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Hines mailbag: What happened to Cyclones in Iowa State football’s first loss?

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Hines mailbag: What happened to Cyclones in Iowa State football’s first loss?


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AMES – We are officially underway. 

The Iowa State football season has hit its first patch of adversity while the top-10 men’s and women’s basketball seasons, along with wrestling, have tipped off. 

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We are in the thick of it. 

We’ll know how football handles its first loss well before we know a whole lot about either the men’s team (first difficult opponent: Nov. 25 vs. No. 11 Auburn) or women’s team (Nov. 28 vs. No. 1 South Carolina), but this month of overlap keeps things humming on campus. 

While coach Matt Campbell’s bunch suffering their first loss of the season certainly put a damper on things, it’s still an incredible time for Iowa State athletics . Much of it has built on anticipation, but now is the time for the doing. 

Football needs to get back on track. Hoops needs to deliver when it’s time later this month. 

If they do, it’ll be one heck of a winter in Ames. If they don’t, well, we can worry about that in March. 

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Let’s get to your mailbag questions. 

Football: The offense last Saturday just looked off. Was it the Tech defense, the bye week, injuries, play-calling? What are your thoughts? 

I have a few. 

I think it’s likely that all those factors you mentioned played a part as well as some others. Probably. 

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But I think more generally speaking, one of two things happened against Texas Tech. 

Either Iowa State just had a bad night or the Cyclones’ improvement is starting to get incrementally smaller (or going the other way). 

I think it’s more likely it was just a bad night. 

The Cyclones have been great at winning the turnover battle. They lost it while losing their first fumble of the season. The came into the night the least-penalized team in the country. They were flagged time and again against Tech. They’ve made the big play when it mattered most all season long. Against Tech, they couldn’t get that final stop. 

That seems like a lot of out-of-character stuff coming out of a bye week. You certainly can’t just dismiss it, but the simplest answer is the Cyclones finally had a poor game. And it cost them. 

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If you’re more on the pessimistic end, I do think there’s evidence that there’s something more structurally afoot. 

The injuries could be catching up to them. The play-calling could be getting predictable from a first-time play-caller. The grind of the season – and the pressure of real expectations – might be weighing on the team. Opponents might be game-planning better with more film. 

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Even if those things are true, all of those, save one, are correctable. 

The one that can’t be fixed is injuries. In fact, I’d guess Iowa State’s injury situation gets worse before it gets better. 

None of the linebackers are expected back until December, if at all. The lingering issues aren’t going to go away during the season’s most physically demanding month.  Which is to say, I don’t know that you can count on seeing a 100 percent healthy Carson Hansen or Cael Brezina again this regular season. Or anyone else dealing with the physical stressors that come from a demanding season.

That’s the concern I have. Iowa State has to make due with what it has now – and maybe even less, given how injuries are possible on every snap. 

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Basketball: Can we get more explanation on why Milan Momcilovic isn’t starting, after he did last year? 

We got some coach-speak from T.J. Otzelberger about his lineup after Monday’s pummeling of Mississippi Valley State, but here’s my assessment. 

Tamin Lipsey and Keshon Gilbert are locks to start. If Momcilovic starts at the three, you can’t start Curtis Jones. If you start Jones at the three and Momcilovic at the four, you’re stressing both of them in defensive mismatches while also likely surrendering rebounding. 

In order to do that, you have to score enough to offset that situation. And, thus far, the evidence is not there to suggest that lineup can deliver over long stretches. In spurts? Sure, but I don’t think it’s there yet to survive over the bulk of 40 minutes. 

So that leaves you with a Jones or Momcilovic starter question, and it’s clear the staff has decided Jones is the better option. At least for the moment. 

I think the staff certainly wanted to get more out of Momcilovic at times – basically begging him to shoot more aggressively – but I think this is more of a “making the pieces fit” issue than this being used to light-a-fire type deal. 

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I imagine both Jones and Momcilovic are part of Iowa State’s core and probably closing lineup, but it may have to be staggered or without one of those two other guards on the floor for Iowa State to make it work right now. 

Iowa State columnist Travis Hines has covered the Cyclones for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune since 2012. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000. Follow him on X at @TravisHines21.



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Penn State earns commitment from Iowa State leading wide receiver via transfer

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Penn State earns commitment from Iowa State leading wide receiver via transfer


Penn State landed Iowa State’s pair of quarterbacks earlier Sunday, including starter Rocco Becht, in a splash move. Now, the Cyclones’ leading receiver is coming with them.

Wide receiver Brett Eskildsen committed to Penn State via the transfer portal, becoming the seventh Cyclone to join the Nittany Lions this weekend. He announced the move on social media.

Eskildsen recorded 30 receptions, 526 yards and five touchdowns as a sophomore in 2025. He also appeared in all 13 games as a freshman but made just two catches for 17 yards.

The 6-1, 200-pound wideout is from Frisco, Texas, and is a three-star in the 247Sports transfer rankings (No. 118 overall, No. 30 WR). He was a three-star out of high school as well, where he had more than 1,5000 career receiving yards.

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Becht’s top man from 2026 is now in place. He’ll also be able to throw to standout Penn State freshman Koby Howard and quick youngster Tyseer Denmark, who have confirmed their returns thus far.

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Iowa State picks up commitment from Arkansas State QB Jaylen Raynor

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Iowa State picks up commitment from Arkansas State QB Jaylen Raynor


Iowa State football has picked up a commitment from Arkansas State quarterback Jaylen Raynor, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Jan. 3.

Raynor has one season of eligibility remaining. The 6-foot, 202-pounder from Kernersville, North Carolina, passed for 3,361 yards and 19 touchdowns this season. He was intercepted 11 times.

Raynor also rushed for 423 yards and seven touchdowns.

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He passed for 8,694 yards and 52 touchdowns in three seasons at Arkansas State.

“The (Iowa State) coaching staff is known for winning,” Raynor told Thamel. “The head coach is a known winner and done it on multiple levels.”

Raynor will join Arkansas State offensive coordinator Keith Heckendorf in Ames. Heckendorf was named Cyclones quarterbacks coach this week.

Raynor completed 19 of 33 passes for 222 yards in a 24-16 loss to Iowa State on Sept. 13, 2025.



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Seven Iowa High School Wrestlers Off To Dominant Starts This Season – FloWrestling

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Seven Iowa High School Wrestlers Off To Dominant Starts This Season – FloWrestling


The first month of the Iowa high school wrestling season has been filled with scintillating individual performances. Here’s a look at seven standouts who have been racking up bonus points in December. 

Drew Anderson (Riverside)  

The Class 1A state runner-up last year at 132 is up to 144 this season and he’s 14-0 with 11 technical falls, a pair of pins and a forfeit win. Anderson, a junior in his second season at the school, already owns the Riverside school record for technical falls with 28. Anderson is on pace to more than double the previous Riverside tech record of 23. 

Urijah Courter (West Marshall)

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Courter won the 2A title last season at 113 after placing third as a freshman at 106. He’s up to 120 this season. Courter is 14-0 this season with 10 pins and two technical falls. His ledger also includes a 6-5 win against Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont’s Simon Bettis in a rematch of last season’s state title bout. 

Cooper Hinz (Jesup)

Entering the holiday break, Michigan commit and two-time state medalist Cooper Hinz is 22-0 with 21 wins via pin, technical fall or forfeit. His other victory was a 4-1 overtime decision against returning state placewinner Cain Rodgers of North Fayette Valley. More impressively, all of Hinz’s pins and technical falls have all come in the first period. 

Lincoln Jipp (Bettendorf)

Jipp placed fifth at 138, third at 165 and second at 175 in Class 3A during his first three seasons. Now he’s up to 215 — 77 pounds more than where he started his career as a freshman. The North Carolina recruit pinned his way through the prestigious Dan Gable Donnybrook. He’s 16-0 with 10 pins, four technical falls and a forfeit.   

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Mason Koehler (Glenwood)

The returning 2A champ at 215 is 20-0 with 18 pins and a major decision. His only two matches that went the distance came at the Council Bluffs Classic, where he defeated Nebraska standout Ryan Boehle of Grand Island 14-4 and Minnesota hammer Joe Kruse of Totino-Grace 9-2. The rest of Koehler’s matches this season ended in first-period pins. He has already registered a six-second pin and another in nine seconds this season. 

Jaxon Miller (Carlisle)  

Miller is a three-time state medalist, a two-time finalist and returning state champ in Class 3A. He placed fourth as a freshman at 145 before making trips to the finals at 157 and 165. He’s 16-0 this season with 13 first-period pins, two technical falls and a forfeit. 

Keaton Moeller (Starmont)

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Moeller placed third in 1A as a freshman at 145 before winning a state title at 150 as a sophomore. He missed all of last season after suffering a torn ACL in football. Now he’s back as a senior at 190 and Moeller hasn’t missed a beat. He’s 13-0 with five pins, six technical falls and a pair of forfeits. He has yet to wrestle a full period this season. 

Iowa High School Premium Rankings

Check out the Iowa High School Wrestling Premium Rankings, which are generated by using an athlete’s complete match history to predict a wrestler’s performance against others in their weight class by considering factors such as win-loss records, the quality of their victories (pins, technical falls, major decisions), the strength of their opponents and overall historical performance patterns. The data is updated every Monday, sourced from the Trackwrestling season results. Since each team is responsible for maintaining their season results, any data discrepancies for a wrestler should be addressed by contacting their coach to manage the information within the season. This includes the weight class assigned. Wrestlers are eligible to be ranked after competing in five matches at a single weight.





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