Author: Nathan Bloechl

Prep Volleyball: Notre Dame, Holy Trinity Open at State:

Two local teams will take center stage at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse tonight when Class 1A’s top-ranked Notre Dame plays Tri-Center and fourth-seeded Holy Trinity locks horns with Janesville.

Notre Dame, 35-8, will play at 6:00 p.m. on FM 105.5 as they look to reprise their role as State Champions.

The road starts tonight with a 27-10 Tri-Center team led by sophomore outside hitter Mikenzie Brewer, who is averaging 2.4 kills per set.

Brewer also leads the team in blocks as her net presence will be something to watch tonight.

On the other side, Notre Dame’s brilliance this year has been something to see.

The Nikes have not missed a beat, steamrolling through Super Conference play largely untested.

Gabby Deery leads a dominant front row with 4.0 kills per set while Jenna and Josie Bentz as well as Megan Harrell all come together to form one of the state’s best attacks.

Following that, fourth-seeded Holy Trinity will take on the 25-15 Janesville Wildcats.

Holy Trinity made sure their hiatus at state was the shortest possible — this is head coach Melissa Freesmeier’s 20th trip to state and 13th time in the last 16 years.

Natalie Randolph paces a well-balanced attack for the Crusaders, with 2.4 kills per set.

Brooke Mueller, Mary Kate Bendlage, Kassi Randolph and Kayla Box will be in the mix offensively, as well.

In the back row, senior libero Anna Sobczak is as good as they come.

Holy Trinity will take the floor at 8:00 p.m.

You can listen to that match here on FM 105.5 as well.

Prep Volleyball: State Scoreboard Day One:y

5A 

No. 8 Johnston 3, No. 1 Iowa City Liberty 2

No. 4 Cedar Falls 3, No. 5 Dowling Catholic 0

No. 2 Pleasant Valley 3, No. 7 Ankeny Centennial 1

No. 3 Ankeny 3, No. 6 Urbandale 2

4A

No. 1 Western Dubuque 3, No. 8 Bishop Heelan

No. 5 Marion 3, No. 4 Xavier 2

No. 2 North Scott 3, No. 7 Bondurant-Farrar 0

No. 3 Waverly-Shell Rock 3, No. 6 Oskaloosa 2

College Wrestling: Wesleyan Releases Winter Schedule:

After competing in a condensed season last spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic, finishing 2-2 in duals, the Iowa Wesleyan wrestling team is ready to step back into Ruble Arena.

The Tigers will compete in their first regular-season contest on November 6th as they travel to Simpson College to compete in the Luther Hill Invitational in Indianola.

Shawn Contos will join Nathan Bloechl on Thursday morning for this week’s episode of Tiger Nation.

2021-2022 Iowa Wesleyan Men’s Wrestling Schedule

November 6: @ Luther Hill Invitational (Tournament)

November 17: Simpson (Dual) *Home*

November 28: @ Harold Nichols Cyclone Open (Tournament)

December 8: @ Fontbonne (Dual)

December 15: Waldorf (Dual) *Home*

January 8: @ Central Under Armour Invitational (Tournament)

January 19: St. Ambrose (Dual) *Home*

January 21: @ Cornell (Dual)

February 9: @ Grandview (Dual)

February 11: @ Central Last Chance Invitational (Tournament)

College Football: Iowa State’s Hall named Maxwell Semifinalist:

Iowa State tailback Breece Hall has been named a Maxwell Award semifinalist.

The list was released last night and the award is given annually to the nation’s best collegiate player.

Hall, who has been the unquestioned bellcow for the Cyclones, has rushed for 13 touchdowns and has 1,193 scrimmage yards.

He also has an active streak of 20 consecutive games with a rushing touchdown.

Hall and the Clones will welcome in Steve Sarkisian’s Texas Longhorns this Saturday.

Kick from Jack Trice Stadium is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

Prep Football: WACO Rides Defense, Ground Game to Dominant Win:

WACO used four interceptions and seven rushing scores rolling to a 50-8 win over Martensdale-St. Mary’s in the second round of the 8-Player playoffs last night.

The win sets the fifth-ranked Warriors up for a date with No. 6 Audubon, who defeated top-ranked Montezuma last night.

Junior running back Simeon Reichenbach got the party started for WACO with a pair of first quarter rushing scores.

Isaac Oswald added two of his own, while fullback Jon Rice scored three times — including two in the salt in the wound third quarter.

Leading 29-8 at halftime WACO jumped the Blue Devils in the third for scores on three consecutive drives set up by two Martensdale-St. Mary’s turnovers on downs.

Mason Miller set the Warriors up for two short field drives in the first half with two interceptions, while Drew Diers and Clayton Miller each had one.

Martensdale’s lone score, a 40-yard run by sophomore Kade Mullins, came at the 5:00 mark of the first quarter.

The rest of his six carries went for 15 yards.

The game was played with running clock from the third quarter on.

WACO’s next matchup will be Thursday, November 4th.

The KILJ family of networks — either 105.5 or 98.5 — will have coverage of that matchup with Audubon.

Prep Cross Country: Danville-New London Takes Second at State:

Ty Carr ran 16:34.96 for fifth place overall as the Danville-New London Bears took second in the Class 2A Boys Cross Country meet in Fort Dodge on Saturday.

Last year’s state champions, Danville-New London was bested only by Tipton.

Alexander Julian ran 17:03.59 for 15th overall while Rylan Martin finished 29th.

Seth Bailey finished in 17:43.57 placing 48th overall.

Western Christian, Oelwein and Des Moines Christian rounded out the top-five team scores.

In Class 1A, Winfield-Mount Union’s Gabe Hemsworth finished in 18:54.04.

That was 105th in the Class 1A field.

College Football: Wesleyan Nabs First North Star Win:

Iowa Wesleyan quarterback Gavin Esquivel threw for 306 yards and one touchdown as the Tigers earned their first North Star conference win, 21-10 over Presentation College.

Freshman running back Hezekiah Hunter ran for 145 and two touchdowns while his backfield mate Kam Cole ran for 82 yards.

Damien Tanelus was Esquivel’s top target hauling in five catches for 73 yards.

David Timmons had the lone touchdown reception — his from 30 yards out.

The win moves Wesleyan to 2-7.

The Tigers will play in their final home game next week, Saturday, November 6th, against Waldorf University in Burlington, Iowa at Bracewell Stadium.

It will be Senior Day for the Tigers.

Kick is set start for 2:00 p.m.

Prep Volleyball: State Volleyball Gets Underway Today:

The 2021 Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union State Volleyball tournament gets underway today with action all day at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse.

The slate gets underway in Class 5A where:

No. 1 Iowa City Liberty vs. No. 8 Johnston

No. 4 Cedar Falls vs. No. 5 Dowling Catholic

No. 2 Pleasant Valley vs. No. 7 Ankeny Centennial

No. 3 Ankeny vs. No. 6 Urbandale

4A will also play their quarterfinal matchups this evening.

The bracket is as follows:

No. 1 Western Dubuque vs. No. 8 Bishop Heelan

No. 4 Xavier vs. No. 5 Marion

No. 2 North Scott vs. No. 7 Bondurant-Farrar

No. 3 Waverly-Shell Rock vs. No. 6 Oskaloosa

Prep Football: WACO Ready to Shine in Second Round:

The No. 5 WACO Warrior football will hope to morph into “road” Warriors tonight when they travel to 7-2 Martensdale-St. Mary’s in an 8-Player Level 2 playoff matchup.

The Warriors, 9-0, were subject to the road due to archaic, alphabetical tiebreakers despite having a two-game advantage on record.

Seeding is done solely on district records, and like WACO, Martensdale-St. Mary’s went 6-0.

They will host because “M” comes before “W” in the alphabet, per head coach Chad Edeker.

Be that as it may, the Blue Devils are coming off a 74-52 Level 1 win over BGM, where sophomore tailback Kade Mullins accrued four touchdowns.

The young bellcow rushed for a season high 190 yards last week. He has 631 yards in total on the season with 12 scores.

On the other side, WACO quarterback Isaac Oswald played perhaps his best game of the season in last week’s thrilling 39-36 win over Edgewood-Colesburg.

Oswald threw two scores and ran the ball tactically, providing a boost to an offense that before half was a bit stuck in the mud.

But, like every WACO game, their offense will be ran through their star tailback Simeon Reichenbach.

Reichenbach handled 35 touches last week and produced 164 total yards and a touchdown.

He will be tasked with workhorse duties once more.

Tonight’s game can be heard on FM 105.5, with pre-game coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Kickoff from Martensdale is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Nathan Bloechl and Kent Bennett will have the broadcasting duties.

Prep Cross Country: Danville-NL Ready to Repeat:

The Danville-New London boys’ cross country team is ready.

The Bears, last year’s state champions, are on the precipice of greatness again when they look to defend their team title in Saturday’s Class 2A state cross country meet at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge.

The boys’ will run at 11:15 a.m. tomorrow morning, with Ty Carr, Rylan Martin, Alexander Julian, Seth Bailey, Carter Fesler, AJ Bonnesen and Talan Whaley all taking center stage.

Carr and Julian have been the go to runners all year for the Bears and are both in the mix for the individual state crown, as well.

Later in the afternoon Saturday, Winfield-Mount Union’s Gabe Hemsworth will make his debut appearance at state.

Hemsworth finished 12th at the Super Conference meet while qualifying 9th overall at the state qualifying meet last week.

The two-day affair will start today with Class 3 and 4A.

Hemsworth’s race will be at approximately 3:15 p.m. tomorrow afternoon.

College Football: Iowa State’s Kolar Named Finalist for the William Campbell Trophy:

Iowa State senior All-American tight end Charlie Kolar was named a finalist for the prestigious William V. Campbell Trophy, announced today by the National Football Foundation.

The William V. Campbell Trophy is considered the Academic Heisman.

Kolar, a two-time All-American, owns all of ISU’s tight end school records in his career, including career receiving yards (1,773), career receptions (133) and career touchdown catches (19).

In the classroom, Kolar, a three-time Academic All-Big 12 selection, graduated in the fall of 2020 with a 3.99 cumulative GPA in mechanical engineering.

Women’s College Basketball: Iowa’s Clark Keeps Adding Preseason Accolades:

University of Iowa sophomore Caitlin Clark was named to the Associated Press Preseason All-America team earlier this week.

Clark is the first Iowa Women’s Basketball player to be named a preseason AP All-American.

During her freshman campaign, the West Des Moines, Iowa, native averaged 26.6 points, 7.1 assists, and 5.9 rebounds per game in 30 games.

Clark and the Hawkeyes open the 2021-22 season with an exhibition against Truman State on Nov. 4 at 6:30 p.m.