High School Sports

Okoboji runners competed against the best in the state Saturday, as Lakeside Golf Course played host to the 2019 Iowa High School Cross Country Championships. The Okoboji boys team placed 12th overall and a pair of Pioneer girls finished in the top half individually...

Spirit Lake's defense was brilliant for three quarters but a slow start cost the Indians dearly in a postseason matchup with second-ranked Clear Lake on Friday. The Lions roared out to a 21-point lead in the game's opening minutes. The Indians' offense failed to score on a handful of trips to the red zone. Clear Lake advanced. Spirit Lake traded pads and helmets for shorts and singlets...

Harris-Lake Park exited Audubon wondering what could have been. The Wolves' return to the 8-Player playoffs ended with a first-round exit, as the Wheelers downed the visitors 48-20 on Friday. The two teams traded scores early, but a fourth-down flag took the wind out of the Wolves' sails and they never recovered...

A come-from-behind victory and a series of lucky breaks sent Spirit Lake into the Class 2A football postseason Friday night. The Indians, after what has become a signature slow start, came back from a 23-7 halftime deficit to top Garner-Hayfield-Ventura 34-29 in Garner...

Two years removed from a runner-up finish, the sixth-ranked Harris-Lake Park football team is back in the postseason following a 35-0 road rout of Kingsley-Pierson last Friday. The Wolves' defense was dominant for the second straight game and looks to lead the team into the 8-Player tournament...

Okoboji entered Friday night's contest full of hope, but the Pioneers suffered yet another crushing defeat in a 40-point home loss to MOC-Floyd Valley in the football season finale. The Dutch topped the Pioneers 47-7 in Milford. "We went into the game thinking that this might be one that we matched up upfront and it might be a close one," Okoboji coach Jon Allen said. ...

Okoboji will be well-represented at the 2019 state cross country meet slated for Saturday, Nov. 2. The Pioneers' boys team earned a second-consecutive trip after winning the district title in Orange City, while the girls team will send Nevaeh Armstrong and Lexi Duffy to Fort Dodge...

Spirit Lake earned a 3-0 win over Dickinson County rival Okoboji Wednesday night, as the ninth-ranked Indians advanced in the Class 3A regional volleyball tournament. "It is always fun to play cross-lake rival Okoboji," Spirit Lake coach Beau Dielschneider said. "We knew it would be a fun environment since both teams are in such close proximity to each other. Coming out of it with a 3-0 sweep made for a great night of volleyball for us."...

Spirit Lake was up two sets and looked en route to a three-set sweep Tuesday evening in the ninth-ranked Indians' regional tournament match with unranked Sheldon. The Orabs, however, weren't going down without a fight. Sheldon stormed back to win set three and rode that momentum to back-to-back wins in sets four and five to end Spirit Lake's season...

Dickinson County football teams enter the final week of the regular season in drastically different situations. No. 6 Harris-Lake Park is more or less assured a playoff spot, as the Wolves look to build momentum with a home win over Kingsley-Pierson. ...

Following a back-and-forth battle between district titans, just two points separated third-ranked Algona from 10th-ranked Spirit Lake Friday night. The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead behind the explosive play-making ability of star Wyatt Wegener en route to a 34-32 win over the Indians that clinched the district crown...

Okoboji successfully slowed down half of Sheldon's two-headed offensive attack, but the Pioneers had no answer for Orab quarterback Kaleb Ackerman on Friday. Sheldon's signal-caller gashed the visitors for 170 rushing yards, 188 passing yards and three combined touchdowns in a 40-21 Orabs victory...

Spirit Lake ended its regular season slate with a five-set victory over Jackson County Central on Thursday. It was the first time the fourth-ranked Indians were taken to five sets this season. "We love playing JCC," Spirit Lake coach Beau Dielschneider said. "They are a very competitive and quality opponent. Whether we win or lose, we know we will come out of it a better team. The timing of the game couldn't be more perfect leading into the postseason."...

Harris-Lake Park wrapped its regular season slate with a 3-0 loss to fifth-ranked Gehlen Catholic on Thursday. The Jays topped the Wolves 25-19, 25-10 and 25-12 in Lake Park. Natasha Bremer led the Wolves offense with five kills. Kilyn Forbes and Ava Rasche had four kills each. Forbes tacked on five digs and Rasche had two...

Okoboji and Harris-Lake Park cross country runners headed west Friday, as the Pioneers and Wolves competed at a meet hosted by Unity Christian in Orange City. The Okoboji boys placed third while the girls placed seventh overall. Taylor Parsons led the Okoboji boys team with his 22nd-place time of 17 minutes, 58.68 seconds...

Okoboji wrapped its regular season slate with a 3-0 loss to ninth-ranked (2A) Boyden-Hull on Thursday. The Comets topped the Pioneers 25-7, 25-15 and 25-10. "We played our best ball in set two tonight," Okoboji coach Ashley Linquist said. "We stayed aggressive and played great defense. We, unfortunately, made a lot of our own errors by being in the net."...

The Harris-Lake Park volleyball team's season came to a close Tuesday evening, as the Wolves fell to George-Little Rock in five sets. Harris-Lake Park jumped out to an early lead, winning the opening set, 25-19. The Mustangs bounced back, winning the next two games 25-15 and 25-21 to take a 2-1 lead...

Just two weeks remain in the regular season, as Dickinson County teams look to finish their district slates strong. Spirit Lake, coming off of a dominant road win over Clarion-Goldfield-Dows, will face arguably its toughest task of the season when the 10th-ranked Indians host third-ranked and unbeaten Algona. Okoboji will look to snap a three-game losing streak when the Pioneers travel to take on familiar Siouxland Conference foe Sheldon...

Spirit Lake entered Friday night's contest without an Associated Press ranking, but the Indians were far from a team with no name, as the perennial powers imposed their will in a 57-8 district road rout of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows. Save for a fumble on their opening play from scrimmage, the Indians dominated from that point forward, outscoring the Cowboys 43-0 in the opening stanza alone...

Harris-Lake Park entered Friday night's district contest at a crossroads. Coming off of a hard-fought loss to second-ranked Remsen St. Mary's, the Wolves' coaching staff was worried that their squad's collective confidence may have taken too big a hit ahead of a tough road contest with perennial power Newell-Fonda...

Okoboji struggled to slow down Kole Telford in a 39-0 district road loss to Central Lyon/George-Little Rock on Friday night. According to coach Jon Allen, the Pioneers were unable to do that, as the Lions used the senior back in several different ways en route to a convincing victory in Rock Rapids. When Okoboji tried to take away the run, the Lions attacked through the air...

Spirit Lake earned a home victory over Estherville Lincoln Central on Thursday. The fourth-ranked (3A) Indians downed the Midgets in straight sets, winning 25-17, 25-9 and 25-11 on Pink Out Night. "ELC is always a fun game for us," Spirit Lake coach Beau Dielschneider said. ...

Okoboji suffered a 3-0 loss to Central Lyon Thursday in Rock Rapids. The Pioneers fell to the 11th-ranked (2A) Lions 25-10, 25-2 and 25-10 in Siouxland Conference volleyball action. "We weren’t able to get much going against them as they played top-notch defense and were able to use their middles well," Okoboji coach Ashley Linquist said. "In the first and third sets, we were able to play pretty tight to 10, but serve receive became something we couldn’t get out of."...

Harris-Lake Park dropped a road contest with Unity Christian on Thursday. The Wolves fell to the 12th-ranked Nights 25-10, 25-20 and 25-10 in Orange City. Kilyn Forbes, Zella Ingham and Grace Iverson had three kills each. Natasha Bremer and McKenzie Heikens both had two...

Spirit Lake went 4-1 at a tournament hosted by Hampton-Dumont on Saturday. The fourth-ranked Indians earned 2-0 wins over Grand View Christian, Webster City, South Hardin and Independence. Their lone loss was a 2-0 decision to Janesville. Jordyn Hamm led the offense with 48 kills on the weekend. She also had 13 blocks and five aces. Emma Loveall had 44 kills...

Harris-Lake Park went 1-3 at its home volleyball tournament in Lake Park on Saturday. The Wolves earned a 2-1 win over Ellsworth (MN), but fell to Manson-Northwest Webster (2-1), Rock Valley (2-0) and George-Little Rock (2-0). Zella Ingham led the Wolves with 27 kills on the day. She also had 27 digs and two aces...

Spirit Lake cross country runners Jenny Dykema and Damon Vandenberg earned All-Lakes Conference honors at the conference meet held Monday in Storm Lake. Dykema placed 13th in the girls race with her time of 22 minutes, 56.49 seconds, leading the Indians to a fifth-place finish...

Okoboji cross country teams earned a pair of runner-up finishes at the Siouxland Conference meet held Tuesday in Sibley. The Pioneer girls finished 13 points behind conference champion MOC-Floyd Valley, while the boys finished 37 points behind the Dutchmen...

Okoboji battled but ultimately fell to Rock Valley Tuesday evening in Milford. The Pioneers fell 3-0 in Siouxland Conference volleyball action. "We could not finish in any sets tonight, as we were up 13-1 in set three," Okoboji coach Ashley Linquist said. "We were able to play scrappy defense for most of the night."...