Stories from Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Tom Naviaux has come full circle. Back in 1996 he and his brother Bill became the owners of a Lakes Region landmark business, the Gingham Inn. The Naviaux brothers together operated the well-known restaurant near The Spillway in Spirit Lake for six years...

Wells Fargo Arena will be home to nine Dickinson County wrestlers this week, as area athletes look to turn their wishes into reality. The 16,000-seat stadium will be rocking Thursday, Friday and Saturday as Iowa's best chase state championship glory. To get there, though, area wrestlers first needed to get past a brutal slate of match-ups this past weekend at district tournaments in Spencer and Milford...

A pair of former Cornbelt Conference rivals laced them up Friday night to end the regular season, as Harris-Lake Park hosted Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire in non-conference boys basketball action. The Wolves got out to an early lead and held off a second-quarter Titans run to seal a 62-53 win in Lake Park...

Okoboji advanced in the Class 2A girls regional tournament with a 62-50 win over Siouxland Conference foe Sibley-Ocheyedan on Saturday. The Pioneers led from start to finish in their third matchup with the Generals. Okoboji won 65-60 on the road on Dec. 20, and 62-42 at home on Feb. 3...

Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire dominated West Bend-Mallard from start to finish Thursday night in the opening round of the Class 1A girls regional basketball tournament in West Bend. The Titans got out to a slim lead through one quarter of play, but shut the Wolverines down completely in the final three quarters, holding the hosts to just 14 points the rest of the way in a 57-25 beatdown...

In a season full of heartbreaking losses, the Okoboji boys basketball team suffered maybe the most painful loss of all Thursday in a 51-48 loss to Estherville Lincoln Central in the first round of the district tournament in Inwood. Knotted at 48-48 late in the fourth quarter, the Midgets ran nearly a full minute off of the clock. After several fouls and a pair of timeouts, ELC guard Jacob Heinrichs got the ball at the top of the key...

Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire played lockdown defense Monday night, allowing just four fourth-quarter points in a 49-38 district tournament win over Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn. The Titans trailed 8-5 after one quarter of play. The Hawks stretched their lead to six in the second quarter, but GT/RA responded with a late run to take a 22-18 lead at the break...

Spirit Lake football player Noah Mayer signed his letter of intent Tuesday, Feb. 14 to continue his athletic and academic career at St. John's University in Collegville, Minnesota. As a defensive back for the Indians this past fall, Mayer was named First Team All-District after finishing with 70 tackles and an interception...

The Boji Mammoths welcomed Sioux Center to the Boji Bay Ice Arena Friday night for the Mammoths final home game this season and a chance to avenge an overtime 4-3 loss to the Storm from this previous Sunday. It took the Storm just 20 seconds to find the back in the net, and they never relinquished the lead in a 8-3 Boji defeat...

After scoring just three points in the first quarter, it looked like it was going to be a long Thursday night for Clay Central-Everly's girls in the opening round of regional play against Harris-Lake Park. Despite splitting the two game season series, the teams appeared to be anything but even in the early going, but CC-E's Kennedy Wilson put the team on her back with a 28-point performance to give the Mavs the lead in the second half...

Spirit Lake allowed just eight second-half points to MOC-Floyd Valley Saturday in Orange City, as the Indians demolished the Dutch 47-30 in the first round of girls regional tournament hoops. "All week in practice, we really emphasized defense," Spirit Lake coach Rachel Gerking said. ...

The fifth-ranked Spirit Lake boys basketball team suffered a seven-point road loss to Sioux City West on Friday, as the Indians fell 68-61. West led 14-11 after one quarter of play, but Spirit Lake fought back to take a 29-20 lead at the break. West cut into the lead with a 20-18 score in the third before outscoring the Indians 28-14 in the final stanza to seal the victory...

The Okoboji girls and boys basketball teams split a Siouxland Conference home doubleheader on Tuesday, Feb. 7. While the Pioneer girls won 45-32, the boys lost yet another close one in overtime, falling to the Mustangs 79-75. In the girls contest, Okoboji trailed 15-13 after one quarter of play, but limited the Mustangs to four points in the second quarter to take a 26-19 lead into the locker room at the half...

The Harris-Lake Park girls and boys basketball teams lost both legs of a doubleheader with Remsen St. Mary's on Tuesday, Feb. 7. The H-LP girls fell 58-40, while the boys lost 81-39 to the third-ranked Hawks. In the girls contest, Harris-Lake Park trailed 16-11 after one quarter of play and 29-15 at the break. The Hawks added to their lead with a 19-15 score in the third quarter before both teams played to a 10-10 tie in the fourth, as Remsen St. Mary's hung on for the 18-point win...

The Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire wrestling team ended its dual tournament run Tuesday, Feb. 7 in Sibley, as the Titans fell 41-36 to West Sioux. GT/RA picked up wins from Kolton Roth, Spencer Roth, Beau Schany, Nate Larson and Carter Murray in the meet...

Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire dropped a Twin Lakes Conference boys basketball showdown with Alta-Aurelia on Tuesday, Feb. 7. The Warriors topped the Titans 75-49. Alta-Aurelia led 20-9 after one quarter of play and gained a 39-21 lead at the break. The Warriors added to their lead with a 22-12 score in the third quarter before cruising to the 26-point victory...

Pocahontas Area star Elle Ruffridge outscored Spirit Lake 39-34 on Monday, Feb. 6 to lead her second-ranked squad to an 86-34 road win. Spirit Lake trailed 41-15 after one quarter and 62-22 at the half. Pocahontas Area added to its lead with a 22-7 score in the third quarter before cruising to 52-point win in the final stanza...

There is something special about late ice fishing. The fish can really go on a fantastic bite. Of course, this is also the time to be careful of ice conditions. This year, especially, ice depth isn’t what it normally is, and the warm weather we have had is going to do a number on lake accesses. So, we really need to be cautious about getting on the lake. As long as it is safe, however, it’s an awesome time to be ice fishing...

Boy oh boy what an ice-fishing season it’s been across the Midwest, and it’s not done yet: There is still lots of time to go fishing and lots of fish are still out there waiting to be caught. This is the time of year though, when it pays to be flexible in your fishing...

The Iowa DNR has issued a reminder that permanent ice shelters must be removed from all state-owned lands and waters by Monday, Feb. 20. Anglers are encouraged to not wait until the last minute to get their shelter off of the ice. In other years, when ice depths and conditions have been more winter-like, the Iowa DNR has granted anglers an extension...

Create some habitat and conservation foodscapes, with the Wild Edibles Specialty Packet from Iowa’s State Forest Nursery. “The packet consists of tree and shrub species selected for their potential to provide delicious berries and nuts to enhance your diet,” says Paul Tauke, state forester. “This packet is a great and affordable way to develop a wild garden on your acreage or in a large backyard.”...

Started in 2004 by Teeg Stouffer, Recycled Fish focuses on a lifestyle of stewardship to protect waters and fisheries for future generations. Over the past 13 years, the organization has grown to a national movement of anglers who live a lifestyle of stewardship on and off the water...

A new music scholarship was recently established by the Mid-America Music Association (MAMA) to honor students enrolled in the music program at Iowa Lakes Community College. A fundraising dance was held last fall with scholarship money raised, making this an annual event. ...