Iowa

Meet the nominees for Press-Citizen’s Athletes of the Week, Aug. 26-Sept. 1

Published

1 year ago

September 2, 2024

Meet the nominees for Press-Citizen’s Athletes of the Week, Aug. 26-Sept. 1

Week 1 of Iowa high school football is in the books, and it didn’t disappoint. Let’s not forget about cross country and volleyball that brought all of the action this past week.

Here are the nominees for the Iowa City Press-Citizen’s high school Athletes of the Week for Aug. 26-Sept. 1. Press-Citizen.com readers vote to decide this week’s winners. Voting closes at 8 p.m. on Thursday.

Players are listed in alphabetical order by last name:

Stream Iowa HS football games on the NFHS Network

Boys

Landon Bell, Jr., Iowa City Liberty

The Friday night lights weren’t too bright for Bell, who made plays on both sides of the ball in Iowa City Liberty’s win over Iowa City West in Week 1.

The third-year playmaker totaled 12 tackles and an interception. He also caught a 15-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

Butali Butali, Sr., Iowa City West

Despite falling short to Iowa City Liberty in Week 1, Butali was still a workhorse on the ground for Iowa City West.

He rushed for 119 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns.

Owen Drapeaux, Sr., Iowa City Liberty

It was the Owen Drapeaux show during Liberty’s 56-45 win over Iowa City West on Aug. 29.

Drapeaux rushed for 171 yards on 24 carries and three touchdowns. His showing helped the Lightning earn their first win over the Trojans in program history.

Eddie Johnson, Sr., Solon

Johnson answered the call during Solon’s 33-7 win over Assumption in Week 1.

The fourth year running back rushed for 120 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown. He led the Spartans with 9.2 yards per carry.

Tate Wallace, Soph., Regina Catholic

Wallace made a statement in the air in Week 1 against West Liberty.

The second-year Regal snatched six receptions for 139 yards and a touchdown in Regina’s 42-28 win over the Comets.

Girls

Sophia Austen, Soph., Iowa City West

Austen made her mark for the Iowa City West volleyball team during its first win of the season against No. 8 Dubuque Senior on Thursday.

According to Varsity Bound, Austen totaled 10 kills, seven digs and two aces in a sweep (25-19, 25-15, 25-17) over the Rams.

Sydney Dee, Sr. Solon

Dee helped the Solon girls cross country team clinch a first-place team title at the Anomosa Meet on Saturday by placing third individually.

She completed the 5-kilometer race in 21 minutes, 16.8 seconds.

Kaitlin Loria, Soph. Iowa City High

Loria helped lead Iowa City High volleyball to its third win of the season in a 2-0 victory (21-18, 21-14) over Council Bluffs Lincoln on Thursday.

The second-year Little Hawk totaled a team-high seven kills in the win. The Little Hawks swept the Johnston Quad, earning wins over Council Bluffs Lincoln, Marion and Johnston.

Averie Lower, Jr., Clear Creek Amana

Lower played a big role in CCA’s tournament win at Grinnell Community Senior High School on Saturday.

According to Varsity Bound, Lower earned 12 kills and 11 digs. The Clippers earned wins over Urbandale, Washington, Dallas Center-Grimes and Carlisle before topping Grinnell in the championship match. They improved to 5-1 on the season.

Kinley Mai, Fresh., Solon

Mai also contributed to Solon’s team title victory at the Anomosa cross country meet on Saturday.

Individually, she placed fourth behind Dee with a time of 21 minutes, 16.8 seconds in the 5-kilometer race.

Marc Ray is the high school sports reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. He can be reached at MARay@gannett.com , and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.

We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

Source link

Click to comment

Iowa

Former Iowa High School Football Standouts Enter Transfer Portal

Published

5 hours ago

December 25, 2025

Press Room

Former Iowa High School Football Standouts Enter Transfer Portal

The mass exodus of Iowa State football players from within the program now includes a number of former Iowa high school football standouts.

Gabe Burkle from Cedar Rapids Prairie High School, Will Tompkins from Cedar Falls High School and Caleb Bacon of Lake Mills High School have joined the likes of Rocco Becht, Carson Hanson, Jontez Williams, Jeremiah Cooper and Ben Brahmer in the transfer portal.

All of this started when Matt Campbell left as head coach of the Cyclones for the same position at Penn State.

Burkle, a 6-foot-6 redshirt junior tight end, was a three-star recruit coming out of high school who picked Iowa State over offers from Kansas State, Michigan State and Indiana. He was an all-stater, catching 23 passes for 324 yards as a senior.

He is coming off a season in which he caught 26 passes for 302 yards with a touchdown for the Cyclones, including a four-catch, 85-yard performance vs. South Dakota where he scored his lone touchdown of the season.

Tompkins, a 6-foot-6 freshman offensive lineman, was ranked as the No. 34 offensive tackle in his class coming out of high school, making all-state honors while helping block for a Cedar Falls offense that had over 1,900 yards rushing and 1,600 yards passing.

Tennessee, Nebraska, Wisconsin, USC, MInnesota, Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State and even Penn State offered Tompkins, but he selected Campbell and the Cyclones.

Bacon, a redshirt senior linebacker, was a two-time all-state selection at Lake Mills and a two-time district player of the year. He led all of Class A in Iowa high school football as a senior with 103 tackles, including 90 solo stops.

This past fall, Bacon, who was a walk-on to the Cyclones, recorded 68 tackles with 9.5 for loss.

Iowa State has received confirmation of players returning to the program under new head coach Jimmy Rogers, including a handful of former Iowa high school football standouts.

Connor Moberly, who led Southeast Polk High School to multiple Class 5A state football championships, has confirmed he will return to the Cyclones as a quarterback candidate in 2026. Kicker Kyle Konrardy of Dubuque Senior has done the same, along with Jack Limbaugh from Algona High School.

Moberly has been a backup behind Becht while Konrardy has been a multi-time Big 12 Conference Special Teams Player of the Week selection. He has kicked several game-winners for Iowa State. Limbaugh was a true freshman this past fall.

Bryce Anderson, who played at West Des Moines Valley High School, has announced he is entering the transfer portal following the season at Memphis.

Anderson, a 6-foot-5 redshirt sophomore tight end, played at Iowa Central Community College where he caught 29 passes for 303 yards and six touchdowns in 12 games.

He had 12 catches for 101 yards for the Tigers this past season, including six receptions in his final three games.

Source link

Iowa

Funeral services announced for fallen Iowa National Guard members

Published

17 hours ago

December 24, 2025

Press Room

Funeral services announced for fallen Iowa National Guard members

Funeral arrangements have been announced for the two Iowa National Guard members killed earlier this month while on duty in Syria.

Staff Sgts. William Nathaniel “Nate” Howard, Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar and a civilian interpreter, Ayad Mansoor Sakat, of Michigan, were killed Dec. 13 by an attacker who targeted a convoy of American and Syrian forces before being shot dead. The Associated Press reported the gunman stormed a meeting between U.S. and Syrian security officials in Palmyra, Syria, and opened fire after clashing with Syrian guards.

Their bodies arrived back in Iowa at 1 p.m. Dec. 24 in a private ceremony. Blue Star Mothers of America – Iowa Chapter asked supporters to line Fleur Drive from the Des Moines International Airport to Interstate 235 to welcome the soldiers home.

The soldiers’ funerals are open to the public.

When is Sgt. Nate Howard’s funeral?

Visitation and funeral services for Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, will be Saturday, Dec. 27 at the Marshalltown High School Roundhouse, 1602 S. Second Ave., with visitation beginning at 9 a.m.

Further details on funeral services is available on the Mitchell Family Funeral Home website.

After arriving in Des Moines on Wednesday, a procession carrying Howard’s body will go through Des Moines on Fleur Drive to Interstate 235 and north to Interstate 35 to Ames. From there, the procession will head east on U.S. Highway 30 to Marshalltown then north on Center Street/Highway 14 to Iowa Avenue and on to the funeral home.

The procession will be led by the Des Moines Police Department, Iowa State Highway Patrol, Marshall County Sheriff’s Department, Meskwaki police and the Tama Police Department.

Howard is survived by his wife, Arianna Howard; his father, Brian and wife, Andrea; his mother, Misty Bunn and husband, Jeff; his brother, SSgt James Roelsgard; stepbrothers, Josh Bunn and wife, Modestie, and Travis Bunn; as well as his grandparents: William Eugene and Pat Neville, Vicki Brindle, and Martin and Ruth Roelsgard.

When is Sgt. Edgar Torres-Tovar’s funeral?

Visitation for Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines will be Sunday, Dec. 28 with funeral services and burial on Monday, Dec. 29. Final arrangements will be announced by Hamilton’s Southtown Funeral Home.

Torres-Tovar is survived by his parents, Hugo Torres and Isabel Tovar; brothers, Samuel Torres and Daniel Torres; sister, Krystal Torres and her children, Castiel and Christopher; paternal grandparents, Jose Torres and Rita Garcia; girlfriend, Yareli Duran; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

Kevin Baskins covers jobs and the economy for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at kbaskins@registermedia.com.

Source link

Iowa

Iowa State football running back Carson Hansen to leave Cyclones

Published

1 day ago

December 24, 2025

Press Room

Iowa State football running back Carson Hansen to leave Cyclones

Iowa State football running back Carson Hansen announced on Dec. 23 that he “will be pursuing new opportunities with my last year of eligibility.”

Hansen is the latest Cyclones star to indicate that he will transfer to another school in the wake of coach Matt Campbell’s departure to Penn State. Quarterback Rocco Becht and cornerbacks Jeremiah Cooper and Jontez Williams are among the other Iowa State standouts leaving Ames.

Hansen, a native of Lakeville, Minn., rushed for 952 yards on 188 carries during his junior season with the Cyclones. In three years with Iowa State, he compiled 1,771 yards and 19 touchdowns on the ground.

Hansen was the Cyclones’ leading rusher in 2024 and 2025.

“My three years here at Iowa State have been a life changing experience because of the people who make up Ames …” Hansen wrote on Twitter/X. “Thank you to the fans that shook Jack Trice every Saturday and for your belief in this football team.”

Campbell announced on Dec. 5 that he was leaving Iowa State after 10 years as the Cyclones’ head coach. He was quickly succeeded by Washington State’s Jimmy Rogers, who has a big job in front of him to replace the exodus of talent transferring out of Ames.

Source link