Stories from Wednesday, December 30, 2020

As 2020 draws to a close, I think we’ll all give a sigh of relief and look forward to 2021 and hopefully a year much different than 2020 was. I want to give a tip of the hat to the first responders, the medical workers on the front line and all those who have helped provide us with what we need to keep our families going...

Whether we’re ice fishing or open water fishing, it’s important to try to match our bait presentation to the attitude of the fish. Sometimes it takes a while to figure out the attitude of the fish on a particular day on the body of water that you’re on. Open water or ice, many anglers like to start with the idea that the fish are going to be active...

What an incredibly nice fall weather we have had. Until Dec. 23, we really didn’t have to battle upland cover filled with snow. Well, that has now changed, and unless we get consistent weather in the 40s, it looks like the marginal cover is not usable any more. ...

Okoboji/HMS senior Blake Abrahamson, in his third trip to the state wrestling tournament, capped his season and career with an incredible push to the Class 2A podium this past week. The 132-pounder became the Pioneers' first place-winner since 2012 — when Zach Jones placed seventh at 160 pounds and Tanner Taylor placed second at 182 — with a 3-3 record and a sixth-place finish inside Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines...

Ninth-ranked (3A) Okoboji clinched its second consecutive Siouxland Conference crown and pushed its current win streak to seven games with a home win over Central Lyon on Friday, Feb. 7. The Pioneers defeated the Lions 55-46 in Milford. “I absolutely love this team and how hard they have worked all season to reach this goal," Okoboji coach John Adams said. ...

As the Wolves prepared to square off with unbeaten and sixth-ranked Coon Rapids-Bayard in the second round of the 8-Player football playoffs, Harris-Lake Park coach Lane Gunderson said it would be crucial for his squad to get an early lead against the run-heavy Crusaders offense. The Wolves did just that on Friday, Oct. 23, scoring the game's first touchdown in the opening stanza, but back-to-back Coon Rapids-Bayard scores quickly put Harris-Lake Park on its heels...

A Jay Swygman home run in the top half of the sixth inning electrified the Okoboji faithful and sent the Pioneers baseball team on to a playoff win over intra-country rival Spirit Lake Tuesday in Larchwood. Swygman's dinger followed a four-run scoring burst by Okoboji — highlighted by a three-run double by Zach Fife — that knotted the contest at 6-6. ...

Spirit Lake Park sophomore Jon Burnette secured his second trip to the Class 2A podium in February, as the Indians' star 113-pounder placed fifth at the 2020 IHSAA State Wrestling Championships inside Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Burnette placed seventh as a 106-pound freshman in 2019...

In one of the wackiest sports seasons in recent memory, Spirit Lake's baseball and softball teams proved to be the class of their conference, clinching a pair of Lakes Conference crowns less than two weeks into the 2020 season. Spirit Lake softball coach and Athletic Director Rachel Fisher said the championships were decided by the teams' first time through the conference schedule. ...