Category: Quincy University sports

Tracking Terlisner

Posted by dobrien – November 2, 2011

Since there seems to be a tad bit of interest in the Bill Terlisner story, I thought I’d put up a one-stop shop for links to all of the coverage.

My initial story generated a ton of traffic and is the most-read story at whig.com this week. You people love your crime and punishment, but Coach T’s saga has beat all of those stories.

There’s just a tad more interest in this dismissal than the last one at QU when Keith Rubio was fired as the school’s volleyball coach. That story garnered all of three web hits at whig.com.

Here you go:

The initial news story.

My column on QU’s handling of the situation.

A player reaction piece.

Jacoby closes in on the big time in MMA

Posted by dobrien – October 3, 2011

For the better part of three years, Dustin Jacoby had a tough time winning as the quarterback of the Culver-Stockton College and Quincy University football teams. The Concord Triopia graduate was winless in two seasons with C-SC. In 2009, he became the starter at QU and got hurt in his first game, a game the Hawks pulled out in overtime at Indiana State.

Now a professional mixed martial arts fighter, Jacoby hasn’t had any problems finding success. He’s 6-0 with five knockouts as a pro and is getting a shot at the big time later this month. Jacoby will fight in UFC 137 on Oct. 29 in Las Vegas. Jacoby is scheduled to face Brad Taveras as part of the undercard for the event, which is being headlined by the Georges St. Pierre-Carlos Condit bout.

Jacoby’s a replacement for Tim Credeur, who had to withdraw from the bout with an unspecified injury. Taveras is 7-1 overall and 2-1 in UFC bouts. Unfortunately, the bout is currently schedule to be an untelevised preliminary bout. UFC 137 is available on pay-per-view and part of the undercard will be shown on Spike TV.

Since leaving the QU program after his junior season, Jacoby’s been training to be an MMA pro. He’s working with Marc Fiore, who is set to open his own gym later this month in Springfield, Ill.

I’m trying to get a hold of Jacoby for a story to be published in the Herald-Whig.

Getting to Know — QU’s Jaclyn Mastroianni

Posted by dobrien – October 1, 2011

In the latest installment of Getting to Know, I break it down with Quincy University women’s soccer player Jaclyn Mastroianni. One of many St. Louis products on the Lady Hawks’ roster, I chat with her about what it’s like to be playing alongside so many products from the Gateway City; what the Lady Hawks’ goals are for the season; who her favorite players are; and what she’d be doing if she wasn’t playing soccer.

DOBservideo — Getting to Know QU’s Grant Ellison

Posted by dobrien – September 17, 2011

In the latest installment of “Getting to Know,” I chat with Quincy University senior men’s soccer player Grant Ellison. Ellison talks about how tough ending last season in the NCAA Tournament was for the Hawks, why he loves to fly, airplane food, and if the U.S. men’s national soccer team will ever win the World Cup.

Getting to know — Torie Bunzell

Posted by dobrien – April 15, 2011

In the latest installment of DOBservideo, we get to know Quincy University senior softball pitcher Torie Bunzell. She’s rewritten the Lady Hawks’ record book during her four seasons at QU.

She talks about how to throw a curve, her most famous strikeout victim and who she’d like to K on the QU campus.

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Riding in style

Posted by dobrien – May 14, 2010

To the victor go the spoils.

When the Quincy University softball team showed up to load the bus for their trip to the NCAA Tournament, they got a nice surprise. A special charter bus out of Columbia, Mo., was waiting for them. It was tricked-out like a touring rock star’s bus. Think Bret Michaels’ “Rock of Love” bus, minus all of the bimbos.

The bus had 12 bunks for people to sleep and two separate lounge areas. The bus was equipped with two satellite TVs and wireless internet.

“I guess they’re kind of spoiling us right now, but I think we deserve it,” senior Megan Corey said.

The Lady Hawks are in the NCAA Tournament for the first time. They’ll play host Wayne State at 2 p.m. today in a first-round game. For more information about the tourney, go here.

So who’s next for the QU baseball team?

Posted by dobrien – May 13, 2010

With Brian Unger’s resignation as the Quincy University baseball coach today after three years on the job, the talk turns to who will take over the program.

Unless he could somehow talk his good buddy Pat Atwell out of his AD gig at Drury to come back and take over the program he built into a power in the 1990s, which isn’t very likely at all, QU Athletic Director Marty Bell will start a national search for Unger’s replacement.

With a full plate that includes finding two new athletic department assistants and an assistant for his own men’s basketball program, Bell could make a quick hire for Unger’s post.

Give Josh Rabe  a call.

Rabe is arguably the best player in QU history. He was a two-time All-American, the Great Lakes Valley Conference Freshman of the Year and later GLVC Player of the Year. He went on to play in the major leagues with the Minnesota Twins.

Since a back injury forced him to retire from baseball in 2008, Rabe’s spent the last two seasons as the hitting coach at fellow GLVC member St. Joseph’s College. After going from the big leagues to doing grunt work in Rensselaer, Ind., it’s obvious that Rabe is willing to do whatever it takes to be a coach.

A GLVC Hall of Famer, Rabe knows what it takes to succeed in the league and certainly knows what it takes to win at Quincy after helping the team to the NCAA Tournament in 1999 and to the GLVC title in 2000.

It’s a homecoming that could be a home run for QU.

A little home magic

Posted by dobrien – April 9, 2010

The Quincy University softball team heads into this weekend’s four-game set of Great Lakes Valley Conference games at the Mart Heinen Softball Complex undefeated on the season with a 10-0 home mark.

The secret to the Lady Hawks’ home success?

It’s all in the music.

After every home win this season, the Lady Hawks have cued up Queen’s “Another One Bites The Dust.” The team has its own dance routine, too, which was developed during a team dance contest the Lady Hawks (20-7) had during their spring break trip to Florida.

“We’re a really fun team,” ace pitcher Tori Bunzell said.

The duo of Monica Gray, a freshman infielder, and Ashleigh Roscetti, a freshman catcher, made up the dance during the contest and the Lady Hawks “fell in love with it,” Bunzell said. (Surprisingly, Gray and Roscetti didn’t win the dance contest. That honor went to the duo of sophomore catcher Laura Molinar and junior outfielder Erin Gregory.)

While she’s not about ready to go out and dance with her team after the wins, fifth-year QU coach Charlene Obert sees the benefit of the postgame fun.

“They all get along,” Obert said of her 20-player roster. “Team chemistry is a big factor (in the team’s success).”

Cleaning up

Posted by dobrien – September 2, 2009

Here are a few items of note as we get set for another busy weekend on the local sports scene:

Hawks helping out

Members of the Quincy University men’s basketball team will participate in Thursday’s Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk at Clat Adams Park in Quincy.

QU head coach Marty Bell and his players are walking in honor of former QU coach John Ortwerth. Ortwerth is the Hawks’ winningest coach, compiling a 259-173 mark from 1960-75. He was inducted into the QU Hall of Fame in 1978.

The walk starts at 6 p.m. Click here for more information.

Kinney will wait

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the St. Louis Cardinals will wait until the Memphis Redbirds’ season is over until they call up players to big-league team. That means former QU pitcher Josh Kinney will have to wait until next week at the earliest before he gets the chance to rejoin the team.

Kinney struggled during his time with the parent club this season. He won his first big-league game, but posted a 10.95 ERA in 15 appearances. He’s been much more consistent at Memphis. He’s 3-2 with a 3.85 ERA, striking out 49 batters in 42 innings.

QU football game to be televised

Those of you wanting to see if the Quincy University football team can beat a Football Championship Subdivision team on Thursday won’t need to make the four-hour drive to Cape Girardeau, Mo.

The folks at KFVS will broadcast the game at Southeast Missouri State for free on their Web site. Just go to the station’s Web site. Game time is 6 p.m.

You can also listen to WGEM’s call of the game at www.wgemradio.com.

Land of Linkin

Posted by dobrien – July 29, 2009

Here are a few stories that might interest you:

• Quincy native D.A. Weibring’s back will keep him out of this week’s U.S. Senior Open outside of Indianapolis. Weibring’s staying busy though. He made a stop in Metamora earlier this week to check on a course his design company, Weibring-Wolfard Golf Design, is working on. Peoria Journal-Star golf guru Greg Stewart caught up with Weibring.

• Don’t expect McKendree to be a new member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference any time soon. The school’s request to start the process of joining the NCAA Division II ranks was recently turned down by the NCAA. The Lebanon, Ill., school is a long-time member of the NAIA and plays football in the Mid-States Football Association with Quincy University. McKendree was one of three MSFA schools — Malone and Walsh being the others — that were denied by the NCAA.

However, William Jewell’s application was accepted by the NCAA. The longtime member of the Heart of America Athletic Conference, which includes Culver-Stockton, will be looking for a new Division II conference soon. The school has made it known it would like to join the GLVC, which has seemed open to the Liberty, Mo., school.

The GLVC is at 15 members right now. There was some worry that Rockhurst was going to leave the league to join the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association, but the Kansas City, Mo., school’s application for admission was denied by the league.

• It appears the Quincy University softball team will be without its star pitcher, Torie Bunzell, for the fall. According to the LaSalle (Ill.) News-Tribune, Bunzell will have surgery next month to repair a torn meniscus that will keep her out of fall ball. Bunzell recently competed in an exhibition against the Chicago Bandits and was the only pitcher on her team to strike out a Bandits player.

• The Quincy University women’s basketball team is featured in the latest edition of NCAA Champions Magazine. The team was profiled for its “Inches Closer To A Cure” campaign.