Stories from Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Each fall, from September through December, bird-of-prey enthusiasts gather at hawk watches around the state to observe and count eagles, hawks, falcons and other raptors as they migrate south. Using thermals and up-drafts along major river valleys, thousands of these fascinating creatures follow Iowa’s “hawk highways” as they make their way south from northern nesting grounds...

Scharnberg Park scheduled for November 18

Many anglers look forward to the outstanding fishing action that is available in the fall season. Throughout much of the Midwest, walleyes, largemouth and smallmouth bass, panfish and even muskies are willing biters this time of year. A species of fish that’s often overlooked, but can be very accessible in the fall are northern pike...

I am sure that Iowa’s pheasant hunters have Saturday, Oct. 28 circled on their calendars. After all, it’s the opener of the 2017 pheasant season! So, what to expect? It’s really hard to put that question into a definite answer. First off, the August roadside count shows a definite downturn both statewide and here in northwest Iowa from 2016. ...

The Okoboji volleyball team lost a conference road trip to Sheldon Tuesday, Oct. 10. The Pioneers lost in straight sets (25-12, 25-12, 25-11). Sydney Jensen led with three kills. Grace Wintz had two kills and six digs. Laura Nielsen had two assists...

The Spirit Lake volleyball team lost a Lakes Conference road trip to Storm Lake Tuesday, Oct. 10 to end the conference season. The two squads went four sets. Storm Lake won the first set 25-21. Spirit Lake won set two 25-16. The Tornadoes ended the night with a 26-24 win in set three and a 25-23 win in set four...

After beating Storm Lake 59-35 and crushing Algona 75-19 Monday night at home, Spencer’s swim girls traveled to Perry Tuesday for a double dual with Atlantic and Perry. The Tigers split their Tuesday meet, handing Perry a 62-32 defeat and falling to Atlantic 65-29...

Four Spirit Lake cross country runners earned All-Lakes Conference honors at the conference meet held in Spencer on Tuesday, Oct. 10 — though a mix-up in results forced meet officials to take a closer look throughout the night and into the following morning...

The Tiger girls swim team dove into its final invitational of the regular season Saturday, competing against four other squads at the Melissa Fender Invitational hosted by Lewis Central. Lewis Central and Atlantic rose to the top of the field, taking the top two spots with team scores of 291.5 and 282.5 respectively...

The Spirit Lake volleyball team went 4-1 at a tournament hosted by Storm Lake over the weekend. The Indians defeated Kingsley-Pierson, Storm Lake, Estherville Lincoln Central and split a pair of matches with Cherokee. Against Kingsley-Pierson, the Indians won 21-7 and 21-14...

The Harris-Lake Park cross country team traveled to Orange City Friday afternoon to run at a meet hosted by Unity Christian. Jaden Rueter was the only varsity runner for the Wolves at the meet. He placed 60th in the boy's race in 19 minutes, 27 seconds. Skylar Forbes ran in the JV girl's race, placing 26th in 26:32...

The Okoboji volleyball team lost to Central Lyon in straight sets Thursday in the Siouxland Conference finale. The Pioneers lost 25-11 in set one, 25-12 in set two and 25-11 in set three in Rock Rapids. Grace Wintz led the offense with seven kills. She also had seven digs...

**Dickinson County teams to wrap seasons

After a regular season with more valleys than peaks, the Okoboji volleyball team ended its year with a straight-set loss to North Union in the first round of the Class 2A Region 1 Tournament Tuesday in Armstrong. While the score was lopsided, the Pioneers played with a passion that impressed coach Eric Thompson...

Fifteenth-ranked Harris-Lake Park wrapped its regular season with a pair of War Eagle Conference volleyball victories, and junior Taylor Meyer made school history Thursday in Everly. The Wolves defeated Clay Central-Everly 3-0 and Remsen St. Mary's 3-1 to end the regular season with a 19-11 overall record and an 8-3 mark in the conference. Meyer became the first junior in Harris-Lake Park history to cross the 1,000 kill mark for her career...

After falling behind to Alta-Aurelia early Friday night, the Pioneers took on the role of a riverboat gambler. Unfortunately, it didn't pay off, as deep passes resulted in interceptions and a 47-0 home loss to the Warriors. Okoboji coach Jon Allen took responsibility for the play calling...

Playing in front of their home crowd for the final time this season, Harris-Lake Park lost a hard-fought battle with ninth-ranked Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire Friday night. The two-loss Titans topped the Wolves 46-27. Harris-Lake Park coach Lane Gunderson said the injury-plagued Wolves just didn't have enough firepower...

Spirit Lake officially knocked out of postseason with loss to fifth-ranked Sergeant Bluff-Luton