Iowa

Launching Iowa ag secretary bid, Jones challenges ethanol

Published

2 months ago

January 16, 2026

Press Room

Launching Iowa ag secretary bid, Jones challenges ethanol

Chris Jones, a critic of Iowa’s farm pollution, is running for the state’s secretary of agriculture.
Jones advocates for regulations to curb farm pollution and criticizes the state’s reliance on ethanol and large animal feeding operations.
Jones suggests diversifying crops beyond corn and soybeans and returning to more traditional animal farming methods.

Chris Jones, a critic of Iowa’s efforts to curb farm pollution, says he’s running to be the state’s secretary of agriculture because he wants to revamp a system that enriches giant corporations while creating environmental problems and leaving farmers struggling financially.

The 65-year-old former University of Iowa researcher, announcing his bid Thursday, Jan. 15, said Iowa needs “common sense regulations” that will better prevent farm pollution. He slammed Iowa’s embrace of ethanol and CAFOs, confined animal feeding operations, that house thousands of pigs, chickens, turkeys and cows across Iowa.

“Clearly, the public is not getting the environmental outcomes they want from this production system,” Jones said during a news conference in front of Des Moines Water Works.

He noted that the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers, sources of drinking water for 600,000 central Iowa residents, were above the federal government’s nitrate limit for safe drinking water Thursday.

Des Moines Water Works, which noted that it doesn’t endorse political candidates, said it’s run its nitrate removal system since Jan. 6, the first time it’s had to do so in January since 2015. Last summer, Central Iowa Water Works, a group of utilities that includes Des Moines Water Works, banned customers from watering their lawns for nearly two months as it struggled to maintain enough treatment capacity to deal with record-high nitrate levels.

Jones also said farmers “are not getting the economic outcomes they want,” pointing to the $12 billion in assistance that the Trump administration announced this month to help offset their financial and trade losses.

“Who’s getting the favorable outcomes? It’s these multinational and ungovernable corporate agribusinesses” like Bayer AG, Koch Industries and Syngenta Corp. that supply seed, chemicals and other products to farmers, said Jones, a Democrat.

He criticized Mike Naig, the incumbent who is seeking his third term as agriculture secretary, saying the Republican is beholden to big ag companies. Naig, who grew up on a northwest Iowa farm, worked for Monsanto Corp., now part of Bayer, as a government affairs manager from 2008 to 2013, according to his LinkedIn page.

“I want to be the secretary of agriculture for all Iowans… not just for corporate agriculture,” Jones said.

Wade Dooley, a central Iowa farmer, also announced his bid for ag secretary this week. A Democrat, he said Des Moines leaders are too focused on “helping big businesses and political insiders who are doing just fine.”

Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said in a statement Thursday that “while Democrats argue over which extreme leftist will lose” to Naig, the 47-year-old ― who easily defeated Democratic opponent John Norwood in 2022 ― is “focused on leading Iowa.”

“His record is clear: expanding markets for Iowa agriculture, accelerating conservation efforts, and delivering real results for Iowa families,” Kaufmann said. “That’s the steady leadership Iowans want, not Democrat policies that lead to higher taxes and heavier regulations that drive up gas and grocery prices.”

Here’s what to know about other issues Jones addressed.

‘I don’t think ethanol has a good future’

Calling ethanol a dead end, Jones said Iowa is too reliant on the renewable fuel, which annually consumes about half the state’s nation-leading corn crop.

“I don’t think ethanol has a good future. I think the state needs to retreat from ethanol as a feature of its production system,” given the nation’s shift to electric vehicles, he said.

Jones said Iowa needs farmland the size of “about 20 counties” to provide the corn needed to make ethanol each year.

“Instead of continuously trying to find what we can do with more and more and more corn, maybe let’s think about growing something else,” said Jones, who believes farmers should add small grains like oats and alfalfa to diversify Iowa’s predominant corn-and-soybean rotation.

The move would reduce the quantities of fertilizers and chemicals farmers need to use, build soil health and reduce weed and insect pressure, he said.

“We know we can grow oats here,” Jones said, adding that with cereal maker Quaker Oats “we have the world’s largest oat mill in Cedar Rapids. Why can’t we have some program that incentivizes oat production here?”

Carbon capture pipeline enriches ‘people who are already very wealthy’

Jones said he opposes Summit Carbon Solutions’ planned $5 billion pipeline that would capture the carbon emissions from renewable fuel plants across Iowa and other states and sequester it deep underground. “The pipeline will only serve to enrich people who are already very wealthy and do relatively nothing for climate change,” he said.

Summit, founded by big GOP donor Bruce Rastetter, has run into intense opposition as it’s tried to use eminent domain to force unwilling landowners in Iowa and elsewhere to sell it easements for the project, initially proposed to cross five states. Last year, South Dakota passed a law preventing the use of eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines. Summit had planned for its pipeline to cross the state to reach a sequestration site in North Dakota, but is now considering other destinations.

Iowa lawmakers also want to restrict eminent domain powers, and are trying again in this year’s session after Gov. Kim Reynolds vetoed legislation they passed last year.

Ethanol advocates say the proposed pipeline is critical to cutting the biofuel’s carbon footprint and maintaining its viability. “Iowa farmers cannot afford, literally, to be cut out of the most exciting emerging demand for corn, ultra-low carbon ethanol markets,” Monte Shaw, Iowa Renewable Fuels Association’s executive director, said in a statement Tuesday.

Iowa should consider some ‘common sense regulations’ for agriculture

Jones said he supports “common-sense regulations” that could improve water quality, like reassessing the rules around CAFOs, preventing fall tillage that puts manure on snow and frozen ground, and requiring grass buffers along waterways.

Iowa now provides millions of dollars annually to help farmers voluntarily adopt conservation practices like cover crops that keep runoff from reaching rivers, streams and lakes, as well as to build edge-of-field infrastructure like bioreactors and wetlands that clean water leaving farmland. But the state has resisted mandatory requirements.

Jones said Iowa should rethink the state’s master matrix,” which sets requirements guiding where CAFOs may be built. And “we need to return some authority to counties on livestock (facilities) siting,” he said.

Elected county officials and residents have expressed frustration that they have little power over where CAFOs are located. Projects often encounter opposition because they’re seen as being located too close to towns, schools or other places where people congregate, or as threatening environmentally sensitive lakes or streams.

Jones said the state’s CAFOs are contributing to diseases like bird flu that have resulted in millions of chickens, turkeys and other commercial and backyard birds being destroyed to prevent the disease from spreading.

“The root cause of the problem is the way we raise animals,” he said. “When we confine thousands and thousands of animals into a tight spot, disease is going to be intrinsic to that system.”

Jones said Iowa needs to “look at returning animals to more traditional methods” production, with smaller herds that graze in grass pastures.

Donnelle Eller covers agriculture, the environment and energy for the Register. She can be reached at deller@registermedia.com.

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Iowa

Iowa State’s Bill Fennelly names plays after former Cyclone greats and coaches

Published

10 hours ago

March 19, 2026

Press Room

Iowa State’s Bill Fennelly names plays after former Cyclone greats and coaches

AMES — During the third quarter of the Iowa State women’s basketball team’s Jan. 7 game at Cincinnati, coach Bill Fennelly wanted to get his players a good look for a 3-pointer. So as Fennelly gathered his team on the sideline during a break, he called the play Lake Park.

“It’s a misdirection,” Fennelly said.

The play was devised by Fennelly in the 1990s and it’s designed to set up a shot from beyond the arc. It’s named after Tara Gunderson, a former 3-point shooting star for the Cyclones who hails from Lake Park in northwest Iowa.

Just as Fennelly hoped it would, the Cyclones freed up a shooter with the play.

“We got a 3,” Fennelly said.

Lake Park is one of more than 100 plays that Fennelly has on his call sheet. All of them have special names honoring people who have had a huge impact on his life. Coaches, family, friends and current and former players have plays named after them.

The Cyclones will be using those plays when 8-seed Iowa State takes on 9-seed Syracuse in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at 4:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, March 21 in Storrs, Conn.

“I think it’s cool,” said Iowa State point guard Jada Williams. “It kind of helps us remember a little bit more because we’re familiar with all the names that we call.”

Fennelly, in his 49th season of coaching, has been naming plays like that for as long as he can remember. While most coaches use numbers or descriptions to call plays, Fennelly has gone this route, instead choosing names, locations and nicknames.

“I think it resonates with them a little bit better,” Fennelly said.

Some of the plays have a symbolic meaning. Like Lake Park being a 3-point shooting play. The Cyclones also run a 3-point shooting play for Iowa State center Audi Crooks called “Algona,” named after her hometown. They also have a play named after current Cyclones men’s basketball player Milan Momcilovic, a star shooter from beyond the arc.

One of the most unique plays the Cyclones run is named after former Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy, who is now a star for the San Francisco 49ers. “Purdy” is an inbounds play where all five players line up under the hoop. When the whistle is blown, four players take off down the court like wide receivers. The inbounds passer acts as a quarterback, looking for an open target to pass to.

Former Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht also has a play named after him. It’s a deep pass in transition or late in the shot clock or game clock.

Last year, the Cyclones used a play named after former Iowa State star Ashley Joens, the team’s all-time leading scorer.

Former Iowa State men’s basketball coaches Fred Hoiberg and Greg McDermott, who both coached the Cyclones during Fennelly’s tenure, also have plays named after them. Fennelly admits they were the inspiration behind the plays.

“To be honest, most of them are people I stole the play from,” Fennelly said.

Fennelly’s grandchildren also have plays named after them. His 11-year-old grandson, Will, the son of assistant coach and general manager Billy Fennelly, hears it often while he’s sitting in the stands at games. When his grandpa calls the play, Will sometimes thinks he’s trying to get his attention.

“Sometimes I’ll get super confused,” Will Fennelly said. “He’ll scream out my name and I’ll be like, ‘What?’ It’s just cool to have a play named after me.”

Fennelly periodically gets input from his players on naming new plays. Everything is fair game. The Cyclones have a play named “Coconut” after their trip to the Coconut Hoops event in Florida this season. Williams said one of the team’s most popular plays is called “Tessa,” named after Tessa Boccumini, the team’s associate director of sports medicine.

The names help players understand what they’re doing and get a better understanding of Iowa State history. “Lake Park,” for example, gives Fennelly an opportunity to talk about Gunderson and the impact she had on the Cyclones.

Gunderson is now the varsity girls baseball coach at Cretin-Derham Hall, a prestigious high school in St. Paul, Minn. She was surprised to hear Fennelly still uses the same name for that play.

“I’m kind of in disbelief,” Gunderson said. “It was a good play. We got a lot of open looks from it.”

As long as Fennelly keeps coaching, he’ll keep coming up with special names for his plays. He’s always on the lookout for new ideas. The tradition has gotten so popular that when Fennelly adds a play, his team gets excited for what they’ll name it.

One way for a player to leave their mark at the school is to have a play named after them.

“It’s kind of just the legacy of that and being able to run that play is definitely cool,” said Iowa State forward Addy Brown. I’ve just seen what they’ve done here. You hope that one day you leave and you have a play named after you.”

Tommy Birch, the Register’s sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He’s the 2018, 2020, 2023 and 2025 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.

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Iowa

Iowa State Wrestling Schedule: 1st Round ISU Matches At NCAA Championships – FloWrestling

Published

23 hours ago

March 18, 2026

Press Room

Iowa State Wrestling Schedule: 1st Round ISU Matches At NCAA Championships – FloWrestling

Iowa State opens the 2026 NCAA Division I Men’s Wrestling Championships on Thursday, March 19 in Cleveland with a lineup capable of producing points across all 10 weight classes.

The Cyclones enter the tournament as a top-10 team and feature a mix of high seeds and dangerous middle seeds who could make deep runs.

Action begins at noon ET with the preliminary round, where Iowa State will look to advance wrestlers and build momentum early in the team race. With top contenders like No. 1 Yonger Bastida and No. 2 Rocky Elam leading the way, the Cyclones have strong opportunities at the top of the bracket.

Here’s when Iowa State wrestling is in action on Thursday.

Iowa State Wrestling Schedule On NCAA Wrestling Championships Day 1

First-round action begins at noon ET. Take a look at the FloWrestling interactive bracket for times and mat information. The new FloWrestling Next Gen platform allows fans to track each match from anywhere in the world. Fans can get alerts for individual wrestlers and individual matches.

125: (13) Stevo Poulin vs. (20) Diego Sotelo (MICH)
133: (28) Garrett Grice vs. (21) Sean Spidle (NW)
141: (4) Anthony Echemendia vs. (29) Jordan Titus (WVU)
149: (16) Jacob Frost vs. (9) David Evans (UVU)
157: (12) Vinny Zerban vs. (13) Derek Raike (OHIO)
165: (15) Connor Euton vs. (18) Gunner Filipowicz (ARMY)
174: (11) MJ Gaitan vs. (22) Brody Baumann (PUR)
184: (13) Isaac Dean vs. (20) Brian Soldano (OKLA)
197: (2) Rocky Elam vs. (31) Kael Bennie (UVU)
285: (1) Yonger Bastida vs. (17) Vincent Mueller (COL)

NCAA Wrestling Championships 2026 Schedule

Thursday, March 19

12:00 p.m. ET: Session I (First Round) – ESPN2
7:00 p.m. ET: Session II (Second Round, Consolation Matches) – ESPN

Friday, March 20

12:00 p.m. ET: Session III (Quarterfinals, Consolation Matches) – ESPNU
8:00 p.m. ET: Session IV (Semifinals, Consolation Matches) – ESPN2

Saturday, March 21

11:00 a.m. ET: Session V (Medal Matches) – ESPNU
6:30 p.m. ET: Session VI (Finals) – ESPN

How To Watch NCAA Wrestling Championships 2026

The 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships will be broadcast across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU from March 19-21 in Cleveland.
Every match will also be streamed on ESPN+, including concurrent mat coverage.

NCAA Wrestling Championships Seeds 2026

Here are the top eight seeds for each weight class at the NCAA Wrestling Championships. See more here.

125 lbs

(1) Luke Lilledahl, Penn State
(2) Eddie Ventresca, Virginia Tech
(3) Nic Bouzakis, Ohio State
(4) Sheldon Seymour, Lehigh
(5) Troy Spratley, Oklahoma State
(6) Jore Volk, Minnesota
(7) Nico Provo, Stanford
(8) Dean Peterson, Iowa

133 lbs

(1) Jax Forrest, Oklahoma State
(2) Ben Davino, Ohio State
(3) Marcus Blaze, Penn State
(4) Aaron Seidel, Virginia Tech
(5) Kyler Larkin, Arizona State
(6) Drake Ayala, Iowa
(7) Lucas Byrd, Illinois
(8) Markel Baker, Northern Illinois

141 lbs

(1) Jesse Mendez, Ohio State
(2) Sergio Vega, Oklahoma State
(3) Brock Hardy, Nebraska
(4) Anthony Echemendia, Iowa State
(5) Luke Stanich, Lehigh
(6) Vince Cornella, Cornell
(7) Nasir Bailey, Iowa
(8) Vance Vombaur, Minnesota

149 lbs

(1) Shayne Van Ness, Penn State
(2) Jaxon Joy, Cornell
(3) Cross Wasilewski, Penn
(4) Collin Gaj, Virginia Tech
(5) Koy Buesgens, NC State
(6) Caleb Tyus, SIUE
(7) Ethan Stiles, Ohio State
(8) Casey Swiderski, Oklahoma State

157 lbs

(1) PJ Duke, Penn State
(2) Antrell Taylor, Nebraska
(3) Meyer Shapiro, Cornell
(4) Kaleb Larkin, Arizona State
(5) Landon Robideau, Oklahoma State
(6) Jude Swisher, Penn
(7) Kannon Webster, Illinois
(8) Brandon Cannon, Ohio State

165 lbs

(1) Mitchell Mesenbrink, Penn State
(2) Joey Blaze, Purdue
(3) Mikey Caliendo, Iowa
(4) Nicco Ruiz, Arizona State
(5) LaDarion Lockett, Oklahoma State
(6) LJ Araujo, Nebraska
(7) Max Brignola, Lehigh
(8) Matty Bianchi, Little Rock

174 lbs

(1) Levi Haines, Penn State
(2) Simon Ruiz, Cornell
(3) Christopher Minto, Nebraska
(4) Carson Kharchla, Ohio State
(5) Patrick Kennedy, Iowa
(6) Matty Singleton, NC State
(7) Cam Steed, Missouri
(8) Alex Facundo, Oklahoma State

184 lbs

(1) Rocco Welsh, Penn State
(2) Aeoden Sinclair, Missouri
(3) Max McEnelly, Minnesota
(4) James Conway, Franklin & Marshall
(5) Brock Mantanona, Michigan
(6) Eddie Neitenbach, Wyoming
(7) Angelo Ferrari, Iowa
(8) Silas Allred, Nebraska

197 lbs

(1) Josh Barr, Penn State
(2) Rocky Elam, Iowa State
(3) Stephen Little, Little Rock
(4) Sonny Sasso, Virginia Tech
(5) Joey Novak, Wyoming
(6) Justin Rademacher, Oregon State
(7) Cody Merrill, Oklahoma State
(8) DJ Parker, Oklahoma

285 lbs

(1) Yonger Bastida, Iowa State
(2) Isaac Trumble, NC State
(3) Taye Ghadiali, Michigan
(4) AJ Ferrari, Nebraska
(5) Nick Feldman, Ohio State
(6) Nathan Taylor, Lehigh
(7) Konner Doucet, Oklahoma State
(8) Ben Kueter, Iowa

FloWrestling College Wrestling Team Rankings

Penn State (Points: 164, Prev Rank: 1)
OK State (Points: 95.5, Prev Rank: 3)
Ohio State (Points: 94, Prev Rank: 2)
Nebraska (Points: 76.5, Prev Rank: 5)
Iowa State (Points: 68.5, Prev Rank: 4)
Iowa (Points: 66.5, Prev Rank: 6)
Virginia Tech (Points: 53.5, Prev Rank: 9)
Cornell (Points: 52, Prev Rank: 7)
NC State (Points: 48, Prev Rank: 8)
Arizona State (Points: 41, Prev Rank: 14)

Trackwrestling Has Joined The New FloWrestling

Trackwrestling has officially merged with FloWrestling, bringing its powerful tournament tracking tools and live data into a modern, all-in-one platform.

Fans can follow every bout with pro-grade brackets, mat schedules, team rosters and detailed wrestler profiles—all seamlessly integrated within FloWrestling.

This move delivers a faster, smarter and more connected experience for the wrestling community. Through the updated FloSports app, users can track live results, explore brackets and even sign up for free alerts so they never miss a match.

FloWrestling Archived Footage

Video footage from all events on FloWrestling will be archived and stored in a video library for FloWrestling subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscriptions.

Join The State Wrestling Conversation On Social

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Iowa

Fallen Iowa soldiers to be honored with escort route

Published

1 day ago

March 18, 2026

Press Room

Fallen Iowa soldiers to be honored with escort route

DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) – A tentative escort route has been set to honor Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien and Sgt. Declan Coady, two Iowa natives killed in an attack in Kuwait on March 1.

KCCI reports, the Final Salute shared the route for this Thursday, starting at the Des Moines International Airport between 1:30 and 2 p.m.

Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien and Sgt. Declan Coady(U.S. Army Reserve Command)

The procession will head northwest along McKinley Avenue to Park Avenue, then west to 63rd Street, and continue north.

The route will split as the remains make their way to their respective destinations.

Iowans are encouraged to line the route to pay their respects.

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