In the days since beating St. John’s two weeks ago in a third-round game in the NCAA Division-III football playoffs, University of Wisconsin-River Falls coach Matt Walker identified a win over the Johnnies as “big in itself” given the proximity of the schools and their inherent recruiting battles.

Those bouts were Round 1 knockouts a decade ago. If St. John’s expressed interest in a player, that guy probably wasn’t going to River Falls.

“It sure felt that way at times,” said Walker, who has led the Falcons since 2011.

Gray-shirt freshman linebacker Noah Nusbaum attended St. Croix Central High School — where Walker is a frequent presence in recruiting efforts — in Hammond, Wis., just across I-94 from River Falls.

Nusbaum’s dad frequently brought him to Falcons games as a kid, and he fondly recalled throwing the ball around on the outskirts of the venue. Subsequently, River Falls was firmly on his radar when it came time to pick a school.

That story is a rare one.

“I’m the only person from my high school who committed here and stuck it out,” Nusbaum said.

Because the more common experience was that of senior defensive lineman Jack Olson, who grew up in Prescott, Wis. He knew of the Falcons, but not much beyond that. A teacher at his high school played for the Falcons in the 90s and spoke of their success decades ago.

But Olson came to a few games when he was in high school and …

“I just knew they struggled,” he said.

Mightily, with the Falcons recording zero seasons with winning records over from 2001 to 2021 — essentially the opposite of programs such as St. John’s, Wisconsin-Whitewater, Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Bethel and others in the region. Recruits had numerous options in the area, and little reason to pick up the Falcons’ phone calls.

Finally, in 2017, the university’s new, $63.5 million athletic complex opened. A door cracked open.

“More people would come to take a peek,” Walker said.

And once he had their ear, he had them.

“Even on my first visit here, talking to the coaches and seeing how they’re really heartfelt and care about you as a person, who you are and success for you is just a huge thing, and something you notice right away,” Olson said.

Falcons star quarterback Kaleb Blaha opened his collegiate career at Division II Winona State, the highest level at which he received an offer. But the moment he entered the transfer portal, he knew he was going to River Falls.

“They didn’t have a good team at the time, but that didn’t play a factor,” Blaha said. “I really liked Coach Walk and how he recruited me, how bad he wanted me.”

The Falcons won nine games in 2021, including a win in the first-ever Isthmus Bowl. a postseason contest created to feature the top Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin teams that didn’t qualify for the NCAA bracket. They did so with a high-powered, lightning fast offense that now leads the country in plays per game and total offense.

All were major attractions to potential recruits.

“That tipped the horse and brought River Falls to the spotlight in the WIAC for football,” Olson said.

“It’s taken off since then,” Walker added.

And shows no signs of slowing down following this season’s playoff run into the national semifinals. The Falcons (12-1) play host to Johns Hopkins (12-1) Saturday at Smith Stadium. The winner advances to the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, Division III’s national title game, Jan. 4 in Canton, Ohio.

Now, Walker said, “You’re in every fight you want to be in right now recruiting.”

Junior receiver Stephen Reifenberger, a Hastings native, said the Falcons football team has “the coolest culture I’ve been a part of in my sports career.”

“It’s so easy to come here every day and want to go to work,” Nusbaum said, “because you trust your brothers and you trust your coaches so much.”

That, Walker said, has always been a piece of River Falls’ “great story,” along with its small-town charm and history. He loves telling it. Now, everyone is listening.

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By KONSTANTIN TOROPIN, BEN FINLEY and AAMER MADHANI, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced the start of an operation to “eliminate ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weapons sites” in Syria following the deaths of three U.S. citizens.

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“This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance. The United States of America, under President Trump’s leadership, will never hesitate and never relent to defend our people,” he said Friday on social media.

Two Iowa National Guard members and a U.S. civilian interpreter were killed Dec. 13 in an attack in the Syrian desert that the Trump administration has blamed on the Islamic State group. The slain National Guard members were among hundreds of U.S. troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting IS.

Soon after word of the deaths, President Donald Trump pledged “very serious retaliation” but stressed that Syria was fighting alongside U.S. troops. Trump has said Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa was “extremely angry and disturbed by this attack” and the shooting attack by a gunman came as the U.S. military is expanding its cooperation with Syrian security forces.

A U.S. official told The Associated Press that the attack was conducted using F-15 Eagle jets, A-10 Thuderbolt ground attack aircraft and AH-64 Apache helicopters. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operations, said more strikes should be expected.

When asked for further information, the Pentagon referred AP to Hegseth’s social media post.

White House officials noted that Trump had made clear that retaliation was coming.

“President Trump told the world that the United States would retaliate for the killing of our heroes by ISIS in Syria, and he is delivering on that promise,” White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement.

Trump this week met privately with the families of the slain Americans at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware before he joined top military officials and other dignitaries on the tarmac for the dignified transfer, a solemn and largely silent ritual honoring U.S. service members killed in action.

The guardsmen killed in Syria on Saturday were Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, according to the U.S. Army. Ayad Mansoor Sakat, of Macomb, Michigan, a U.S. civilian working as an interpreter, was also killed.

Some people learn by studying, some by doing. One week after the blockbuster trade that brought him to the Minnesota Wild, defenseman Quinn Hughes is doing plenty of both as he gets up to speed with his new home and his new team.

In addition to his skills with the puck and an unmatched availability to break out of the defensive zone, Hughes added a new tool to the trade on Thursday night in Columbus, Ohio.

With the Wild missing four regulars on defense, and with the mostly untested trio of David Jiricek, Matt Kiersted and Carson Lambos in the lineup, veterans Brock Faber and Hughes combined to spend 63 minutes on the ice as the Wild rallied for a 5-2 win, their sixth consecutive victory.

“Hughes has come in and obviously played really well. I think the circumstance dictated a little bit more ice time for some guys, but I think the schedule lended itself towards that,” Wild coach John Hynes said Friday at TRIA Rink after cancelling practice for the team. “He was a big impact. You see the way he plays on both sides of the puck; I think you see how he can transport the puck, move the puck, his scoring chances, his offensive blue line work. All of those things stand out to all of us all the time.”

It has become a popular social media video already to show the intense look on Hughes’ face he’s been on the Wild bench. His coach said that perhaps the concentration comes from an inquisitive player trying to soak in all he can, on and off the ice.

“He asks questions. I think he has a really good assessment of his game, too,” Hynes said. “Even after the first game, he was like, ‘I thought it was pretty good, but there’s a couple of reads in the D zone or things like that I was a little hesitant on.’ ”

The need for workhorse minutes on the blue line came in part due to a pile-up of injuries, with seven regulars not making the trip to the Blue Jackets’ home rink. But the first off-ice move the Wild made on Friday was to send forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel and defenseman David Spacek to Iowa, an indication that Hynes expects at least a player or two to be back in the lineup on Saturday afternoon when the Edmonton Oilers visit St. Paul.

Later in the day, they sent Lambos and forward Ben Jones down, as well.

On Friday, Hynes said defensemen Zach Bogosian and Daemon Hunt are out for the coming weekend. At least a few of the four other missing in action players — forwards Mats Zuccarello and Marcus Johansson and defensemen Jake Middleton and Jonas Brodin — could face the Oilers on Saturday and/or the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday.

With Edmonton playing in the last two Stanley Cup Finals, and Colorado leading the Central Division, both games are measuring sticks that have the players and the fan base excited.

“I think the guys are highly motived right now,” Hynes said. “I think it’s not so much who we’re playing, it’s how we’re playing and continuing to drive winning and play the way we need to play to win. That brings excitement to the group, and you take each game as it comes.”

If they are not healthier on defense by the weekend, Hynes knows that in a pinch veterans like Faber and Hughes can log 30-plus minutes in a game if needed.

“They are workhorses and, you know, thirty-two is high (minutes), but I also think that’s in the bag if you need it,” Hynes said.

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The Department of Justice has begun releasing its files on Jeffrey Epstein. The convicted sex offender and wealthy financier was known for his connections to some of the world’s most powerful people, including President Donald Trump, who had long tried to keep the files sealed.

Here’s the latest:

Several photos of former President Clinton are in the documents released by the Justice Department

Some show Clinton on a private plane, including one with a woman whose face was redacted from the photo sitting on his lap. Another photo shows him in a pool with Maxwell and a person whose face also was redacted.

Another photo shows Clinton in a hot tub with a woman whose face was redacted.

The files do not say when the photos were taken.

Clinton has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, and the mere inclusion of someone’s name or images in files from the investigation does not imply otherwise.

Clinton minimized his relationship with Epstein, acknowledging that he traveled on Epstein’s private jet but saying through a spokesperson that he had no knowledge of the late financier’s crimes.

White House responds to DOJ’s release of Epstein files

The White House said the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, which began Friday afternoon, shows how the administration is the “most transparent in history.”

“By releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, and President Trump recently calling for further investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, the Trump Administration has done more for the victims than Democrats ever have,” said a White House spokeswoman, Abigail Jackson.

Jackson pointed to other Democrats who have had ties to Epstein, such as Delegate Stacey Plaskett, who had received text messages from Epstein during a 2019 House hearing with Michael Cohen, Trump’s former fixer.

DOJ tells public to flag any identifying information that should’ve been hidden

The Justice Department said “all reasonable efforts have been made to review and redact personal information pertaining to victims, other private individuals, and protect sensitive materials from disclosure.”

However, in a notice posted with the files, the department warned that some may have been missed as it rushed to get records online. Because of the volume of information involved, the release “may nevertheless contain information that inadvertently includes non-public personally identifiable information or other sensitive content, to include matters of a sexual nature,” the notice said.

The department asked members of the public to notify it promptly of any information that should not have been posted “so we can take steps to correct the problem as soon as possible.

”The law mandating the release, the Epstein Files Transparency Act, requires the Justice Department to make such redactions.

What’s inside the released files

Among the thousands of records released by the Justice Department are photos, call logs, grand jury testimony and interview transcripts. Many of the documents have been redacted and at least some have already been in the public domain.

Some of the photos and transcripts feature Epstein and his longtime confidant, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.

Maxwell was charged with recruiting underage girls for Epstein to abuse. She was convicted in late 2021 and is serving a 20-year-prison sentence.

The files also included video clips from inside the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City from the day Epstein died by suicide in his jail cell. The video clips had already been released previously by the Justice Department and officials have said for years they showed no one else entering the area around Epstein’s cell before he was found dead.

AP reporters are reviewing the files

Compiling accurate and thorough information takes time. A team of AP reporters is working to confirm information released by the Justice Department regarding Jeffrey Epstein.

These standards guide our reporting process:

We generally do not identify those who say they have been sexually assaulted or subjected to extreme abuse
We must make significant efforts to reach anyone who may be portrayed in a negative way in our content
We will not knowingly introduce rumor or false information into material
We abhor inaccuracies, carelessness, bias or distortions
We always strive to identify all the sources of our information

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Files appear online after a waiting room-like queue

High interest led the Justice Department to regulate access to its Epstein files website for a time.

The webpage went live Friday afternoon with a waiting room-type queue akin to what concertgoers sometimes see when they go online to purchase tickets.

Visitors were greeted with the message: “You are in line for Department of Justice web content. When it is your turn, you will have 10 minutes to enter the website.”

The webpage then refreshed to reveal a landing page with various categories of documents, including court records and other disclosures.