The Atlantic Trojans tennis program is looking driven for their upcoming season with 55 active participants on this year’s roster and a host of underclassmen. Atlantic is led by seasoned Head Coach Mike McDermott who noted the unique atmosphere that a swarm of younger tennis players bring.

This year’s freshman core adds a positive level of competitiveness that Coach McDermott has seen sharpen each other.

With an influx of younger players, Coach McDermott has been looking towards his seniors for leadership and has noticed them stepping up.

The focus for Atlantic Trojan tennis now is solidifying the top six and getting better each and every day.

On the topic of expectations, Coach McDermott sees and expects his program to be competitive throughout the year.

The Atlantic Girl’s tennis team will face Kuemper Catholic at the Atlantic High School Tennis courts on April 1st. The Atlantic Boys’ team competes with Kuemper Catholic at Graham Park also on April 1st.

STANFORD, California – Iowa State (21-11, 12-6 Big 12) continues to dance, downing Maryland (19-14, 9-9 Big Ten) in dramatic fashion, rallying back after being down by 20 to cement the seven-point victory of 93-86 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. It is the second-largest comeback in NCAA Women’s Championship history. Audi Crooks put up an all-time performance as she broke five Iowa State records on the night with 40 points at 90 percent.

The comeback stands one point behind the largest, where Texas A&M defeated Penn in 2017 in the first round. Iowa State fell behind by as much as 20 in the second quarter on account of Maryland shooting at 60 percent from the field including at 9-of-13 from deep, but Iowa State came alive in the second half outscoring Maryland 57-34. Crooks shot perfectly in the final two quarters with 10 shots, totaling 22 second-half points. Her final line stood at 40 points (18-of-20 shooting), 12 rebounds and two blocks.

Crooks downed the NCAA Championships single-game ISU point record (40), field goals made (18), field goal percentage (.900) along with the freshman single-game all-time record. Crooks also took down the freshman free throw record of 106 set by Jayme Olson in the 1994-95 season, now making the record 110. Crooks point total is the fourth-highest single-game total of any game in program history, just the fourth 40-point game for a Cyclone.

The freshman is the second player in women’s or men’s NCAA Championships history to score 40-plus points with at least 90 percent shooting, joining the company of Bill Walton who achieved the feat in the 1973 title game for UCLA. Crooks’ 40 points is the most by any player in her first career NCAA Tournament game dating back to 2000. The next most over that span is 39 by Elena Delle Donne on March 18, 2012. It is also the most by any freshman in any NCAA Tournament game since 2000.

The 40 points ties the Big 12 NCAA Championships record, matching Brittney Griner’s total set in the 2011 Regional Semifinal.

Emily Ryan totaled 18 points with 15 in the second half, also notching a double-double with 14 assists. It is her sixth double-figure assists game and second with 14 this season. Kelsey Joens (12) and Hannah Belanger (10) totaled four Cyclones with 10-plus points.

Up Next

The Cyclones move on to the second round of the NCAA Championship and will face the winner of the Stanford vs. Norfolk State game on Sunday, March 24. The time and network will be announced in the future.

GRACELAND OPEN

Creston placed third with 45 points

Creston’s Seth Gordon placed 1st in the 55 meter dash, 6.99

Colby Brammer, Brandon Briley, Tyler Riley, Davin Wallace placed 1st in the 4×800 meter relay, 9:02.17

Gordon, Riley, Wallace, Briley placed 1st in the distance medley, 3:52.17

Nodaway Valley placed 9th with 9 points

GRACELAND OPEN

Nodaway Valley got a place finish on the day with 43 points

Nodaway Valley’s Annika Nelson got a first place finish in the 55 hurdles 9.06

Nodaway Valley’s Emma Lundy placed first in the 200 meter dash, 27.84

7. Creston got a 7th place finish with 24 points

Creston’s Payton Davis, Hope Henderson, Avery Staver, Ella Turner got a first place finish in the 4×800 meter relay, 11:04.19

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Drake university women’s basketball team saw their record-setting 2023-24 campaign come to an end on Friday night. The No. 12 seed Bulldogs battled the No. 5 seed Colorado Buffaloes but were outmatched in the second half and came up short, 86-72.

The Bulldogs got the scoring started after Anna Miller outjumped star Colorado forward Aaronette Vonleh for the tip. The ball found its way to Courtney Becker all alone at the top of the key where she buried a triple. Becker gave Drake an early 5-0 lead after collecting an offensive rebound and finishing the putback on the Dogs’ next trip down the floor.

Dinnebier and Berg then went back-to-back to give the Bulldogs a 9-0 lead before the Buffaloes finally got on the board with a Quay Miller three-pointer.

Drake answered back to continue their hot start as Shannon Fornshell entered and promptly scored on a perfectly executed set. Fornshell’s bucket gave the Bulldogs an 11-3 lead and forced Colorado head coach JR Payne to burn an early timeout.

After the timeout, Colorado took no time getting right back in it as Vonleh scored five straight points. Sara-Rose Smith got on the board for the Buffs to cut the deficit to just one. On their next possession, Colorado took their first lead of the game as Jaylyn Sherrod went coast-to-coast and finished off a traditional three-point play.

The two teams traded blows through the remainder of the first period until a late five-point flurry by Colorado’s Maddie Nolan and Tameiya Sadler gave the Buffaloes a 24-21 advantage after one.

Colorado started the second quarter nearly as quickly as Drake did the game, scoring another five in a row to extend their run to 10-0 and their lead to 29-21. Katie Dinnebier halted the Buffaloes’ spurt with a three from the left wing. Sadler answered with a three of her own before Sherrod came up with a loose ball and scored a deuce to give Colorado its first double-digit lead.

Dinnebier did her best to keep the Bulldogs within striking distance with an 8-0 run of her own including an and-one three-point play. Becker added a layup of her own to get the difference down to four. Dinnebier added another trey as the shot clock was winding down to hack into Colorado’s lead further and get back within one point.

Colorado weathered Drake’s furious effort toward the end of the second quarter to lead 46-41 at the half.

Drake could not get much to fall in the early stages of the third quarter as the Buffaloes got out to another quick start, getting their lead back into double figures. Colorado continued to build their lead to 60-44, at the mid-third period media timeout.

Megan Meyer attempted to start a Bulldog rally with a transition three off a Katie Dinnebier feed. Free throws from Becker and McAualy added to Drake’s comeback, but Colorado again staved off the Bulldogs’ challenge with a last-second bunny to end the third quarter. The No. 5 seed Buffaloes led 71-53 after three.

Dinnebier eclipsed the 20-point mark shortly into the fourth quarter, marking her 13th 20+ point performance of the season. She led Drake in the game with 24 points and seven assists while grabbing four rebounds.

The Bulldogs continued to get good looks as the second half progressed, but just could not get most of those shots to fall. Taylor McAulay finally did from the deep corner to get back within 15. A Dinnebier deuce got the deficit under 15 for the first time in the fourth stanza.

The Colorado charge was constant in the second half and, despite their best efforts, just too much for Drake to match. Kindyll Wetta splashed in treys from both corners to re-extend the Buffaloes’ lead with just over three minutes remaining.

The Vonleh-and-Sherrod-led Buffaloes closed it out down the stretch as both benches were nearly emptied. Colorado advanced to the second round and a date with location hosts Kansas State with the 86-72 victory.

Courtney Becker was Drake’s second-leading scorer with 14 points and three boards. She also nabbed a career-high five steals. Taylor McAulay rounded out the Dogs’ offensive leaders with 13 points and added a team-high four rebounds and four steals.

The loss marked the second-straight for Drake in the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs were also a No. 12 seed last season when they lost to No. 5 Louisville. The defeat also halted a 14-game winning streak, the longest stretch of Suzie Glazer Burt Head Coach Allison Pohlman’s tenure.

Despite the result, the Drake women still put together a record-setting campaign with a program-record 29 wins, a Jackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year recipient, and a pair of conference championships in the regular season and league tournament.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – David Carr punched his ticket to the 165-pound national finals Friday night inside the T-Mobile Center while two other Cyclones – Evan Frost and Casey Swiderski – secured their spots on the podium.

In a match for the ages, Carr bested O’Toole for the third time in a historic five-part rivalry. O’Toole controlled the mat in the opening period, but Carr struck first in the second with a smooth duck-under for a takedown. O’Toole answered back and look a late lead on a takedown with 53 seconds left in the match, but Carr hung tough and secured the winning takedown with 10 seconds remaining.

Carr is now a three-time finalist and prevented O’Toole from winning his third consecutive national title.

Iowa State has four All-Americans for the first time since 2009 – Anthony Echemendia, Frost, Carr and Swiderski. The Cyclones are in a tie for fourth place with 59.5 points, along with Arizona State. Penn State leads the way with 148.0, followed by Michigan (64.5) and Iowa (60.0).

Frost earned his spot on the podium with a gritty 2-1 victory over Minnesota’s Tyler Wells. After a scoreless first, the Cyclone got out quickly from underneath in the second period. In the third, Frost put on a tough ride, wracking up over 1:30 of riding time, and held off a furious rally from Wells to get on the podium.

At 149 pounds, Swiderski gutted out a 2-1 victory in tiebreakers against Ohio State’s No. 14 Dylan D`Emilio. Swiderski was in on a shot multiple times in regulation but couldn’t get past the Buckeye’s stingy defense. In tiebreakers, Swiderski earned a quick escape and held D`Emilio scoreless.

Swiderski would fall later in the session to West Virginia’s Ty Watters and will wrestle for seventh place Saturday morning.

Echemendia took top-seeded Jesse Mendez of Ohio State to the brink in the 141-pound semifinals but came up just short. Echemendia was close to a takedown as the clock hit zeros in the third but didn’t have enough time to finish as he fell, 6-4, to the Buckeye.

MJ Gaitan fell just short in his blood round bout against No. 3 Edmond Ruth, 8-6.

Up Next
Medal rounds will take place Saturday at 10 a.m. on ESPNU while finals begin at 6 p.m. on ESPN.

KANSAS CITY, Kansas — University of Iowa sophomore Drake Ayala advanced to the NCAA finals at 125 pounds and the Hawkeyes crowned two more All-Americans, going 3-for-6 on the consolation side of the bracket on Friday night at the 2024 NCAA Championships at the T-Mobile Center.

After a lengthy review Ayala got a takedown against Wisconsin’s Eric Barnett the No. 10 seed, that proved to be the distance as Barnett would get an escape and a stalling point but was unable to take the Iowa native down.

“I got it done when it matters most,” said Ayala. “It wasn’t pretty, but sometimes that’s what you’ve got to do. I am just really, truly blessed to be in this situation, to be healthy and to have the best people surrounding me right now.”

Ayala advances to the NCAA final for the first time in his career and he extends Iowa’s streak of having an NCAA finalist to 34 consecutive tournaments. Iowa has had at least one wrestler in the NCAA finals in every year since 1990 and in 48 of the last 49 tournaments dating back to 1975.

“Ayala has been a winner since he was a baby boy,” said head coach Tom Brands. “That is continuing now into his college career. We love it. His family loves it. Hawk fans love it. We need it.”

Ayala will face Arizona State’s Richard Figueroa in Saturday’s final. Ayala and Figueroa have never met at the collegiate level, but Ayala won 5-3 in sudden victory at Who’s Number One in 2020 and Figueroa won at the 2021 U20 World Team Trials (freestyle), 7-4.

In the second semifinal of the evening, No. 6 seed Michael Caliendo fell to the No. 2 seed Mitchell Messenbrink of Penn State, sending him to the backside of the bracket. Ramos had a takedown and two-point near fall in the first, taking a 4-1 lead before Lee tilted Ramos for four points in the second, grabbing a 5-4 lead.

On the backside of the bracket, the Hawkeyes went 3-for-6 in the Blood Round and consolation quarterfinals with Real Woods (141) and Jared Franek (157) winning in the round of 12 to secure All-America honors. Woods can finish no lower than sixth place on Saturday morning and Franek will wrestle for seventh.

“This is a tight race for second,” said Brands. “It matters. We want to be one above that, but right now it is really, really tight going for second. So, we are going to need all of our guys contributing. Woods did a good job of getting the major. He kept wrestling. He didn’t want to keep wrestling, but he spurred himself on and got a major decision.”

Woods went 2-0 during the session to secure his fourth career All-America honor. He won a 5-2 decision over Northern Iowa’s Cael Happel before following with a 11-2 major decision over Minnesota’s Vance VomBauer.

Franek went 1-1 at 165 to clinch his second career All-America nod. In the blood round, Franek won a 4-2 decision over Northern Iowa’s Ryder Downey before falling to third-seeded Myer Shapiro of Cornell via major decision, 11-2. The Harwood, North Dakota, native will finish wrestle Nebraska’s Peyton Robb for seventh after being seeded 10th.

Senior Brody Teske (133) and junior Patrick Kennedy saw their NCAA tournaments come to an end in the blood round. Teske dropped a 6-3 decision to fourth-seed Dylan Shawver of Rutgers and Kennedy fell to top seeded Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech, 8-4.

Penn State is leading the team race with 141 points. Iowa is second in the standings with 60 points followed by Arizona State and Iowa State both with 59.5.

OF NOTE

• Woods and Franek’s All-America honors are 366th, 367th in program history.
• Woods and Franek are the 166th and 167th All-Americans in school history.
• Iowa has had at least four All-Americans in 16 straight seasons and 16 times in head coach Tom Brands’ 17 seasons.
• Iowa has crowned at least one All-American in 52 consecutive tournaments dating back to 1972.

SEMIFINALS RESULTS

125 | #3 Drake Ayala (Iowa) vs. #10 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin), 3-2

165 | #2 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) major dec. #6 Michael Caliendo (Iowa), 17-9

CONSOLATION RESULTS

133 | #4 Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) dec. #15 Brody Teske (Iowa), 6-3

141 | #3 Real Woods (Iowa) dec. #7 Cael Happel (UNI), 5-2

157 | #10 Jared Franek (Iowa) dec. #5 Ryder Downey (UNI), 4-2

174 | #1 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) dec. #12 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa), 8-4

—

141 | #3 Real Woods (Iowa) major dec. #26 Vance Vombaur (Minnesota), 11-2

157 | #3 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) dec. #10 Jared Franek (Iowa), 11-2

FINALS MATCHUPS

125 #3 Drake Ayala (Iowa) vs. #8 Richard Figueroa (Arizona State)

CONSOLATION MATCHUPS

141 | #3 Real Woods (Iowa) vs. #5 Anthony Echemedia (Iowa State)

165 | #6 Michael Caliendo (Iowa) vs. #7 Izzak Olejnik (Oklahoma State)

UP NEXT
Session V will take place Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. (CT). The session will consist of the consolation semifinals and placement matches for third, fifth and seventh place.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The 75th-ranked University of Iowa women’s tennis team defeated No. 34 Illinois, 4-2, Friday evening at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Center. It is the Hawkeyes’ second straight win over a ranked opponent and moves the team’s record to 8-6 overall and 3-0 in Big Ten play.

The Fighting Illini started the night by capturing the doubles point with wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 line. The Hawkeyes got an impressive win on court one with sophomore Daianne Hayashida and senior Vipasha Mehra downed No. 47 Megan Heuser and Alice Xu, 6-2.

Junior Barbora Pokorna and sophomore Pia Kranholdt dropped a close match at No. 3, bringing it to a tiebreaker before falling, 7-6 (4), to Josie Frazier and Kida Ferrari.

In singles competition, the Hawkeyes wasted no time in earning four singles wins at the top four spots.

After falling on court six to fall behind 2-0, Kranholdt earned a straight set victory over Treiber on No. 4, 6-4, 6-1. Junior Marisa Schmidt continued on court two with her 6-3, 7-6 (3) victory over Schaefbauer.

In the final moments of the match, Pokorna and Hayashida got their winning points simultaneously on courts three and one to secure the Hawkeyes’ upset win. Pokorna defeated Frazier; 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 and Hayashida downed Heuser; 7-6 (3), 6-4.

QUOTING HEAD COACH SASHA SCHMID

“I’m really proud of the team, it was a great fight today especially after losing the doubles point. I really felt like we had a good start in singles, and I’m happy for the way they courageously finished out those singles matches to get to four points. We will regroup tomorrow, and get ready to host a very competitive Northwestern team.”

UP NEXT

The Hawkeyes will finish this weekend’s home competition Sunday, hosting No. 35 Northwestern at noon at the HTRC.