Kirkwood Community College - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

KCC's Wentzien will play ball for UNI

CEDAR FALLS - When Miles Wentzien transferred to Kirkwood Community College last season, he hoped playing for the Eagles would lead to a spot at an NCAA Division I school.

It happened Wednesday.

Wentzien has accepted a scholarship to play for Coach Ben Jacobson at  the University of Northern Iowa after starring for Kirkwood during the 2016-17 campaign.

Wentzien, a versatile 6-foot-3 swingman from Fort Madison, averaged  14.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists for the Eagles and was named a junior college All-American.

Wentzien is the third straight Kirkwood guard to earn All-America honors and sign with UNI, joining Hunter Rhodes and Jordan Ashton.  Wentzien was also on the Dean's List for both of his semesters at Kirkwood.

Wentzien began his college career at Missouri Western before switching to Kirkwood.

Kirkwood golfers still 8th at nationals

MESA, Ariz. - The Kirkwood men's golf team remained in eighth place  after 36 holes of the NJCAA Division II national tournament Wednesday  at the Longbow Golf Club in Arizona.

The Eagles have a two-day of 601 and trail Mississippi Gulf Coast by  31 shots with 36 holes left to play.

Niall Powell led Kirkwood with a 2-over-par 73 Wednesday.

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Mississippi Gulf Coast 570, 2. Murray State College 578, 3. Mesa  Community College 579, 4. Tyler Junior College 586, 5. South Mountain  Community College 587, 6. Illinois Central 595, 7. Meridian 600, 8.  Kirkwood 601, 9. Southeast 602, 10. Parkland 605, 11. Oakland 613, 12. Mott 617, 13. Copiah-Lincoln 619, 14. Walters  State 624, 15. Black Hawk 625, 16. Iowa Central 627, 17. Abraham  Baldwin 634, 18. Grand Rapids 635, 19. DMACC 642, 20. Waubonsee 657,  21. Allegeny 690.

KIRKWOOD: 25. Louis Flynn 72-76=148, 40. Jordan Even 74-77=151, 52.  Niall Powell 80-73=153, 65. JD Goodfellow 80-75=155, 84. Charles Hartwig 74-84=158.

KCC golfers struggle at national tourney

MESA, Ariz. - The Kirkwood men's golf team struggled in the first  round of the NJCAA Division II national tournament in Arizona Tuesday.

The Eagles shot a four-man score of 300 and are tied for eighth place,  23 shots behind Mississippi Gulf Coast.

"Not the start we wanted, but the kids played hard," KCC Coach Darin  Pint reported. "Just didn't have it today. Have three more days to improve our position."

Louis Flynn led the Eagles with a 1-over-par 72 and is tied for 14th  place after 18 holes. Niall Powell, an Honorable Mention All-American, struggled with a 9-over 80.

Jackson Wedgeworth fired a 5-under 66 to help Mississippi Gulf Coast  take the lead after Day 1. The 72-hole tournament continues through Friday.

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Mississippi Gulf Coast 277, 2. Tyler Junior College 285, 3. (tie)  Mesa Community College 287, Murray State College 287, 5. South Mountain 293, 6. Illinois Central 296, 7. Meridian 297, 8. (tie)  Kirkwood 300, Parkland 300, 10. Copiah-Lincoln 301, 11. Mott 302, 12. Oakland 306, 13. (tie) Grand Rapids 308, Abraham-Baldwin 308, 15. Iowa  Central 309, 16. (tie) Southeast 313, Black Hawk 313, 18. Walters  State 317, 19. DMACC 328, 20. Waubonsee 339.

KIRKWOOD: Louis Flynn 72, Charles Hartwig 74, Jordan Even 74, Niall Powell 80, JD Goodfellow 80.

No .2 Kirkwood stunned twice at nationals

CLINTON, Miss. - The Kirkwood softball team suffered two stunning defeats at the national tournament Thursday and is now facing a long, sad bus ride home from Mississippi.

Coach Joe Yegge's second-ranked Eagles lost to 11th-ranked Cowley County, 4-3, in the winners bracket semifinals Thursday and immediately had to play  again in the losers bracket.

Perhaps still shaken, the Eagles promptly lost to Illinois Central, 6-0, and were eliminated from the tournament with two losses in three games.

Kirkwood ripped Illinois Central, 9-0, n five innings in March, but the rematch went to Illinois Central in a stunner.

Kirkwood finished the season with a 55-6 record. Cowley County advanced to the winners bracket semifinals at 45-15, and Illinois Central stayed alive in the losers bracket at 27-23.

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No. 2 Eagles roll at national tourney

CLINTON, Miss. - The second-ranked Kirkwood softball team brought their potent bats to the national tournament on Wednesday.

The Eagles scored six runs in the bottom of the first inning and dumped Oakland Community College, 12-3, in five innings in the opening round of the NJCAA Division II tournament at Traceway Park.

Kirkwood (55-4) will face Cowley County (44-15) in the winners bracket quarterfinals Thursday at 3:30.

Taylor Nearad, the 2016 Junior College National Player of the Year, belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning to get things started. Morgan Frost had a two-run single in the first inning and Chaise Light collected a two-run double for the early 6-0 lead.

Laken Berthume, the starting pitcher for Oakland, got only one out in the first inning before being chased from the game.

Kirkwood scored three runs in the third inning for a 9-3 advantage and scored three more times in the fourth to make it 12-3. The game ended after the top of the fifth due to the mercy rule.

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KCC softball draws No. 2 seed for nationals

The Kirkwood Eagles have drawn the No. 2 seed for the NJCAA Division II national softball tournament and will face No. 15 seed Oakland (Mich.) in the first round Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.in Clinton, Miss.

Jones County of Mississippi is the top seed.

Kirkwood, which placed fifth in the national tournament last year, enters this year's event with a 54-4 record.

The Eagles feature the most potent offense in the country and also have two of the top pitchers with Lexi Kinnaird and Angie McBeain.

Kinnaird (29-3, 1.30 ERA) leads the nation in victories and strikeouts (267). McBeain is 20-1 with a 1.62 ERA.

Kirkwood center fielder Taylor Nearad, who was the 2016 National Junior College Player of the Year, leads the nation this season in  hits (111), runs (105) and doubles (35). She ranks third in triples (8), fourth in home runs (18), sixth in batting average(.531) and seventh in RBIs (77).

Catcher Maddie Hansen leads the nation with 92 RBIs. She ranks second in home runs (19) and fourth in batting average (.541).

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Kirkwood KO'd at regional baseball meet

WATERLOO - The 2017 college baseball season came to an unhappy ending for the Kirkwood Eagles Saturday.

Southeastern Community College defeated Kirkwood, 10-0, in five innings in a loser's bracket game at the regional tournament in  Waterloo.

Kirkwood lost 2-of-3 games at the tournament and finished the season  with a 34-20 record.

Southeastern and NIACC meet in the loser's bracket championship game at noon on Sunday. The winner faces Iowa Central for the title.

Eagles edged by Tritons in regional

WATERLOO - The Kirkwood Eagles lost to Iowa Central, 3-2, in the  winner's bracket semifinals of the regional baseball tournament at Riverfront Stadium in Waterloo Friday night.

The nine-inning game was tied, 2-2, in the bottom of the eighth when  Steven Calderon snapped the deadlock with a solo home run to center field for Iowa Central.

Both teams finished with only five hits in the pitchers duel.

Kirkwood (34-19) will face DMACC or Southeastern in a loser's bracket game at 3:30 Saturday afternoon in the double-elimination tournament.

Kirkwood tops DMACC at baseball regional

WATERLOO - The Kirkwood Eagles doubled their fun at the regional baseball tournament at Riverfront Stadium in Waterloo Thursday.

The Eagles collected eight doubles and doubled the score on DMACC, 10-5, in the first round of the double-elimination tournament.

Kirkwood (34-18) faces Iowa Central (33-16) in the winner's bracket semifinals Friday at 7 p.m.

Ross Kramer, Lorenzo Elion and Spencer Wiskus had two doubles in the 16-hit attack. Wiskus also belted a home run and was 3-for-4 with  three RBIs.

Kramer was 4-for-5. Elion went 2-for-5 with three RBIs. Tyler Bordner  was 2-for-3 and Cal Clark drove in two runs.

The Eagles owned a 6-1 lead after five innings, but DMACC scored twice  in the sixth inning and once in the seventh to make it 6-4.

Kirkwood responded with a four-run outburst in the bottom of the  seventh for a 10-4 lead and coasted home from there.

Joe Funkhouser pitched 5 2/3 innings for Kirkwood and got the win. He  was touched for three runs, but only one run was earned.

Porter Hummel and Kaden Wadle finished the game out of the bullpen for  the Eagles.

DMACC faces Ellsworth in a loser's bracket game at noon on Friday. Southeastern and NIACC meet in the other winner's bracket semifinal at  3:30 today.

DMACC      001 002 101 - 5 11 0
Kirkwood   012 030 40x - 10 16 3

W - Funkhouser. L - Moore.