Stories from Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Editor's Note: This is the fifth installment of a weekly series previewing prep football in Dickinson County. The rankings are according to the latest Associated Press poll. It's homecoming week in Spirit Lake and the Indians are looking to take down intra-country rival Okoboji to put an exclamation point on the festivities. However, the Pioneers are looking to crash the party...

If you enjoy photographing Iowa state parks, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources invites you to enter your photos in the America’s State Parks 2020 Photo Contest, hosted by the National Association of State Park Directors. Photos will feature state parks from Iowa and other states, and could be included in calendars and other publications...

It seems that we’re always looking for new ways to fix fish. The Iowa DNR has found four different recipes you might want to try. Over the next four weeks, we will provide one of these recipes. Below is the first of the four recipes: (Courtesy of Scott Gritters)...

Editor’s note: This water summary report is prepared by technical staff from Iowa DNR, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, IIHR ― Hydroscience and Engineering, and the U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department...

Although I don’t do it as much as I used to, I still enjoy getting after walleyes at night. Across all of walleye country, there are lots of places where you can catch them under the cover of the moon. They can be caught casting from shore or trolling in a boat. Another appealing aspect is that the presentations are pretty simple: We cast either a crankbait or a jig tipped with plastic...

Last weekend my fishing friends — John Amick and Bill Elling — and I fished the 32nd annual Pocahontas Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Tournament on the Iowa Great Lakes. We found it to be pretty ironic that 32 two- or three-person teams entered the tournament for the 32nd year. It is a walleye and panfish (perch, bluegill and crappie) tournament and you can fish either category or both, but you can only win a category once during the Saturday/Sunday tournament...

Spirit Lake cross country runners competed at a meet hosted by Storm Lake on Tuesday, Sept. 15. The boys team placed fifth with 158 points. The girls team placed seventh with 200 points. Will Block led the boys team with his 24th-place time of 19 minutes, 12.04 seconds. Teammate Jackson Keeling placed 27th in 19:20.16...

Okoboji and Spirit Lake cross country squads competed at a meet hosted by Sioux Central on Thursday, Sept. 17. The Okoboji boys won their race and the girls placed second. "It was an absolute perfect night for racing and our kids took advantage of the favorable weather and great competition to get out and compete as hard as they could," Okoboji coach Brad Peter said. ...

The Harris-Lake Park volleyball team went 2-2 at a tournament hosted by Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire on Saturday, Sept. 19. The Wolves earned a 2-1 win over the host Titans and a 2-0 win over West Hancock. They fell 2-0 to Emmetsburg and West Bend Mallard...

Harris-Lake Park runners competed at a meet hosted by Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn on Monday, Sept. 21. Lilly Irwin placed sixth in the girls varsity race, finishing in 22 minutes, 37 seconds. In the boys race, Matt Stone, Landon Greve and Cole Inhen placed 11th, 18th and 41st, respectively...

The Harris-Lake Park volleyball team earned a five-set home victory over South O'Brien on Thursday, Sept. 17. The Wolves fell behind early, dropping the opening set 25-19, but bounced back to take a 2-1 lead with a 25-20 win in set two and a 25-23 win in set three...

Spirit Lake earned a pair of top-three finishes at the Spencer Invitational held Monday, Sept. 21. The girls team totaled 62 points to earn a runner-up finish behind meet champion Spencer. The boys team placed third with 90 points. "Both boys and girls varsity (teams) looked very good as we continue to pack run well up farther in the races," Spirit Lake coach Tim Heinitz said...

Okoboji and Spirit Lake cross country runners competed at a meet hosted by Sheldon on Tuesday, Sept. 22. The Pioneers girls and boys teams earned a pair of sixth-place finishes. The Spirit Lake girls and boys teams both placed ninth. The Okoboji girls were led by Lexi Duffy's sixth-place time of 21 minutes, 57.59 seconds...

The Spirit Lake volleyball team fell to top-ranked (2A) Western Christian in a Lakes Conference contest in Hull on Tuesday, Sept. 22. The Indians lost 25-12, 25-11 and 25-7. Brooke Smith led the Indians offense with six kills. Elsie Parriott had three...

The Harris-Lake Park volleyball team dropped a War Eagle Conference road trip to Remsen St. Mary's on Tuesday, Sept. 22. The Wolves fell 25-20, 25-21 and 25-23. Zella Ingham led the Harris-Lake Park offense with 13 kills. Ava Rasche had five. Jocelyn Ehret led with 17 assists. Tessa Gunderson had three...

Harris-Lake Park earned a second consecutive shutout victory Friday night, as the Wolves blanked Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire, 39-0. "Once again, I really thought our defense was just tremendous," Harris-Lake Park coach Lane Gunderson said. "We played great the whole game. ...

Spirit Lake's defense struggled to contain No. 8 Estherville Lincoln Central's potent passing attack Friday night, but the Indians came up big when they needed to in double overtime. With a 34-27 lead in the second overtime, Spirit Lake's defense need to keep the Midgets out of the end zone to salt away the upset. ...

A week of celebration nearly ended anticlimactically, as Okoboji's scheduled homecoming opponent Cherokee was forced to cancel its road trip due to COVID-19 a little more than 24 hours before the Braves and Pioneers were slated to kickoff. Fortunately, Okoboji athletic director Justin Bouse pulled off a last-minute miracle on Thursday night, finding a willing opponent in returning Class A state semifinalist Woodbury Central...

Farmers don't have a lot of memorizing to do as they align their fieldwork with the weather forecast. Wednesday: Sunny. Thursday: Becoming sunny. Friday: Mostly sunny — then sunny and breezy. Then, on Saturday, there's about a 3-in-10 chance of rain soaking the parched soil of northwest Iowa...

The Iowa Great Lakes Board of REALTORS was thrilled to present checks to four area school lunch programs last week, in partnership with the Iowa Association of REALTORS and the REALTOR Foundation of Iowa.