Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht took the opportunity in front of him and ran with it. Becht was the backup to Hunter Dekkers coming out of a 4-8 season but won the starting job after Dekkers was sidelined by a gambling investigation. He was named the Big 12 freshman of the year on offense and the Cyclones take a 7-5 record into Friday’s Liberty Bowl against Memphis.

Becht says he and the team have made great strides since coming out of the 4-8 season in 2022.

With Cartevious Norton and Eli Sanders in the transfer portal freshman Abu Sama rushed for 276 yards and three touchdowns in a win at Kansas State. He will get the bulk of the work against Memphis.

Beck says the running backs as a group are talented.

(Des Moines, Iowa) — RipRoar Events (Des Moines), in partnership with USA Triathlon (Colorado Springs) has announced the 2024 USA Triathlon Youth & Junior Nationals will be held July 12-14, 2024 in West Des Moines, Iowa. USA Triathlon Youth & Junior Nationals will take place within Raccoon River Park in West Des Moines, which has a rich triathlon history dating back to 2008 when the Hy-Vee Triathlon served as the final U.S. Olympic qualifying race for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Laura Jass, Director of Sports at Catch Des Moines, said “Greater Des Moines has a long history of hosting nationally recognized triathlons, and we are thrilled to add USA Triathlon’s Youth and Junior Nationals to the list for July of 2024. This event weekend will bring in 1,000 youth triathletes and their families to our community. We are excited to highlight Raccoon River Park in West Des Moines and build on the events that Flatland Youth Elite and Junior Draft Cup and RipRoar Youth Triathlon have held for years.”

The National Championships will unfold as a three day event, all held within Raccoon River Park. The racing will begin on Saturday morning as the annual Flatlands Cup will play host to the Draft Legal National Championship (ages 13-15, 16-19). While the Non-drafting National Championships (ages 6-18) as part of the annual RipRoar West Des Moines event on Sunday (7/14/24). Athletes of all abilities are welcomed to the non-drafting race, including first-time athletes as no previous qualification is required to race in any RipRoar triathlon.

The Youth and Junior National Championship event happens annually in mid to late summer. The event has previously been held in Milwaukee Wisconsin (’23) and West Chester, Ohio (’22). This is the first time the events history that is being staged in Iowa. Victoria Brumfield, USA Triathlon CEO, says “USA Triathlon is proud to partner with RipRoar to organize the 2024 USA Triathlon Youth & Junior Nationals. For years, RipRoar has organized fantastic youth triathlon events, providing a new generation of athletes the opportunity to challenge themselves and have fun competing in swim, bike and run. Each year, Youth & Junior Nationals showcases the most promising up-and-coming triathlon stars, while welcoming participants of all abilities. We look forward to partnering with RipRoar to provide a premier race experience as we celebrate the performances of these young athletes.”

Those interested in attending the event can find out more by visiting www.riproarevents.com.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA), Friday, released the first boys high school basketball rankings of the season. The rankings for all four classes will be determined throughout the 2023-24 regular season by official rankings committees, as announced last season.

Each classification features a top 10 consensus-built list as compiled by its assigned committee, which includes two former head coaches, one media member, and three IHSAA staff members.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will release rainbow trout in 10 locations across Iowa this winter in areas that would not support them during warmer months. Winter trout stockings are a great place to take kids to catch their first fish. A family-friendly event is paired with each stocking to help anglers have success and fun while 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.  They can buy a trout fee which will allow them to catch their own limit. Winter trout stocking events are dependent on favorable weather and safe ice conditions. Check the DNR Trout Fishing website at www.iowadnr.gov/trout for possible changes to the schedule.

2024 Winter Community Trout Stocking Schedule

Jan. 13, Bacon Creek Lake, Sioux City, at 1:30 p.m.

Jan. 13, Blue Pit, Mason City, at 11 a.m.

Jan. 19, Big Lake, Council Bluffs, at 3 p.m.

Jan. 19, Moorland Pond, Fort Dodge, at Noon

Jan. 27, Lake Petocka, Bondurant, at Noon

Feb. 3, Ada Hayden Heritage Park Lake, Ames, at Noon

Feb. 3, Triumph Park West and East, Waukee, at Noon

Feb. 10, Terra Lake, Johnston, at Noon

Feb. 10, Scharnberg Pond, Spencer, at Noon

Hawkeye Ten Conference:
St. Albert 59 Atlantic, 32
Denison-Schleswig 48 East Sac County, 41 (NC)
Creston 31 Odessa, 30 (NC)

Western Iowa Conference:
Treynor 45  AHSTW, 26
Logan-Magnolia 48 IKM/Manning, 22
Underwood 51 Missouri Valley, 33
Tri-Center 44 Riverside, 36

Rolling Valley Conference:
CAM 59 Exira/EHK, 53
Woodbine 67 West Harrison, 25
MVAOCOU 98 Ar-We-Va, 22 (NC)

Pride of Iowa:
Nodaway Valley 61 Kuemper, Catholic, 56 (NC)
Southeast Polk 78 Martensdale-St. Mary’s, 42 (NC)
Lamoni 51 East Union, 29

West Central Conference:
Des Moines-Christianv48 ACGC, 32 
Madrid 53 GMG, 36 (NC)
Panorama 80 Pleasantville, 29
West Central Valley at I-35

Hawkeye Ten Conference
Atlantic 66 Audubon, 60  (NC)

Western Iowa Conference:
Logan-Magnolia 55 IKM/Manning, 48
Underwood 69 Missouri Valley, 41
Treynor 71 AHSTW, 53
Riverside 60 Tri-Center 51

Rolling Valley Conference:
Woodbine 82 West Harrison, 43
Exira/EHK 80 CAM, 65
Ar-We-Va 61(NC) MVAOCOU, 44

Pride of Iowa
East Union 62 Lamoni, 42  (NC)

West Central Conference:
Madrid 79 West Fork, 59
ACGC 50 Des Moines-Christian, 49
West Central Valley at I-35

Raccoon River Conference:
ADM 69 Van Meter, 54  (NC)
Waverly-Shell Rock 66 North Polk, 55
Ballard 59 Excelsior Springs, 30 (NC)

The Atlantic Trojans have back-to-back wins for the first time this season as the Trojans escaped Audubon with a 66-60 victory at Audubon Thursday night. It was a slow start offensively for the Trojans as the Wheelers played a box and one defense on Trojan senior forward Colton Rasmussen. The Wheelers used this strategy two weeks ago as they held Grady Jeppensen to just five points in a Wheeler win. But Rasmussen did a great job early on forcing any bad shots and playing through the flow of the offense. Head Coach of the Trojans Dalton Franken said they expected the Wheelers to run that defense and told Colton Rasmussen to just stay patient and let your teams get you open.

That allowed Trojan big guys Brock Henderson and Gavin McLaren benefitted off the tight defense scoring at the rim early and often that saw the Trojans jump to a double figure lead.  Rasmussen would get scoring in the second quarter with 11 points pushing a Trojan lead to 19 at the halftime break. The third quarter saw much of the as the Trojans rode the offense of McLaren, Henderson, and Rasmussen to a 57-36 lead into the final eight minutes. Looking like a Trojan blowout win was possible the Wheelers turned it on in the final frame and gave Atlantic everything they could handle. The Wheelers went to a full court press that the Trojans struggled with. The Trojans would have five+ turnovers in the final minutes as they watched their 21-point lead evaporate all the way down to five with 2:30 left. Gavin McLaren got a huge basket to settle the nerves of the Trojans, but the Wheelers responded, and it was a five-point Trojan lead with under 30 seconds when Colton Rasmussen made the play of the night. The Trojans up 65-60 turned the basketball over and Audubon’s Aaron Olsen had a chance at a layup and potential and one opportunity, but Rasmussen beat him to the spot and took a huge charge that helped get the basketball back and secure a road victory heading into the Christmas break.

The Trojans have won back-to-back games for the first time under coach Dalton Franken. Coach Franken talks about how big it is going into the break on a high positive note.

The Trojans improve their record to 3-6 on the year and will be back in action in the new year on January 2d when they welcome in Glenwood for a 7:30 tipoff at Atlantic High School.

The fourth ranked Iowa Hawkeye women took command with a 19-3 third quarter run and beat Loyola of Chicago 98-69 in Iowa City. Caitlin Clark had a triple-double with 35 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists. The Hawkeyes played without starting guard Gabbie Marshall who was ill.

That’s Iowa coach Lisa Bluder. The 17 rebounds for Clark were a career high.

AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State men’s basketball team kept up with the Joneses Thursday night in Hilton Coliseum. Robert Jones and Curtis Jones combined for 33 points and 13-of-20 shooting from the field to aid the Cyclones (10-2, 0-0 Big 12) in an 80-48 victory over Eastern Illinois (6-7, 0-0 Ohio Valley).

The victory kept Iowa State unbeaten at home (8-0) and gave head coach T.J. Otzelberger win No. 150 in his career.

Curtis Jones drilled five 3-pointers and tallied 15 of his game-high 18 points in the first half, and Robert Jones added 16 points on a 7-of-9 effort from the field. He also had a team-high six boards. Tamin Lipsey posted 11 of his 16 points after intermission and Milan Momcilovic netted 16 points after being scoreless at the break.

Iowa State, which led by as many as 37 points late in the game, was 10-of-23 from 3-point range (43.5 pct.) and connected on 16-of-18 at the charity stripe (88.9 pct.).

How It Happened

Curtis Jones gave the Cyclones a spark from the bench in the early moments. He scored nine quick points behind a pair of 3-pointers to give the Cyclones an 18-9 lead. After increasing their lead to 26-12, the Cyclones went on a four-minute scoring drought to allow the Panthers trim the deficit to under double digits at 26-18 with under eight minutes remaining.

Curtis Jones made two more treys down the stretch to give the Cyclones a 39-26 advantage at the break. The Cyclones were 6-of-13 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes.

A Lipsey steal and nifty pass to Robert Jones for a bucket began second half scoring for the Cyclones. Robert Jones scored another basket on ISU’s next possession, as ISU soon forged ahead 48-30.

Lipsey and Momcilovic each scored seven points in the first nine minutes of the second period to increase the Cyclone lead to 58-34.

The lead grew to 33 points (76-43) after a Momcilovic trey with 3:15 remaining in the game.

Top Performer

Tamin Lipsey scored 16 points, but he made his mark in multiple areas in the victory. Lipsey added seven assists, six rebounds and notched four steals, his 10th-straight game with three or more thefts. Lipsey now has 116 steals in his young 45-game career, already ranking No. 18 in school history.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The Drake women’s basketball team (7-4) punctuated their non-conference schedule with a 108-60 blowout victory over North Dakota (3-8) on Thursday afternoon. The Bulldogs erupted for their first 100+ point performance since the 2021-22 season.

Courtney Becker and Taylor McAulay went back-to-back to start the contest with a three-pointer off the tip and a strip and score on the next trip down the floor. Anna Miller joined in with her first bucket with a shimmy down the lane before McAulay buried a three of her own.

McAulay continued her all-around start with a blocked shot on the perimeter, the second-straight for Drake, before Grace Berg canned the team’s third three-pointer in four attempts to force a North Dakota timeout. Drake led 13-2 at the first pause.

Suzie Glazer Burt Head Coach Allison Pohlman put on a press out of the timeout as a change of pace defensively. The Fighting Hawks probed their way to a couple scores despite the increased pressure, but the Bulldogs maintained their early advantage. Anna Brown chipped in with five-straight points for the Bulldogs as the clock ticked under the halfway point of the opening quarter.

Drake’s lead bloomed into double figures for the first time after a Katie Dinnebier three as the Bulldogs continued their red-hot start.

Anna Brown led the Bulldogs down the stretch of the first period, reaching 11 points as the first player in double figures. Drake led by eight after the first 10 minutes of play. Pohlman’s squad hit seven three-point baskets in the opening stanza, their most in a single period since making the same number vs. DePaul in the 2021 WNIT.

The second quarter started with a much slower pace as the initial sprint tapered off. North Dakota used the shift to briefly swing momentum back in its direction as the hosts chipped away at Drake’s lead.

The Bulldogs weathered their way through the lower-scoring second quarter and rebuilt their lead in the process. Drake took a 51-34 advantage into the half.

Kacie Borowicz provided the first points of the second half for North Dakota, but Anna Miller answered on the other end. The Bulldogs’ onslaught ensued as Drake exploded out to a 27-point lead to force a Fighting Hawk timeout. Ava Hawthorne pitched in with her first triple of the afternoon to extend Drake’s advantage to 30.

Dinnebier banked one in as time expired on the third quarter. The Dogs led by 33 with 10 minutes to play.

Hawthorne fed Brown in the fourth quarter to give Drake exactly 100 points, their first triple-digit performance since beating Illinois State 104-62 in Feb. 2022. The Dogs cruised from there, eventually emptying their bench and earning the 108-60 road win.

“We scored 31 points in the first quarter,” Pohlman said after the game. “But I also thought that North Dakota did they made their set of runs..but we didn’t falter at all. We constantly stayed within the gameplan, getting inside touches outside touches, utilizing our versatility. We shot the three extremely, extremely well, especially in that very first quarter…just watching people step up to that line, go ahead and let it fly… it just felt really, really good.”

Six Bulldogs scored in double figures led by Anna Miller’s 20. Katie Dinnebier and Anna Brown both added 16 while Grace Berg and Taylor McAulay posted 13. Courtney Becker rounded out the Bulldogs’ offensive leaders with 10 points.

Freshman Shannon Fornshell corralled a team-high nine rebounds while Miller, Dinnebier, and reserve guard Ava Hawthorne dished out five assists.

Brooklin Dailey came off the bench for her best showing to date with a career-high seven points and seven rebounds.

“[This win] really means a lot,” Brown said in the postgame show. “Especially coming off [our last game] and then also just going into this little break we have before conference. I think it just gives us a little mojo going into MVC play.”

The Bulldogs will tip off their 2023-24 Valley slate on Dec. 30 with a trip to Southern Illinois.