Recruiting season comes an an end for college football with national signing day. The Iowa Hawkeyes signed a class of 22 players, including defensive lineman A.J. Epenesa and offensive lineman Tristan Wirfs. The Hawkeyes finished fast after having several key recruits decommit last fall. (Click on the left side of the audio bar to hear the comments)

Ferentz says the process has stayed pretty much the same even though interest is at an all-time high.

Ferentz says attrition is the biggest enemy of the program and they need to find players who are committed for the long haul.

Iowa State coach Matt Campbell signed a class of 26 players. One of the top prospects is wide receiver Josh Johnson from Little Rock, Arkansas.

Campbell says the class will boost the talent level as well as the culture of the program.

(Radio Iowa/Learfield Sports)

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Iowa landed one of the top recruits in school history on Wednesday in defensive lineman A.J. Epenesa. Epenesa, the rare five-star recruit to commit to Iowa, is a 6-foot-5, 270-pound defensive end from Edwardsville, Illinois. He is expected to make an immediate impact for the Hawkeyes. Epenesa was considered one of the top defensive players in America, and a standout performance at the U.S. Army All-American Game only heightened expectations.

Iowa was already loaded with defensive linemen. The Hawkeyes need receivers, and although they signed three on Wednesday none is expected to be ready to start by August.

Other things to know:

Top 25 Class: No.

Best in class: Epenesa. The son of former Hawkeye Eppy Epenesa, A.J. could have played anywhere in the country but chose to follow his father to Iowa City. Iowa has been known to get the best out of raw recruits, so it’ll interesting to see what Kirk Ferentz and his staff can do with a player with the potential to be a star as a freshman.

Best of the rest: Tristan Wirfs, OL, Mount Vernon, Iowa. At 6-foot-5 and 315 pounds, Wirfs could end up at either guard or tackle. Wirfs was also a state qualifier in wrestling and a state champion in the discus, traits that seem to make him a classic fit for a Ferentz-coached line.

Late addition: Nate Wieland, LB, Iowa City. Wieland was a star quarterback who’ll shift to linebacker. He wasn’t heavily recruited, but the Hawkeyes have been known to turn overlooked local kids into All-Big Ten types.

One that got away: WR Oliver Martin. A four-star recruit from Iowa City, Martin seemed like he might be destined for Iowa. But with offers from scores of big-time programs, Martin passed on the Hawkeyes – who currently don’t have a wide receivers coach – for Michigan.

How they’ll fit in: Epenesa and incumbent edge rushers Anthony Nelson and Matt Nelson could give Iowa a chance to be elite at rushing the passer in 2017, which will be crucial since the Hawkeyes will have a pair of new cornerbacks. The Hawkeyes will also have to hope at least one of their new wideouts can make an immediate impact.

Quad at Rock Port

Shenandoah 58 East Mills 12
Shenandoah 60 Southwest Iowa 24
Shenandoah 66 Rock Port 6
Southwest Iowa 42 East Mills 39
Rock Port 30 East Mills 24

Double Dual at Storm Lake

Storm Lake 73, Denison-Schleswig 6
Algona 78, Denison-Schleswig 12

Dual at Tri-Center

Logan-Magnolia 70, Tri-Center 12

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union released the postseason pairings for the two largest classes this week. All classes now have their pairings set.

Class 5A Regional Pairings

Class 4A Regional Pairings

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Jim Field.

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Northern Iowa bids for a sixth consecutive victory when the Panthers visit Missouri Valley leader, the Illinois State Redbirds, tonight (Wednesday night). Junior forward Klint Carlson led the Panthers with 17 points in Saturday”s win at Drake and says defense has been the key. UNI coach Ben Jacobson says it will take a big defensive effort against an Illinois State team that is 10-0 in the Valley. UNI is 5-5 in the Valley. Tip-off at Redbird Area in Normal, IL, is 8-p.m.

BOYS BASKETBALL
Atlantic 72, Harlan 49
A-H-S-T-W, Avoca 86, IKM-Manning 74
Audubon 70, Missouri Valley 57
Bedford 64, East Union, Afton 51
Boyer Valley, Dunlap 61, CAM, Anita 60
Carroll 81, ADM, Adel 78, OT
Denison-Schleswig 56, Sergeant Bluff-Luton 53
Earlham 62, AC/GC 25
East Mills 64, Essex 45
Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton 94, West Harrison, Mondamin 53
Fremont Mills, Tabor 77, Heartland Christian 54
Glenwood 68, Creston 46
Mormon Trail, Garden Grove 83, Orient-Macksburg 47
Mount Ayr 54, Nodaway Valley 53
Omaha Skutt Catholic, Neb. 54, Bishop Heelan Catholic, Sioux City 52
Paton-Churdan 65, Coon Rapids-Bayard 58
Perry 82, Winterset 54
Shenandoah 47, Red Oak 41
Sioux City, East 61, Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln 51
St. Albert, Council Bluffs 53, Council Bluffs, Thomas Jefferson 28
Stanton 66, Sidney 53
Tri-Center, Neola 68, Griswold 19
Underwood 75, Riverside, Oakland 42

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Harlan 64, Atlantic 58
AC/GC 39, Earlham 35
Audubon 49, Missouri Valley 34
Boyer Valley, Dunlap 69, CAM, Anita 60, 2OT
Coon Rapids-Bayard 49, Paton-Churdan 27
Council Bluffs, Thomas Jefferson 52, St. Albert, Council Bluffs 50, OT
Creston 47, Glenwood 41
Denison-Schleswig 60, Sergeant Bluff-Luton 46
East Union, Afton 60, Bedford 49
Essex 48, East Mills 38
Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton 68, West Harrison, Mondamin 21
IKM-Manning 65, A-H-S-T-W, Avoca 55
Mormon Trail, Garden Grove 58, Orient-Macksburg 17
Nodaway Valley 42, Mount Ayr 26
Panorama, Panora 53, Woodward-Granger 41
Perry 62, Winterset 52
Sidney 54, Stanton 40
Sioux City, East 57, Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln 49
Treynor 68, Logan-Magnolia 55
Tri-Center, Neola 49, Griswold 44, OT
Underwood 68, Riverside, Oakland 24

NEW YORK (AP) — A statement on a Twitter account attributed to a former Cardinals scouting executive convicted of hacking into the Astros’ computer system said Houston had earlier “unauthorized access” into the St. Louis computer system.

Christopher Correa, the Cardinals former director of baseball development, is serving a 46-month prison sentence after pleading guilty last year to five counts of unauthorized access of a protected computer. He was banned from baseball for life on Monday by Commissioner Rob Manfred, who ordered St. Louis to give Houston $2 million and its top two picks in this year’s amateur draft.

Federal prosecutors said Correa had access to the Astros’ system from January 2012 until June 2014 and entered the team’s Ground Control database of confidential scouting reports, statistics and contract information 48 times. The statement making the new allegations was released Tuesday on a Twitter account attributed to Correa.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) — Jordan Bohannon scored 17 points and Iowa took command early and posted its first road win of the season with an 83-63 victory over Rutgers on Tuesday night. The win was the second straight for the Hawkeyes (13-10, 5-5 Big Ten) with conference-leading scorer Peter Jok sidelined with a back injury.

This one was a laugher for Iowa, which had lost its first five games away from Carver-Hawkeye Arena. It opened a double-digit lead in the opening five minutes and never looked back, leading by as many as 28 points.

Cordell Pemsl added 15 points for the Hawkeyes, who shot 50 percent from the field and a season-high 61 percent from 3-point range (11 of 18). Bohannon hit five of his seven long-range attempts.

Deshawn Freeman scored 17 points and Mike Williams added 16 for Rutgers (12-11, 1-9), which has lost three in a row and 10 of 11. Corey Sanders was limited to eight points.