Trojan Basketball is a few weeks away from starting and former Trojan player, now Head Coach Dalton Franken is excited for his inaugural season. He is inheriting a Trojan squad that went 7-15 last year and 3-10 in conference action. This offseason the team has stayed focused in the present forgetting about last year’s struggles.

One of the main keys that Coach Franken has been helping his team improve on this offseason is defense. The Trojans last year had 686 rebounds, 103 steals, and 54 blocks. While these defensive numbers are good, Coach Franken wants to see them become higher.

A key part of helping the Trojan defense is senior Colton Rasmussen. He accounted for 93 rebounds, 26 steals, and 17 blocks last season. Yet, Rassmussen is also talented on the offensive end coming into this year with a 40% field goal percentage and scoring 400 points in the 2022-23 campaign. Coach Franken knows how big of a role Rassmussen plays in this year’s squad.

Coach Franken also mentioned that Rassmussen isn’t the only player that has stuck out during the offseason. Senior Nolan Waters who last year had the highest three-point percentage on Atlantic last year with 49% has been competing well. Brock Henderson was another name thrown out who showed a lot of potential from his time with the junior varsity team.

It’s hard to have a lot of certainties and guarantees with high school athletics. Each night normally brings something or someone different. Still Coach Franken wants Trojan fans to know that this year’s team will compete hard and be a tight knit unit that supports one another.

The Trojans have their first scrimmage of the year versus West Central Valley on Friday November 17th at 6pm in the Atlantic High School Gym.

The season opener for Atlantic is at home against ACGC on Tuesday November 28th at 7:30pm.

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AMES, Iowa – Single-meet tickets for the 2024 gymnastics season are now on sale as season tickets are $15. Single meet tickets are $5 and will go on sale December 13 at 10 a.m.

All fans are required to enter Hilton Coliseum using a mobile ticket. Mobile tickets can be accessed via the free ISU Cyclones App or online using Account Manager. For more info, please click here.

The debut of head coach Ashley Miles Greig and her team will be on January 5 as the Cyclones host the Nebraska Cornhuskers to open up the 2024 campaign.

The team has three home meets in January, including a Big 12 matchup with league newcomer BYU before taking to the road for all of February.

The final home meet of the season will be on March 8, as Iowa comes to Ames for the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series matchup.

A full list of this season’s promotions can be found here.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa senior Esme Gibson has been named to the 2023 National Field Hockey Coaches Association Senior Team, it was announced Wednesday by the association.  

Gibson scored 15 goals and had 14 assists in her career and has been a part of the defense the recorded 37 shutouts including eleven in the 2021 season. The defender, who started 96 of 98 games in her Hawkeye career, recorded 4,680 career minutes playing a key defensive role the past five seasons.

The Worcestershire, England, native garnered first-team All-Big Ten honors this season and was a second-team All-American in 2022, a third-team All-American in 2021, and is a two-time NFHCA First-Team All-West Region honoree.

The Hawkeyes finished the 2023 season with a 13-6 overall record and an NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance.

The ACGC Chargers Girls basketball team is looking to build off their results from a season ago. Last year the Chargers finished the year 12-11 after a 72-45 vs Treynor in the second round of the Class 2A Region 7 tournament. Last season the Chargers really relied on their defense to win games as they held opponents to 40 points per game and were very active in passing lanes and applying ball pressure as the Chargers averaged 17 steals per game which helped lead to easy uncontested layups. The Chargers struggled a bit offensively as the team shot below 30% from both the field and 3pt line with just shooting 60% from the free throw line. Head Coach Brad Baudler knows that the Chargers have to get better shooting the basketball and set the standard high for his girls this summer. Coach Baudler gave each girl a goal of making 5,000 shots over the summer from all over the floor in hopes to help build confidence and higher percentages from the floor this season.

Coach Baudler really gave credit to his juniors and seniors for setting the standard for the younger girls and showing them the way of Chargers basketball and their dedication to stay in the gym and put in the hard extra work it is going to take for a chance to win the West Central Conference this season after going 10-5 and finishing fourth last season.

With the Chargers offense improving this season Coach Baudler is very excited to see the results pay off and to see his teams shooting percentage rise and help his team win more games. The goal for the Chargers starts with trying to win the West Central Conference and Coach Baudler knows to do that the Chargers will have to take care of home court advantage.

The Chargers will open their season on November 28th when they travel to Atlantic to take on the Trojans for a 6pm tipoff.

A late rally came up short as Iowa fell at eighth ranked Creighton 92-84 in Omaha. After being tied at 43 at the break the Bluejays made 17 of their first 21 shots in the second half and led by as many 17 points.

That’s Iowa coach Fran McCaffery who says the first road game is always a learning experience.

Ben Krikke led Iowa with 24 points on 11 of 18 shooting.

Krikke on the second half breakdowns on defense.

Iowa State sophomore linebacker Will McLaughlin did not try to hide his disdain for seventh ranked Texas. The Cyclones close out to home season against the Longhorns on Saturday night.

McLaughlin says there is always a chip on his shoulder when going against national programs like Texas.

Texas running back Jonathan Brooks is out for the season with a knee injury but McLaughlin says his replacement will also be talented.

McLaughlin says the ISU defense needs to limit big plays.

Despite injuries and the jokes and anger surrounding Iowa’s offense the Hawkeyes are a win away from clinching the Big Ten West and will try to claim the division title in their home finale against Illinois.

That’s Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz. A win would send the Hawkeyes to the Big Ten Championship Game for the second time in three years.

Ferentz is proud of the way his team has handled adversity in posting an 8-2 record.

Defense has carried the Hawkeyes all season but that unit has made even more strides in the last month.

Punter Tory Taylor announced he will not return for another season and will try to make it in the NFL. Taylor is not only one of the most popular players on the team Ferentz says he has also become a team leader.

Iowa State may still need some help but two wins to close the regular season will keep them in the hunt for a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game. It begins Saturday night at home against seventh ranked Texas. Cyclone coach Matt Campbell wants his team focused on the Longhorns and not potential tie breakers.

At 6-1 the Longhorns are alone at the top of the Big 12 standings.

Campbell was asked if the Cyclone fans will be even more motivated for the final game against the Longhorns as Big 12 foes.

In his third season at the helm Steve Sarkisian has the Longhorns in the hunt for the college football playoffs.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa women’s wrestling senior Nanea Estrella has been named USA Wrestling’s athlete of the week, it was announced Tuesday by the organization.

Estrella, who is ranked third in her weight class, recorded three technical falls in the Hawkeyes first ever duals inside of Carver-Hawkeye Arena. She defeated second-ranked Paige Wehrmeister of Presbyterian, 12-2, in the first dual.

The Makawao, Hawaii native went on to defeat Marissa Sanabria of Lindenwood and Aliza Leander of Sacred Heart, 10-0, in the second and third duals of the day.

The Hawkeyes went undefeated at the Trailblazer Duals, outscoring their opponents, 127-5, in three duals.

Iowa travel to Marshall, Missouri, this weekend to compete at the Missouri Valley Open on Friday and Saturday. The tournament will be streamed live on FloWrestling (subscription required).

THIS WEEK

University of Iowa women’s soccer travels to Clemson, South Carolina, to take on 4-seed Georgia in the NCAA Tournament Second Round on Friday at Riggs Field. Second and Third Round games are hosted at eight regional sites on Nov. 17 and Nov. 19, with #1 Clemson playing host to #5 Iowa, #4 Georgia and #8 Columbia this weekend.

WATCH/FOLLOW LIVE

·         NCAA Tournament Second Round matches stream live on ESPN+ (subscription required).

·         Links to streaming and live stats can be found at the gameday page on hawkeyesports.com.

·         Fans can follow the Iowa soccer program on Twitter (@HawkeyeSoccer) for live in-game updates.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS

·         No. 12 Georgia (College Soccer News rankings) won the SEC Tournament, defeating No. 10 Arkansas in the championship match. The Bulldogs won the SEC East division at 4-3-3 in conference play.

·         The Bulldogs defeated Liberty, 2-1, in the NCAA Tournament First Round. Midfielder Croix Bethune had a pair of assists, hitting Kiera Staude for the game-winner in the 85th minute.

·         Georgia tied Minnesota in a scoreless match on Aug. 31, its lone game against a Big Ten opponent this season; Iowa also tied Minnesota, 0-0, on Sept. 24.

·         Nicole Vernis leads the Bulldogs offensively with 17 points on five goals and a team-best seven assists.

·         Sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Brown has totaled 68 saves at a .764 percentage; the Bulldogs average 0.99 goals against and have pitched eight shutouts.

SERIES HISTORY – GEORGIA

Iowa and Georgia meet for the first time in program history. Iowa is 2-1-2 all-time against SEC opponents, including wins over South Carolina (Aug. 27, 2006) and Missouri (Aug. 21, 2016), as well as a draw last time out against Mississippi State (Sept. 5, 2021). The Hawkeyes will face an SEC opponent in the NCAA Tournament for the first time. The Bulldogs have, likewise, never faced a Big Ten opponent in the postseason.