Metro Sports Report

Marion teacher Fruehling a big-time ref

Fans who watched the Iowa women’s basketball game Thursday night saw Scott Fruehling in action. If he was doing his job right, however, nobody noticed him.

As a top-tier referee in big-time college basketball, the Marion High School teacher and former coach is expected to keep games under control but otherwise stay out of the way of play.

Do no harm, the same as a doctor’s creed.

And, by the same token, make no mistakes.

“Officiating,” says the prime time practitioner, “is one of those professions where you’re supposed to start out perfect and then get better.”

Fry sent message in 1979 game with Sooners

Holiday greetings from the Arizona desert as Iowa prepares for Oklahoma in the Insight Bowl with the usual no-nonsense approach from Kirk Ferentz.

I don't think you have to be reminded that he has tough workouts when he gets to the game site and puts a great emphasis on having his team as well-prepared as possible.

Iowa and Oklahoma have met only one time before. That was in the 1979 season when Hayden Fry and the Iowa Hawkeyes went to Norman, Okla., to play Barry Switzer and the Sooners.

This was the second game of the Fry era and he was trying to get a foundation established for what became one of Iowa's all-time best football periods.

The Hawks were three-touchdown underdogs going into the game and Switzer, of course, was king of the hill with the Oklahoma program at top speed. The Sooners, as they have been known to do, both in the past and recently, figured that if they showed up, they'd win.

And so it was on that sunny day at the Oklahoma stadium: The overconfident Sooners against the upstart Hawkeyes. Right off the bat, the game didn't go that way.

J-Hawk duo signs with Mount Mercy

Hannah Petersen and Carson Burgart are best friends and have played softball together since they were 8 or 9 years old. They don't see any reason to change things in college.

The Cedar Rapids Jefferson seniors even signed their national letter-of-intent at the same ceremony.

Petersen and Burgart signed Wednesday afternoon with Mount Mercy University, where they'll be teammates and roommates as freshmen next year.

Marion drubbed by No. 4 Panthers

All Marion High School boys basketball coach Mike Manderscheid wants for Christmas is a fresh start and more home games.

The Indians finished the 2011 part of their schedule Thursday night with a 3-and-5 record after losing to No. 4 Mount Pleasant, 61-39, in a Class 3A game at Marion.

Manderscheid had to deal with several disciplinary problems in November and December, but he's looking forward to being at full strength after Christmas with six home games in January.

"You want to come out of Christmas break with a much improved team. We'll have to work hard," he said.

The Indians played five of their first seven games of the season on the road, and Thursday night's game was their first at home in 16 days. The schedule will flip in January, with six of nine games in the Marion High School gym.