in the first period to take a 3-2 lead and held on for the 4-3 victory. In the fifth-place match, Bastida used a takedown with 1:26 left against No. 21 Gavin Hoffman of Ohio State to put Hoffman on his back. Bastida recorded the fall in 2:29 for his first career fall against an NCAA Division I opponent.

The Iowa State women raced out to a 23-7 lead at the end of one and clobbered Georgia 67-44 to earn a spot in the Sweet 16.

That’s ISU coach Bill Fennelly. It is ISU’s first appearance in the Sweet 16 since 2010. The Cyclones held the Bulldogs to 31 percent shooting and won the battle on the glass 49-38.

Fennelly says the Cyclones were locked in from the beginning.

Lexi Donarski led the Cyclones with 20 points and during a timeout early in the game the end of the men’s game in Milwaukee was shown on the video board.

An ugly game but a sweet finish for Iowa State as the Cyclones are headed to the Sweet 16. ISU’s defense smothered Wisconsin in a 54-49 win in Milwaukee.

That’s ISU coach T.J. Otzelberger. A year after posting a 2-22 record the Cyclones head back to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2016.

The Badgers shot less than 30 percent and made only two of 22 from three point range.

Gabe Kalscheur led the Cyclones with 22 points.

Kalscheur played against the Badgers while at Minnesota.

Izaiah Brockington added 10 points as the Cyclones improve to 22-12 on the season.