Kirkwood Community College - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Drahozal tosses gem as Eagles split

VERO BEACH, Fla. - Nick Drahozal pitched a strong game Saturday as Kirkwood belted UCONN-Avery Point, 12-3, during its spring trip to Vero Beach, Fla.

Kirkwood lost its first game Saturday to Parkland, 9-0.

Drahozal, a freshman from Xavier High School, pitched a complete game and allowed only five hits in the seven-inning affair. He struck out eight batters and walked only one.

All three of Avery Point's runs were unearned. Drahozal threw 99 pitches, with 70 strikes.

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Clemens helps Kirkwood blank Kishwaukee

VERO BEACH, Fla. - Austin Clemens pitched a strong game Friday as the Kirkwood Eagles blanked Kishwaukee, 8-0, in the first contest of their spring trip to Florida.

Kirkwood lost to UCONN-Avery Point, 6-5, in its second game Friday.

Clemens, a freshman from Dubuque, tossed six innings in the shutout victory. He struck out five batters, allowed six hits and did not walk anyone. Adam Marra pitched the seventh inning.

Sulliam Rios Reyes hit a solo home run against Kishwaukee. Ozzie Adams was 3-for-3, Zach Patterson drove in two runs and Noah Dostal drove in two runs.

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Kirkwood golfers 12th at Spring Fling

SCOTTSBORO, Ala. - The Kirkwood men's golf team stands in 12th place after 36 holes of the 14th Annual Ron Marshall Spring Fling at the Goose Pond Colony Lake Course in Scottsboro, Ala.

The Eagles have carded scores of 298 and 315 on the 7,101-yard course and are 37 strokes over par at 613. Mesa Community College holds the 36-hole lead at 12-over 588.

The final round in the 21-team event is Saturday.

Dylan Daxon of Kirkwood is tied for 18th at 5-over-par 149 with rounds of 74 and 75. Bryce Melville of Mesa holds a one-shot lead entering the final round at 1-under 143.

KIRKWOOD: Dylan Daxon 74-75=149, Dan Cutkomp 73-80=153, Eddie Doyle 77-79=156, Carson Whittington 74-82=156, Aleix Riera Garcia 81-81=162, Ben Jones 83-80=163, Mitch Willems 89-84=173.

6 Kirkwood men make All-Region

Joe Tagarelli and Jordan Ashton of Kirkwood have been named to the top All-Region XI basketball team for the 2014-15 campaign.

Tagarelli, a sophomore from Bayside, Wis., led the Eagles in rebounding at 8.2 per game. Ashton, a sophomore from Mount Pleasant, led the region in free throwing percentage (88 percent) and most 3-pointers (82).

Matt Lassen, Ajay Lawton and Hunter Rhodes of Kirkwood were named second team All-Region. Ron Singleton received honorable mention.

Lassen is a sophomore from Linn-Mar, Lawton a sophomore from Westfield, Ind., Rhodes a freshman from Canton, Ill., and Singleton a sophomore from Chicago.

Trey Sampson, a Xavier grad, was named second team All-Region for DMACC. Ky Kramer, a Cedar Rapids Jefferson grad, received honorable mention for Iowa Central.

Kirkwood women draw North Arkansas

The Kirkwood women's basketball team will play North Arkansas in the opening round of the NJCAA Division II national tournament on Wednesday, March 18 at 11 a.m. in Overland Park, Kan.

The Eagles (28-5) have been seeded No. 4 in the 16-team tournament. North Arkansas was seeded 13th.

Kirkwood is making its 16th trip to the national tournament under Coach Kim Muhl. The Eagles have won six national titles.

If Kirkwood wins Wednesday, it would face Monroe Community College or Waubonsee on Thursday, March 19 at 8 p.m. The semifinals are Friday, March 20 and the finals are scheduled for Saturday, March 21.

40TH NJCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT
OPENING ROUND
Tuesday, March 17

Owens vs Union County, 9 a.m.
South Suburban vs Monroe College, 11 a.m.
Guilford Tech vs Schoolcraft, 1 p.m.
Parkland vs Phoenix, 3 p.m.
Johnson County vs Southeast, 6 p.m.
Lake Michigan vs Chesapeake, 8 p.m.

Wednesday, March 18

Kirkwood vs North Arkansas, 11 a.m.
Monroe Community College vs Waubonsee, 1 p.m.

7 Kirkwood women named All-Region

Seven members of the Kirkwood women's basketball team have been named to the All-Region squad for 2015.

Anna Martensen, Cassidy Clark and Kirsten Larson were named to the first team. Ariel Sneed, Taylor Silva and Tyra Polite were selected for the second team. Peyton Bockholt made the third team.

Kirkwood won the ICCAC regular-season title and also won the Region XI tournament. The Eagles (28-5) will play in the NJCAA Division II national tournament next week in Overland Park, Kan.

Kirkwood men ousted by DMACC

BOONE - There's an old saying in sports that it's difficult for any team to beat another team three times in a season, but that's exactly what host DMACC was able to do Saturday afternoon.

The second-ranked DMACC Bears sent No. 8 Kirkwood home just one game short of a spot at nationals with an 86-69 victory in the championship game of the NJCAA Region XI tournament in Boone.

The Bears will take a 26-5 record to the national tournament. Kirkwood retires with a 25-7 mark.

Although they led for stretches of the first half, in large part by forcing turnovers and scoring in transition, the Eagles could not keep the pressure on down the stretch as DMACC gradually pulled away.

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Kirkwood women earn trip to nationals

Taylor Silva was so incredibly happy Saturday that she cried for several minutes after the Kirkwood Eagles beat NIACC for the regional title and earned a spot in the junior college national tournament.

Silva had just about composed herself when they announced she had been named the Most Valuable Player of the Region XI tournament. That brought more tears and more smiles for the 5-foot-5 sophomore from Bellevue, Neb.

"I wasn't expecting it, nor did I think it would happen," Silva said after collecting her MVP award. "It was pretty exciting. I was expecting somebody else to win it."

The seventh-ranked Eagles had plenty of heroes in their 78-67 victory over sixth-ranked NIACC, but Silva was in the thick of things all day with 13 points, five rebounds, five assists, four steals, two key 3-pointers and even a blocked shot.

It was a tight game all the way until Kirkwood pulled away at the end. And when the final horn sounded, the tears began to flow for Silva and her teammates as the Eagles (28-5) earned a spot in the NJCAA Division II national tournament that will be held in Overland Park (Kan.) from March 17-21.

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KCC softball team splits 4 games

ROSEMONT, Minn. - The ninth-ranked Kirkwood softball team finished with a 2-2 record on its trip to Minnesota Friday.

The Eagles lost to Indian Hills (6-5) in their first game on Thursday. They beat Dakota County (13-4), lost to Illinois Central (4-0) and defeated NIACC (10-2) on Friday. The game against Dakota County was finished Friday morning after being suspended in the third inning Thursday night.

The split left Kirkwood with a 4-2 record.

Natalie Clark had two hits against Indian Hills. Chasney Jenkins had two RBIs and two runs.

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