Stories from Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Dickinson County squads hit the road Editor's Note: This is the sixth installment of a weekly series previewing prep football in Dickinson County. Dickinson County teams picked up just one win in Week 5 to move to 9-6 overall on the season. Second-ranked (2A) Spirit Lake remained unbeaten with a dominant 42-0 home win over Estherville Lincoln Central to open district play. Okoboji fell 41-0 on the road to Sioux Center. Harris-Lake Park dropped its homecoming contest 56-18 to West Bend-Mallard...

Fall is a great time to catch fish with family and friends. The air is cool, the views are picturesque, lakes are less crowded and the fish are easy to catch. “Fantastic fishing opportunities await both new and expert anglers, said Joe Larscheid, chief of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Bureau. “Get out and enjoy them.”...

On Tuesday, Sept. 18, Secretary of the Interior Ryan K. Zinke announced a $1.3 million distribution from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to Iowa for state-identified outdoor recreation and conservation projects. This is part of a $100 million distribution from the LWCF to all 50 States, the Territories, and the District of Columbia. ...

Muskie anglers get ready! The Upper Great Plains Chapter 29 of Muskies, Inc., is hosting the 30th annual IDSO Muskie Fest on Saturday, Sept. 29. Cost to enter is $25. Each participant is responsible for submitting a completed registration form, completed release of liability waiver form in the mail to by Friday, September 28 to:...

In walleye country, it’s apparent that autumn is not far away. The days are still warm, but not as warm as they were two weeks ago, and, most noticeably, the nights are cooling down. Autumn means different things to different people, but for walleye chasers, it’s maybe our favorite time of the year to go fishing. ...

It just seems to happen almost overnight. One day the fields are still green and suddenly within a day, they begin to turn and by the end of the week they have turned mostly brown. At the same time, the gardens suddenly become full of ripe squash and pumpkins, another sign that the growing season is done and fall is knocking at the door...

Harris-Lake Park's Jaden Rueter earned the Wolves' lone medal at a cross country meet hosted by Alta-Aurelia on Monday. Rueter placed 18th in 19 minutes, 7 seconds. It was his first medal of the season. "(Jaden) ran a great time at Alta," Harris-Lake Park coach Travis Sprague said. "He got out to a fast start and was around the top 20 after the first mile. He fell back a couple spots but made the strongest push I've seen him make all year going from 24th to 19th within the last 3/4 mile. He ran an outstanding race.". ...

Okoboji picked up a 2-1 win over host Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn, but fell to No. 2 (1A) Gehlen Catholic, South O'Brien and Trinity Christian to go 1-3 in Hartley on Saturday. "Overall we had a strong serving day," Okoboji coach Ashley Linquist said. "We had to play from behind quite a few times due to runs we weren't able to stop and unforced errors, but some of our comebacks were strong. We just fell short."...

Spirit Lake had a stellar showing in South Dakota over the weekend. The Indians went 4-1 at the Sanford Pentagon Tournament, earning two of their four wins over ranked South Dakota squads. Spirit Lake defeated fourth-ranked (Class B) Ethan, eighth-ranked (Class A) Aberdeen Roncalli, Madison and Central Lyon. The Indians' lone loss came to third-ranked (Class B) Chester Area...

Okoboji struggled mightily in a straight-set loss to fifth-ranked (3A) Siouxland Conference foe MOC-Floyd Valley on Thursday, Sept. 20. The Pioneers fell 25-5, 25-4 and 25-5 to the Dutch in Milford. "MOC-Floyd Valley went on some large runs and we just did not have a response to those," Okoboji coach Ashley Linquist said. ...

Okoboji earned a convincing Siouxland Conference victory Tuesday night, as the Pioneers downed Sibley-Ocheyedan 3-0 in Sibley. The Pioneers topped the Generals 25-15, 25-10 and 25-15. Morgan Jensen led with eight kills. She also had eight digs, three blocks and two aces...

Okoboji hung with Sioux Center for 15 minutes Friday night, but — as Aristotle would say were he a football fan — 15 minutes does not a game make. Coming off of a 61-7 homecoming win over MMC-RU the previous week, the Pioneers felt confident heading into their Week 5 matchup with the Warriors. That confidence paid dividends into the second quarter, but the Pioneers could not maintain that momentum, as Sioux Center racked up 393 yards of offense in a 41-0 victory...

Playing without star lineman Abdulla Elbuytari, who suffered a knee injury in a loss to fifth-ranked Ar-We-Va the previous week, the Harris-Lake Park football team struggled mightily in a 56-18 loss to West Bend-Mallard Friday to cap off homecoming week in Lake Park...

Spirit Lake coach Josh Bolluyt looked at a four-game non-district schedule as an opportunity to make sure his team was as good as it could be entering district play in Week 5. If a 42-0 drubbing of Estherville Lincoln Central isn't as good as the undefeated and second-ranked Indians can be, the rest of Class 2A is in serious trouble...

Only three of the seven lots which formerly made up historic lakeshore hotel The Inn are left for purchase, after the iconic property was demolished in April. Mike Jensen, representing developers Whitecap LLC through Jensen Real Estate, said the three easternmost lots come with a price tag of approximately $1.5 million each. He said interest in the seven lots was high...