A sport on the rise: Esports at Iowa State
By Anthony Hanson
September 30, 2021
Prepared for JLMC 302
AMES -- Esports at Iowa State experiences constant growth despite set-
backs caused by COVID-19.
While missing key opportunities to recruit members and holding fewer
in-person events, the ISU Gaming and Esports Club was able to gain signifi-
cant members for the 2021 fall semester.
The club has 126 due-paying members as well as 2100 members on its
Discord server. Additionally, the club doubled their League of Legends
teams this semester from three to six, according to club officer Andrew
Spaulding.
“The club is constantly growing. We’ve had a tremendous growth this past
year,” Spaulding said.
The ISU Gaming and Esports Club fields rosters for about 10 different
esports. They have anywhere from one to six teams for each sport. The
esports offered are multiplayer video games such as Valorant, Overwatch,
Rocket League and others.
“You’re only really limited by what your brain can do. Think of it like a very
advanced chess game with a lot of people playing on both sides of the
chessboard,” said Joe Zuber, the manager for the Overwatch teams at Iowa
State.
Iowa State esports has had success in high-level competition. The Valo-
rant team finished third in the nation, and the Dota 2 team was consistently
a top-five team. Club president Derek Patel credits the ISU Gaming and
Esports Center for some of the success.
Located in Beyer Hall, the esports center has 30 gaming computers
and four different gaming consoles. The ISU Gaming and Esports Club
partnered with Iowa State Rec Services to provide the space free to all
students.
“That is the thing that separates us because we have the university’s
involvement heavily in our club, and not every esports program can say the
same,” said Derek Patel.
The gaming facility is a resource making esports accessible to those who
cannot access equipment such as expensive gaming computers.
Accessibility, for Joe Zuber, is an important quality of esports. Compe-
titions are not affected by physical advantages or disadvantages. For
example, Joe Zuber remembers competing against a player from Georgia
Tech with cerebral palsy.
“It’s made even more accessible by the gaming space because now the
individual players don’t have to go out and buy their own computer,” Zuber
said.
Working directly with the university for more financial support is vital for
the club’s future, according to the ovfficers. Specifically, the club leaders
hope scholarship opportunities can be made available in the future.
According to the National Association of Collegiate Esports, schools have
already given about $16 million in esports scholarships.
“That’d be the next biggest leap for us to make,” Patel said.
Providing scholarship opportunities for players would raise Iowa State’s
program to a level of a national powerhouse, according to Patel.
Students can be involved in ways other than league competition. The club
hosts in-person game night events for social gamers, and any student can
use the Gaming and Esports Center for casual gaming.
Checking in on ISU Boxing
By Anthony Hanson
Oct. 22, 2021
Prepared for JLMC 302
AMES—Olivia Meyer became the first female boxer to win a national cham-
pionship for Iowa State in 2014. Now, she’s the head coach facilitating one
of the Iowa State Boxing Club’s most significant years of growth.
A change in leadership is ushering in a new era for the Iowa State Boxing
Club. The club has nearly tripled its membership in the fall of 2021. About
200 students have attended at least one of the club’s training sessions,
according to class coordinator Muhammad Farooq. The number has grown
from around 60 or 70.
Additionally, the club is retaining much more members as the semester
progresses. In a typical year, attrition rates are high. This year, a new head
coach and class coordinator see more members in training sessions week
to week.
The club’s new leadership has reevaluated the importance of recruiting
new members and they are working hard to retain members long term.
“I cannot make people show up, but when they do show up, they keep
showing,” Farooq said. “I’ve had a very positive response from people.”
Farooq has been involved with the club for four and a half years and is
beginning his first year teaching younger members. Farooq is from Paki-
stan and is pursuing his Ph.D. in analytical chemistry. Farooq considered
multiple schools for his Ph.D., but he chose Iowa State ultimately because
of the boxing club. In the ring, he breaks down the science and dynamics
of every punch to younger club members.
“He [Farooq] does such a wonderful job at providing information, explain-
ing why we’re doing things, answering questions thoughtfully and just
being present,” Meyer said.
Meyer and Farooq have both been around the sport a long time. Meyer is
in her second graduate program, and she’s been involved in the club since
her sophomore year of undergrad. She’s had along road to becoming head
coach, and it’s a journey she did not expect.
“When I started, I never thought I would compete. Then when I competed, I
never thought I would win,” Meyer said.
Meyer was a two-time national champion while at Iowa State and became
an assistant coach after graduation. With the former head coach recently
retiring, Meyer is now stepping into the head coach role.
“I just loved the sport too much. I had it in my blood.” Meyer said.
As a coach, Meyer is working better with athletes of different styles,
according to junior Mckenzie Stewart. Workouts are more structured, and
communication between athletes and coaches has also improved.
“They’re very open to suggestions and improvements with the athletes,”
Stewart said. “It is the athletes club, not the coaches.”
Stewart joined the club in her sophomore year and is 3-3 in competitive
fights. Other than winning some fights and getting a good workout Stewart
says boxing is a great outlet to relieve the stresses of college and meet
people.
Boxing is not just a healthy activity for Farooq, either. The sport has
afforded him the confidence he takes into his studies and beyond.
“If you can stand in the ring for a fight, you can take on any interview or
exam,” Farooq says.
With more members sticking to boxing, the ISU Boxing Club is hoping to
compete better at the national level in the future, according to Farooq.
“We want to put boxing on the map in Ames,” Meyer said.
Iowa State tops Iowa by 20
By Anthony Hanson
Dec. 10, 2021
KURE Sports
AMES — After Iowa State men’s basketball returned from its late Novem-
ber holiday tournament, it cruised to victory against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Head coach TJ Otzelberger, however, was not pleased with the team’s de-
fensive performance. Even in a comfortable win, giving up 42 points in the
second half did not meet the standard the first-year head coach is trying to
build, he said after the Dec. 1 contest.
The message got through to his team.
Iowa State held the Iowa Hawkeyes to just 53 points on 27 percent shoot-
ing Thursday evening in a 20-point Cy-Hawk win.
“We made them uncomfortable,” Izaiah Brockington said.
Iowa State won by a final score of 73-53 and improved its record to 9-0.
Averaging just over 90-points a game, Iowa sported the top-scoring of-
fense in the Big Ten conference heading into the highly anticipated match-
up. In its first nine games, the Iowa team played at a fast pace and put up
three triple-digit scoring nights. Playing against a defense that gives up
60.1 points per game, something had to give.
“We watched film and we noticed that they never really saw ball pressure
like ours. They never really saw intensity like ours,” Brockington said.
“They did a really good job defensively. You know, being up into our space
being physical,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said.
Brockington and Iowa State’s defense was able to neutralize Iowa’s Kee-
gan Murray.
The 6-foot-8 Murray grabs 23.9 points and 8 rebounds a game for the
Hawkeyes and is the team’s leading scorer. He was held scoreless in the
first half and finished the game with nine points. Iowa point guard Joe
Toussaint did not score in the game.
Iowa’s Jordan Bohannon was the only Hawkeye to reach double figures.
Bohannon scored 17 points in 31 minutes for the Hawkeyes. The Hawk-
eye’s all-time leader in three-pointers made connected three times from
beyond the arc in his sixth game against Iowa State.
Iowa was the bigger team on paper, especially with Iowa State’s George
Conditt in foul trouble, but Iowa State was able to win the rebounding
margin 50-32.
Iowa State flew around its home court forcing tie-ups and diving for loose
balls. Every Cyclone that checked in grabbed a rebound in the 20-point
victory.
“It speaks to the competitive spirit of our guys,” Otzelberger said. “It’s not
like we got a bunch of 6’10” guys out there.”
Twenty-one of Iowa State rebounds came on the offensive end. The
Cyclones scored 19 second-chance points.
On the offensive end, no one made it look easier than Izaiah Brockington.
The Penn State transfer scored 29 points while shooting 11 of 14 from
the field. Connecting three times from deep, Brockington was the night’s
leading scorer.
The slasher consistently found driving lanes to the basket and energized
the Hilton Coliseum crowd with multiple dunks.
“It was quite heroic,” Otzelberger said about Brockington. “It’s the byprod-
uct of how he works, his character, his integrity, his toughness as well.”
Freshmen point guard Tyrese Hunter added 11 points while being tasked
with breaking Iowa’s three-quarter court pressure. Hunter added six
assists to his box score while limiting turnovers to three.
With the win, Otzelberger is now one of two coaches in Iowa State history
to start 9-0.
The other? His predecessor Steve Prohm in 2015. The Cyclones led by
Georges Niang, Monte Morris and Otzelberger as an assistant lost to
Virginia in the Sweet Sixteen that season.
No. 17 Iowa State will return to the court at Hilton Coliseum Sunday at
noon against Jackson State.
“It’s pretty special. I love this place. I love being here. And being home
with 14,500 to your family members and being on this journey together I
don’t know how I could be any luckier,” Otzelberger said.
Iowa State vs Arkansas-Pine
Bluff: Three Takeaways
By Anthony Hanson
Dec. 3, 2021
KURE SPORTS
AMES – Iowa State cruised to a victory Wednesday night but didn’t satisfy head
coach T.J. Otzelberger’s defensive standards.
“We didn’t show up the way we would like tonight,” head coach T.J. Otzelberger said.
“The standard we have defensively is at a much higher level.”
Iowa State defeated Arkansas Pine Bluff 83-64 after allowing 42 points in the
second half.
No. 19 Iowa State came in as a 27.5-point favorite after its impressive performance
at the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Cyclones knocked off
two top-25 teams in the Big Apple and were looking to improve on their unblemished
record against another SWAC opponent.
From Iowa State’s roller coaster night on defense to a great performance from
George Conditt, here are the takeaways from Wednesday night’s contest.
A roller coaster on D
Iowa State hounded the passing lanes while scoring 20 points off 19 turnovers.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff was held to only 30 percent shooting in the first half.
The Cyclones showed glimpses of the stifling defense that propelled the team into
the AP Top 25 for the first time since Feb. 2019.
However, after the first half, the tides turned for the Golden Lions. Arkansas-Pine
Bluff shot 48 percent from the field in the second frame.
“At times, we were too complacent,” Otzelberger said. “We need to be a more stub-
born, tough team every single possession and not play the scoreboard.”
Tyrese Hunter was tasked with picking up the Golden Lions’ top scorer Shawn Wil-
liams. Williams, the primary ball-handler for Arkansas-Pine Bluff, is a dynamic scorer
from the outside who averages 15.4 points per game on great shooting splits.
The freshman Hunter stayed in Williams’ grill but let him connect four times from
the outside. Williams averages 13 field goal attempts a night; he was able to score
21 on only eight shots Wednesday evening. Williams found 15 of his 21-points in the
second half.
Tre Jackson had 3 steals in 25 minutes off the bench. Several times the backup
point guard’s activity awarded him run-out layups. Iowa State guards have lived in
the passing lanes so far in the early season and Jackson was no exception against
the Golden Lions.
“I thought he [Jackson] was a bright spot for us,” Otzelberger said. “He read some
plays and did a good job guarding the ball, getting into the basketball, and speeding
them up.”
Jackson, a junior, was still disappointed in the defensive consistency.
“We have a standard we have to uphold each day,” Tre Jackson said. “That’s the rea-
son we’re upset right now, the standards and those habits that we build every day.”
On the offensive end
Iowa State showed signs of a holiday hangover in the early going against Arkan-
sas-Pine Bluff.
After all, the Cyclones played three games in five days in the previous week and trav-
eled across the country to win dogfights against Xavier and Memphis. Iowa State
trailed Arkansas-Pine Bluff 9-7 at the under 12-minute media timeout.
Iowa State proceeded to pick off the pace going forward, finishing the game with 83
points on 44.8 percent shooting.
Izaiah Brockington was the leading scorer of the game with 23-points on a 50
percent shooting clip.
“I feel like I get some easy ones,” Brockington said about his nice offensive night.
“My teammates do a really good job of finding me on cuts.”
Yet again, Iowa State’s opponent was creative on the defensive side of the ball.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff mixed schemes against the Cyclones and their freshman point
guard Tyrese Hunter. The Golden Lions showed a matchup zone while sometimes
extending into a half-court trap.
Brockington continually slashed through the zone and picked up valuable buckets.
The Iowa State backcourt is quickly becoming accustomed to facing a variety of
defenses. Multiple teams have thrown different looks at Iowa State to slow down its
backcourt. Iowa State is showing it can adjust on the fly and score against a variety
of looks.
George in the middle
Iowa State forward George Conditt picked up a new season high scoring total in
Wednesday night’s contest. The junior eclipsed his former high of 10 early in the
second half. Conditt, who played in all six games, averages only 4.7 points per
game.
So far, Conditt’s value to Iowa State has not shown up in the stat sheet. Conditt sets
hard screens, rotates on defense, and has been a jolt of energy for the Iowa State in
its early-season run.
Going forward, however, the Cyclones will need Conditt to be more than a “glue
guy.” As the schedule ramps up for Iowa State, the 6-foot 10 big man will need to
step into a bigger offensive role. Scoring from the inside will prove to be imperative
in the ultra-competitive Big 12. In conference play, defenses will likely key on the
stellar guard play Iowa State has seen from Gabe Kalscheur, Izaiah Brockington, and
others. Conditt will need to take advantage of open opportunities inside.
Wednesday night Conditt showed a glimpse of an offensive spark with his 11 points
including a monster dunk early in the first half. Continuing a trend of increased
offensive production will be a major help for Iowa State.
While coach Otzelberger was unpleased by the 19-point victory, the Cyclones have
a lot to be happy about as they head into another key stretch. Iowa State will see
Creighton on the road on Dec. 4 and return to Hilton Coliseum on Dec. 9 to play the
Iowa Hawkeyes.
They will enter these match-ups a perfect 7-0.
Swimmers and divers split for two road trips
By Anthony Hanson
Nov. 16, 2021
IOWA STATE DAILY

AMES -- Multi-day tournaments are the next challenge for Iowa State
swimming and diving.

With four dual wins under their belt, the Cyclone squad returns to the road
this week for two multi-day tournaments against great competition.

First, Iowa State diving will take part in the Mizzou Invite starting on
Wednesday, then, the Iowa State swimmers will race at the Kansas Classic,
beginning on Friday. Both three-day tournaments are the first of the year
for Iowa State.

“This is an early run through,” head diving coach Jeff Warrick said. “Kind of
like a dress rehearsal, getting ready for the big one at the end.”

Warrick’s divers get their first shot at tournament-style competition at the

Mizzou Invite. Teams from seven conferences will make up the highly com-
petitive field of eight. Notably, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Wyoming
and Nebraska will all dive against a red-hot Iowa State team.
Iowa State comes off an electric 101-point victory against Omaha on Nov.
5. The previous dual saw Iowa State test lineup combinations, set new
season bests and win 13 out of 14 events against Summit League competi-
tion. Now, Iowa State enters pools with high-major programs, a challenge
that will prepare Iowa State to fulfill its end of season goals at the Big 12
Championship.
The Mizzou Invite is a return to normal for Iowa State. Last season, Iowa
State did not compete in any tournament style meets until the Big 12
Championship in February.
“We tried to simulate this at home last year,” Warrick said. “Having a three-
day invitational with just our own team, it was quite a bit different.”
The Mizzou Invite will certainly brings the level of competition up from
Iowa State’s dual schedule. The field contains no shortage of top-notch
divers.
format as the end of year Big 12 Championship. Beginning Nov. 19, the
swimmers are racing prelims in the first session of each day. The athletes
must fight for a spot to return to the later session and race in the finals and
score points for the Cyclones.
Swimming coach Duane Sorenson also used the words “dress rehearsal”
to describe the Kansas Classic. Sorenson hopes it will serve as a reminder
to his team of what it takes to succeed in championship style competition.
“You really have to work on being ready to race,” Sorenson said.
The keys, according to Sorenson, are to focus on the little things and take
the weekend long competition one event at a time. Recovery, rest and
nutrition will all need to be in the minds of the Iowa State athletes as they
navigate the weekend’s races.
Iowa State placed second at the Kansas Classic in 2019. This season
marks the return of the event after it was not played in the 2020-2021 sea-
son. Expect Iowa State’s biggest competition to be fellow Big 12 opponent
Kansas.

Sara Troyer (Nebraska), Lauren Gryboski (Kansas) and Sarah Rousseau The Jayhawks are 2-1 in duals and have had their fair share of Big 12
(Missouri), Melissa Mirafuentes (Wyoming) all have received conference honors on the early season. Breaststroker Kate Steward has been named
recognition during the season. All four are listed in the field for the invita- Big 12 swimmer of the week twice this season. Her teammate Ellie Howe
tional. earned the honor of newcomer of the week for the week of Oct. 27.

Iowa State’s own Michelle Schlossmacher Smith was the Big 12 Diver of
the week for the week of Nov. 3. Iowa State was without the senior team
captain in its most recent dual against Omaha. Warrick was certain she
would return following that dual.
Two Iowa State divers posted zone qualifying scores in the most recent
dual against Omaha. Jayna Misra and Joscelyn Buss will look to build off
their impressive performance and continue to set new season bests.
The Mizzou Invite starts on Wednesday with prelims and finals for the
3-meter dive. The meet continues Thursday and Friday with the 1-meter
and platform events respectively. Each day diving begins at noon.
For swimming, the three-day, six session Kansas Classic is also the same
Iowa State freshman Carley Caughron grabbed the most recent Big 12
newcomer of the week honor after winning the 100-yard freestyle on Nov. 5
against Omaha.
“It’s a great honor for Carley,” Sorenson said. “She had a great meet
against UNO and it’s nice to see her rewarded for her great performance.”
Indiana State, Northern Iowa, North Texas and Arkansas at Little Rock
round out the field at the Kansas Classic. For North Texas, watch out for
backstroker Diana Kolb the one-time Conference USA swimmer of the
week.
Swimming competition will begin on Friday and continue Saturday and
Sunday from Columbia, Missouri.