Iowa
Iowa City community rallies against state law that criminalizes ‘illegal reentry’ into state
More than 250 Iowa City community members joined several other gatherings across the state Wednesday, May 1 to rally against a state law that criminalizes “illegal reentry” into Iowa.
The bill, Senate File 2340, passed through the Senate in March and was signed into law in April. It bars anyone who has been previously deported from the United States from entering or attempting to enter the state. It mirrors a Texas law that remains blocked by the courts.
Many people held up signs during the rally in College Green Park, chanting in Spanish and proudly displaying flags from various countries in Central and South America. The demonstrators eventually marched through downtown Iowa City.
Rallies were also held Wednesday night in Davenport, Waterloo and Des Moines.
More: Iowa Senate votes to criminalize ‘illegal reentry’ into state, mirroring halted Texas law
Supporters encouraged by local turnout
Manny Gálvez said he was happy to see Iowa City’s Latino, Black, and white communities come together during the rally.
“I feel like no matter what the governor says every day, that we are criminals, we are drug dealers,” Gálvez said. “She’s lying. She’s using us.”
The demonstrators marched along major downtown streets as police halted traffic, chanting “Un pueblo unido, jamás será vencido,” which translates to “A people united will never be defeated,” and “Somos familias, no somos criminales,” meaning “We are families, we’re not criminals.”
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Hundreds from Iowa City community rally against ‘illegal reentry’ law
Hundreds of members of the Iowa City community rallied together on Wednesday night against a state law criminalizing “illegal reentry” into the state.
Demonstrators held up signs in English and Spanish, reading “No human is illegal,” “Love one another” and “Mas amor,” or “More love.”
One young child held up a sign that read, “I need my family.”
The march brought demonstrators to the Iowa City City Hall, where they received a proclamation from Mayor Bruce Teague.
Teague said he stands in unity with everyone who participated in the protest and said none of the local community members he has talked to “has the same desires” as those in the statehouse.
“We are working because we want a bright future,” Gálvez said. “Not just for today, but for the future of all the children. And what the governor is doing right now is sending this message (about) who has the right to have a future and who doesn’t.”
Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at rhansen@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.
Iowa’s Clarissa Chun breaks down win over Oklahoma State
VIDEO: Iowa’s Clarissa Chun breaks down dual win over Oklahoma State
Iowa Athletics
While Iowa women’s wrestling rolled Grand View, 32-10, on Dec. 11 at Waukee Northwest High School, the Vikings provided a worthy challenge in Central Iowa.
The Hawkeyes and Grand View were the second leg of a doubleheader, with a high school dual between Raccoon River Wrestling and Ankeny, the top two teams at last season’s IGHSAU state meet, happening earlier in the night.
The Hawkeyes won each match that was held, but did not send a wrestler at 160 pounds, while Grand View did not participate at 180, so each team took one forfeit. In the eight matches held, Iowa won all of them and two by bonus points at 131 and 145. A sizeable chunk of Iowa’s top starters didn’t wrestle, but Grand View fought tough nonetheless.
“They’re (Grand View) scrappy and they fight hard,” said Iowa coach Clarissa Chun.
The Hawkeyes opened with four wins by decision from 103 to 124 against top-end wrestlers in the NAIA division. Sterling Dias earned a 3-0 decision over Judy Sandova (No. 2 in NAIA) at 103, followed by an 8-2 victory for Nyla Valencia over Tristan Nitta (No. 5 in NAIA) at 110 and a 9-2 decision for Brianna Gonzalez over Mayangelie Colon (No. 3 in NAIA) at 117.
In one of the best wins of the night, Cali Leng downed Catharine Campbell (No. 3 in NAIA) at 124 by a 9-1 decision. Her front headlocks and control of the hand fight led to her rotating behind Campbell for multiple takedowns.
“She’s got a big gas tank and a big heart,” Chun said. “She found ways to adjust and put points on the board.”
Emily Frost won at 131 pounds as she normally does, locking up a headlock and tossing Maya Davis for a win by fall in the first period. Iowa native Lilly Luft followed that pin with a tough win by decision, trailing by criteria at 6-6, but securing two takedowns late in the second period to defeat Adrienna Turner, 10-6. Before the two forfeits, Cadence Diduch rolled in a 10-0 technical fall of Sofia Delgado at 145 pounds.
In the final bout of the night, Libby Dix gave fans at Waukee Northwest a show. Trailing by criteria at 2-2, Dix scored a late step-out point with just a few seconds remaining to clinch the win. While she hadn’t wrestled a ton of freestyle before her college career, she won with her awareness late to score on the one-point action unique to freestyle.
“She’s a gamer,” Chun said. “She’s competitive. If she wasn’t, she would’ve been hung up on losing the match 2-2, but she wanted to go get one.”
The Hawkeyes have one more test before going off on winter break, traveling to Naperville, Ill. on Dec. 14 for the North Central Open.
Iowa women’s wrestling vs. Grand View box score
- 103: Sterling Dias (IOWA) over Judy Sandoval (GVU) (Dec 3-0)
- 110: Nyla Valencia (IOWA) over Tristan Nitta (GVU) (Dec 8-2)
- 117: Brianna Gonzalez (IOWA) over Mayangelie Colon (GVU) (Dec 9-2)
- 124: Cali Leng (IOWA) over Catharine Campbell (GVU) (Dec 8-1)
- 131: Emily Frost (IOWA) over Maya Davis (GVU) (Fall 2:21)
- 138: Lilly Luft (IOWA) over Adrienna Turner (GVU) (Dec 10-6)
- 145: Cadence Diduch (IOWA) over Sofia Delgado (GVU) (TF 10-0 2:08)
- 160: Kami Senlycki (GVU) over (IOWA) (For.)
- 180: Katja Osteen (IOWA) over (GVU) (For.)
- 207: Libby Dix (IOWA) over Andjela Prijovic (GVU) (Dec 3-2)
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.
Iowa State’s Audi Crooks dedicates made free throw to her late father
Iowa State star Audi Crooks connected on a free throw for her dad late in her team’s win over Iowa.
AMES – As ESPN women’s basketball analyst and Hall of Famer Rebecca Lobo watched the Iowa State women’s basketball shootaround prior to the team’s Dec. 10 game against the Iowa Hawkeyes, several things stood out to her about Cyclones star Audi Crooks. Lobo was impressed by Crooks’ ability, her hard work and her personality.
“She’s such a smart, thoughtful, kind and funny human being,” Lobo said in an interview with the Des Moines Register prior to Wednesday night’s Cy-Hawk game. “And that just oozes out of her even when you spend just a short amount of time around her.”
Count Lobo as a fan of Crooks. The former college and WNBA star raved about the Cyclones star before calling the 10th-ranked Cyclones’ 74-69 win over the 12th-ranked Hawkeyes at Hilton Coliseum. Crooks poured in a game-high 30 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Iowa State improved to 11-0.
“I love it,” Lobo said of watching Crooks. “She’s such a good kid. You see the joy. I like watching joyful players. She is a joyful player. When you talk to her, she is somebody who looks like, when she’s on the basketball court, there’s no other place she’d rather be and I love that about her. She just has an infectious way about her that makes you want to continue watching her.”
College basketball fans across the country are quickly gravitating toward Crooks, who has become one of the best players in the nation. The 6-foot-3 center leads the country in scoring, averaging 27.6 points per game. Crooks has already broken Iowa State’s single-game scoring record twice this season, dropping 43 points in a game and then 47 in another contest.
Lobo, the Associated Press player of the year in 1995 and a WNBA All-Star in 1999, has been covering college basketball for a long time. She can see why Crooks, a native of Algona, has become one of the most dominant college post players. Lobo covered the Cy-Hawk game in 2023 when Crooks was a freshman. She’s made massive strides since.
“The first time you put eyes on her, you’re absolutely struck by the unique frame and how quick her hands and feet are — how good her hands and feet are at her size and then her increased ability to finish around the rim,” Lobo said. “And everybody is game-planning around Audi and yet she’s still leading the nation in scoring and has become incredibly efficient.”
Crooks has been a big reason why the Cyclones are enjoying their best start in more than a decade. Iowa State’s 11-0 start marks the best start to the season since the 2013-14 campaign when the Cyclones opened the year with 14 straight wins. The attention Crooks receives on the court has been instrumental in the success of her teammates as well. What’s she’s done has impressed Lobo thoroughly.
“Audi is just such a unique talent in the women’s game,” Lobo said. “There’s really no other player quite like her and doing what she can do. She’s been a phenomenal anchor for them so far this season.”
If Iowa State continues its successful season and Crooks keeps putting up massive numbers, the Cyclones star will find herself in the national player of the year conversation, just like Lobo was when she was a star at UConn.
“Certainly right now, when you look at an undefeated team that’s a top-10 team, you’re like, ‘All right, who’s their best player and should she be in the conversation,’” Lobo said. “A lot of it will depend on if she’s going to be able to keep this level of scoring and this level of efficiency while leading a team that’s winning games.”
Tommy Birch, the Register’s sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He’s the 2018, 2020 and 2023 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.
Thank you to the readers of High School on SI for helping us determine the Iowa boys high school basketball preseason players of the year in all four classifications.
Over 20,000 votes were tabulated between the four polls on the website.
Taking home top honors in Class 4A was Tevin Schultz from Dubuque Senior, as he received nearly 55 percent of the votes cast in that poll. Will Gerdes of Cedar Falls was a close second with 38 percent of the votes.
Cael LaFrentz, the son of former Kansas star and NBA veteran Raef LaFrentz, claimed the top 3A honor, taking almost 36 percent of the votes. Brady Harr of Hampton-Dumont/CAL was second and James Madison commit AJ Evans of Cedar Rapids Xavier was third. Harr received 26 percent of the votes, Evans had 22 and Jaxon Clark from Keokuk was fourth with over 10 percent.
In 2A, Albia’s Gage Chance pulled away from the field, as he secured over 3,100 votes to finish ahead of Red Oak’s Reese Montgomery, who came in with just under 2,000 total votes cast for him.
GTRA’s Teagan Hanson, a standout quarterback this past fall for the Titans, picked up nearly 61 percent of the 12,000-plus votes cast to claim 1A over Eli Dee of Baxter and Tanner Bergmann from Wapsie Valley.
1. Tevin Schultz, Dubuque Senior
2. Will Gerdes, Cedar Falls
3. Jerimiah Washpun, Iowa City Liberty
Winner: Tevin Schultz, Dubuque Senior
Schultz was the leader for the Rams, posting 18 points, seven rebounds, two assists and over a steal per game.
1. Cael LaFrentz, Decorah
2. Brady Harr, Hampton-Dumont/CAL
3. AJ Evans, Cedar Rapids Xavier
Winner: Cael LaFrentz, Decorah
“Older” followers of basketball will recognize the last name, as LaFrentz averaged 29.2 points per game and 13 rebounds last year for the Vikings.
1. Gage Chance, Albia
2. Reese Montgomery, Red Oak
3. Bryer Putman, Wilton
Winner: Gage Chance, Albia
Chance dominated inside the paint as a sophomore, scoring 19 points with over seven rebounds per game.
1. Teagan Hanson, GTRA
2. Eli Dee, Baxter
3. Tanner Bergman, Wapsie Valley
Winner: Teagan Hanson GTRA
Hanson filled the box score as a junior, scoring 18.5 points a night with nearly six assists, almost six rebounds and four steals.
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