Iowa safety Kaevon Merriweather is opting out of the Music City Bowl but tight end Sam LaPorta says he is all in. The Hawkeyes play Kentucky in Nashville on New Year’s Eve.

LaPorta says they discussed the rising number of players opting out of bowl games at a team meeting before leaving for Nashville.

LaPorta had his knee scoped after tearing a meniscus in a win at Minnesota. He missed the season finale against Nebraska.

Senior corner Riley Moss says opting out was not an option for him.

Moss says after a loss to Nebraska the Hawkeyes are looking forward to the opportunity to end with a victory.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa hunters will get a second chance to bring home a deer with a new season. The D-N-R’s, Tyler Harms, says they’re calling it the excess tag January season. “That season will be implemented in counties that have unsold county antlerless licenses available on January 10th,” Harms says. He says the season will help them achieve the goal of the antlerless season. “Every county in the state has a county antlerless license quota, and it’s those licenses that that we allocate primarily for population management of deer in those counties,” he says. Harms says it can be a good extra chance for hunters to get a deer.

“I encourage hunters to take advantage of that opportunity if they were interested,” Harms says. “It is a limited method of take season — so only centerfire rifles, calibers to 223 to 500 are allowed for use during that season. So that is something to consider.” Harms says you can easily find out online where you can hunt. “We do have information on our website as well on as on the go outdoors Iowa app where hunters can monitor the remaining licenses available on January 10th. So, come that day, they should be able to go online and see which counties have licenses remaining and whether or not they want to try to obtain any of those licenses,” according to Harms.

The second regular shotgun deer season wrapped up on December 18th.

The Iowa Hawkeye women return to practice tonight. The Hawkeyes have three days to get ready for their Big Ten home opener against Purdue.

That’s Iowa coach Lisa Bluder who says it is the young players who need to adjust to returning from break.

Despite having a veteran team Bluder does not think the Hawkeyes have come close to their potential.

Drake senior Garrett Sturtz had no idea what to expect when he joined the Bulldog basketball team. The former Newton star was recruited as a walk on by former coach Niko Medved and stayed with his commitment after Darian DeVries was named the coach following the 2018 season.

Sturtz contributed right away. He played in 31 games as a freshman an averaged more than 18 minutes per game for a team that claimed a share of the Missouri Valley regular season title. DeVries says one of his top memories of that season was a late November game at Missouri-Kansas City.

Sturtz contributes in a number of areas but his biggest strength may be creating offense without the ball.

Sturtz says he wasn’t sure what to expect when workouts started the summer prior to his freshman season.

Sturtz found out right away there were ways to contribute without scoring.

Sturtz has been part of a run that has seen the Bulldogs average nearly 24 wins the last four seasons and win their first NCAA Tournament game in 50 years back in 2021.

The vote of the Iowa High School Athletic Association membership on the amendment to the Articles of Incorporation regarding classification in the sport of football closed Thursday, Dec. 22 at 3:00 p.m.  A recommendation from the IHSAA’s classification committee late last month would adopt a classification model similar to one currently used by the Minnesota State High School League – reducing 40 percent of a school’s free or reduced lunch count from their annual enrollment to determine their final classification number.

In order to pass, 50 percent of the total membership (365 schools) or 60 percent of those voting was required.

The results are as follows:

• Yes: 211 votes
  • 80% of those voting
  • 58% of membership
• No: 52 votes
  • 20% of those voting
  • 14% of membership

AHSTW senior Aidan Martin signed his letter of intent this week to continue his football and academic career at Morningside College in Sioux City.

Martin is coming off a senior season with the Vikes in which he tallied 114.5 tackles, 102 of those being marked as solo stops. He also notched 10 tackles for loss and recovered one fumble. His tackle number led the team, a season that ended in the quarterfinals for the Vikings with a mark of 10-1.

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Newton, Iowa — When it’s blisteringly cold in the Winter, race car fans try to hold warm, happy thoughts of fast engines and hot rubber on the pavement. That will certainly be the case in July, 2023, when the Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend returns to the Iowa Speedway. The event will take place from July 21-23, and features the only NTT IndyCar Series doubleheader weekend of the year at the “Fastest Short Track on the Planet.”

This year’s concert lineup showcases two pre-race performances from Carrie Underwood and Zac Brown Band, and two post-race performances from Kenny Chesney and Ed Sheeran.
Both pre-race concerts feature 60-minute performances, and post-race concerts include a 90-minute performance. Carrie Underwood and Kenny Chesney will perform Saturday, July 22.
Zac Brown Band and Ed Sheeran will perform Sunday, July 23.

Free Family Friday welcomes everyone free of charge July 21, where attendees can watch practice sessions ahead of the race weekend. Both single-day and two-day tickets include access to the weekend’s concerts, with single-day tickets starting at $100. You can find tickets, parking and more information at hyveeindycarweekend.com.

Joe Labas is ready for the challenge of the Music City Bowl. With Spencer Petras injured and Alex Padilla in the portal Labas goes from third string to the starting quarterback for the New Year’s Eve game against Kentucky.

Labas admits it was a bit of surprise when he found out he would be the starter.

Labas says Petras is helping him prepare for the game.

Iowa State football coach Matt Campbell believes changes on his coaching staff will help return the program to its winning ways. Campbell fired offensive coordinator Tom Manning and strength coach Dave Andrews after a 4-8 season, their worst since 2016.

Campbell says it is about finding ways to win the close games.

Despite the frustrating season Campbell believes things are in place to get better.

Campbell promoted Nate Scheelhaase to offensive coordinator.