The Iowa Hawkeye men open the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago Wednesday morning against the winner of today’s late afternoon game between Maryland and Oregon. The ninth seeded Hawkeyes are coming off heartbreaking losses last week to third ranked Michigan and 11th ranked Nebraska.

That’s Iowa coach Ben McCollum who says maximum effort gave the Hawkeyes a chance in those games and that’s what it will take no matter who they play.

The Hawkeyes will play the eight seed Ohio State Thursday morning if they win but McCollum says they will worry about the Buckeyes if they get there.

The Hawkeyes are 20-11 entering the postseason and are a strong candidate for an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament.

The Hawkeyes split two regular season games against Maryland. They beat Oregon 84-66 in Eugene back on February first but since that game the Ducks have regained the services of injured seven foot center Nate Bittle. He averages nearly 17 points per game.

Iowa State assistant coach JR Blount has been named the new head coach at the University of San Diego. Blount is in his fifth season on T.J. Otzelberger’s staff with the Cyclones.

Blount will remain with the Cyclones until the season is over. The sixth ranked Cyclones open the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday.

Otzelberger says the hiring of Blount is a positive reflection on the program.

3A-

Ballard – 70 vs Gilbert – 40

Carroll – 50 vs Pella – 49

ADM – 68 vs Xavier – 59

Storm Lake – 68 vs Solon – 60

4A-

Dowling Catholic – 62 vs Dubuque Senior – 45

Cedar Falls – 73 vs Urbandale – 53

1st Team 
Taryn Petersen* EEHK Jr.
Jaelynn Petersen* EEHK Sr.
Anna Hart* CRB Sr.
Malia Clayburg* CRB Sr.
Ada Hansen* CAM Jr.
Kadence Sporrer EEHK Sr.
Sylvia Sullivan BV Sr.
Taylor Hoefer Wood Sr.
*Denotes Unanimous

2nd Team
Chloe Peters GR Fr.
Jenna Subbert GR Fr.
Morgan Hast BV Jr.
Harlow Miller EEHK Sr.
Aubrey Hofbauer CRB Sr.
Ashtyn Klocke CRB Sr.
Courtney Follmann CAM Jr.
Avery Coenen Wood Fr.

First Team All-Conference

Elsa Tiefenthaler *** – Kuemper Catholic, Sr., G

Maggie McChensey *** – Glenwood, Jr., G

Kalyn Scamman *** – Shenandoah, So., PG

Ava Underwood *** – St. Albert, Sr., F

Addison Wagoner – Clarinda, Sr., F

Kadley Bailey – Creston, Sr., G

Katrina Williams – Atlantic, Sr., F

Macie Vetter – Lewis Central, Jr., G

**Denotes Unanimous Selection

Second Team All-Conference

Kenzley Bruck – Harlan, Jr., C

Lexie Pearce – St. Albert, Jr., F

Addy Anthofer – Kuemper Catholic, Jr., F

Eleanor Coughlin – St. Albert, Jr., G

Ava O’Rourke – Shenandoah, Fr., G

Makenna Schroeder – Atlantic, Sr., G

Carsen Wellhausen – Clarinda, Sr., C

Kaylie Simons – Kuemper Catholic, Sr., G

Honorable Mention All-Conference

Ann Wessel – Denison-Schleswig, Jr., G

Ellison Johnson – Red Oak, Sr., F

Maddie Cole – Clarinda, Sr., G

Maggie Smith – Glenwood, Sr., G

Brinley Van Baale – Harlan, Jr., PG

Zoey Kirchhoff – Atlantic, Sr., G

Brooklynn Rutledge – St. Albert, Jr., F

Hollynn Rieck – Creston, Sr., G

Ellie Borns – Lewis Central, Jr., PG

Charlotte Hackfort – Kuemper Catholic, Sr., G

Molly Wise – St. Albert, Sr., G

Sara Mun – Denison-Schleswig, Sr., F

First Team
Sydney Somers (Riverside)
Nora Konz (Treynor)
Anna Stangl (IKM – Manning)
Ainsley Roberts (Underwood)
Keagan Eischeid (IKM – Manning)
Addison Mauer (Treynor)
Addison Carroll (AHSTW)

Second Team
Allyson Johnson (Loma)
Kayden Schnack (Riverside)
Ella Thornton (Treynor)
Mackenzie Parrott (Missouri Valley)
Bella Lamp (AHSTW)
Claire Schrage (Treynor)
Lauren Harder (Tri – Center)

Honorable Mention
Sophie Fenner (Riverside)
Kayley Ambrose (Underwood)
Ava Paulsen (AHSTW)
Clara Pace (AHSTW)
Tylee Koyle (Missouri Valley)
Maci Bertelsen (Loma)
Stella Sornson (Treynor)
Oriah Meiners (IKM – Manning)

Player Of The Year
Sydney Somers (Riverside)

Unanimous Selections
Sydney Somers (Riverside)

The 2025 Girls Track and Field season at CAM was a historic one. They won their first meet in almost 18 years. Over the course of the season, they finished in the top 3 five separate times. The CAM Girls took six events to state, and set many PRs at districts despite not all of them making it to state. CAM placed 2nd in the 800m relays, and Ada Hanson finished fourth in 100m hurdles and first in 400m hurdles as a sophomore. The Cougars have a lot of talent returning, and Head Coach Luke Symonds is looking forward to building off of last year.

As was the case last year, CAM’s strong suit will be in their short distance events:

Despite losing a few seniors, the Cougars still retained a lot of talent from last year’s group. Some of the seniors that left were on the sprint relay team that made it to state in 2025:

CAM was very close to having multiple state champions, so Coach Symonds is looking for each girl to have some sort of improvement as opposed to just one athlete making a huge jump:

The Cam Cougars Girls Track and Field Season begins with the AD Dickinson Relays at the UNI-Dome on March 10th at 2:00pm.

The Iowa State men close the regular season ranked 7th in the AP Top 25. The Cyclones are 25-6 and will be the fifth seed at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City They will open late Wednesday morning against the winner of Tuesday’s game between Baylor and Arizona State. ISU coach T.J. Otzelberger says defense and rebounding were the keys in Saturday’s win over Arizona State and they will be headed forward.

Otzelberger says the leadership of senior guard Tamin Lipsey will be a key to a post season run.

Lipsey says the sense of urgency grows with the start of the Big 12 Tournament.

With a victory on Wednesday the Cyclones would advance to play the three seed Texas Tech.

TULSA, Okla. – Rocky Elam and Yonger Bastida claimed individual Big 12 titles Saturday night in front of a rowdy BOK Center crowd. This is Iowa State’s eighth-consecutive year with a Big 12 champion and the second time in the last three seasons ISU has crowned two champions.

Both Elam (197) and Bastida (285) earned their second career Big 12 titles with Elam having also won in 2023 at Missouri and Bastida taking the heavyweight crown in 2024. Bastida is the 40^th two-time conference champion in Iowa State history.

Stevo Poulin (125) and Anthony Echemendia (141) fell short in their title attempts.

Iowa State placed second as a team with 144 points behind champion Oklahoma State (176). Nine Cyclones punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships during the weekend, ISU’s eighth-straight year qualifying eight or more.

At 197 pounds, Elam allowed an early takedown to Wyoming’s No. 3 Joey Novak but was unphased. The Cyclone put together a big third period with a takedown and 1:12 ride-out to win, 5-4, and capture his second Big 12 title and the third conference title of his career. It was Elam’s second win over Novak this season.

Top-ranked heavyweight Bastida captured a second Big 12 title of his own with a 4-1 decision against Oklahoma State’s No. 7 Konner Doucet. The Cyclone notched the only takedown of the match in the closing seconds of the second period.

It is Bastida’s second Big 12 title in as many title match appearances, also owning the 2024 heavyweight Big 12 title. He becomes the 40^th two-time conference champion in Iowa State history.

Poulin came up short in his championship bout to Oklahoma State’s No. 6 Troy Spratley at 125 pounds. The Cyclone led 1-0 after two periods but Spratley used a reversal and two near fall points in the third to take control of the match. Poulin would ultimately fall, 5-2, after a Spratley riding time point.

At 141 pounds, No. 3 Anthony Echemendia came up just short against No. 2 Sergio Vega in double overtime. Neither wrestler could muster a takedown in a low-scoring match that saw regulation end in a 1-1 tie. Both wrestlers had opportunities to score in the extra period. In double overtime, Echemendia held Vega down for 0:18 before the Cowboy escaped but ultimately it was Vega who managed to ride Echemendia for the next 0:30 to come out on top, 2-1.

UP NEXT
Iowa State will close its 2025-26 season at the NCAA Championships March 19-21 in Cleveland, Ohio.