The Audubon Wheelers Football Team’s season came to a disappointing end Thursday night as they fell to the Remsen St. Mary’s Hawks in the state quarterfinal. The Hawks controlled the game from start to finish, dominating the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. In addition to quarterback Landon Waldschmitt, Colin Homan led the way for Remsen St. Mary’s, catching two touchdowns while being a force on the defensive line. Following the 61-20 victory, Remsen St. Mary’s will move on to the state semi-final next Wednesday.

At first, the game seemed destined to be a defensive battle. Both teams went three and out on their opening possessions with Carson Wessel barely missing Jack Stanerson down the field on what would’ve been an explosive play. However, after the Wheelers punted the Hawks’ offense got to work. Effective moving the ball Waldschmitt capped off the drive with a 42-yard touchdown run to open the scoring and give Remsen St. Mary’s an 8-0 lead.  For much of the night, the Hawks’ defense severely limited the movement of the Audubon offense. They also were able to create turnovers and after nabbing the first of three interceptions from Wessel, Homan would pick up his first of two touchdown receptions to push the lead to 14.

As the Wheelers’ offense struggled to gain traction, the Hawks’  showed no signs of slowing down. Before the end of the half, they would add rushing touchdowns from Waldschmitt, Braxton Kneip, and Keaton Harpeneau, while Brody Wurth and Kneip picked up touchdowns through the air. Audubon did get on the board with a 59-yard touchdown run from Aaron Olsen but found themselves down  46-6 at the half.

Little changed in the third quarter. After forcing Audubon to punt on the opening possession,  Waldschmitt threw his final touchdown of the evening to Homan. With the game out of reach, both teams gave their underclassmen a chance to get on the field. Dalton Klien added a 16-yard touchdown run to put up the Hawks’ final points of the night to extend the lead to 61-6. Freshman Aidan Kjeergard entered the game at quarterback and would go on to lead the Wheelers on numerous scoring drives. He capped off one with a 19-yard rushing touchdown and a beautifully thrown ball to Jorgen Norwatzke to bring the final to 61-20.

With all said and done, the Audubon Wheelers had an extremely successful season. They captured a second straight undefeated regular season and for the first time in program history, back-to-back district titles. Building upon the regular season success, they won two playoff games and made their sixth quarterfinal appearance in twelve years finishing with a 10-1 record. Head Coach Sean Birks was very pleased with what his team was able to accomplish.

Next season will undoubtedly look different for the Wheelers. They are graduating 11 seniors including Adam Obrecht (who played a phenomenal defensive game), Colton Hansen, Colin Hartl, and Aaron Olsen. Birks said he was proud of the leadership this group of seniors provided and the mark they left on the Audubon football program.

Remsen St. Mary’s semi-final match is scheduled for next Wednesday. Their opponent has yet to be announced.

The (10-0) ACGC Chargers football team have been dominant all year and are currently one win away from a trip to the UNI-Dome. In order to make it to Cedar Rapids though, ACGC first has to take on a very balanced and sharp (9-1) Tri-Center Trojans squad. Last week the Chargers came away with a 41-14 victory against the Mount Ayr Raiders. In that matchup, ACGC head coach Cody Matthewson was pleased with how well his team executed throughout all four quarters.

In their victory against Mount Ayr, the Chargers ran for 337 yards and five touchdowns. The productive ground game for ACGC has been their bread and butter all year and senior fullback Mike Fuller has been a workhorse rushing for 1200 yards. Coach Matthewson commented on the constant improvement and effort by Fuller during his senior season.

The Chargers undefeated season has been gained by a great rushing attack, but also by a disciplined defense that seems to fly towards the ball. ACGC’s defense has forced 18 turnovers and has 13 players in the double digit range for tackles. They’ve been a stalwart unit all year and coach Matthewson recognized it.

Up next for ACGC is a Tri-Center squad that has done a one-eighty considering they were 3-6 a season ago. The Trojans have proven to be fierce with a 58-13 win against the Riverside Bulldogs, in which they scored six rushing touchdowns and nearly averaging eight yards a carry. Coach Matthewson is well aware of the talent that Tri-Center brings into Friday’s game.

In preparing for Friday, Coach Matthewson explained that one advantage the Chargers do have is the experience of being in a quarterfinal matchup three times in the last four years.

KJAN has the coverage for Friday’s battle with the pregame beginning at 6:00 p.m.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Star Drake guard Katie Dinnebier has received another national honor as a member of the Los Angeles Athletic Club John R. Wooden Award Preseason Women’s Top 50 Watch List, the organization announced today.

A Waukee High School graduate, Dinnebier became ninth player in program history to win Jackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year last season and was also named to All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team and All-Defensive Team. She earned MVC Scholar-Athlete Second Team honors and collected Patty Viverito MVC Tournament Most Outstanding Player award. The Waukee High School graduate was included as a finalist for Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year award. She led Drake and was atop or near the top of the league with 18.1 points, 6.9 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.4 steals per game and eclipsed 1,000 career points as a junior, currently sits at 1,333. Dinnebier ranks 10th all-time with .370 career three-point percentage and second all-time with .856 career free throw percentage, fourth all-time with 548 career assists, marking the seventh player in program history to dish out 500+ assists, and cracked top 10 on all-time steals list with 188.

Dinnebier is the only mid-major and Missouri Valley Conference representative included on the watch list.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa senior Jay Higgins has been named a 2024 Lombardi Award semifinalist, it was announced Thursday.

The award is presented to the college player who best embodies the values and spirit of legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi. These qualities are include character, discipline and excellence both on and off the football field.

Higgins is also a semifinalist for the Butkus Award and a quarterfinalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy. He was named a midseason All-American last month by the Associated Press, Sporting News, CBS and The Athletic.

Higgins is leading the Big Ten in tackles (sixth nationally), making 94 tackles (10.4 per game). He has led the team in tackles in all nine games, including a season-high 14 tackles against Ohio State, Washington and Michigan State. He also has three interceptions (18th nationally and tied for the most by a Power 4 linebacker) and forced two fumbles. Higgins, who has 311 career tackles in 54 games, has five double-digit tackle games this season and 16 in his career.

The Indianapolis native has 69 tackles in six Big Ten games, averaging 11.4 tackles per contest. Higgins is six tackles shy of reaching 100 for the season. The last Hawkeye to record back-to-back 100-tackle seasons was Jack Campbell in 2021 and 2022.

Finalists for the award will be announced in December.

Iowa (6-3, 4-2) returns to action Friday at UCLA (3-5, 2-4). Kickoff for that contest is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. (CT) in Pasadena, California. The game will be televised on FOX and broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network.

Jay Higgins | 2024 Honors
Dick Butkus Award Semifinalist
Lott IMPACT Trophy Quarterfinalist
AP, CBS Sports, Sporting News, The Athletic Midseason All-America
Chuck Bednarik Award midseason Watch List
Preseason National Defensive Player of the Year by Phil Steele
Preseason first-team Walter Camp All-American
Preseason first-team All-America by AP, ESPN, CBS Sports
Preseason first-team All-America by Phil Steele, Athlon Sports
Preseason first-team All-Big Ten by Phil Steele, Athlon Sports
Preseason Big Ten Honors List
Bronko Nagurski Trophy preseason Watch List
Lombardi Award midseason Watch List
Wuerffel Trophy preseason Watch List
Senior Bowl preseason Watch List

Ames, Iowa – After leading the Iowa State wrestling program to its first Big 12 Conference title since 2009 and its highest NCAA Championship placement since 2010, head coach Kevin Dresser has been rewarded with a four-year contract extension thru June 30, 2029, ISU Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard announced today.

“We are excited that Kevin has agreed to a contract extension through 2029,” Pollard said. “Kevin and his staff have done a tremendous job revitalizing our wrestling program and we look forward to continued success under their leadership. The success and excitement surrounding the program is exactly what we expected when we hired Kevin to lead our program. It is very important to Iowa State University and our athletics department that our wrestling program be successful. Kevin has more than delivered in helping us achieve that goal.  I could not be more pleased with the direction of our wrestling program.”

A two-time Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year (2019, ’24) and the 2019 National Wrestling Coaches Association Coach of the Year, Dresser begins his eighth season leading the Cyclone program on Nov. 8 when his sixth-ranked team takes on No. 20 Stanford in a 7 p.m. match at Hilton Coliseum. The eighth head coach in program history has reinvigorated the tradition-rich Cyclone program since returning to his native Iowa for the 2017-18 season. He owns a 241-79 (.753) record in 18 years as a head coach, including an 81-28 (.743) mark at Iowa State.

“On behalf of my staff and our team, I want to thank Jamie (Pollard) and everyone in this department for helping us get to this point,” Dresser said. “College athletics are becoming more challenging each year and this staff is committed to putting a great product on the mat every season. This will be a fun team to watch in 2024-25!  We look forward to the future in Ames with great anticipation and we look forward to the challenge of winning at the highest level.”

His efforts have seen Iowa State climb on the national stage, highlighted most recently by a 2024 Big 12 title and fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, ISU’s best since 2010. Dresser inherited a program that had scored just one point and finished tied for 57th at the 2017 NCAA Championships. Since then, Iowa State has finished T-45th, 16th, T-13th, 17^th, 11th and 4th at the national tournament and qualifying eight or more individuals to the NCAA Championships in six of seven years.

Iowa State had no conference champion in 2017 and failed to have a wrestler reach All-American status. Since then, Dresser’s program has produced 10 Big 12 Champions and 13 NCAA All-Americans. One of Dresser’s top priorities when arriving on campus in 2017 was bringing blue-chip recruit and Cyclone legacy David Carr to Ames. A catalyst in turning the program around, Carr won four individual Big 12 titles and a pair of NCAA titles in 2021 and 2024.

Fan support has been crucial to Dresser’s program revival and Cyclone fans are once again turning out in droves to watch wrestling in Hilton Coliseum. Iowa State averaged 6,690 fans per dual at home during the 2023-24 season, which ranked third nationally and was its highest average home attendance in the Big 12 era.

The 2023-24 season was ISU’s best under Dresser’s direction, as four Cyclones – Evan Frost (6^th, 133), Anthony Echemendia (5^th, 141), Casey Swiderski (7^th, 149) and David Carr (1^st, 165) – earned All-America honors. It marked ISU’s most All-Americans since 2009 and Iowa State’s 68.5 team points and fourth-place finish were both its best at nationals since 2010. Carr won his second NCAA title to become the 17th Cyclone to win multiple national titles and the first since 2010 (Jake Varner, 2009-10).

Dresser was named the 2024 Big 12 Coach of the Year as Iowa State won its first league title since 2009 aided by individual championship performances from Echemendia (141) and Yonger Bastida (285). The Cyclones put 152.5 points on the board at the Big 12 Championship, the fourth-most in a tournament in league history and the most-ever by an ISU team in the Big 12 era. The Cyclones finished with a 13-2 overall dual record, a 6-1 Big 12 record and an 8-2 mark against ranked foes, losing only to No. 4 Iowa and No. 5 Oklahoma State, teams they would go on to finish ahead of at the NCAA Championships.

There is a top five showdown in the Class A quarterfinals Friday night when top ranked AC/GC hosts number-five Tri-Center. AC/GC coach Cody Matthewson.

Matthewson says the keys will be protecting the ball on offense and limiting big plays.

Tri-Center coach Ryan Schroder says they need to find a way to slow down the AC/GC ground game.

After winning the school’s first ever playoff game two weeks ago Tri-Center bids for a first trip to the UNI-Dome.

The Iowa Hawkeyes take a 6-3 record on the road to UCLA Friday night. The Bruins are 3-5 against what Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says has been a difficult schedule.

UCLA is coming off back-to-back road wins at Rutgers and Nebraska.

It’s Iowa first trip to the Rose Bowl for a Big Ten game.

Ferentz says in his first season as head coach DeShaun Foster has UCLA on the right track.

Iowa defensive end Deonte Craig on playing in the Rose Bowl.

Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins on playing in the Rose Bowl.

Higgins says practice was condensed this week to get ready for a Friday game.

Iowa State sophomore linebacker Kooper Ebel (E-bull) says the 17th ranked Cyclones are not taking Kansas lightly as they get ready for Saturday’s game in Arrowhead Stadium. After starting the season nationally ranked the Jayhawks have struggled to a 2-6 record.

Ebel says practice this week has been spirited and all of their goals are still attainable.

Ebel is looking forward to playing in the home of the Kansas City Chiefs.