Sports

Spirit Lake Park went 2-2 and placed fifth at its annual dual tournament held Friday, Jan. 10. The Indians defeated Sioux Center and Sioux City North, but fell to Jackson County Central and MOC-Floyd Valley at the 2019 Jerry Hentges Dual Tournament...

In a battle of ranked teams, No. 8 (3A) Okoboji earned a decisive win over No. 14 (2A) Emmetsburg on Thursday, Jan. 9. The Pioneers defeated the E-Hawks 58-35 in Milford, extending their unbeaten streak to 12 games. “Kallyn (Stumbo) really got us going early with some great moves to the basket and some nice 3-pointers, and we had a nice offensive flow throughout the game," Okoboji coach John Adams said. ...

After suffering three straight losses by a combined five points, Okoboji bounced back in a big way with a convincing 20-point home win over non-conference foe Emmetsburg on Thursday, Jan. 9. The Pioneers downed the E-Hawks 72-52 in Milford. "We were really proud of how we responded tonight being back at home after a true test of character the past couple of weeks," Okoboji coach Ryan Stumbo said. ...

Spirit Lake stretched its win streak to seven games — a streak spanning more than a month — with a dominant 75-48 non-conference home win over West Hancock on Saturday, Jan. 11. "I was really happy with how our guys came out and played," Spirit Lake coach Paul Brown said. ...

Spirit Lake struggled to find a rhythm on offense and had no answer for No. 2 (2A) West Hancock's attack Saturday, Jan. 11 in a 54-34 home loss. The Indians made just 10 of 41 field goal attempts. "We got beat by a solid West Hancock team," Spirit Lake coach Naet Hoaglund said. ...

The Okoboji/Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn wrestling team earned a trio of top-four finishes and placed ninth overall at the 2019 Clear Lake Invitational held Saturday, Jan. 11. Hunter Abrahamson earned the Pioneers' best finish, placing third at 126 pounds...

The eighth-ranked (3A) Okoboji girls basketball team suffered its first defeat of the season on Friday, Jan. 10. The Pioneers fell 63-62 to Boyden-Hull in Milford. "You have to give Boyden-Hull all the credit tonight; they came out ready to play and we didn’t respond to their energy until the fourth quarter, which is totally on me as I didn’t have us ready," Okoboji coach John Adams said. ...

The Okoboji boys basketball team suffered a Siouxland Conference loss to No. 10 (2A) Boyden-Hull on Friday, Dec. 10. The Pioneers fell 73-68 to the Comets in Milford. "Our boys fought hard tonight and left it all out there on the floor," Okoboji coach Ryan Stumbo said. ...

Even with the crazy winter weather, one thing has remained constant: our backyard bird feeding. No matter the weather, our birds are always checking out the feeding stations. Whether it’s cold and windy, blustery and snowy or even during a “winter rain,” it’s fun for my wife and me to sit and see just what is going to come to our feeders...

Across much of the Midwest, it’s ice-fishing season. However, across much of the Midwest, we’ve experienced inconsistent weather in the past few weeks, which has led to inconsistent success on the ice. When it comes to ice-fishing or open water fishing, as different as they may seem, weather is a consistent factor in either situation...

Deer hunting is extremely popular in Iowa with nearly 200,000 hunters taking to the field each year. Unfortunately, there is a disease that keeps making its way closer and closer to northwest Iowa: Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). In looking at several recent Iowa DNR news releases, this is what I have found...

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will release trout in seven locations across Iowa this winter in areas that would not support them in warmer months. Winter trout stockings are a great place to take kids to catch their first fish. A family-friendly event is paired with most stockings to help anglers have success and fun while fishing...