Iowa
Possible East Coast port strike will increase costs in Iowa
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – An East Coast port strike could be just days away, and that could mean spending even more at the grocery store and for other goods here in Iowa.
Workers at the ports along the East Coast are set to strike October 1st.
Around 45,000 dock workers on the East Coast are likely to go on strike for the first time since 1977.
But according to supply chain experts here in Iowa, even if the strike doesn’t end up happening, the damage is already done.
“Apple watch, they’d usually use a port maybe in New England to serve that market, they’ve already diverted their shipments,” said Dr. Andy Anderson, UNI supply chain management professor.
In anticipation of a possible strike, ships on the sea right now are going to the West Coast instead of the East coast.
That means a lot of ships need to take a long detour, which could pose a big risk for any perishables being shipped.
“So what we saw in 2015 with the [West Coast] port strikes is that we saw a lot of things just rotting in their containers because there were so many delays,” Anderson said.
Another factor is that ports on the west coast will be handling ships that normally go to the east coast, which could lead to a big traffic jam for ships on the East Coast.
“West Coast cannot handle the entirety of all these five major East Coast ports, the volume,” said Jade Chu, UNI supply chain management professor.
Delays for perishable products mean trips to the grocery store will be more expensive.
Plus, with the holidays coming up, lots of goods that would be shipped in time for holiday shopping are now potentially being delayed.
“So something that’s small and high in value like an iPhone probably isn’t going to be impacted that much, but if you have something that is much larger and lower value, then you’re going to see a big impact,” Anderson said.
While he still expects shelves to be stocked here in Iowa, delays and some scarcity mean higher costs.
Copyright 2024 KCRG. All rights reserved.
Iowa
Iowa State Wrestling Finding Silver Linings In Injury-Riddled Season – FloWrestling
Iowa State head coach Kevin Dresser’s learned a lot of things about wrestling during his more than four-decade relationship with the sport.
You can plan and prep and grind and grapple, but when fate takes a hand, resistance is futile.
Case in point, this season: Four Cyclone starters have been forced to sit out indefinitely because of injuries, and several others have missed time because of various maladies. Dresser said he’s been “scratching his head” as the unfortunate chain of events unfolded — not grousing or complaining, just adapting and patching holes in the lineup any way he can.
“(Last) year, just about everything went right and we probably had the same lineup 90 percent of the time,” said Dresser, whose team took home a trophy from the 2024 NCAA Championships for the first time since 2010. “And this year it completely flipped. I think what it does is it forces you to get tough, and it forces you to put guys in there that in the long run will be better now because we’ve had some guys who never would have got reps, and now they’re getting reps. So you always try to find a silver lining, and that’s my silver lining.”
Dresser eclipsed the 250-career dual wins mark last weekend as the patchwork Cyclones beat Arizona State and Pitt. Iowa State’s nearing full strength in terms of its remaining wrestlers, but will still be without veteran 125-pounder Kysen Terukina Friday at South Dakota State and Sunday at intrastate rival Northern Iowa.
As for that “silver lining,” Dresser said Terukina should be back before the Big 12 Championships — and top 157-pounder Cody Chittum will wrestle this weekend after battling a stomach bug.
“I was pretty bummed out sitting on the couch and vomiting,” said the 10th-ranked Chittum, who’s fought through an array of injuries and illnesses to be a bright spot for the Cyclones this season. “So, it’s way better.”
Chittum will face #18 Cobe Siebrecht of the Jackrabbits and fifth-ranked Ryder Downey of the Panthers this weekend, so he’ll need to be at his best to improve on his 13-2 mark this season.
“This (will) be a great test because this guy from UNI wrestles really smart,” Dresser said. “He’s really savvy, so you’ve got to beat him on the mat and you’ve got to beat him in the head game, so I’m really excited to see that match and I know Cody is, too.”
Iowa State may also see 14th-ranked 184-pounder Evan Bockman return to the lineup after being stricken with mono — and if he can go, he’ll also face stiff competition in South Dakota State’s #5 Bennett Berge and second-ranked Parker Keckeisen of UNI.
“We’ll definitely take two guys at ’84, but he’s feeling a lot better,” Dresser said of Bockman, who will be a match-time decision along with backup Caleb Helgeson. “I let him choose the week before and he went out there and wrestled with mono, so I’m not giving him any more choices.”
Dresser’s had to make some difficult choices with All-Americans Yonger Bastida (heavyweight), Anthony Echemendia (141/149) and Casey Swiderski (141/149) out for the season, along with up-and-coming freshman 165-pounder Connor Euton. But that spate of misfortunate has opened up opportunities for 141-pounder Jacob Frost and heavyweight Daniel Herrera, among others, and they help form that “silver lining” Dresser mentioned.
Frost — whose brother, Evan, earned All-American honors at 133 as a freshman last season — replaced Echemendia in the lineup and has risen to #9 at 141.
“He’s definitely a top-10 guy,” Dresser said of Frost, who will face #5 Cael Happel on Sunday. “This is gonna be a great test for him this weekend.”
Herrera — formerly a “fast food king” per Dresser — has completely transformed his body while sharpening his skills on the mat. The freshman from Indio, Calif., showed that last weekend when he went toe-to-toe with #5 Cohlton Schultz of Arizona State before falling, 3-0, and did the same with Pitt’s #17 Dayton Pitzer before dropping a 5-3 decision.
“(He took) a lot of butt-kickings in the room early,” Dresser said of Herrera. “Not that he still doesn’t take a few, but I found out — I think I said Sunday (after the dual) — what a competitor he is. He doesn’t like to lose and he competes really well.”
None of that would have revealed itself until Bastida suffered a knee injury that failed to heal up as expected, forcing him to join three of his teammates in seeking a medical redshirt. So Dresser will gladly take that “silver lining” along with several others, and won’t let the phrase “what might have been” creep into his mind. He’s excited about what’s happening now — as is Herrera, whose gas tank and potential grows stronger every day.
“Early in the year, I would get so tired, and it was really bad,” the 30th-ranked Herrera said. “One thing I’ve learned about that is it’s more of a mindset than it is physical. I developed that mindset of you’re not tired — and one way to get rid of that is just to be excited and compete. Be grateful for the opportunity and just go out there and show it.”
Iowa
Several players contribute for No. 10 Iowa State in 77-65 road win at UCF
Feb 11, 2025; Orlando, Florida, USA; Central Florida Knights guard Mikey Williams (1) defends Iowa State Cyclones guard Keshon Gilbert (10) at Addition Financial Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russell Lansford-Imagn Images
Iowa State’s Curtis Jones and Milan Momcilovic shined early, then went into the deep freeze Tuesday at UCF.
A recipe for a tense game?
Nope — and that’s because everyone in the No. 10 Cyclones’ rotation made major contributions in an eventual 77-65 win in Orlando.
Seven players for ISU (19-5, 9-4) scored between eight and 15 points to send the slumping Knights (13-11, 4-9) to their fifth straight loss.
“We did a lot of winning things,” head coach T.J. Otzelberger said on the Cyclone Radio Network after the game. “I felt like offensively we really had great intent to make the right play. It wasn’t a great shooting night for us by any stretch, but I felt like our guys were taking the right shots.”
Keshon Gilbert led the Cyclones with 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting. Joshua Jefferson narrowly missed his 10th double-double of the season with 13 points and eight rebounds. Tamin Lipsey added 11 points and Jones totaled 10 to help complete the regular-season sweep of UCF.
“We just need to continue to make the right plays for our teammates,” Otzelberger said. “I felt like we focused on doing that, and then the free-throw line was big for us late.”
ISU made 15 of its 17 free-throw attempts in the second half — and drained 10 in a row as the Knights tried to rally behind full-court pressure and fouls to extend the game. Cyclone reserves Nate Heise and Brandton Chatfield contributed their best offensive performances in several games, combining for 17 points and eight rebounds to help their team win its second game in a row. Heise had scored a total of seven points in his previous five games.
“He’s brought a lot to the table even though you watch the offense and you say the shots not falling or he doesn’t look aggressive,” Otzelberger said. “We’ve continued to be demanding of it and as aggressive as he’s been defensively, he was shot-ready offensively — and that’s what Nate Heise’s here to do.”
Chatfield had scored a total of eight points in his previous seven games and collected just three rebounds in his most recent three games.
“I’m his roommate and I spend a lot of time with him,” Heise said. “It’s always great to see him do well because he’s the ultimate team guy.”
ISU looked good early, as well, starting 4-for-8 from 3-point range and racing to an early 18-9 lead before UCF made a run. The Knights scored 16 of the game’s next 20 points to take a 25-22 lead with 4:51 left in the first half. The Cyclones responded with a late 7-0 run fueled by two baskets by Gilbert and held a narrow 32-30 edge at the break.
Jones scored all of his 10 points in the first half, and shot just 2-for-9 from beyond the arc. Jefferson added six points before the break and Gilbert had five for the Cyclones, who totaled 10 assists on 13 first-half field goals but shot just 1-for-4 from the free-throw line in the opening 20 minutes.
The Cyclones return to action Saturday against Cincinnati (15-9, 5-8), which has won three games in a row. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
“We know we’re gonna have a great crowd,” Otzelberger said. “There’s gonna be great energy in Hilton on Saturday. We’ll be excited to be at our best in a great environment.”
Iowa
Leistikow: The beauty of Iowa women’s basketball shines amid officiating chaos at Nebraska
Lucy Olsen reacts to her 32-point game in Iowa’s win at Nebraska
The Iowa senior scored 32 points with six rebounds and seven assists. She recaps the big night, all the foul calls and why she didn’t wear sleeves,
LINCOLN, Neb. − One of Lisa Bluder’s lasting legacies in 24 years as Iowa women’s basketball head coach was the mantra, “Everyone matters.”
From a generational superstar like Caitlin Clark to the medical staff to the men’s practice squad to the last player on the bench, Bluder reinforced the message time after time after time. And, the best part is, everyone bought in.
Everyone matters.
An example like Kate Martin will endure forever. She tore an ACL days before her Iowa arrival as a freshman in 2018, but she learned to pour into her teammates that first season that saw Megan Gustafson and the Hawkeyes reach the Elite Eight. She learned that her value that season was to be a positive teammate.
Her second season, she played sparse minutes. By the time Martin was a sixth-year senior, she was not only the team’s “glue” in back-to-back Final Four runs, she was the No. 2 scoring option behind Clark. Martin stuck with it and now, against all early odds, is sticking in the WNBA.
Clark spoke recently at her No. 22 jersey retirement about the team culture that’s been kept in place under the direction of Jan Jensen, Bluder’s longtime assistant and now first-year head coach. Clark was confident that success would be coming for this team sooner than later.
And the more this first season post-Clark and post-Bluder unfolds, the easier it is to see that this program is very much going in the right direction.
On a Monday night that saw repeated perplexing whistles and key Hawkeye players on the sidelines with foul trouble, “everyone matters” won the day.
And Iowa defeated Nebraska, 81-66, in a dominant performance before 6,535 fans at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
“If you’d have told me all that foul trouble in the first quarter … and we’re still going to come out of here with a win?” Jensen said. “Yeah, that was crazy.”
At one point, Nebraska had shot 23 free throws to Iowa’s six. The pinnacle of questionable calls was Addison O’Grady’s clean blocked shot on Alexis Markowski late in the third quarter, with Iowa’s lead at 52-43.
Quick sidebar: The Iowa team meets every day in a circle, another Bluder staple because it has no true top and bottom, no starting point and end point. Jensen has continued the circle tradition.
Iowa leaned on that circle mentality amid the foul adversity Monday.
“You’ve got to just stay in the circle,” said Lucy Olsen, who played all 40 minutes and scored a season-high 32 points. “You just laugh it off like, ‘It’s not really happening.’ … You can’t control what the refs are calling. So you just take a step back and just remember, stay in the circle, every huddle.”
Instead of getting overly animated on the sideline like she had during Iowa’s five-game losing streak, Jensen remained calm and encouraged her team to try to stop fouling and control what it could control, like defense, rebounding and following the game plan.
7 happy minutes from Jan Jensen after Iowa’s 81-66 win at Nebraska
The Iowa head coach saw her team play another complete game, this one avenging an earlier-season loss to the Cornhuskers.
“Every game is a different story,” Jensen said, “and you have to adjust.”
This game’s story was about Olsen, the fouls and … the young freshmen, who were thrust into key roles and looked like veterans on the Big Ten Conference road.
“That’s what I think was so fun about this win,” Jensen said.
Ava Heiden, a 6-foot-4 true freshman who had not played a minute in Iowa’s last three games, was suddenly on the floor late in the first quarter with O’Grady and Hannah Stuelke saddled with two fouls. She responded with six second-quarter points on 3-for-4 shooting and played good defense on Markowski, Nebraska’s top player.
Heiden stayed ready. She played ready, unafraid of the moment.
“The freshmen are here to serve the team,” Heiden said, “and I think we’re doing a great job.”
Iowa’s Ava Heiden was ready when number got called against Nebraska
The freshman contributed six key second-quarter points in Iowa’s 81-66 win at Nebraska with teammates in foul trouble.
What a quote. What a mature mentality as a freshman.
Heiden isn’t the only Iowa rookie who has had inconsistent playing time.
Some nights, Taylor Stremlow plays 26 minutes; other nights, she’ll play eight.
Aaliyah Guyton might be great one night (15 points in 30 minutes vs. Northwestern), off the next (1-for-9 shooting vs. USC).
Teagan Mallegni has continued to get chances in small doses. Monday, with Sydney Affolter in foul trouble, she played 10:42 and delivered a clutch three-point play in the second quarter.
Iowa turned a 24-24 tie into a 36-27 lead, with all four freshmen scoring a bucket apiece. That’s a testament to the work they’ve been putting in behind the scenes.
Afterward in the locker room, the team also roared to celebrate Mallegni drawing her first charge of the season.
“When they’re used to playing so many minutes in high school, and then they play eight … it’s hard for them to realize how great that eight is,” Jensen said. “And I thought that’s what was cool about (Monday), is that they got their opportunities … and then they were ready for the moment.”
That’s the mark of a good team, which Iowa is right now with five straight wins to follow its concerning five-game losing streak. The Hawkeyes (17-7 overall, 7-6 in Big Ten play) are now solidly in the NCAA Tournament field as long as they don’t collapse in their final five regular-season games. Up next: Thursday at home against Rutgers (6:30 p.m., Big Ten Plus), which is 2-11 in conference play.
“We talked about (playing) your best basketball in February,” Jensen said. “And so far, we’ve been showing that.”
The freshmen respect the veterans and are understanding of their roles; the veterans such as Olsen and Affolter appreciate what they’ve seen from the rookies. After Affolter’s 3-pointer late in the third quarter pushed Iowa’s lead to double digits for the first time, Stremlow was one of the first players off the bench to give her a chest bump.
“They’re special,” Olsen said of the freshmen. “They show up every day, no matter how many minutes they play. It’s confusing as a freshman. You never know if you’re going to get in.
“We all have trust, every time they come on the floor. We know they’re going to try their best, and they’re good basketball players, too.”
Everyone matters.
Jensen has talked often about how close she thought this team was from breaking through, even amid the five-game losing slide that saw the Hawkeyes repeatedly find frustrating ways to collapse.
Now this team has reached a point where everyone knows their roles, where everyone’s comfortable in their roles … and that allows everyone to play freer and looser. That’s what a true team is all about.
We saw that with Olsen’s magnificent night, with 12-for-20 shooting, six rebounds and seven assists. We saw that with Taylor McCabe, the junior who didn’t play a year ago at Nebraska and this time knocked down five 3s and scored 17 points against her home-state team.
Nebraska native Taylor McCabe showed out for Iowa, her big contingent
The Iowa junior had her best game against the Cornhuskers, draining five 3-pointers in the second half Monday in Iowa’s 81-66 win.
The vibes are good with Jensen and the Hawkeyes entering the home stretch, and the confidence is justifiably high.
“Our ceiling is so high, and I think that we’re hitting it in stride, right at the right time,” McCabe said. “You just see it every day in practice, too. Those members of our team that don’t get in to play as much, they’re getting better, and so they’re raising everybody else to keep getting better.
“And we’re just all gradually moving up that ladder. I really think that we’re just going to do some damage down the stretch.”
Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has served for 30 years with The Des Moines Register and USA TODAY Sports Network. Chad is the 2023 INA Iowa Sports Columnist of the Year and NSMA Co-Sportswriter of the Year in Iowa. Join Chad’s text-message group (free for subscribers) at HawkCentral.com/HawkeyesTexts. Follow @ChadLeistikow on X.
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