Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Jordan Nixon banked in a short jump shot at the buzzer in overtime, giving her a career-high 35 points and lifting Texas A&M to an 84-82 victory over Iowa State in the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament. Nixon scored seven of A&M’s nine points in OT, pushing the Aggies into the Sweet 16 for the third straight time. She also led the rally in the fourth quarter, scoring the last four points of regulation.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Missouri State is going to its second Sweet 16 in a row in the women’s NCAA Tournament. Elle Ruffridge had 20 points with five 3-pointers and Jasmine Franklin had a double-double as the Lady Bears knocked off Wright State 64-39 in a matchup of mid-major teams. The Lady Bears now advance to play Stanford, the No. 1 overall seed in this NCAA Tournament. That is the same matchup as in the Sweet 16 two years ago. Angel Baker and Shamarre Hale each had 10 points for the 13th-seeded Raiders.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The Big Ten Conference is having a major impact at the women’s NCAA Tournament with four teams in the Sweet 16. Indiana, Iowa, Maryland and Michigan have all advanced after the league only had four qualifiers total reach the round of the 16 in the previous four tournaments. Iowa’s next game is against top seed UConn, which got a boost when coach Geno Auriemma returned to the team after quarantining from a positive COVID-19 test. Auriemma missed his team’s first two games, but was greeted with cheers and hugs from his players.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — There aren’t two bigger stars in the women’s NCAA Tournament this year than Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark. It’s almost as if the freshmen are playing a personal game of horse on the national stage. After one delivers a highlight-filled performance, the other delivers a top-this moment. In one of the most anticipated matchups, they’ll meet for the first time in their college careers in the Sweet 16 on Saturday with Bueckers leading UConn against Clark and her Iowa teammates. ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo says the game will be entertaining for all basketball fans and that “we need Iowa and UConn to play each other the next three years!”

UNDATED (AP) — Kansas State and athletic director Gene Taylor have agreed to a contract extension. It includes a significant jump in base salary to $925,000 per year through June 2027. The 63-year-old Taylor was nearing the end of a five-year deal he signed in 2017. That contract paid him $450,000 the first year with $50,000 increases each of the next four. He had agreed to a 13% paycut last year to help with budget problems caused by the pandemic.

The Atlantic School District’s Board of Education, Wednesday evening, unanimously approved Joe Brummer as Head Varsity Football Coach. Brummer succeeds Mike McDermott, who announced his resignation in January. Superintendent Steve Barber asked the Board to approve Brummer, based on the recommendations of Activities Director Andy Mitchell.

Joseph Brummer

Barber said they received 17 applications for the position, after Mitchell sent out advertisements highlighting the District’s new Athletic facilities and important demographics for applicants to consider. Barber said “Mr. Mitchell outlined the parameters, expectations and characteristics he was looking for in the next head football coach. He involved three different groups in the interview process.” Joe Brummer, Barber said,  “Rose above everybody else in that interview process.”

Brummer teaches 8th Grade Science for the Atlantic School District. He’s a graduate of the Harlan Community School District and Morningside College. Brummer was an assistant coach under McDermott.

Other contracts approved Wednesday evening included Tori Dolch as 4th Grade Teacher, replacing Mrs. Janet Hascall. The school board accepted the resignations of Ethan Pruisman, High School Vocal Music Teacher, and Heather Lundquist, Middle School Literacy Teacher & TLC Facilitator.

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State head men’s basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger has announced the signing of Washington State transfer Aljaž Kunc (Ollie-ahj Coon-ce), a 6-8 forward from Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Kunc, who goes by Jaz, is the first to sign under Otzelberger, who was named head coach last Thursday. He is a graduate transfer and will have two years to play.

“Jaz is a skilled frontline player, who has proven at the Power-5 level to have the ability to knock down threes and stretch opposing defenses,” Otzelberger said. “Defensively, he competes and has a high activity level and is able to rebound outside his area.”

Kunc battled an ankle injury most of last season and averaged 6.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in 23 games.

Once healthy, Kunc saw his minutes increase to 30 per game and averaged 8.9 points and 7.4 rebounds, reaching double figures in five of the season’s final eight contests.

Kunc scored 15 points in the regular-season finale at Arizona State and had a career-high 14 boards in a win at Arizona late in the season.

He is a career 79.5 percent free-throw shooter after hitting 87.2 percent of his shots at the charity stripe in 2020-21.

Kunc graduated from Elevation Preparatory Academy in Sarasota, Florida in 2018 after coming to the United States from Slovenia to complete his final year of high school. He has international experience playing with Slovenia in the 2016 FIBA U18 European Championships.

The Iowa High School Athletic Association announced their postseason golf assignments on Wednesday. Sectional Tournaments will take place on Friday, May 14th with most District Tournaments slated for Friday, May 21st.

Check out the assignments at the links below.

Class 1A

Class 2A

Class 3A

KANSAS CITY, MO. (March 24, 2021) – The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced today that Trevor Hudgins of Northwest Missouri State University has been selected as the 2021 NABC Division II Player of the Year powered by ShotTracker. He was also named the 2021 Division II Conference Commissioners Association Men’s Basketball Ron Lenz National Player of the Year.

Hudgins is leading the Bearcats into the NCAA Division II Elite Eight championship in Evansville, Ind., with a 25-2 won-lost record.  The six-foot, 180-pound junior guard from Manhattan, Kan., has started every game in three seasons at Northwest Missouri State, which has a 94-3 won-lost record since Hudgins arrived. He earned MIAA Player of the Year honors for the second straight season, averaging 20.1 ppg, with 127 assists and 36 steals while hitting on 54.5% of his field goal attempts, 52.5% of his three-point attempts and 89% of his free throws.

Hudgins (Manhattan, Kansas) is the second Bearcat to capture the NABC NCAA Division II Player of the Year Award. Justin Pitts won the award in the 2017 season, which saw the Bearcats capture the program’s first national championship.

Hudgins stands atop the D2CCA Men’s Basketball All-America Teams that were voted on by the NCAA Division II members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Hudgins is joined on the first team by two other repeat first-team honorees in Daemen senior center Andrew Sischo and West Texas A&M junior guard Qua Grant. Hudgins’ teammate and senior forward Ryan Hawkins also garnered first-team accolades as did Northern State junior forward Parker Fox.

Hawkins, a two-time MIAA first-team All-League selection, is averaging 22.0 points and 8.5 rebounds while Fox, the NSIC North Division Player of the Year, produced nearly a “double-double” with 22.3 points and 9.9 rebounds per game for the Wolves (19-2).

The No. 2-seeded Bearcats (25-2 overall) will match up with the No. 7 seeded West Liberty University Hilltoppers (18-4 overall) in the Elite Eight tonight at 6 p.m. in Evansville, Indiana.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa redshirt junior Trenton Wallace has been named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week, it was announced Wednesday by the league office.  It is the first honor of Wallace’s career.

The Rock Island, Illinois, native earned the distinction after pitching seven shutout innings, scattering two hits and fanning eight in a 3-0 victory over Nebraska on March 19 in Iowa City.  It was the second straight combined shutout for Wallace in wins over Ohio State and Nebraska.

Over his last two starts, Wallace has allowed four hits over 13 shutout innings.  He has 18 strikeouts to five walks over the span.  On the year, Wallace is 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA with 26 strikeouts over 18 innings.

Wallace is leading the Big Ten in ERA (1.00), fewest runs (2) and earned runs (2) allowed, second in batting average against (.119), tied for second in fewest hits allowed (7) and is third in wins (2) and strikeouts (26).

The southpaw is Iowa’s first Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honoree since Grant Judkins on Feb. 24, 2020.

Iowa (4-7) returns to action Friday, facing Ohio State at 4 p.m. (CT) in Columbus, Ohio.  The Hawkeyes will play two games against the Buckeyes and two against Maryland at Bill Davis Stadium from Friday through Sunday. We’ll have that Friday game on KJAN with pregame at 3:30 p.m.

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State had five student-athletes earned Academic All-Big 12 First-Team honors as announced by the conference today.

First-team members consist of those who have maintained a 3.20 or better GPA.

The Cyclones recognized included: Rasir Bolton (Hospitality Management), Nate Jenkins (Marketing), Nate Schuster (Finance), Eric Steyer (Statistics) and Solomon Young (Hospitality Management).

Iowa State tied for the second-most first-team representatives in the league.

To qualify, student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher either cumulative or the two previous semesters and must have participated in 20 percent of their team’s scheduled contests. Freshmen and transfers are not eligible in their first year of academic residence. Senior student-athletes who have participated for a minimum of two years and meet all the criteria except percent of participation are also eligible.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa NCAA champion Spencer Lee has been named one of six finalists for the 2021 WIN Magazine/Culture House Dan Hodge Trophy. The award is presented annually to the nation’s most dominant college wrestler.

Lee won the 125-pound NCAA Championship on March 20. He outscored his five opponents at the national tournament, 59-8, capturing his third career NCAA title and leading Iowa to the team title for the first time since 2010.

Lee was 12-0 in 2021, scoring bonus points in 11 matches and recording five first-period falls. He outscored his 12 opponents 141-15.  Not one of Lee’s first eight matches this season went the seven-minute distance. He pinned five opponents and recorded three technical falls, including a 21-3 win by technical superiority in the finals of the Big Ten Championships. He did not allow a point in the NCAA finals, winning 7-0, the largest margin of victory of any of the 10 NCAA finals matches.

He finished the season riding a 35-match winning streak, outscoring his opponents 432-42 during the stretch.

The winner of the Hodge Trophy is determined by the Hodge Trophy Voting Committee, made up of past Hodge winners, a retired college coach from each region, and national media members. A fan vote winner receives five additional first-place votes. Primary criteria for the award are a wrestler’s record, number of pins, dominance and quality of competition. Past credentials, sportsmanship/citizenship and heart are used as secondary criteria in years where two finalists’ stats are nearly equal.

Fans can vote at win-magazine.com or hawkeyesports.com/spencerlee. The winner will be announced Monday, March 29 at 12 p.m.

Lee won the Hodge Trophy in 2020, earning 51 of a possible 56 first-place votes. He dominated the 125-pound weight class in 2020, and continues to dominate it now. He was 18-0 in 2020, outscoring his opponents 234-18. He scored bonus points in 17 of 18 wins last year, recording four first-period falls and nine technical falls.

Lee is one of three Hawkeyes to win the award since its inception in 1995. Mark Ironside was honored in 1998 and Brent Metcalf earned the award in 2008.

It may not feel like boating season yet, but the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), along with boating safety advocates nationwide, are urging boaters to KeepYourEdge by enrolling in a boating education course this spring. “Education is the key to having a safe and enjoyable day on the water, and spring is the perfect time to take a course before the summer boating season begins,” said Susan Stocker, boating law administrator and education coordinator for the Iowa DNR.   Traditional and online courses are available. Courses are made to fit every schedule and lifestyle. The Iowa DNR has boater education information online at https://www.iowadnr.gov/things-to-do/boating/boater-education.

“A boating safety course provides critical boating knowledge and better prepares you for the risks you may face while boating,” Stocker said.

Benefits to taking a boater education course:

• Boost your confidence and Keep Your Edge by brushing up on essential boating skills.
• Even if you have already taken a course or are an experienced boater Keep Your Edge by taking a new course to sharpen your skills.
• A boating safety course can save boaters money. Many boat insurance providers offer discounts to people who have successfully completed a boating safety course.

Iowa boating statistics

• In 2018, there were 32 reported boating incidents on Iowa waters: 17 of those were personal injury; seven involved property damage and eight resulted in fatalities. Of the eight fatalities, three involved alcohol as a contributing factor
• In 2019, there were 22 reported boating incidents on Iowa waters: 14 of those were personal injury; six involved property damage and six resulted in fatalities. Of the six fatalities, two involved alcohol as a contributing factor
• In 2020, there were 39 reported boating incidents on Iowa waters: 16 of those were personal injury; 17 involved property damage, and nine resulted in fatalities. Of the nine fatalities, six involved alcohol as a contributing factor.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) says crews released between 1,000 to 2,000 rainbow trout at four community trout ponds as part of its cool weather trout program that brings trout to areas that cannot support them during the summer. The following locations are ready for anglers to catch trout:  Banner Lake South (Indianola), Big Lake (Council Bluffs), Moorland Pond (Fort Dodge) and Terra Lake (Johnston). All spring community trout stockings will be unannounced this year and family fishing events will not be held to help reduce the crowd size at stocking locations and minimize the spread of COVID-19.

Check the DNR website at www.iowadnr.gov/trout and watch for future press releases to find out when the remaining community trout locations have been stocked. The spring community trout stockings are a great place to take kids to catch their first fish. A small hook with a nightcrawler or corn under a small bobber or small simple spinners such as a panther martin or mepps is all you need to get in on the fun. Bringing trout to cities and towns offers a “close to home” option for Iowans who might not travel to the coldwater streams in northeast Iowa to discover trout fishing.

The popular program is supported by the sales of the trout fee. Anglers need a valid fishing license and pay the trout fee to fish for or possess trout. The daily limit is five trout per licensed angler with a possession limit of 10. Children age 15 or younger can fish for trout with a properly licensed adult, but they must limit their catch to one daily limit. The child can purchase a trout fee which will allow them to catch their own limit.

Find more information about trout fishing in Iowa on the DNR trout fishing webpage.