Stories from Wednesday, January 13, 2021

The National Association of State Park’s Directors has recognized the Iowa State Park Passport for extraordinary achievement among people, projects and programs in managing state park systems. NASPD awarded the State Park Passport with a Presidential Award for Corporate Partnership, honoring the leadership and innovation of Travel Iowa and Bandwango working alongside the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to create the successful passport program, especially engaging park visitors safely during the national pandemic.. ...

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources reached a milestone goal to plant at least 100,000 trees on state-managed lands in 2020. The tree plantings commemorate the 100th anniversary of the National Association of State Foresters, as well as the 100th anniversary of Iowa state parks...

Big northern pike have always fascinated me. While pike are indeed abundant across the Upper Midwest and beyond, big pike that surpass the 35-inch mark can be much more difficult to find. Trophy class pike don’t live everywhere and not every fishery can produce big fish but few fish get me as excited as big pike...

Avid ice angler John Crane and I talked on the phone recently. He has been doing a lot of ice fishing in his home area of north central Minnesota and on this particular day he had been after walleyes. After my usual questions of “wadja catch” and “wadja catch 'em on,” the conversation got a little more in-depth...

For the third consecutive year, the North American Ice Fishing Circuit will be holding one of its National Qualifiers on West Okoboji’s Little Emerson/Big Emerson Bay on Sunday, Jan. 17. Host bait shop will be Stan’s Bait and Tackle. The NAIFC tournament series, is the only tournament series that provides local anglers an opportunity to advance to a National stage. ...

The Harris-Lake Park boys basketball team fell to Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn on Tuesday, Jan. 5 in Hartley. The Wolves fell 69-36 to the Hawks in War Eagle Conference action. "We got off to a bit of a slow start at Hartley on Tuesday night, getting down 20-8 after one quarter," Harris-Lake Park coach Jeff Sohn said. ...

The Harris-Lake Park girls basketball team dropped a War Eagle Conference road trip to Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn on Tuesday, Jan. 5. The Wolves fell 67-17 to the Hawks in Hartley. "We showed a strong first half," Harris-Lake Park coach Kirsten Noska said. ...

The Okoboji boys basketball team dropped a Siouxland Conference road trip to Sioux Center on Tuesday, Jan. 5. The Pioneers fell 63-51 to the Warriors. "The boys never gave up tonight and fought to give us a chance heading into the final stretch of the game," Okoboji coach Ryan Stumbo said. ...

The ninth-ranked (2A) Spirit Lake boys basketball team earned a dominant home win over Pocahontas Area on Tuesday, Jan. 5. Spirit Lake defeated Pocahontas Area 60-32 in Spirit Lake. "I was really happy with how we responded on a back to back after a tough game against Sheldon," Spirit Lake coach Paul Brown said. ...

The Harris-Lake Park girls basketball team dropped a non-conference contest to George-Little Rock on Thursday, Jan. 7. The Wolves fell 59-15 to the Mustangs in Lake Park. Harris-Lake Park trailed 17-2 after one quarter and 40-9 at the half. The Mustangs continued to add to their lead in the second half, outscoring the Wolves 12-3 in the third quarter and 7-3 in the fourth...

The Harris-Lake Park boys basketball team snapped a five-game losing streak dating back to mid-December with a non-conference home win over George-Little Rock on Thursday, Jan. 7. The Wolves topped the Mustangs 66-53 in Lake Park. "I thought the guys bounced back nicely on Thursday after a tough loss at Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn on Tuesday," Harris-Lake Park coach Jeff Sohn said. ...

The Okoboji girls basketball team earned its first road win of the season on Thursday, Jan. 7. The Pioneers defeated Emmetsburg 45-36 in non-conference action. "We are so proud of this group for how they have continued to work hard, stay together and take ownership of this program," Okoboji coach John Adams said. ...

The Okoboji boys basketball team earned a dominant road win over Emmetsburg on Thursday, Jan. 7. The Pioneers defeated the E-Hawks 74-48 in non-conference action. "We were proud of the energy we brought tonight and our defensive effort," Okoboji coach Ryan Stumbo said. ...

The ninth-ranked (2A) Spirit Lake boys basketball team earned a non-conference road win over West Lyon on Thursday, Jan. 7. The Indians topped the Wildcats 61-53 in Inwood. "Similar to Pocahontas, we came out firing right away," Spirit Lake coach Paul Brown said. ...

The Okoboji/HMS wrestling team competed at a dual tournament hosted by Forest City on Saturday, Jan. 9. The Pioneers went 0-4 on the day, falling to Charles City, Clear Lake, Forest City and Saint Ansgar. In their 51-30 loss to Saint Ansgar, the Pioneers picked up two wins...

The Spirit Lake girls basketball team clinched a second consecutive win with a non-conference victory over Pocahontas Area on Monday, Jan. 11. Spirit Lake topped Pocahontas Area 58-48 in Spirit Lake. "Stella (Donkersloot) got us off to a great start (with) a couple 3-pointers right away," Spirit Lake coach Todd Rogers said. ...

The ninth-ranked (2A) Spirit Lake boys basketball team maintained its perfect record with a two-point victory over non-conference foe Newell-Fonda on Monday, Jan. 11. The Indians edged the Mustangs 59-57 in Newell. "I was extremely happy with how our guys played on Monday," Spirit Lake coach Paul Brown said. ...

The Spirit Lake Park wrestling team earned a convincing win over Lakes Conference foe Storm Lake on Thursday, Jan. 7. The Indians topped the Tornadoes 59-21 in Spirit Lake. "Really proud of the way all our guys competed," Spirit Lake Park coach Andrew Lundgren said. ...

The Harris-Lake Park girls basketball team lost a non-conference contest with Sibley-Ocheyedan on Monday, Jan. 11. The Wolves fell 72-17 to the Generals in Sibley. "Another game where our girls struggled to break the press," Harris-Lake Park coach Kirsten Noska said. ...

The Harris-Lake Park boys basketball team dropped a non-conference road trip to Sibley-Ocheyedan on Monday, Jan. 11. The Wolves fell 65-47 to the Generals in Sibley. "You have to give Sibley-Ocheyedan credit as they shot the ball pretty well and had some guys play really well," Harris-Lake Park coach Jeff Sohn said. ...

The Okoboji/HMS wrestling team hosted a quadrangular with Manson-Northwest Webster, East Sac County and Pocahontas Area on Thursday, Jan. 7. The Pioneers defeated Manson-Northwest Webster but fell to East Sac County and Pocahontas Area. "We had chances to sweep all three duals, as they came down to the last match," Okoboji/HMS coach Nate Dau said. ...

The Okoboji girls basketball team, coming off of a non-conference road win over Emmetsburg on Thursday, dropped a Siouxland Conference home contest to Sheldon to end the week. The Pioneers fell 55-43 to the Orabs on Friday, Jan. 8. "We just didn't have the same sense of urgency and execution tonight that we did last night," Okoboji coach John Adams said. ...

The Okoboji boys basketball team dropped a Siouxland Conference home game to Sheldon on Friday, Jan. 8. The Pioneers fell 59-50 to the Orabs in Milford. "It was a hard-fought game by both teams tonight," Okoboji coach Ryan Stumbo said. "We spent way too much of the game reacting to their defense instead of us forcing their defense to react to us, and it made it hard for us to gather consistent rhythm offensively. ...

The Spirit Lake Park wrestling team placed third at the Jerry Hentges Duals held Friday, Jan. 8 in Spirit Lake. The Indians earned wins over East Sac County, MOC-Floyd Valley and Sioux Center, but fell to tournament champion Central Springs. "I always enjoy hosting this event and paying tribute to Jerry Hentges, who was both an official and coach for the sport of wrestling," Spirit Lake Park coach Andrew Lundgren said. "It's a great event that brings in eight teams total using both gyms. I really appreciate all the volunteer help from teachers and maintenance staff at the school and also some SLP alumni who come and help work tables and make this tournament run really smoothly. ...