11-28-22

CAMPUS LIFE

OPINION PAGE 3

CAMPUS LIFE PAGE 4

UNI pep band to stay home

Due to budget cuts, pep band will not travel to conference tournaments this year

MALLORY SCHMITZ

The spirit-filled tunes of the pep band are a longstand ing staple of UNI basketball games. However, any UNI basketball appearances in conference tournaments will be noticeably quieter this sea son.

Due to budget cuts within UNI Athletics, the pep bands will not travel to the confer ence tournaments for men’s and women’s basketball this year. The men’s basketball Missouri Valley Conference tournament is annually held in St. Louis, Mo., and the wom en’s conference tournament has been held in Moline, Ill., for the past six years.

Professor Justin Mertz, associate director of bands, explained that pep band is a partnership between the School of Music, the College of Humanities, Arts & Sciences and UNI Athletics.

“The School of Music and the college provide equipment in the form of instruments and the human resource directors to run the group, to rehearse

While the UNI pep band traditionally makes an appearance at both men’s and

tournaments to support the Panthers, Professor Justin Mertz,

director

funds for the band’s travel would not be available this year due to budget cuts.

the group, run the group, man age the group and conduct the group at all men’s and wom en’s home basketball games,” he said.

“The athletic department provides things like the band polo shirts and a fund for scholarships which, until this year, was used to incentiv ise students to travel to the post-season conference tour

naments and/or NCAA bas ketball tournaments,”

This year, however, Mertz said that he received the news in July that due to budget cuts, the band would not be funded to travel to those tournaments.

“It came out of nowhere, but it wasn’t complete ly surprising,” Mertz said.

“Campuswide there have been financial and budget challeng

es, and the athletic depart ment is no exception to that. It was not something we thought we would hear, but we weren’t surprised to hear it.”

UNI Athletics Director David Harris stated that the decision to cut funding for the pep band’s travel was not an easy one.

Traducción: Las experiencias de estudiantes internacionales

UNI aloja a estudiantes de diferentes países de todo el mundo. Muchas veces, venir a UNI para estos estudiantes internacionales es la primera vez en los Estados Unidos “Estamos muy interesados en tener la experiencia de vivir en los Estados Unidos porque lo conocemos solo por las pelícu las”, dice Gavik Kuruppu, un estudiante internacional de Sri Lanka. “América es uno de los mejores países del mundo y todos lo saben. Bueno aprendi endolo, viéndolo en las pelícu las, leyendo y luego por fin llegar aquí y vivirlo es lo que queremos. Entre más amis tades que creamos nosotros podemos tener más experien cias. Pues muestren cómo es y compartan sus experiencias.

UNI ROTC celebrates future Army officers with contracting ceremony

MALLORY SCHMITZ News Editor

On the morning of Nov. 17, UNI Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) honored the stu dents committed to taking the next step in Army leadership

with their contracting ceremo ny.

Cadets Dylan Carlsen, Dani Danielson, Wyatt Fitzgerald and Colin Spies were celebrat ed in the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center for contracting with the military

after graduation. UNI’s ROTC program also has an exten sion school, the University of Dubuque, bringing the total number of cadets contracting this semester to eight.

Lieutenant Colonel Dean R. Ray is the head of the Department of Military Science at UNI.

“They have an enlistment ceremony in the Army, and this is very much a similar thing,” he said. “The kids that are going to contract through out this semester have one, stood up and said that they are ready to serve, so they are signing their initial contract, they’re committing themselves to the Army and to the profes sion. Two, they’ve been cleared through all of the medical and physical requirements.”

The contracting ceremony was held alongside MercyOne’s Festival of Trees and the Veterans’ Breakfast.

“We don’t really get the opportunity to highlight the contracting ceremony like we would like to, because it is a big deal,” Ray said.

“The Festival of Trees has partnered with us for the past few years and given us the opportunity to highlight those kids during this ceremony, which is great thing because it’s a big deal for these kids, and it just shows the support from MercyOne, the community and the university for allowing us to partner with this event,” he said.

When cadets sign a contract, they agree to serve for eight years directly after graduating college. As Ray explained, this is the standard length of service for Army contracting, wheth er an individual joined out of high school, from a recruitment office or out of a university. However, the ROTC program is far more than just an Army recruitment tool.

“A lot of people interact with the Army and Army recruit ers coming out of high school and then when they come to college, they associate us with that. Which, we are in the same organization, but we’re going for a whole different mission set, because what we’re trying to do is build and grow officers and leaders,” Ray said.

CAROLINE CHRISTENSEN Escritora YESSENIA RODRÍGUEZ Traductora

COURTESY/INSTAGRAM

From left to right, cadets Dylan Carlsen, Dani Danielson, Wyatt Fitzgerald and Colin Spies contracted this semester. Contracting commits them to eight years of military service directly after graduation.

COURTESY/TWITTER

women’s conference basketball

associate

of bands, was informed in July that the

The Men’s Varsity Glee Club returns this weekend for their 45th Annual Christmas Variety Show.

OPINION

Guest Columnist Laura Belin from Iowa Capital Dispatch looks at recent diversity in Iowa Legislature.

SPORTS Panther football ends the regular season with a 58-14 victory over South Dakota.

We have over 100 years of leadership experience sitting right over here at the Nielsen Fieldhouse.

Lt. Col. Dean Ray Head of Department of Military Science

“As we were going through the budgeting process for [Fiscal Year] 23, we had been looking at all of our revenue and all of our expense and our responsibility to be able to submit a balanced budget for the athletics department and unfortunately, this ended up being an area that we had to eliminate for this year just because of a lack of funding to be able to provide this oppor tunity for the band,” Harris said.

The pep band is not the only area that has been recent ly affected by budget cuts in the athletic department.

Harris said that this year they have had to make a number of difficult decisions to eliminate job positions or leave certain positions vacant within the department

For Harris, there is no single major cause that led to increased budget cuts for 2023.

“I think for us, the cost of intercollegiate athletics is

INTERNACIONALES

extendida de página 1

Muchos estudiantes inter nacionales también pueden tener la experiencia de un choque cultural cuando hacen la transición a la vida en América. Nneoma Nnaji, un estudiante internacional de Nigeria, tuvo la experiencia de

always increasing, and so it becomes an annual process for us to look and see where we stand and what we need to do to be able to make sure that we’re financially sound for the next year,” he said.

Aside from general higher costs, Harris said that there has been a big push recently from the NCAA to better sup port student athletes.

“There’s a big emphasis now on trying to make sure that student athletes have the appropriate support across the board, and that’s certainly an upcoming challenge for us as we look at our finances,” he said.

While the pep band plans to only play in Cedar Falls this year, the decision to ground them is not necessarily a per manent one.

“As I said, these are annual decisions, so making the deci sion one year doesn’t mean that this will happen in the future. For us, if there’s even something that happens with in this fiscal year that provides funding that we hadn’t been able to identify previously,

un choque cultural en cómo las personas se vestían.

“Las personas aquí se vis ten muy informales cuando van a clases”, dice Nnaji. “Mi primer choque cultural fue cuando vi a alguien ir a clases en pijamas. Pienso que otro choque cultural fue cuando los profesores nos dejan comer en clase porque de donde soy,

then we certainly would want to make that funding avail able sometime between now and the tournament to allow the band to be able to go,” Harris said. “I don’t anticipate that happening, but certainly if that were identified, we’d want to be able to do that.”

Even though the budget cuts were not the results the band was hoping for, Mertz approaches the situation with understanding. “I don’t think this is an act of malfeasance or neglect or anyone doing something wrong, I just think it’s an unfortunate reality of the current climate,” he said.

“I think the student ath letes enjoy having the same kind of support they would get at their home stadium at the post-season tournaments, I definitely hope that we will be able to reinstate that if it ever became possible again,” Mertz said.

Mertz also specified that the scholarship fund that was previously used to fund travel is still available to financially support pep band students in other ways.

no nos dejan, y eso fue muy emocionante”.

Semyon Drozdetckii, un estudiante internacional de Rusia, notó que hay muchas similitudes entre Rusia y América, pero también nota las pocas diferencias como las direcciones de las cerraduras de las puertas.

“Las personas en Iowa

Harris echoed apprecia tion for the band, saying, “I would just say that we think that the presence of the band is important for us, certainly at our home games, and as well as any opportunity that they have to travel on the road whether it’s a game at an opposing team’s venue or a tournament.”

“We recognize the value of that, but when you’re star

son muy amables”, dice Drozdetckii. “Son mucho más amables que las personas en Rusia. Pero en Rusia, las per sonas usualmente te dicen lo que piensan de ti y a veces es necesario”.

Además de las diferen cias culturales, los estudi antes internacionales muchas veces prueban la comida de América por primera vez. Los panqueques fue una comida mencionada por diferentes estudiantes internacionales diciendo que es su comida favorita.

“Me dijeron que hay un día nacional de panqueques y que muchos pueblos chiquitos por todo Iowa tienen un día dedicado para el día de pan queque y dedican todo su día para hacer panqueques”, dice Kuruppu.

“Eso fue algo que me dio mucha emoción porque a mi me encanta un buen plato de panqueques”.

Nnaji también mencionó su amor por los panqueques.

“Lo único que oí en Nigeria antes de venir fue hamburgue sas, hamburguesas, hambur guesas”, dice Nnaji. “Disculpe pero no veo la emoción. Mi

ing at a financial reality that dictates that you can’t afford to make that investment, then you have to pay attention to that and make the best deci sion that you can for the entire department. We look forward to the opportunity to be able to provide that funding at some point in the future so that this can be reinstated,” Harris said.

comida favorita son las cos tillas y los panqueques. Yo nunca comí panqueques en casa pero los probé aquí y me encantaron”.

La semana de la edu cación internacional, que da comienzo el 14 de noviembre y termina el 18 de noviembre, permitirá a los estudiantes internacionales a demostrar su cultura, país y charlar con la comunidad del campus sobre sus experiencias. Kuruppu se emocionó por el evento de la prueba de cultura el 15 de noviembre desde las 4 p.m. hasta las 6 p.m., donde él va hacer su curry para su mesa de presentación de Sri Lanka.

Drozdetckii también estaba emocionado por el evento de la Sabor de la Cultura.

“Es una buena oportunidad para expandir mi conocimien to sobre la cultura de otras personas”, dice Drozdetckii.

Nnaji estaba emocionada por el karaoke y el baile inter nacional desde las 6 p.m. hasta las 8 p.m, como le han pregun tado que baila este evento.

NORTHERN IOWAN

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NI ARCHIVES

UNI aloja a muchos estudiantes de diferentes partes del mundo. Hace dos semanas se dedicó una semana para celebrar las diferentes culturas de los estudiantes internacionales así como con el resto de los estudiantes para compartir las costumbres y tradiciones de cada país.

COURTESY/TWITTER

According to UNI Athletics Director David Harris, the rising cost of intercollegiate athletics has had financial effects on not only the pep band, but also staffing within the department.

Elections bring more diversity to Iowa Legislature

Editor’s note: This article is from Iowa Capital Dispatch from Nov. 17, 2022.

LAURA BELIN Guest Columnist Knox told Bleeding Heartland in a telephone interview that his win was “exciting” and a little “over whelming.” Although “it’s a great accomplishment, there’s still too much work to do.” He was happy to see candidates representing many kinds of diversity on his ballot when he voted. That’s a “step in the right direction” for Iowa.

People of color, Iowans who identify as part of the LGBTQ communi ty, and those adhering to a non-Christian faith tradition will hold a record number of seats in the Iowa Legislature next year.

Racial and ethnic diversity

Just four years ago, four Black representatives in the 100-member House were the only people of color serving in the Iowa Legislature. The incoming Legislature will have a dozen lawmakers whose race or ethnicity will make the Statehouse more diverse.

Record representation for

Black Iowans

Prior to Nov. 8, only 19 Black Iowans (17 Democrats and two Republicans) had ever been elected to the state Legislature.

After winning the race in deep blue Iowa Senate District 17, Democrat Izaah Knox will become the sec ond Black Iowan to serve in the 50-member state Senate and the first since Thomas Mann, Jr. completed his sec ond term in 1990.

The outgoing Iowa House has six Black members, tying a record set in 2009 and 2010. Five sought another term, and four were success ful:

• Democrat Ruth Ann Gaines won in House District 33 (Des Moines), where she was unopposed.

• Democrat Ako AbdulSamad won in House District 34 (Des Moines). He will become Iowa’s longest-serving Black legislator.

• Democrat Ross Wilburn won in House District 50 (Ames), where he was unopposed.

• Republican Eddie Andrews won in House District 43 (Johnston and a small area in Des Moines).

• Democrat Phyllis Thede lost her reelection bid in House District 94 (Bettendorf).

Two newly elected Democrats will join the

House caucus in January. Jerome Amos, Jr., was unop posed in House District 62 (Waterloo), where state Rep. Ras Smith opted not to seek reelection. Amos told Bleeding Heartland it’s important to have “represen tation for people who look like me.” As a member of the Waterloo City Council for the last seven years, he represents people of all col ors and political parties. He plans to approach his work as a legislator the same way to get things accomplished for the community.

He’s had other opportu nities to be the first Black man in various positions, and he takes pride in those achievements. But “I’m a firm believer that we’re all in this world together, we all need to try and work together to make things the best for everyone.” He hopes to have conversations across the aisle to find some com mon ground.

In his retirement speech to Iowa House members, Smith observed that leaving the Legislature was a bit like a break-up. He added, “It’s not me, it’s you”— an apparent reference to the Republican majority pass ing small police reforms but rejecting legislation to address racial profiling, and later enacting a policing bill expected to exacerbate racial disparities.

This year’s election results bring diversity to Iowa with ethnicity, religion, sexual identification and individuals with disabilities.

I asked Amos how he planned to find consensus, in light of that track record. He cited his life experience in communicating with oth ers: “It takes a lot for me to get frustrated. I’m willing to sit down with someone and have a conversation.” They may agree to disagree and walk away, but he’s not going to get frustrated. He knows that at the Statehouse, people in power may want to do certain things, “but that’s not going to stop me from using the voice that I have.”

Democrat Mary Madison defeated her Republican opponent in House District

Ronald Reagan during World War II

VERN WUENSCHE Guest Columnist

Editor’s note: Vern Wuensche’s opinion pieces have appeared in USA Today and other newspapers.

I had always admired Ronald Reagan long before I made the five hundred getout-the-vote phone calls for him from my home on elec tion day 1980. His over whelming victory that night was among my life’s happi est moments. After the disas trous Carter years, America could now finally begin to improve. When the Berlin Wall fell and communism with it a decade later, my unwavering confidence in Reagan was realized. I met him once in 1976, was pres ent at his inauguration, and today consider him among

the greatest of American presidents.

In March 1935, Ronald Reagan began his stint in the military by enrolling in a series of home-study Army extension courses. He completed fourteen of these in two years. Reagan then joined the Army Enlisted Reserve and was assigned to Troop B, 322nd Cavalry in Des Moines, Iowa. And although he began in Iowa as an enlisted Private, he was soon appointed Second Lieutenant in the Cavalry’s Officers Reserve Corps.

From Iowa, Reagan moved to Los Angeles. And it was in Los Angeles while in the Army that he began his film career. He accepted his Officer’s Commission there and was soon assigned to the 323rd Cavalry.

Five years passed.

Lieutenant Reagan was ordered to active duty, but eyesight difficulties result ed in his classification for limited service, which excluded him from serving overseas. His first assign ment on the home front was at the San Francisco Port of Embarkation in Fort Mason, Calif.. The Army Air Force requested that the Cavalry would trans fer him to them. So with them, he was appointed as liaison officer of the Port and Transportation Office. His work there was in their Public Relations unit, which included the First Motion picture Unit in Culver City, Calif. Rather quickly after that, he was promoted to First Lieutenant and was sent to the Provisional Task Force Show Unit of the Army at Burbank, Calif.

However, soon after that, he returned to the First Motion Picture Unit and six months later was promoted to Captain.

In January 1944, Captain Reagan was ordered to tem porary duty in New York City to participate in the sixth War Loan Drive open ing. Later that year, back in Culver City, Calif., he was assigned to the Eighteenth Army Air Force Base Unit, where he remained until the war’s end. He was recommend ed for promotion to Major a year later, but that was disapproved a few months before the war’s end. His active duty ended on Dec. 9, 1945. And his Reserve Commission automatically terminated on April 1, 1953.

While on active duty with the First Motion Picture Unit

31, covering parts of West Des Moines. She welcomes the growing diversity in the Legislature, as well as in Congress, because “when we collaborate, we bring the diverse ideas and innova tions.”

To read the rest of this arti cle, go to northerniowan. com.

and the Eighteen Army Air Forces Base Unit, Captain Reagan served as Personnel Officer, Post Adjutant, and Executive Officer. By the war’s end, his units had pro duced four hundred train ing films for the Army Air Force.

And of course he became Commander-in-Chief of all U.S. armed Forces when he became President on Jan. 20, 1981. A happy moment that many of us conservatives still treasure.

Adapted from informa tion in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library as cataloged in the National Archives.

PEXELS

A “gleeful” holiday season

GRANT PEDERSEN Staff Writer

The University of Northern Iowa’s Varsity Glee Club is back for anoth er festive season of perfor mances. The Varsity Glee Club came back to perform ing after a two-year hiatus this last December 2021, and this will be their sec ond Christmas Variety show post-quarantine. This event is one of the university’s most anticipated perfor mances, as it provides a fun and exciting atmosphere for all to enjoy.

The variety show is being held on Friday, Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 3 at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The Glee Club comment ed, “Get your tickets fast, as these are sell-out fea tures!” You can get tickets now through UNItix.com, or through the GallagherBluedorn Performing Arts Center.

While the actual perfor mance program is still a secret to the campus com munity, there is much to be excited for. Chairman of the Glee Leadership Council, senior Brady Van Waardhuizen states, “What people should expect from our show this year is every thing you wouldn’t normally expect out of a normal choir concert. Everyone is in for a show full of music, excite ment and ridiculousness at the same time.” In past years, performances have included comical produc tions of “Squid Games: The Return of Tiger King” and “A Marshmallow World.”

Creativity is not lost with this campus organization –this year should be no differ ent!

The Glee Club was found ed in 1888 and is one of the oldest active student orga nizations. Van Waardhuizen states regarding the function of the Varsity Glee Club, “The Glee Club is a non-au ditioned tenor-bass vocal ensemble and one of the most popular student-led organizations here on cam pus. There are guys who come from all different types of majors and musical expe rience, and the mass majori ty of our group this year are non-music majors.” Many of UNI’s musical organiza tions are restricted by audi tion, so this club being open to anyone who has a love for music is a great experi ence and community for all involved.

Lance Riecks states, “I’ve always kept music as a big part of my life, especial ly singing. I knew for a fact that I was going to college and that I would want to be part of some choir. The Glee Club was a perfect fit. All the guys are awesome and friendly.” Riecks also states regarding what he is look ing forward to the concert as, “Definitely the audience. Seeing all the people in the seats gets me hyped up. Gives me a good feeling to see my singing, something that I hold close to me.”

The pandemic hurt all of us in some ways, but it drastically hurt the arts in more ways than one. Van Waardhuizen mentioned that reforming the club was hard after shutting down to weather the pandemic.

“While it was hard to come back fully into the scene of dining side by side with each other again, we kept our motto for the club throughout that time of adversity and hardship, and together with little steps at a time we were able to make some of the best per formances out of what we were given at the time. We have now been able to show something that truly show cases our hard work and dedication and shows that we are still here to make a difference for not just the campus community, but the

state community as well.”

Presently, the University of Northern Iowa, business es and organizations are try ing to bounce back to the world’s old “normal.” The Glee Club has pushed for ward as well, trying to be creative in order to find their new rhythm and flow.

The Northern Iowan staff wish the Varsity Glee the best of luck in their Christmas Varity Show, and any other future performanc es as well.

Supporting campus orga nizations and their endeav ors are important to continue

the overall good health of a university community, so come on out and cheer on the Glee Club!

Concert dates reiterated are Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 3 at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. All shows will be held at the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center’s Great Hall on the UNI cam pus.

NI ARCHIVES

To see performance schedules, roster and more information about the Varsity Glee Club, visit their website unigleeclub.com

UNI’s Varsity Glee Club will be performing their annual Christmas Variety Show on Dec. 2 and Dec. 3. To see performance times and ticket purchases, visit UNItix.com.

“It’s not just the Army aspect. I teach leadership,” he continued. “For 20 years I’ve either been leading or going to school in the mil itary to learn how to lead better, and all of my cadre are in the same boat, just with a little bit less time. We have over 100 years of leadership experience sitting right over here at the Nielsen Fieldhouse.”

ROTC is designed to specifically train students to become Army officers, a position that requires a col lege degree.

However, Ray empha sized that the program is open to people of all back grounds, even if they aren’t necessarily set on joining the military.

“You can do this program for up to two years with no commitment,” he said. “If the Army interests you, great, we’ll continue to have that conversation, but there’s not a course on this cam pus that’s really leadership 101, and we offer that over here in many different forms and capacities because that’s what we do. We’re here to grow and build leaders.”

“The kids that are com mitted and contracting just happen to be going off and leading in the Army, but we want to teach leaders that are going to be in educa tion, going to be in business, going to be in technology,

whatever it may be,” he said.

UNI’s ROTC pro gram currently has over 45 students. Including the University of Dubuque extension, the program as a whole has a total of just under 80 participants.

When it comes to day-today routine, Ray says that students in ROTC aren’t all that different from other organizations on campus. The participants have three days of physical fitness throughout the week. On top of that, juniors and seniors have two class periods and a lab, which all add up to an additional eight hours in their weekly schedules.

“I think one of the big gest things is breaking the barriers down on campus and the kids understanding that their peers that are here in ROTC are not different from their peers that are in the band, on an athletic team, in a business organi zation or anything like that on campus,” Ray said.

“It’s just what the end state looks like, and the end state for the young men and women in this program is that they’re going to be Army officers, but at the end of the day, they’re living college life just like every body else is on campus,” he said.

More information on UNI’s ROTC program can be found at csbs.uni. edu/military-science or by emailing uni-rotc@uni.edu.

INSTAGRAM

UNI ROTC trains students to be future military officers through a series of physical training, classes and labs. While the focus is on military training, the program is open to anyone and does not require participants to enlist in the military.

Panthers destroy Coyotes, 58-14

BEN LAHART Sports Writer

The UNI Panthers ended their regular season on the highest of high notes with a dominant 58-14 win over South Dakota. All three pieces of the team excelled in the blowout victory two Saturdays ago.

The defense started the game with a quick threeand-out to give UNI the ball. Theo Day then led a sev en-play, 95-yard drive high lighted by a 62-yard com pletion to Sergio Morancy. The drive was topped off with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Layne Pryor. The offense quickly got the ball back after another threeand-out by the defense. Four plays and 62 yards later, Day found Morancy in the endzone from 36 yards out to put the Panthers up 14 just over halfway through the first quarter.

Another quick stop by the defense, and the offense had the ball back again. This five-play, 69-yard drive was highlighted by a 35-yard touchdown pass to Sam Schnee during which he maneuvered through and around seven differ ent South Dakota defend ers. Three plays and a punt once again gave Day and the offense another chance to score as the first quar

ter wound down. After three plays of 20 or more yards, the Panthers found them selves on the 3-yard line where Day kept the ball himself and ran in for the fourth touchdown of the day.

The defense didn’t need to force a punt to get the ball back, as Woo Governor intercepted a pass in the middle of the field to give UNI great field posi tion. Two plays later and the Panthers were already back in the endzone with an 18-yard touchdown run from Vance McShane. The defense didn’t take the field before the offense had the ball again as a fumble was forced on the ensuing kick off return and was recovered by Cameron Baker. Two plays later, Day connected with Quan Hampton for the 11-yard touchdown to put UNI up 42-0.

A three-and-out by the defense gave UNI the ball for their seventh posses sion. Here they had a threeand-out of their own. South Dakota used the momentum from UNI’s first punt to fuel their first scoring drive end ing in a passing touchdown from eight yards out. The Panthers executed a perfect ly timed drive to end the half as Day threw his fifth touchdown pass of the day to Noah Abbott with 11 sec onds on the clock.

The second half did not prove to be nearly as excit ing on the offensive side of the ball as the first. However, UNI still put together a nineplay, 66-yard drive ending in a 26-yard field goal from Matthew Cook to start the half. Another three-and-out gave UNI the ball back again leading to another Cook field goal, this time from 36 yards. After a failed fourth down, the Panther offense had the ball once again, leading to a third straight field goal from Cook. A final touchdown drive from the Coyotes ended the scor ing and essentially ended the game as UNI eventually ran out the remainder of the clock, winning by a final score of 58-14.

This was UNI’s best offensive performance of the year with season highs in both yards, 593, and points, 58. The offense also posted its highest yards per carry with nearly 5.5 yards. Day saw season and career highs in passing yards with 380, and total touchdowns with six, five passing and one rushing. This perfor mance grabbed conference and national attention as he earned MVFC Co-Offensive Player of the Week and FCS National Performer of the Week.

Governor’s second quar ter interception marked his

fourth of the year tying him with Benny Sapp III for the team lead. The UNI defense did not allow a single third down conversion in the game and only allowed two out of an attempted four fourth down conversions.

Cook capped off his stel lar season making all 10 kicks including his record setting field goals. His first field goal of the game set the MVFC and UNI records for career field goals made with 67, passing former

Panther Billy Hallgren. He also moved solely into sec ond place in consecutive PATs made with 124 while remaining perfect in his career.

With the release of the FCS Playoffs bracket last week not featuring UNI, the season has officially come to an end. After a slow 2-4 start in 2022, UNI will look to carry some of their late season momentum into the 2023 campaign.

Panthers compete at Daktronics Open

ADAM JOHNSON Sports Writer

On Sunday, Nov. 20, The UNI wrestling team trav eled to Brookings, S.D. to compete in the Daktronics Open. The Panthers per formed well, having four guys come away with titles, and they racked up 14 total medals on the day.

In the first couple weight classes, UNI’s wrestlers performed well. In the 125 pound weight class, Kyle Gollhofer placed fifth, and Kyle Biscoglia placed third in the 133 pound weight class. In the next weight class, 141 pounds, UNI took its first title. Cael Happel was the one that got it done. He went 4-0, winning two matches by fall, one by major decision and the title match in a very close 8-6 victory.

UNI claimed another

title in the 149 pound class. Colin Realbuto won several close ones on the way to the championship. His biggest victory was by major deci sion, 13-4, but the rest were not quite as easy. Other vic tories came with scores 3-1, 9-4 and an 8-5 victory for the title.

The Panthers dominat ed in the 157 pound class. Wade Mitchell took fourth place, but that was only the third best finish in the class for UNI. In fact, the Panthers had two wres tlers going head to head in the championship. Derek Holschlag defeated Evan Yant by major decision in the final match. UNI had the first, second and fourth place finishers in the class.

The same thing happened in the 165 pound class as well, with two Panthers going up against each other

for the title. The match showed Austin Yant going up against Cayd Lara. Both of the wrestlers were 3-0 going into the match, and Austin Yant came out victo rious, by a 12-3 major deci sion.

While Austin Yant was the final title winner for the Panthers, they had sever al more wrestlers perform well in other weight class es. In the 174 pound class, UNI had two medalists, with Jared Simma getting fifth, and Carson Babcock placing sixth. In the 195 pound class, Noah Glaser came up just short, losing in the title match by fall at nearly five minutes. In the same class, Kalob Runyon placed fourth. UNI’s final medalist came in the 285 pound class, where Tyrell Gordon placed third.

Overall, it was a good

day for the Panthers. UNI wrestles next at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational

in Las Vegas on Friday, Dec. 2 and Saturday, Dec. 3.

COURTESY/UNI ATHLETICS

Sergio Morancy (82) had a standout game for the Panthers, catching four passes for 135 yards and a touchdown in the 58-14 victory.

COURTESY/UNI ATHLETICS

UNI competed well at the Dakotronics Open, finishing with multiple individual champions.

UNI swept at Hall of Fame Classic

CADEN SHEA Sports Writer

The UNI men’s basket ball team traveled to Kansas City, Mo. over the holiday break to participate in the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ Hall of Fame Classic. The Panthers battled against both San

Francisco and Grand Canyon University in the tournament, falling to both. The Panthers were attempt ing to rebound from a loss to Richmond and their first opponent would be the San Francisco Dons.

This was the first match up in history between the UNI Panthers and the San

Francisco Dons. This was one of the only opponents that UNI would play this year that made the NCAA tournament this past March. The Panthers came into the game with the mentality that this was a team that they would have to make their mark against. They were the first to strike and kept a steady pace for a majority of the game. The Panthers held an early lead by attacking the rim and locking down the Dons on defense. UNI was led by James Betz and Tytan Anderson in the first half who had 20 combined points to start the game. The Panthers closed the opening half on top by 11 points with a score of 43-32.

aged to close out the game and defeat UNI 75-69 in the opening round of the tour nament. Betz led the team with 19 points while Bowen Born followed with 16. Anderson obtained a dou ble-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.

The Panthers would then face the Grand Canyon University Antelopes in the consolation game of the NABC Hall of Fame Classic.

UNI would have a slow start due to a poor rebounding performance by the team.

going to surrender the game without a fight. They started the second half with a 5-0 run to assure the Antelopes that they were not going to let the first half define them.

Although GCU had a heavy lead on UNI for a majority of the game, the Panthers made much needed improve ments to their game. They improved their rebounding and shooting percentage with Born leading the team with 13 second half points.

COURTESY/UNI ATHLETICS

The team kept up their attack to begin the second half, having multiple play ers hit 3-pointers. However, the Dons commanded the boards, out rebounding the Panthers in the second half. San Francisco continued to battle back and would ultimately tie the Panthers 67-67 in the final four and a half minutes of play. The Panthers would only score two more points the rest of the game as the Dons man

The Antelopes had 13 more rebounds than the Panthers in the first half with 24 to UNI’s 11. The Panthers had a good shooting perfor mance in the first half with a 44.4% shooting percentage to start the game. However, GCU’s presence in the paint managed to slow down any progress the Panthers would attempt to make. Anderson had a team high eight points in the first half with Michael Duax following with seven points. The Panthers first half struggles were evident on the scoreboard, trailing to the Antelopes 41-27 going into the second half.

The Panthers were not

The Panthers would manage to cut their opponent’s lead to a mere two points, but fell victim to poor free throw shooting in the final stretch.

The Panthers attempt at a miraculous comeback would not succeed as they fell to GCU 69-67. Born led the team with 19 points while Anderson finished the tournament with two dou ble-doubles with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

The Panthers managed to get a win this weekend as they defeated the Northern Illinois Huskies 83-76 in the McLeod Center. The Panthers will be on the road on Wednesday as they face the Bradley Braves at 7 p.m.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Panthers win two games in Cancun

DREW HILL Sports Writer

The UNI women’s basket ball team traveled to Cancun, Mexico, for games on Nov. 24 and 25. They faced the Tulane Green Wave and the Vanderbilt Commodores. They came away with wins in both games, tying with North Carolina State for the best record in the Riviera Tournament section of the Cancun Challenge. UNI bounced back from two home losses to ranked opponents in Iowa State and Creighton to improve to 4-2 on the young season.

UNI entered the Cancun Challenge 2-2. Tulane entered the tournament 3-1. Early on in this one, the Panthers jumped out to a 7-0 lead. After Tulane cut the lead to 9-5, UNI went on a 6-0 run to take their first double-digit lead of the game at 15-5. At the end of the first quarter, UNI was up 21-10.

Early in the second quar ter, the Panthers experi

enced more of the same. A Kam Finley 3-pointer stretched the lead to 24-10.

Soon, UNI’s lead ballooned into a 19-point lead at 32-13. The Green Wave went on a run towards the end of the quarter to get the lead back down to 13 at 39-26.

The game was far from over, however. Tulane used a 12-2 run to cut the Panther lead to three in just under four minutes at 41-38. UNI managed to keep at least a three-point barrier between them and the Green Wave, and a Cynthia Wolf 3-point er with seven seconds left in the third quarter finally got UNI back up double-digits at 61-50.

The fourth quarter saw the Panthers put their foot on the gas and roar ahead.

After Tulane got within 10 at 64-54, UNI used an 18-2 run to go up by 26 points at 82-56. Tulane scored a cou ple more baskets, but UNI cruised on to the 82-60 win.

Maya McDermott led UNI in scoring with 20 points.

Finley contributed 15

points, and Grace Boffeli had a near double-double with 14 points and eight rebounds. Wolf led the team in rebounding and assists, grabbing 13 boards and dishing out five assists to go with her six points.

Vanderbilt had a 5-0 start to the season, but a loss just before the tournament and a loss in their first game of the Cancun Challenge to North Carolina State had dropped them to 5-2. This game saw UNI get out to a rough start, as Vanderbilt took a 13-0 lead after five minutes. However, once UNI started scoring, it was Vanderbilt who went cold. UNI answered with an 11-0 run in the next three min utes to cut the lead to two at 13-11. The game was tied at 15-15, and UNI took a 16-15 lead on a Finley free throw. Vanderbilt scored once more, and the quarter ended with Vanderbilt on top 17-16.

The second quarter began with cold shooting by both teams, as the first two min

utes went by scoreless. UNI once again tied it at 21-21, and the two teams stayed close. At the 2:15 mark, UNI finally regained the lead at 28-26. The teams trad ed leads a few more times before UNI’s Cailyn Morgan tied it up at 32-32 to end the half.

In the third quarter, UNI took the first lead, which stretched out to five at 37-32. However, the Commodores fought back and regained the lead at 40-39. The quar ter ended with Vanderbilt on top 48-46.

Vanderbilt got up by as much as five early on in the fourth, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Kayba Laube and McDermott gave UNI a 53-52 lead. After battling back-and-forth, UNI even tually got up four at 62-58 with two minutes remain ing in the game. However, Vanderbilt once again tied it back up with just under 30 seconds left. As time expired, Emerson Green splashed the game-winning 3-pointer to give UNI the

65-62 win. It gave UNI their first win over a Power Five team since 2019.

Boffeli had a double-dou ble to lead the Panthers with 15 points and 10 rebounds, with Wolf also contributing 10 rebounds. McDermott was the other UNI play er to score in double fig ures with 10 points. Along with Green’s game-winning buzzer-beater, she also led the team in assists with four.

Coach Tanya Warren said after the game, “We have shown that we can play in a variety of ways. Yesterday it was pace, pace, pace. Today it was more of a grind, we had to mix it up defensive ly and try and get them off balance. But I thought we got contributions from everybody and this is a great team win.”

UNI’s next game will be on Saturday, Dec. 3, in Brookings, S.D., against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.

Tytan Anderson (32) had double-doubles in both games at the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City.

ANSWERS

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SUDOKU

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