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Meet the Clog Fathers: One of Iowa’s Red Bull Soapbox Derby teams

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Meet the Clog Fathers: One of Iowa’s Red Bull Soapbox Derby teams


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  • Five friends from Pella, Iowa, entered the Red Bull Soapbox race in Des Moines.
  • Their car, the Clog Cruiser, is shaped like a Dutch clog.
  • The race takes place at the Iowa State Capitol Grounds on May 31.

A couple of months ago, Treyton Turnbull didn’t even know what a soapbox race was.

That was until the incoming junior at Iowa State University was sent an advertisement for the May 31 Red Bull Soapbox Race in Des Moines in a group chat with his friends.

“I saw the ad for it on Instagram and I initially sent it to the group chat as a joke,” said Ryan Sales, an incoming sophomore at University of Northern Iowa. “Everyone agreed to do it, and I remember being in my dorm room filling out the application thinking there’s no way we’ll get in.”

“When we got the email saying we made it, I was so pumped for it,” Sales said.

What began as a joke has turned into five hometown friends becoming fully immersed in soapbox racing, studying past Red Bull competitions to see what succeeded as they crafted their cart.

Their team name Clog Fathers pays homage to the classic mob drama “The Godfather” while also drawing inspiration from the team’s hometown of Pella and its deep Dutch heritage.

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“Growing up, we’d always go into town for Tulip Time, so we wanted to make our cart Dutch- or tulip-themed,” Turnbull said. “We thought about doing a windmill or corn because of Iowa, but we landed on a clog because we thought it would be fun to race down a hill in a giant shoe.”

Besides Turnbull and Sales, the group includes Donovan Helle, Nicolas Stanley and Kaiden Hol. Helle attends Central College, while Stanley and Hol are students at Des Moines Area Community College.

What will the Clog Fathers’ Red Bull Soapbox car look like?

The chassis of the cart comes from a four-wheeler and the outside frame will be in the shape of a clog that was pieced together from some spare metal scrap. The name of the cart is the Clog Cruiser.

“Going into this our expectations of what we were going to achieve were low, like we thought the car would look like a wreck,” Sales said. “But we’ve done a couple of test runs so far, and it’s actually come together a lot better than we were expecting.”

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Besides some members taking a welding class in high school, Turnbull said none have an engineering background or any experience making a soapbox car.

“We’re kind of just figuring it out as we go,” Stanley said.

Turnbull said the team has invested more than $400 in constructing the Clog Cruiser. He said they have secured sponsorships from local businesses in Pella to offset some of the costs.

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“We’re really scrounging around because I just got through freshman year of college, barely able to eat on finals week, so I can’t afford to fund a whole car,” Sales joked.

Turnbull will drive the cart with Stanley sitting behind him to distribute weight. As far as the team’s expectations for the Clog Cruiser, they’re keeping them relatively tempered.

“Our goal is just to make it to the finish line,” Stanley said. “We’re prepared to take a tumble or two if it means making it to the end.”

How to watch the Des Moines Red Bull Soapbox Race

The Red Bull Soapbox Race series premieres on Discovery. Each episode takes place in a different city. Des Moines is among six cities for the 2025 tour, including London and Madrid. Full episodes can be viewed via Discovery’s YouTube channel.

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Where is the 2025 Red Bull Soap Box Car Race in Des Moines?

The Red Bull Soapbox Car Race is at the Iowa State Capitol grounds in Des Moines, located on East Walnut Street.

The event starts at noon May 31 and is free for spectators. The top three teams will receive trophies and prizes.

Cooper Worth is a service/trending reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at cworth@gannett.com or follow him on X @CooperAWorth.



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Tamin Lipsey injury update, the latest on Iowa State basketball guard

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Tamin Lipsey injury update, the latest on Iowa State basketball guard


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LAS VEGAS — After getting time to further evaluate Tamin Lipsey’s status, Iowa State basketball ruled out the senior standout before the Cyclones’ 78-60 win over Creighton on Tuesday, Nov. 25.

Beyond that, though, his status remains unclear. Following Tuesday’s win over the Bluejays, head coach T.J. Otzelberger said that Lipsey remains day-to-day with a groin injury.

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“The decision was made this morning,” Otzelberger said. “Wanted to give it as much time as we could to see and Tamin certainly knows his body better, so we’ll just continue to evaluate it. It’ll stay as day-to-day, work with him and our training staff.”

It is not the same groin injury that Lipsey sustained towards the end of last season.

Lipsey’s latest injury occurred in the Cyclones’ 83-82 win over St. John’s. With 2:09 left in the game, Lipsey was hobbling while scrambling over to contest a shot. He went down to the side and did not return to the game.

Through five games this season, Lipsey is averaging 18.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 3.2 steals per game, while shooting 50.7% overall.

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The Ames native was off to an impressive start this year and appeared to be the healthiest he had been in his career after playing through the 2024-25 season while dealing with various injuries. He suffered an MCL injury that required him to miss six weeks of the preseason, but there didn’t seem to be any lingering effects once he returned for the regular-season opener.

Although an exact timetable for a return is uncertain, Otzelberger said the emphasis is on Lipsey’s health.

Iowa State improved to 6-0 overall and awaits its opponent for the third game of the Players Era Festival. The Cyclones won both of their games against St. John’s and Creighton, but they’ll need to wait out the results of the remaining games on Tuesday to see if they’ll play in the championship, third-place contest or one of the consolation games.

“We don’t want him to feel any additional pressure,” Otzelberger said. “As much as we’re competitive and want to win every game, Tamin has done so much for our program. We want him to be healthy. We want his body to feel great, and we want him to be at his best, and we’ll be disciplined until that time comes.”

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Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at erapay@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.





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Iowa Supreme Court upholds $4.25 million wrongful death verdict against Manchester police

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Iowa Supreme Court upholds .25 million wrongful death verdict against Manchester police


CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld a $4.25 million wrongful death verdict against the city of Manchester in the death of 31-year-old Gus Mormann, who died following a police chase in December 2020.

Mormann was killed after Lt. James Wessels of the Manchester Police Department continued a high-speed chase that other agencies had discontinued. The chase ended when Wessels crashed into Mormann’s motorcycle, severely injuring him. Mormann died about a month later from his injuries.

The case was never initially investigated until Mormann’s family took matters into their own hands, according to their attorney, Dave O’Brien.

“This case, for example, was never even investigated. No one would have ever heard of it if this family hadn’t sat down and said We’re going to get to the bottom of this,” O’Brien said.

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Mormann’s mother, Sandra, described her son as someone who “had a lot of friends, everybody just loved him.” She said he was known as a character who always made people laugh and was an avid outdoorsman. Mormann lived with schizophrenia and had previous encounters with Manchester police.

On December 10, 2020, Mormann was riding his motorcycle despite having a suspended license when a police chase began. Eight law enforcement officers from the state patrol, the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office, and the Manchester Police were involved as Mormann travelled at 100 mph.

The State Patrol and County Sheriff’s Office discontinued the chase, but Wessels continued pursuing Mormann. O’Brien said the police officer bumped Mormann’s motorcycle twice, causing him to crash.

Initially, Mormann’s parents were only told their son had gone into a ditch and was thrown from his motorcycle.

A jury found the police were reckless and disregarded Mormann’s rights, awarding the family $4.25 million. The Iowa Supreme Court upheld that verdict last week.

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O’Brien said cases like this don’t happen often, but when they do, they set a precedent.

“We honour officers in Iowa, but if they are committing reckless, egregious, wrongful conduct, we’re going to hold them accountable,” O’Brien said.

The attorney noted this outcome would have been impossible without Mormann’s parents pushing for answers. Sandra Mormann said the family continues to grieve.

“Now we just have a broken heart, empty soul,” she said.

O’Brien said the city still has avenues to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, but he believes that is unlikely to happen.

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25 burning questions we have entering the 2025-26 Iowa high school boys basketball season

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25 burning questions we have entering the 2025-26 Iowa high school boys basketball season


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The Iowa high school boys basketball season is almost here.

The Des Moines Register came up with 25 questions we’re asking about the upcoming IHSAA season, which begins on Dec. 1. Most questions focus on Des Moines-area teams, but our staff was also curious about teams and players all around the state.

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The answers to these questions will be revealed over the next few months.

25 questions entering the 2025-26 Iowa high school boys basketball season

  1. What does back-to-back-to-back state champion Valley look like under a new head coach and without players like Jayden McGregory, Kiki Deng, Trevin Jirak and Zay Robinson?
  2. With three of its five starters back – including Division I-bound big men Colin Rice and Landon Davis – is last season’s runner-up Waukee Northwest the favorite in Class 5A?
  3. Ames graduated most of its starting lineup from last year’s 21-win campaign. How many wins can the Little Cyclones pull off this season?
  4. Who will fill the Anthony Galvin-sized gap in Cedar Falls’ lineup?
  5. Cael LaFrentz scored 400 points as a sophomore and 701 as a junior. Can he break the 800-point mark in his final season of high school basketball?
  6. Is Des Moines Roosevelt the top team in the DMPS?
  7. Only one team across the state finished last season with an undefeated record. Can any programs do that this year?
  8. Players like Jevyn Severson (Madrid) and Pete Craig (Waukee) made an instant impact in their freshman year. Who will be the top first-year high school player in the state this season?
  9. Does Cedar Rapids Kennedy bring back enough firepower to return to the Casey’s Center for the fifth-straight season?
  10. Can Hudson Lorensen, Hudson Shull and Trey Bryte lead ADM back to the state tournament – and past the semifinals?
  11. Who will emerge as the best big man in Iowa?
  12. Will junior Lincoln Norris (Knoxville) sink over 100 3-pointers for the second-straight season?
  13. Can MOC-Floyd Valley make another surprising run in the state tournament, despite graduating three starters from last year’s championship-winning lineup?
  14. Dallas Center-Grimes graduated its leading scorer and leading assist-getter. Who will take over for Kyle Cason and Mateo Dzolota?
  15. Only one Iowa high school boys basketball player has ever scored over 1,000 points in a single season: Wapsie Valley’s Brooks McKowen in 2003. Are there any players capable of hitting that mark this year?
  16. Madrid capped an undefeated season with the Class 1A state title. After graduating three starting seniors – Brody Buck, Fabian Ortiz-Alaniz and Toryn Severson – can the Tigers make it back to the tournament?
  17. Will Des Moines Christian make it to the state tournament after coming up short last season?
  18. Jaxon Clark opted to return to Keokuk instead of playing for Montverde Academy. Will he lead the state in rebounds?
  19. Iowa City Liberty relied on a lot of young players last year. Can Jerimiah Washpun – who scored 437 points – and his teammates help the Lightning to a winning record?
  20. Dual-sport recruit Evan Jacobson opted to play his final season of high school basketball instead of graduating early. How far can he take Waukee after leading the Warriors in points and rebounds last year?
  21. Of the top 10 scorers in Class 5A from last season, seven graduated. Will Rio Aguirre (Ankeny), Washpun (Iowa City Liberty), Tevin Schultz (Dubuque Senior) or someone else emerge as the top scorer in Iowa’s largest class?
  22. What does Linn-Mar look like without Davis Kern on the court?
  23. It’s been a couple of years since Pryce Sandfort (Waukee Northwest) scored over 600 points in a single season. Will any player in Class 5A break the 600-point mark?
  24. West Lyon came up short last season, losing to Western Christian in the state title game. Can Jorden Meyer, Jared Ciesielski and Ben Meyer lead the Wildcats back to the state tournament?
  25. Which program – across all four classes – has the best shot of winning its first-ever state championship?

Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.





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