Hawkeyes beat Jayhawks, 36-23; will play for conference championship
November 9, 2025
by Peter Heimer
“Very proud of how resilient and mentally tough we were battling through adversity.” Iowa head coach Tyler Dailey
If wintry temperatures and drizzling rain did not make things hard enough for the Iowa men’s rugby team Saturday, November 8, 2025, a motivated University of Kansas team proved to be a formidable test in the 2025 Heart of America (HOA) conference semifinals held at the Hawkeyes Rugby Fields in Iowa City. In the end, the HOA North Division number one Hawkeyes, nationally ranked number 3 in D1AA, wearing white, staved off Mother Nature and the South Division number two Jayhawks (ranked #8), 36-23, to book the team’s second consecutive trip to the conference finals. Freshmen players provided a scoring spark and the defense may have bent, but did not break, resulting in a gritty, well-deserved victory.
In a match that saw four lead changes, Kansas scored first after a quick tap following a penalty against Iowa at the five-meter line. A successful conversion made it 7–0 Jayhawks after about 13 minutes of play. The Hawkeyes bounced back only three minutes later with a strong pack push at the Kansas tryline, with 6’5” 280-pound freshman lock Noah Biehle plunging over for the first of his two scores on the day. The conversion by flyhalf Ren Heimer made it 7–all, settling the team.
A little after halfway through the first half, with Iowa pressuring just inside the Kansas 22-meter line, Heimer spotted open space behind the Jayhawks’ defense and put up a delicate chip kick that took a favorable Hawkeyes’ bounce into the tryzone, and a sprinting Henry Schwob, the veteran center, pounced on the ball, exciting the crowd and giving Iowa a 14–7 lead and a shot of confidence.
After a Kansas penalty kick – the Jayhawks number 10 would slot three penalties on the day – the Hawkeyes’ lead was cut to four. A Heimer penalty kick found touch at the Kansas five-meter line for an Iowa lineout. Flanker Dan Portz made a tremendous one-handed catch of hooker Josh Bell’s throw-in and delivered the ball cleanly to scrumhalf Michael Johnson who took a short burst to freeze the defense and passed to a crashing Kevin Tomkins, freshman center, who scored Iowa’s third try, putting the Hawkeyes up 21–10 just minutes before halftime, a seemingly comfortable lead.
But there was nothing comfortable about the day’s match, weather nor scoreline.
Kansas was not content to go into halftime down 11 points. After a few uncharacteristic Iowa defensive assignment breakdowns and a couple penalties conceded by the Hawkeyes, the Jayhawks scored and converted a try just before the whistle, making it 21–17 at halftime, Iowa hanging on to a tenuous lead.
Conceding penalties – including a yellow card for a dangerous tackle that put scrumhalf Johnson in the sin bin for 10 minutes – was a problem for Iowa throughout the match. But after halftime, the defense held solid, allowing no tries and only six points on two penalties. Those two Kansas penalty kicks, though, came early in the second half, giving the Jayhawks their second lead of the match at 23–21. Home crowd fans were getting nervous. But surely the Hawkeyes could score a second-half try, couldn’t they?
They could.
A Kansas attempted penalty kick bounced off the goalpost and was nicely retrieved, advanced, and settled by wing AJ Douglas. From inside the 22-meter line, a long Heimer kick into the rain and wind found touch beyond the 50-meter line. From there, after regaining possession and applying pressure, the Iowa forwards came up with another clutch push across the tryline, with lock Noah Biehl scoring his second try of the match. After Heimer’s conversion, Iowa led 28–23 with about 13 minutes left in the match.
Seven minutes later, a Heimer penalty kick extended the cushion to 31–23, a two-score lead. The Hawkeyes added to the scoreline with a “dagger” try at the end by freshman fullback Colt Berg, making the final score 36–23.
The Hawkeyes scored five tries – four of them by freshmen Biehl (2), Tompkins, and Berg – four conversions by Heimer, and one penalty kick by Heimer.
Post-match, a shivering, drenched, satisfied Coach Dailey commented, “This was a gritty win in poor conditions. We maintained our composure under pressure. It’s pretty special that three different freshmen scored four of our five tries. Hats off to KU for giving us a very tough, competitive match.”
With Iowa State, the HOA North Division number two team, defeating Oklahoma, the South Division number one team, on Saturday in Norman, Oklahoma, the 2025 conference championship match will feature last year’s participants, the Hawkeyes and the Cyclones. Multiple conference matches will be held on Saturday, November 15, 2025, at Westwick Rugby Complex, five minutes south of Lawrence, Kansas. Hawkeyes game time TBD.
