Below is a statement from the A-R-C.
Following through on its earlier announcements, the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) today announced winter schedules and schedules for the fall sports that were moved to the spring. All schedules were approved by the conference’s Presidents Council after recommendations from coaches and directors of athletics from the nine conference schools.
The safety and well-being of student-athletes remains the primary goal of the A-R-C. The announcement of schedules is to aid student-athletes, families, coaches, and campuses in planning. The Presidents Council and conference leadership will continue to monitor state and local guidance on the coronavirus. Decisions related to all athletics schedules will be subject to the realities of the pandemic as the coming winter and spring seasons approach.
Winter schedules were announced for women’s and men’s basketball, women’s and men’s track & field, and wrestling. The fall-to-spring sports of football, women’s and men’s soccer, and volleyball also were adopted.
The basketball schedule is slated to start January 23 with a round-robin of eight conference games. Due to the limited schedule, the Presidents Council approved nine-team conference tournaments the week of March 1. The one-year exception expands the tournaments from their usual number of six teams.
Like cross country this fall, the conference intends to conduct four indoor track and field triangular meets that lead into the conference championships March 5 and 6 at Wartburg College. Similarly, the conference intends to conduct a series of four wrestling triangulars, creating a round-robin.
As of today, the NCAA plans to conduct winter championships but those events are not guaranteed. Division III canceled fall championships on August 5.
Volleyball would be the first fall-to-spring sport to take the court with first matches scheduled February 20. A full round-robin is planned and there will not be a conference tournament. Women’s and men’s soccer have round-robins planned, beginning March 27. Again, there will be no conference tournament.
A-R-C football has each school scheduled for three games. Due to how the schedule is structured, the University of Dubuque is scheduled for a fourth game. It will be against Coe College.
In all sports, schools are permitted to schedule non-conference contests as long as the opponent complies with COVID protocols that are equal to those required by the conference.
KWAY Country is the flagship home of Wartburg Football. The Knights will play March 27th at home against Luther, April 3rd at Dubuque and April 17th at Loras. Wartburg football coach and athletic director Rick Willis told us adding non-conference games at this point is unlikely.