ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Iowa Hawkeyes have clinched a berth into the 2023 Big Ten Football Championship Game presented by Discover and will take on the East Division champion.

Iowa defeated Illinois, 15-13, on Saturday to improve to 9-2 overall and 6-2 in conference play. The Hawkeyes’ victory gave them the outright West Division title and a spot in the Big Ten Football Championship Game for the third time in program history.

The Hawkeyes last claimed a division title in 2021 when they finished the regular season with a 7-2 record in Big Ten play and went on to play Michigan in the Big Ten Football Championship Game.

The 2023 Big Ten Football Championship Game presented by Discover will be played at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 2, at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium. The contest will be televised nationally on FOX, with Compass Media Networks providing national radio coverage. The winner will earn the Amos Alonzo Stagg Championship Trophy and a chance to play in one of the six bowls that comprise the College Football Playoff.

General public tickets for the 2023 Big Ten Football Championship Game have been sold out. Those interested in purchasing a suite should contact Indiana Sports Corp by clicking here.

Fans looking to elevate their experience with VIP Ticket Packages or Pregame Tailgate Packages should contact RevelXP by clicking here.Tickets are also available through TicketSmarter, the Official Resale Marketplace of the Big Ten Conference.

Every Big Ten Football Championship Game ticket will allow complimentary admission to the Big Ten Fan Fest presented by Dr Pepper, to be held at the Indiana Convention Center on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 1-2.

For more information on the Big Ten Football Championship Game, visit bigten.org/FCG.

MARSHALL, Mo. – The University of Iowa women’s wrestling team won six titles on Saturday at the Missouri Valley Open. The Hawkeyes led the way with 41 technical falls in the open and recorded 16 pins and finished with a 84-23 record.

Iowa was represented in nine of 11 weight class finals. The 101 bout was Iowa versus Iowa with Sterling Dias taking first place over Emilie Gonzalez via decision, 6-6. Brianna Gonzalez topped two ranked opponents on the day to claim the 116 title. Felicity Taylor won via decision twice (8-4, 8-0) to capture first place at 123. Esther Han (136) had a tech. fall in the semifinal and finished her day with a hard-fought pin on her way to first place. Reese Larramendy (143) went 2-0 on the day after a tech. fall in the semis and won via decision, 5-1, in the finals. Samantha Calkins finished the day for the Hawkeyes by capturing the 235 title by decision, 5-2.

Complete results from the Missouri Valley Open are available at Trackwrestling.com.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH CLARISSA CHUN 

“We came here to get better, and I believe that no matter the outcome, each individual did just that. I loved seeing everyone be there and support their teammates the entire weekend. We represented our program well and I am excited to continue through this season together.”

UP NEXT 

The next Hawkeye to see action will be Marlynee Deede who is competing in the NWCA All-Star Classic in University Park, Penn. on Tuesday November 21 at 6 p.m. CT. The event will be streamed on FloWrestling (subscription required).

IOWA CITY, Iowa (via Hawkeye Sports.com) – The University of Iowa football team clinched the Big Ten West Division Championship defeating Illinois, 15-13, Saturday night on Duke Slater Field at Kinnick Stadium. Deacon Hill was 19-for-29 on passing attempts for 167 yards and a touchdown. Leshon Williams led the team with 54 yards rushing on 16 attempts and Kaleb Johnson had 53 yards on 10 attempts and a touchdown.

Kaleb Brown led the Hawkeyes with 71 yards on seven receptions. Addison Ostrenga had a touchdown reception. Defensively, Jay Higgins led the way with 12 tackles (six solo), Nick Jackson had eight tackles (three solo) and Jermari Harris had eight solo tackles. Joe Evans had a sack in the end-zone for the third Iowa safety of the season.

Iowa out-gained Illinois 281-280 yards and had 114 yards on the ground to Illinois’ 65. The Hawkeyes close out the regular season on Black Friday (Nov. 24th), traveling to Lincoln for a Heroes Game match-up against Nebraska. Game time is 11:09 a.m. (CT) and the game will be televised on CBS.

AMES, Iowa (Via Cyclones.com) – Iowa State challenged seventh-ranked Texas throughout the game before the Longhorns pulled out a 26-16 victory in the Cyclones’ home finale at MidAmerican Field at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday night. The Senior Night loss dropped Iowa State (6-5, 5-3 Big 12) two games behind the Big 12-leading Longhorns with one to play. Texas (10-1, 7-1) secured no worse than a tie for the regular-season championship with the victory, just its second over the Cyclones in their last five meetings.

ISU’s Rocco Becht passed for 323 yards and two touchdowns to break two of Brock Purdy’s freshman school records, raising his season totals to 2,444 yards and 17 touchdowns. Purdy, now the starter for the San Francisco 49ers, threw for 2,250 yards and 16 TDs in 2018. Becht was sharp 24-of-32 with one interception. It just wasn’t enough to offset the Longhorns’ Quinn Ewers and CJ Baxter. Ewers passed for 281 yards and two touchdowns, while Baxter carried 20 times for 117 yards and helped Texas run out the clock over the final 3:20.

The Cyclones did sack Ewers four times, all in the first half. Joey Petersen had two of those sacks. Both offenses perked up in the second half after the opening half ended with Texas leading 6-3, a score that should have been no surprise given the team teams came in ranked 1-2 in the league in total defense.

Ewers found Jordan Whittington behind the defense for a 23-yard touchdown that stretched the Texas lead to 13-3. ISU came right back with a seven-play, 83-yard drive capped when Brecht rolled to his right, then threw back across the field to Eli Sanders for a 14-yard touchdown. Texas blocked the extra point kick and Austin Jordan ran it back the other way for 2 points, giving the Longhorns a 15-9 lead.

Terrin Thompson’s diving interception off Becht set up Ewers’ 31-yard touchdown pass to Gunnar Helm, but the Cyclones struck back quickly when Becht connected with Easton Dean, who was wide open in the middle of the field and took it to the end zone for a 66-yard touchdown, matching Becht’s longest scoring pass of the season. That cut the lead to 23-16 and kept the Cyclones within striking distance. But Auburn kicked his third field goal of the night, a 42-yarder, to make it a 10-point game and then Texas finished it off after forcing an ISU punt.

A sellout crowd of 61,500 – the third full house of the year – saw 14 seniors honored before the game and then watched the Cyclones get on the board first when Chase Contreraz kicked a 45-yard field goal with 3:27 left in the first quarter. Texas answered early in the second quarter when Auburn connected from 39 yards. That came after a Ewers touchdown pass was nullified by a holding call.

The Cyclones thwarted a long Texas drive when Jeremiah Cooper jarred the ball from Xavier Worthy and Will McLaughlin recovered at the ISU 9.  Iowa State punted it back to the Longhorns and Worthy returned it 85 yards for a touchdown, only to have it called back for a block in the back. The Longhorns recovered quickly and put Auburn in position to kick a 50-yard field goal as time expired in the half for the 6-3 lead. Jayden Higgins had a big night catching the ball for Iowa State, finishing with seven receptions in seven targets for 104 yards. Jaylin Noel caught five balls for 45 yards.

Iowa State concludes the regular season at Kansas State next Saturday (Nov. 25th). The kickoff time has yet to be announced.

MARSHALL, M.O. – The first-ranked University of Iowa women’s wrestling team finish strong in day one of the Missouri Valley Open, sending 11 to the semifinals and seven still alive in the wrestle backs, in the Burns Athletic Complex.

At 101 pounds, fifth-ranked Sterling Dias and second-ranked Emilie Gonzalez go undefeated on the day, winning every match via fall or technical fall. Dias started off in round one with a pin against Oklahoma City’s Sofia Abramson in just 1:50. Dias notched a 11-0 tech. fall in round two, then secured her spot in the semifinals with another win over Abbeygael Cabaug of Vanguard, via pin in 1:09. Gonzalez earned two 10-0 tech. falls on the day, leading her to her quarterfinals match where she secured her last tech. fall over Midland’s Esther Walker, 10-0.

Second-ranked Ava Bayless made quick work at 109, outscoring her opponents 32-0. Bayless opened the day with a 10-0 tech. fall over Samantha Yap of Sacred Heart. She then moved into the quarterfinals with another 10-0 tech. fall, defeating Iowa Lakes CC Kylie Hessenius. Bayless advanced to the semifinals, defeating Jasmine Howard of Texas Wesleyan, via 12-2 TF.

At 116, fourth-ranked Brianna Gonzalez opened with a tech. fall over Campbellsville’s Icart Galumette, 12-2. Moving to round three, Gonzalez notched a 4:37 pin downing Camille Fournier of Texas Wesleyan. In the quarterfinals, Gonzalez fought to take her spot in the semifinals, defeating Baker’s Katherine Heath via decision, 6-0.

The Hawkeyes had a strong showing at 123, sending one of three to the semifinals. Ava Rose started strong with a 12-1 tech. fall downing Kaitlin Castro of Cumberlands, but fell in the second round to Simon Fraser’s Victoria Seal via 10-0 tech. fall. Rose continued to fight in the wrestle backs notching two tech. falls, but fell short in round four of consolations, ending her tournament run. Bella Ngo fought through to the third round of competition before falling to the backside, where she faced Caxton Smyth of Central Christian and came out on top via 10-0 tech. fall, helping her to stay alive in the consolation rounds.

Second-ranked Felicity Taylor secured her semifinals position, starting her tournament run with a win via an 8-2 decision over Grand View’s Catharine Campbell. Taylor continued into round three securing a victory over Jayden Bazemore of Gannon, via tech. fall, 10-0. In the quarterfinals, Taylor fought through the match to come out on top against Ella Jauregui with a decision, 3-0, to send her forward to the semifinals.

The Hawkeyes also had a strong showing at 130, with four Hawkeyes to start and two now heading to a third-place finish. Cali Leng and ninth-ranked Emily Frost both fought through the consolation rounds, but fell short ending their tournament run. Leng went 0-2 on the day, while Emily Frost secured two victories before falling to Skye Realin of Central Methodist via 16-4 tech. fall and teammate Lilly Luft via a 9-1 decision. Lilly Luft and Alex Baudhuin both secured a  win before dropping to the backside, where they went 3-0 moving to round four of consolations.

At 136, Anakya Besco, Esther Han, and Sierra Brown Ton had a strong showing for the Hawkeyes. Both Besco and Brown Ton earned two wins before falling on the backside, ending their tournament run. Han went undefeated in her first showing this year, topping every opponent via pin. Han started in round one downing Camryn Brown of Gannon, via fall in 1:58. In round two, Han continued with another pin in 4:27 over McKendree’s Estella Gutches. Han advanced to the quarterfinals defeating Gabriella Perez of Campbellsville, with a 2:23 pin. To end the day, Han notched her last pin in 1:31 over Texas Wesleyan’s Mattison Parker.

First-ranked Reese Larramendy and second-ranked Ella Schmit both advanced to the semifinals at 143 going 4-0 on the day. Larramendy’s deciding match was a hard-fought win, via a 9-2 decision over Bella Amaro of Southern Oregon. Schmit’s victory in round three over ninth-ranked Sacred Heart’s Khadijah Sanusi sent her to the quarterfinals, where she defeated Serenity De La Garza of Missouri Valley College with an 11-0 tech. fall.

At 170, first-ranked Kylie Welker and seventh-ranked Haley Ward went undefeated as well, both going 3-0. Ward downed two ranked opponents, starting in round three with a pin downing fourth-ranked Cara Broadus of Sacred Heart. In the quarterfinals, Ward defeated Sacred Heart’s second-ranked Love Daley via 10-0 tech. fall. Welker finished every match with a 10-0 tech. fall, outscoring her opponents 30-0.

Fifth-ranked Alivia White went 3-0 as well at 191, opening in round two downing Lexiana Garcia of Campbellsville with a 10-0 tech. fall. After an injury default in round three, White went into the quarterfinals, finishing the match quick with a fall in 1:33 over Baker’s Elisa Robinson.

Sam Calkins outscored her opponents 18-0 at 235, starting off round one with a victory via 8-0 decision over Melissa De La Torre of Morningside. Calkins finished the day notching a 10-0 tech. fall in the quarterfinals over Baker’s Madi Hargett.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH CLARISSA CHUN

“We came here to get our hands on anyone and everyone across the country, and the Missouri Valley Open always has great competition. We’ve got almost 500 student athletes competing from over 45 schools, so you just never know what you’re going to get. 10 out of 12 weight classes getting to the semifinals is awesome, and really we are here to learn and grow, get competition in to see where we’re at in the beginning of the season, and to see the areas we need to work on.”

UP NEXT 

The Hawkeyes will continue the competition tomorrow morning, starting at 9 a.m.