Stories from Tuesday, February 9, 2016

It appears construction can begin at the five campuses of Iowa Lakes Community College. Strong support from Emmet County voters helped a $16 million bond referendum pass Tuesday night, based on unofficial results. The measure received 1,984 "yes" votes for 62.4 percent support. The bond referendum received 1,192 "no" votes for 37.5 percent opposition...

The 2016 Laker Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet will be held on Friday, Feb. 19 at 6:30 p.m. in the S.E.R.T Center on the Estherville campus of Iowa Lakes. The event is open to the public. Anyone who would like to meet the inductees of the Laker Athletics Hall of Fame and share in the memories of the past are encouraged to attend...

The Iowa Lakes men's and women's basketball teams each picked up victories in a home doubleheader against Dakota Wesleyan JV on Monday, Feb. 1. The Laker women won 73-61, while the men won 86-76. The Laker women were led by Asiya Smith, who led all scorers with 19 points on the night. She also grabbed 10 rebounds. Lauryn Smith chipped in 16 points while Jackie Petrich had 15. Zipporah Lincoln grabbed eight boards...

The fifth-ranked (2A) Okoboji girls basketball team suffered its first loss of the season Thursday, as the Pioneers fell to 13th-ranked (3A) MOC-Floyd Valley 43-35 at home in a Siouxland Conference doubleheader. The Dutch completed the sweep with a 71-48 win over the Okoboji boys in the second game of the night...

Spirit Lake senior Logan Backhaus recently signed his national letter of intent to play football at South Dakota State University. Backhaus played a key role on both sides of the ball for 2015 Class 2A state champion Spirit Lake High School. The captain of all-state teams selected by the Des Moines Register and the Iowa Newspaper Association, Backhaus ranked second among all players in the state for total offense with 3,866 yards by throwing for 2,251 yards and rushing for 1,615 yards. ...

With a 38-point performance against Spencer on Monday, Feb. 1, Spirit Lake senior Billy Brown eclipsed the 1,000 career point mark. Brown, a North Dakota University basketball commit, is averaging a team-high 21 points per game this season while leading the fifth-ranked Indians to a 16-3 overall record and an 11-2 mark in the Lakes Conference. He averaged 13.4 points as a sophomore and 13.8 points as a junior. In his three years on the varsity squad, the Indians have an overall record of 52-14...

The Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire boys and girls basketball teams split a doubleheader with Sioux Central on Friday, as the Titan boys won 70-32 and the girls fell to the Rebels 58-41 in Ruthven. In the girls' contest, the Titans kept it close through three quarters, but a 19-9 score in the fourth was all the Rebels needed to earn the victory...

The Harris-Lake Park boys and girls basketball teams split a doubleheader with Gehlen Catholic on Friday, as the girls topped the Jays 71-45 and the boys fell 66-49 in Lake Park. In the girls' contest, the Wolves trailed 15-14 after one, but stormed back to take a 33-29 lead at the break. H-LP cranked up the intensity in the second half, outscoring the Jays 17-6 in the third and 21-10 in the fourth to earn the 26-point victory...

The fifth-ranked (2A) Okoboji girls bounced back from their first defeat of the year, while the boys continued to slide in a Siouxland Conference road doubleheader with Sibley-Ocheyedan on Friday. While the girls were dominant defensively in a 54-27 victory over the Generals, the boys struggled to start both halves of a 66-60 loss...

In a Lakes Conference doubleheader Friday night, the fifth-ranked (3A) Spirit Lake boys and 11th-ranked girls swept Le Mars at home, as the boys won 89-70 and the girls won 48-30 over the Bulldogs. It was the third straight victory for the Spirit Lake girls, who lost four of their previous five against fifth-ranked (2A) Okoboji, fourth-ranked (3A) Cherokee, top-ranked (2A) Western Christian and unranked Sioux City West...

The Harris-Lake Park girls basketball team dropped a War Eagle Conference road trip to Hinton on Saturday, as the Blackhawks defeated the Wolves 54-37 at home. Hinton led from start to finish, taking a 18-3 lead after one and a 34-13 lead at the break...

The Iowa Lakes men's and women's basketball teams split a doubleheader with Kirkwood on Saturday, as the men defeated the Eagles 95-85 and the women fell 69-46 in Cedar Rapids. The men were led by Chris Jones with 25 points. Rachard Moody had 17, while Demetrius Woodley and Cody Cox both had 11 points...

With a dominant showing at the Class 2A sectional meet in Cherokee over the weekend, the Spirit Lake Park wrestling team pushed nine wrestlers through to the district tournament -- and later qualified a 10th -- while advancing in the dual tournament with a 20-point victory Saturday...

Returning state qualifier and fifth-ranked 132-pound sophomore Kolton Roth was the Titans' lone champion in Britt on Saturday, as the Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire wrestling team advanced three to the district tournament. Roth, who has suffered just two losses in his sophomore campaign, went 3-0 on the day. In the quarterfinals, he pinned West Bend-Mallard's Brandon Fehr in just 52 seconds before edging Emmetsburg's Spencer Griffin by 9-4 decision in the semis...

Led by stellar performances from Noah Bouse and Colbin Larue in Milford on Saturday, the Okoboji wrestling team advanced five to the Class 1A district tournament while placing fourth overall. Bouse, a two-time state qualifier, won the 170-pound title in front of his home crowd on Saturday. The 10th-ranked senior received a bye in the opening round before winning an ultimate tie-breaker over West Sioux's Justin Negaard...

Richard and Ranae Reimers, of Sioux Valley, Minnesota and Dan and Marilyn Gath, of Lake Park are pleased to announce the engagement and upcoming marriage of their children, Roshay Reimers and Tyson Gath. Roshay is a 2010 graduate of Round Lake-Brewster High School and recent graduate from the occupational therapy program at the University of South Dakota. ...

At 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 10, all grade 5-12 students are invited to come to the Milford Memorial Library to decorate sugar cookies. All supplies are provided by the library at no cost to the students. If you are in preschool through fourth grade and need something to do after school on Thursday, Feb. 11, stop by the library. Join Betty Naab, our children's librarian, as she hosts the after school craft party. The theme for this month is "Valentine Bingo."...

Twelve students from Spirit Lake High School spent two weeks at Polaris learning about lean manufacturing. The students put their education to work by doing various projects alongside Polaris employees. Students spent the first week in the classroom, learning lean manufacturing procedures and skills. ...

Tessa Gunderson Abby Bannor Hannah Harmon Eric Tapia Logan Van Ede Mauricio Mena Marianne Nebelsick Jaden Rueter Owen Sidles Kaitlyn Vyskocil Jeff Bunkers Alex Morales Perez Jon Cozart Avery Heikens Bret Sohn Brandon Bunkers Zach Garms James Harmon Slone LaCour...

Carlie Jo Ahrenstorff Natasha Bremer Gavin Elser Tessa Gunderson Zella Ingham Tyler Jurva Wyatt Lorch Leila Muftah Addison Popken Ava Rasche Savanna Wuebker Abby Bannor Jocelyn Ehret Lucas Gunderson Hannah Harmon Alex Heikens Carson Hellinga Alexis Huff...

Coming off an outstanding performance at the sectional tournament on Saturday, the Spirit Lake Park wrestling team was riding high coming into Tuesday's regional dual tournament in Sergeant Bluff. The Indians rode that momentum to a 39-23 win over MOC-Floyd Valley in the first dual of the night, but the wave crashed against host Sergeant Bluff-Luton, as the Indians fell 44-27...

As the second blizzard in a week pelted Dickinson County with high winds and snow, most residents pondered how bad it would get from the warm safety of their homes. "The first blizzard went a lot better," Dickinson County Emergency Manager Mike Ehret stated. ...

Ice conditions: 14-16 inches of ice but ice thickness varied. Use caution while on the ice. Yellow Perch - Fair: A few perch have been caught north of Marble beach in 20 feet of water and off of buffalo run. Walleye - Fair: Some nice walleyes have been caught north of buffalo run in 16-18 feet of water...

First Stephens College supporters feed you. Then they feed you some information during the University of Okoboji Winter Games. Stephens College owns and operates the summer stock teaching campus known as Okoboji Summer Theatre. Their Winter Games fundraising omelet meal is capped by the announcement of the upcoming season's schedule of productions...

In thrilling fashion, the fifth-ranked (2A) Okoboji girls basketball team won it's first conference title in several years, as the Pioneers came back from a double-digit deficit to beat sixth-ranked (3A) Sioux Center 54-49 on the road. "It was exciting," Okoboji coach John Adams said. ...