The fourth-ranked Iowa wrestling team hosts number-five Ohio State tonight (Friday) in a Big 10 showdown. Last year, Iowa was ranked second when Ohio State won 7 of 10 matches in Columbus and beat the Hawks 21-9, ending a 34-dual losing streak to the Hawkeyes. Iowa Coach Tom Brands is expecting the Buckeyes will be fired-up for this meeting as well. Ohio State is coached by former Hawkeye wrestler Tom Ryan.

Iowa Coach Tom Brands & Assistant Terry Brands (Learfield Sports photo)

“They’re a well coached team and they’re a team that’s coming in for blood,” Brands says. “They were very fired up when we came to their town last year and now they’re coming to our town and I’m sure, without speaking for them too much, they’re wanting to do some destruction. But, we have to take care of what we can take care of…we have the same big matches that they have.” Iowa has a dual meet record of 10-0, while Ohio State is 6-0.

Brands says he challenges his wrestlers to “get better every day,” so he’s expecting the best outing from his team yet this season. “This is the biggest thing up to this point,” Brands said of the dual with Ohio State. “Nothing’s bigger behind us, that’s for sure. That doesn’t matter. The national tournament last year isn’t bigger – it’s over.” The match at 133 pounds will feature the top two ranked wrestlers in the nation at that weight class. Ohio State sophomore Logan Stieber the defending national champion at 133, beat Iowa’s Tony Ramos three times last season. The second-ranked Ramos is looking forward to another shot at the top-ranked Buckeye.

“It’s something I’ve been focused on since the end of last year,” Ramos said. “You have to prepare for every match the same, but we’ve focused a bit more on certain areas or techniques that we’re trying to fine tune or sharpen up before Friday night.” Ramos, a junior who’s 10-0 this season with five pins, was asked about his relationship with Stieber. “I don’t know how he feels about me, but I don’t like anyone who is at my weight or anyone from a different team,” Ramos said. “Is there respect? Yes, there’s respect. Do I like him? No. Am I going to go out there and try and put my will on him and try to break him? Yes. So, that’s pretty much the relationship I see between us.”

The Iowa/Ohio State dual is set for 7:00 p.m. at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. It’ll be televised live by the Big Ten Network. Iowa will also host Purdue for a dual in Iowa City on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. Iowa State wrestles at #10 Oklahoma this weekend, while Northern Iowa hosts Iowa Western Community College. Both of those duals begin at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday.

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Hawkeye women gave up a 13-point lead in regulation, but then pulled out early in overtime and went on to beat 24th ranked Ohio State 77-71 in their Big Ten opener in Iowa City Thursday evening. Iowa was down by one at the half, but went on a 10-4 run to start the second half.  Theairra Taylor led Iowa with 19 points, Morgan Johnson had 16 and Jamie Printy 14. Iowa is now 13-3 overall and they will host Michigan on Sunday.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A person familiar with the situation tells The Associated Press that Andy Reid is nearing a deal to replace Romeo Crennel as coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. Reid has no plans to interview for other jobs, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Thursday because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations.

The Philadelphia Eagles fired Reid on Monday, the same day the Chiefs parted ways with Crennel. Several members of the Chiefs met with Reid, who has also been linked to openings in Arizona and San Diego, for close to nine hours on Wednesday. Reid was fired after 14 seasons, six division titles and a Super Bowl appearance.

BOYS BASKETBALL
A-H-S-T 58, Nishnabotna 35
Ar-We-Va 53, Whiting 37
Boyer Valley 56, Westwood 35
East Mills 48, Griswold 41
IKM-Manning 89, West Harrison 31
Murray 65, Orient-Macksburg 31
OA-BCIG 66, Logan-Magnolia 39
Omaha Northwest, NE 57, Thomas Jefferson 46
Omaha Roncalli, NE 56, St. Albert 45
Red Oak 58, Underwood 53
Riverside 64, Fremont Mills 44
West Monona 72, Charter Oak-Ute 44
West Nodaway, MO 47, South Page 45

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Charter Oak-Ute 53, West Monona 29
Griswold 43, East Mills 21
IKM-Manning 93, West Harrison 25
Murray 55, Orient-Macksburg 45
Nishnabotna 54, A-H-S-T 42
OA-BCIG 77, Logan-Magnolia 22
Omaha Gross Catholic, NE 51, Abraham Lincoln 35
St. Albert 51, Underwood 29
Westwood 50, Boyer Valley 27

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Former Iowa football players Micah Hyde, James Ferentz and Keenan Davis have been selected to play in the East-West Shrine Game later this month. The contest, an all-star game meant to showcase outgoing seniors for NFL scouts, will be held Jan. 19 in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Hyde was named the Big Ten’s defensive back of the year in 2012 and shared team MVP honors with Ferentz.  Ferentz was a second-team All-Big Ten pick at center last season.  Davis caught 47 passes for 571 yards and a score in 2012.

w/ Jim Field

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The Iowa State women won their Big 12 Conference opener, but it wasn’t easy. The Cyclones staged a second half rally and beat Texas in overtime 73-65 Wednesday night in Ames. ISU Coach Bill Fennelly was relieved, especially since it took the Cyclones six tries to notch their first conference win last season. “It’s just a great way to start the new year and a great way to start the Big 12. Only 17 more of these to go, I guess,” Fennelly said with a laugh. “The fans were phenomenal…they always are, but our team really need them tonight.” Just over 7,100 fans attended the game at Hilton Coliseum.

The Cyclones were led in scoring by a couple of seniors — Anna Prins finished with 17 points and Chelsea Poppins added 16.  “When you win in the Big 12, when you find a way to win, you need to have good guard play…but your seniors sometimes have to will your (team) to win and I thought our seniors, in the last 20 minutes and the overtime, willed our team to win,” Fennelly said. Nikki Moody recorded a double-double for the Cyclones with 14 points and 10 assists, while adding 6 rebounds.

With the win, Iowa State improved to 10-1 overall. Texas dropped to 7-5.

(Radio Iowa Sports)

The Iowa women open the Big Ten season hosting 24th ranked Ohio State in Iowa City this (Thursday) evening. Tip-Time at Carever-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, is 5:30-p.m.   Hawkeye coach Lisa Bluder says they’ve prepared well with a tough non-conference schedule. “Ohio State comes in here ranked in the top 25. We should be ready for that. We faced numerous teams in the top 25. We’ve done well against them,I think our team is excited to start Big Ten play and get going with this season. But, of course, Ohio State, we only play them one time all year. This is it, the first game, which is strange, out of the gates, but last year we only got to play them one time and it was at their place. We are looking forward to having them on our home court again,” Bluder says.

She says Tayler Hill is the leader of the Buckeyes. ” She can score at will. She’s a three-point shooter, driver, free-throw shooter. She is I think that’s the key to their basketball team,” Bluder says. “Ashley Adams at six five has a little girth to her, can really post up. The thing that’s impressive about her is how well she passes the ball. She’s an extraordinary passer.”

The Hawkeyes host Michigan after Ohio State, making it important to get off to a good start. “We know from experience that if you want to do well in the Big Ten, you have to do well at home. If you want to finish in the top four or five teams in this conference, you have to take care of home court. So right away these two games are pretty important for us,” Bluder says.

Iowa has gotten some votes in the polls, and Bluder believes they should get enough to be ranked. “Well my opinion, we should be. The last time I looked, our RPI was 19 in the country. We don’t have any control over that. So all we have to do, all we can do, is to go after the next game, win the next game, win the next game,” Bluder says. “Sometimes people get put up into the top 25 and never come out, seems like they can do no wrong once you get anointed up there. Other teams like us, seems like we have a hard time breaking into that.”

The Buckeyes come in with a 10-3 record. Iowa is 12-3.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A person familiar with Andy Reid’s plans tells The Associated Press that the former Eagles coach is interviewing with the Kansas City Chiefs for their open job. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the information was not made public. ESPN.com first reported that Reid was meeting with the Chiefs.

Kansas City has also interviewed Atlanta offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, but Falcons coach Mike Smith said Wednesday that Koetter signed a new contract and would not be a candidate for head coaching jobs this season. The Chiefs fired Romeo Crennel on Monday after going 2-14 in his first full season.