High School Sports

While the Pioneers will enjoy a little home cooking, Spirit Lake and Harris-Lake Park hit the road after picking up their first wins of the 2020 season last Friday night, but neither will have to travel far.

Without star quarterback Bubba Sohn, who suffered a dislocated shoulder the previous week, and with a constant rain soaking the turf in Lake Park, the Harris-Lake Park football team knew it was facing an uphill battle in the Wolves' Friday night matchup with Kingsley-Pierson...

After suffering back-to-back non-district losses to two of the best in Class 1A, Spirit Lake kicked off its district slate with a convincing road win over Algona on Friday, Sept. 11. The Indians defeated the Bulldogs 41-17 to pick up their first win of the 2020 football season...

Okoboji's offense looked good in its first possession against undefeated Estherville Lincoln Central on Friday, Sept. 18. The Pioneers moved the ball at will in that first drive, according to first-year head coach Nick Plueger, but after ending the drive with a red zone interception, struggled to put anything together the rest of the game, as the Midgets' lead grew to 46-0 before the final buzzer...

The Okoboji volleyball team dropped a Siouxland Conference home contest with MOC-Floyd Valley on Thursday, Sept. 10. The Pioneers fell 3-0 to the Dutch in Milford. The hosts dropped the opening set 25-7, the second 25-12 and the third 25-15. "Although the scores may not show it, it felt like a close match," Okoboji coach Ashley Linquist said. ...

Harris-Lake Park battled hard but ultimately dropped a War Eagle Conference volleyball clash with undefeated Hinton on Tuesday, Sept. 15. The Blackhawks downed the Wolves 3-0 in Lake Park. "I'm proud of how the girls played tonight," Harris-Lake Park coach Sarah deVries said. "They keep getting better with each week in our season. A couple points didn't go our way and the momentum switched, but our girls fought hard to the end. Our focus will now be on South O'Brien for Thursday."...

Okoboji and Harris-Lake Park cross country runners competed at a meet hosted by West Lyon held Monday, Sept. 14 at Lake Pajoha. The Pioneers earned a pair of top-four team finishes. The girls team placed third and the boys placed fourth. The Okoboji girls were led by Nevaeh Armstrong, who placed eighth individually with her time of 23 minutes, 30.66 seconds. Teammate Lauren Duffy placed ninth in 23:42.98. Lexi Duffy placed 10th in 21:46.01...

The Okoboji volleyball team went 2-3 at a tournament hosted by Spencer on Saturday, Sept. 12. The Pioneers defeated Estherville Lincoln Central (2-1) and Spencer (2-0), but fell to Cherokee (2-0), No. 15 (3A) Humboldt (2-0) and Algona (2-1). In their win over ELC, the Pioneers took an early lead with a 22-20 win in the opening set. They dropped the second set 21-14, but rebounded to win the third 15-10...

The Harris-Lake Park volleyball team fell 3-1 to Akron-Westfield on Tuesday, Sept. 8 in Lake Park. The Wolves dropped the opening set 25-11. They bounced back to win the second set 26-24, but fell 25-17 in the third and 25-15 in the fourth to end the night...

Okoboji collected its first win of the 2020 football season Friday night with a 17-13 win over North Union in Milford. The Pioneers stampeded past the Warriors, totaling 184 yards on the ground in the victory. First-year quarterback Dawson Goecke cleared the 100-yard mark, rushing for 129 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. He also completed 3 of 5 passes for 55 yards and a touchdown...

For the second straight week, Spirit Lake squared off with one of the state's best football teams and came up just one score short of a victory. The Indians fell to top-ranked returning state champion OABCIG and future Iowa Hawkeye, quarterback Cooper DeJean, 27-21 in Spirit Lake...

One week after falling 54-7 to Newell-Fonda, the Harris-Lake Park football team suffered its second lopsided defeat of the season with a 52-0 loss to fourth-ranked Remsen St. Mary's Friday in Lake Park. "It was another night where we just weren't clicking on all cylinders," Harris-Lake Park coach Lane Gunderson said. ...

The Okoboji cross country team hosted its annual invitational Thursday, Sept. 3 at Woodlyn Hills Golf Course in Milford. The Pioneers earned a pair of top-three finishes despite a short turnaround after running Tuesday in Spirit Lake. The Okoboji boys placed second and the girls placed third...

The Spirit Lake volleyball team fell to Central Lyon in straight sets in the Indians' home opener Tuesday, Sept. 8. The Indians lost 25-12, 25-18 and 25-8. "The girls showed great growth tonight and I really loved how we battled," Spirit Lake coach Beau Dielschneider said. "Central Lyon was a very consistent and high-level team. We found ways throughout the night to match their energy and level, but allowed too many errors to stay in it long enough."...

The Spirit Lake volleyball team split six games at a tournament hosted by Algona on Saturday, Sept. 5. The Indians picked up wins over Storm Lake, North Union and Estherville Lincoln Central, but fell to No. 13 (2A) Lake Mills, Algona and No. 12 (3A) Sioux Center...

The Okoboji volleyball team went 1-2 at its home quad held Tuesday, Sept. 1 in Milford. The Pioneers defeated Sibley-Ocheyedan but fell to West Bend-Mallard and Estherville Lincoln Central. "We had several unforced errors tonight between missing serves and missed free balls," Okoboji coach Ashley Linquist said. ...

The Harris-Lake Park volleyball team dropped a War Eagle Conference road trip to Trinity Christian on Tuesday, Sept. 1. The Wolves fell to the Tigers in straight sets (25-17, 25-11, 25-19). Zella Ingham led the offense with six kills. Ava Rasche added four and Miranda Christenson had three...

Editor's Note: This is the third installment of a weekly series previewing prep football in Dickinson County. The rankings are according to the latest Associated Press poll. Through two weeks of the 2020 football season, just one Dickinson County team has put a tally in the win column. Okoboji picked up a narrow win over North Union last Friday and the Pioneers will look to maintain momentum this week when they host red hot Estherville Lincoln Central...

Missed opportunities and penalties cost Spirit Lake dearly in the third-ranked (2A) Indians' season-opening loss to No. 10 (1A) West Sioux. The Falcons scored 14 unanswered points in the second half to defeat the Indians 14-7 in Spirit Lake. "I thought it was a very physical game," Spirit Lake coach Josh Bolluyt said. ...

Harris-Lake Park found the sledding tough Friday night in a 54-7 road loss to Newell-Fonda in the 2020 football season opener. The Wolves hung around early, but the Mustangs blew the lid off of the game with 35 unanswered points in the final three quarters...

Okoboji got out to a tough start, but played well in the middle portion of Friday night's 28-0 season-opening road loss to Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn. The Pioneers fell behind 16-0 after the opening quarter, but the defense made several key adjustments and kept the Hawks out of the end zone in the second and third quarters...

Spirit Lake hosted its annual cross country invitational meet Tuesday, Sept. 1 at Brooks Golf Club. All three area squads competed. Spencer won the girls team championship and MOC-Floyd Valley won the boys division. Okoboji earned Dickinson County's top two finishes. The boys placed third and the girls placed fourth overall...

Harris-Lake Park dropped its volleyball season opener on Monday, Aug. 31. The Wolves fell 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 24-14) on the road against George-Little Rock. Zella Ingham led the team with seven kills on the night. Ava Rasche had four and Natasha Bremer had three...

The Spirit Lake volleyball team went 2-4 at a tournament hosted by Humboldt on Saturday, Aug. 29. The Indians earned a pair of 2-1 wins over South Central Calhoun and No. 11 (1A) Grand View Christian. They fell 2-0 to South Hardin, Fort Dodge, Humboldt and No. 10 (3A) Kuemper Catholic...

Editor's Note: This is the second installment of a weekly series previewing prep football in Dickinson County. The rankings are according to the latest Associated Press poll. It has been several years since all three Dickinson County football teams started the season 0-1, but that is the reality after a trio of losses this past Friday...

Okoboji picked up a win in its first volleyball action of the 2020 season on Thursday, Aug. 27. The Pioneers earned a 2-0 win over Manson-Northwest Webster (21-13, 21-6) to go 1-3 at the Spencer Early Bird Tournament. Okoboji fell 1-2 to South O'Brien, dropping the first (21-18) and third (15-8) frames and winning the second (21-19). The Pioneers fell 2-0 to Spencer (21-8, 22-20) and Le Mars (21-19, 21-17)...

Spirit Lake struggled out of the gate, starting the 2020 volleyball season with an 0-3 performance at the Sheldon Early Bird Tournament held Thursday, Aug. 27. The Indians fell 2-0 to Sheldon, Cherokee and seventh-ranked (1A) Gehlen Catholic. Indians coach Beau Dielschneider said his team grew while facing great competition...

Team Mascot: Indians Head Coach: Joshua Bolluyt Years Coached: 12 Coaching Staff: Terry Bruinsma, Clint Profit, Brad Travis, Clint Loveall, Rob Cunningham, Nic Meendering, Rick Maris, Austin Steichen and Paul Brown Last Year's Record: 6-4 Q: What are the strengths of this year's team?...

Team Mascot: Pioneers Head Coach: Nick Plueger  Years Coached: 1st Coaching Staff: Brian Fisher, Mark Stover, Terry Denman, Mitch Dowhower, Adam Gisch and Coach Baack Last Year's Record: 2-7 Q: What are the strengths of this year's team? A: "We have a strong senior class and many juniors ready to step up and earn their playing time on Friday Night Lights. ...

Team Mascot: Wolves Head Coach: Lane Gunderson Years Coached: 20  Coaching Staff: Jeff Sohn, Jared Rahe and Kiley Perkins Last Year's Record:  8-2 Q: What are the strengths of this year's team? A: "We have many players with positive experience and we should be a very athletic team at all positions."...

Team Mascot: Indians Head Coach: Beau Dielschneider Years Coached: 8 Coaching Staff: Kim Sierck, Megan Bezdicek and Madison Heidebrink Steffes Last Year's Record: 35-6 Q: What are the strengths of this year's team? A:  "This year's team has strength in its ability to find success in multiple areas of the game. ...

Team Mascot: Pioneers Head Coach: Ashley Linquist Years Coached: 2 Coaching Staff: Jordan Stumbo and Ashley Richter Last Year's Record: 5-23 Q: What are the strengths of this year's team? A: "We do have several of our starters from last year returning. With one or two years under their belts, we look to have more cohesion early on."...

Team Mascot: Wolves Head Coach: Sarah deVries Years Coached: 1 Coaching Staff: Kristi Mentink Last Year's Record: 6-23 Q: What are the strengths of this year's team? A: "Our strengths this year will lie in our serving and defense, having a seasoned, returning libero and multiple returning starters from last year."...

Team Mascot: Indians Head Coach: Tim Heinitz Years Coached: 28 Coaching Staff: Mitch Hackbarth Q: What are the strengths of this year's team? A: "We have most of our varsity on the boy's team and all of our varsity girls returning and we have great numbers out this year so we will have more depth on both sides than in years past."...

Team Mascot: Pioneers Co-Head Coaches: Brad Peter and Erin Frerichs Years Coached:  Brad - 15, Erin - 21 Coaching Staff: Jacob Evenson Q: What are the strengths of this year's team? A: "For the girls, we return our entire varsity lineup from last year's team, so experience will hopefully play a big factor for us this year. For the boys, we are returning four runners with state meet experience, and we have a tremendous group of senior leaders who have done a great job of leading by example in practice so far this year.". ...

Team Mascot: Wolves Head Coach: Bailey DeBolt Years Coached: 1st Q: What are the strengths of this year's team? A: "We have a great group of hard-working kids. I have seen improvement every day of practice from this group and that is really exciting. They have a lot of grit when they are training. I also like that I'm seeing the group work well together to get better and encourage each other."...

Editor's Note: This is the first installment of a weekly series previewing prep football in Dickinson County. The rankings are according to the Cedar Rapids Gazette's preseason rankings and last year's records are included in the headings. Are you ready for some football?...