Thursday November 19th Local Sports

CEDAR FALLS — The high school football championship games begin today. There will be a limited amount of fans in the stands and no Hall of Fame award presentations will be made, but three with north-central Iowa connections are being honored, two being inducted into the Iowa High School Athletic Association’s Hall of Fame, and one into the Iowa Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame:

== St. Ansgar native Ryan Hannam was a four-year starter who was the program’s career receiving leader and its first 1000 yard rusher in a season. A four-sport athlete who graduated in 1998, he then became a four-year letterwinner at tight end for the University of Northern Iowa. A fifth-round NFL draft pick, he played five seasons, including a Super Bowl XL appearance for the Seattle Seahawks.

== Britt native Kevin Sanger was a four-year letterwinner and playoff qualifier for his father Bob’s squad, including runner-up finishes in 1986 and 1987. The oldest of four football starring brothers graduated in 1989, earning first-team all-state honors in his junior and senior seasons. An all-conference defensive back, he later had an all-conference career at Central College.

== Former Hampton-Dumont coach Jerry Shafrath is being inducted into the Iowa Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Shafrath spent 24 years at Hampton-Dumont, including 21 years as the head coach. His team won 102 games and three district championships, including seven playoff appearances and a string of 28 consecutive regular season victories from 2005 to 2008.

The Iowa High School Athletic Association announced on Tuesday that performances, award presentations and halftime ceremonies have been cancelled due to the new spectator restrictions put in place by Governor Reynolds’ new COVID proclamation issued on Monday.

 

— Thursday’s championship games
8-Man — 10:00 — St. Mary’s of Remsen vs. Fremont Mills
Class A — 2:00 — Grundy Center vs. Iowa City Regina
Class 3A — 7:00 — Harlan vs. North Scott

— Friday’s championship games
Class 1A — 10:00 — Odebolt-Arthur/Battle Creek-Ida Grove vs. Van Meter
Class 2A — 2:00 — Central Lyon/George-Little Rock vs. Waukon
Class 4A — 7:00 — Southeast Polk vs. Ankeny

 

 

MASON CITY — A pair of NIACC left-handed pitchers have signed national letters of intent with NCAA Division I schools. Collin Kramer from St. Ansgar has signed with Charlotte, a Conference USA school that was 9-8 in the abbreviated 2020 season and was 21-31-1 in 2019. Kramer made three appearances in NIACC’s shortened 2020 season, picking up a win in six innings of work, striking out five. Minnetonka Minnesota native Nick Lommen has signed with Georgia State University of the Sun Belt Conference. Lommen started two games but did not have a record, striking out nine.

 

 

MASON CITY — State officials say that play must be suspended in the Midwest High School Hockey League due to the most recent COVID-19 proclamation issued on Monday by Governor Kim Reynolds, which includes the games for the Mason City Mohawk hockey team. The governor’s office confirmed to league officials on Wednesday that the proclamation, which started on Tuesday and is scheduled to end on December 10th, considers the high school league to be recreational and is therefore prohibited from gathering. Other high school sports teams under the affiliation of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union and the Iowa High School Athletic Association are being allowed to play at this time. The league on Wednesday night announced that they were pausing all league games until Friday December 11th. Practice is also paused for all Iowa teams during that period. The league hopes to follow the current schedule once play resumes. League officials earlier this week announced that all 12 teams will qualify for this year’s state tournament March 4th through the 7th in Ames. Typically only eight teams qualify.

 

 

MASON CITY — The North Iowa Bulls have announced that that team will be able to continue playing its upcoming home games with spectators at the Mason City Multipurpose Arena after receiving permission from the Iowa Governor’s office. The governor’s office issued a clarification on Tuesday to Governor Reynolds’ newest emergency proclamation. The clarification allows the Bulls to continue play under the guidance pertaining to college and professional sports, which will allow junior hockey teams to continue playing without having to limit attendance to two spectators per participant. Spectators will be required to wear a mask. The Bulls are scheduled to host a Friday-Saturday weekend series with New Ulm, with games both nights starting at 7:30.

 

 

SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento Kings have selected Tyrese Haliburton with the 12th overall pick in the NBA draft, adding depth to a backcourt that is almost certain to undergo significant changes. Haliburton averaged 15.2 points and 6.5 assists during his sophomore season at Iowa State. He shot better than 42% from 3-point range during his college career. Haliburton told ESPN that being picked 12th by the Sacramento Kings was a great experience to share with his mom and dad

Haliburton on ESPN said he’s excited to get after it with the Kings

Haliburton says he’s looking forward to getting after it with his new teammates

The 6-foot-5 Haliburton was projected to go as high as the Top 5 but fell to the Kings, where he will join point guard De’Aaron Fox in Sacramento’s backcourt.

 

 

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa, in conjunction with the Big Ten Conference, announced Wednesday its 2020-21 men’s basketball Big Ten schedule.

Iowa, ranked fifth nationally in The Associated Press Preseason Poll, plays six of its seven non-conference games at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, including the first six of the season.

The Hawkeyes begin the season next Wednesday, hosting North Carolina Central on Nov. 25 at 3 p.m. (CT). Two days later, Iowa will entertain Southern University on Nov. 27 at 4 p.m. (CT) as part of its multi-team event. Southern will challenge North Carolina Central on Thanksgiving.

The Hawkeyes will entertain North Carolina in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Dec. 8 and Northern Illinois on Dec. 13. The home dates for Iowa’s contest against Western Illinois and the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series game against Iowa State are being finalized and will be announced later.

Iowa closes its non-conference slate versus top-ranked Gonzaga on Dec. 19 at 11 a.m. (CT) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Iowa’s first of 20 conference games is scheduled for Dec. 22 in Iowa City against Purdue. The Hawkeyes will play the Boilermakers, Nebraska, Penn State once at home, while playing Illinois, Michigan and Maryland once on the road. Iowa will play the other seven league teams twice.

Iowa’s second conference game will be played on Christmas Day at Minnesota. It marks just the third time in program history that the Hawkeyes will play on Christmas; the previous two times were in holiday tournaments in Hawaii in 1984 and 1988.