IOWA – NCDA

Pioneer Classic VII Preview

The Pioneer Classic is the first of two home tournaments hosted by UW-Platteville, and it’s one of the few events where majority of the central region is in attendance. It is also an event where many UWP alumni come and return to their roots for an afternoon. This year, among usual attendees like UNL, Iowa, and UIUC, Grand Valley University is making an appearance for the first time; they are the first non-central region team to attend a central region event in quite a while. A total of six official teams will be in attendance, seven with the alumni/mixed team, and UWP will be dusting off court three to accommodate all the games that will be taking place.

Additionally, there are two fundraisers coinciding with the tournament: The Popcorn Kernel LLC will be donating a portion of their earnings over the weekend to the club, so go purchase some popcorn downtown to help out the club (mention the club with your purchase), and UWP’s own Pioneer Sweets will be selling ice cream day of, proceeds going to the club as well. Now, let’s take a look at the team’s we’ll see this Saturday!

Women’s Heartland Havoc Recap

On October 10th, the central region finally welcomed their first women’s tournament in the Heartland Havoc, and University of Iowa had the honor of hosting. The central region teams in attendance were Iowa, UWP, and UWEC; Illinois unfortunately had to pull out day of due to transportation issues, but they wished those still going good luck. The women of the central region played hard at this tournament, making sure to not let this amazing opportunity go to waste. Let’s take a look at how the teams did!

Women’s Heartland Havoc Preview

Saturday, October 10th, welcomes the first ever Heartland Havoc women’s tournament hosted by Iowa! This is a very big accomplishment not only for their young coach, Andrew Heim, but for the central region as a whole as this is the first official women’s tournament hosted in the region. Several events like the two Platteville home tournaments, the central region cup, and Eau Claire’s home tournaments have scheduled women’s matches along side their open games, but the Heartland Havoc is the first all women’s event. If you didn’t know, the central region had half the teams in the women’s league going into this season as well as some of the youngest teams in the division. This makes having an official women’s tournament in the region all the more important not only for internal team growth but regional growth as well. It gives our women the opportunity to prioritize and showcase all the hard work they’ve put into their team so far this season, and it offers a glimpse into what the rest of the season will look like. This event will see four teams in attendance: UWP, UIUC, UWEC, and of course Iowa. Each team will play three games, and at the end of the day, an open match between Iowa and a mixed team will take place.

Central Region Women’s Preview 2026-27

While this preview comes a little late into the start of the season, I touched on all of these teams in the Women’s League Preview, which you can read here. For this article, I wanted to hear from the teams directly on how the season’s been going so far. So below are the interview questions I asked each team in the region. Thank you to those who responded, so let’s hear from the teams!

Cornhusker Clash IX Recap

The central region kicked off the season with two tournaments this weekend; the first being the Rosen Bowl III on Saturday, September 19th, and the second being the Cornhusker Clash IX on Sunday, September 20th. Check out the preview an recap for the Rosen Bowl III after this one. The Sunday tournament was a change of pace which allowed UWP and Iowa to dedicate all of Saturday to traveling down to Lincoln, Nebraska. It was great to see the turnout for this tournament, so let’s take a look at how each team did!

Cornhusker Clash IX Preview

The Central region kicks of the season with an unusual Sunday tournament hosted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The Cornhusker Clash is a long-running meeting usually between close rivals UNL and UWP, but this year, Iowa joins the fun. Their participation in this event is a welcomed break in tradition, and it gives all three teams a great start to the season. Let’s take a look at each team going.

2026-2027 Women’s League Preview

The NCDA’s Women’s league has seen a boost in attention over the course of the last two seasons, and it’s unsurprising with how hard these women fight for their spotlight. This season, unfortunately, recruitment seems to be far more challenging than previous years, which forces teams to fall back on their vets as teams slowly shrink in size. But recruitment isn’t everything, so let’s see how these teams are doing coming out of summer break and learn who’s on the playing field for this season!

Hawkeye State Showdown II

Women’s Heartland Havoc

Central Region Preview 2026-2027

It’s time to dust off our jerseys as we approach the start of the 2026-27 NCDA season! The central region is excited to welcome back its many players and teams from a well deserved summer break as well as introduce those trying to break into the league. Lots of exciting things happened over the course of last season: First ever Central Region cup, two-time consolation bracket winners (UWP), Iowa’s first official season, and so much more! It will be exciting to see what happens next in the Central region, but for now, let’s take a look at who’s returning.

Central Region Women’s 2026 Season Recap

The past few seasons have gifted the central region with significant growth in its women’s teams. University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign (UIUC) got the ball rolling by participating in the first ever women’s national tournament, and University of Wisconsin-Platteville (UWP) was quick to follow by forming their own team to compete the following year. Now the central region has three official women’s teams, the third being University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), who were unable to attend nationals this year. Now, at the end of the 2026 season, there are three more schools who have a chance at forming teams and joining the women’s league. This is huge! The women’s league has been dominated by Michigan State University and University of Akron since its debut, so seeing the league branch out of the Ohio/Michigan region into the central region is very exciting to be a part of. Let’s take a look at how the women of the central region did this season!

2026 All Central Region Conference

We celebrate the conclusion of the 2025-2026 season by recognizing and congratulating the individual players who put in the effort to make it to the All Central Region team. The teams that make up the central region are the following: University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Illinois-Urbana Champagne, University of Wisconsin-Platteville, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, University of Iowa, and University of Wisconsin-Stout. The players that make this team are voted in by their peers, and thank you to those who helped make this post possible. Let’s take a look at what they have to say.

Central Region 2026 Season Recap

Compared to previous seasons, the Central region made leaps and bounds in terms of progress and growth. Not only did rookie team Iowa host their first official tournament, they also sent ambassadors to this years national tournament in Athens, OH, AND they hosted the first ever Central Region Cup. The number of teams currently in the Central region–six official and four prospective–makes them the second largest region in the league, right behind the Ohio region with eight teams.

Central Region Cup Recap

It was an exciting weekend for the Central Region as March 7th was the first official Central Region Cup! UNL, UIUC, UWP, and Iowa met up in Iowa City at the University of Iowa to compete for the Central Region Championship. Each game was intense, and each team fought hard for every point scored. In the end, UNL came out on top with an incredible 3-0 record, making their overall win-loss 13-0! Let’s see how each team did.

Central Region Cup Preview

The incredible growth of the central region reaches its peak as we head into the Central Dodgeball Cup tournament this Saturday, March 7th, 2026 at the University of Iowa. These teams last saw each other two weeks prior at the Zanderthon Throw-Down X where Nebraska (UNL) came out on top. This time, the stakes are higher as each team fights for their place as champions.