Well, school’s out, which means it’s time for summer. For sports fans like me, that means a long wait until fall when the Hawkeye sporting season picks back up in the fall.
But before delving into websites and blogs speculating about what next year might bring, I thought it would be a good time to look back at some of this past years great moments.
Iowa-Ohio State football game
Probably the greatest moment of the past year was Iowa’s historic beat down of then-No. 3 Ohio State.
Entering the game as 20.5-point underdogs, a win seemed almost impossible, but there is something about Kinnick under the lights that seems to give Hawkeyes magic powers.
That magic was apparent right from the first snap, as Amani Hooker intercepted a pass and took it to the house, giving Iowa the quick lead.
It only got better from there, as Nate Stanley chucked 5 touchdowns, Josh Jackson showed off his super-human skills by intercepting 3 passes, and the Hawkeyes went on to win, 55-24.
Of course, that all cumulated in a swarm of Hawkeye fans turning Kinnick into a mosh pit of crazy Hawkeye fans. It was a night to remember.
RELATED: Iowa’s Spencer Lee earned national champion wrestling title
Spencer Lee, NCAA Champion
Typically, true freshman are supposed to see minimal playing time, and the playing time they do get is full of mistakes.
Well, Spencer Lee doesn’t play by those rules.
Instead of muddling through his first year, Lee decided to prove that he was already better than everyone else.
Battling though an early season injury, Lee racked up a 22-2 record. Then, to cap it all off, he captured an NCAA Championship, and it wasn’t even that much of a competition.
It’s safe to say the next three years for Iowa wrestling are going to be fun, if only to be able to watch Lee dominate.
RELATED: Iowa plays 55-24 win over No. 3 Ohio State
Jordan Bohannon’s best miss
Maybe a less exciting, but none-the-less memorable moment from this past year was a missed free-throw. How many times has that been said?
Well, thanks to Jordan Bohannon, a missed free throw became the highlight of the dismal men’s basketball season.
During a game on February 25, Bohannon tied the late Chris Street’s record for consecutive made free-throws and instead of claiming the record for himself, he intentionally missed it to keep Street’s name at the top of the record books.
The selfless act garnered national attention and newfound respect for Bohannon.
RELATED: Gustafson dominates in heartbreaking loss
Women’s basketball overcomes the odds
It was quite a year for Iowa women’s basketball, but a few individual accolades stick out from the season, the first being head coach Lisa Bluder wining her 700th game of her career, putting her amongst the leaders of active women’s basketball coaches.
Then, of course, it was Megan Gustafson.
Everyone knew before the season that Gustafson was a special player and was poised to have a great season, but who could’ve imagined the season she ended up having? But her best performance came during the Big Ten Tournament, where Gustafson single handedly kept the Hawkeyes in the game. She put up 48 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, breaking Iowa’s single-game point record and the Big Ten Tournaments point record.
Had she scored just 2 more points, it would’ve broken the single-game point record for both men and women.
All season, she was spectacular to watch, but that March afternoon she was absolutely unstoppable, and the awe in the arena was definitely palpable.