Spirit Lake Park’s Cassie McKeen won the 105-pound championship and helped lead her team to an eighth-place finish at a tournament hosted by West Lyon on Monday, Nov. 25.

McKeen went 2-0 to place first in Inwood. She pinned Sioux Center’s Laura Chavez-Ramos in 1 minute, 25 seconds before earning an 18-0 technical fall over MOC-Floyd Valley’s Teresa Andres-Felipe in the championship bout.

Okoboji/HMS’ Brooke Stockdale won the 110-pound title and led the Pioneers to a runner-up team finish at a tournament hosted by West Lyon on Monday, Nov. 25.

Stockdale took the 110-pound championship by pinning Central Lyon/George-Little Rock’s Jayda Pytleski in 54 seconds and Spirit Lake’s Audrina Bennett in 1 minute, 44 seconds.

Lillie Schwager and Brilee Fauth each placed second at 100 and 125 pounds, respectively, for Okoboji/HMS.

Okoboji/HMS wrestlers Lillie Schwager and Brooke Stockdale earned first-place finishes at the Lady E-Hawk Wrestling Tournament held Saturday, Nov. 23 at Emmetsburg.

Schwager took the 100-pound title by going 3-0 on the day.

Spirit Lake’s Cassie McKeen took first place and led her team to a 12th-place finish at a tournament hosted by Ridge View on Saturday, Nov. 23 in Holstein.

McKeen went 3-0 on the day at 105 pounds, earning a 20-5 technical fall over Spencer’s Madison Stickrod in the quarterfinal before edging Sioux City North’s Khloe Eliesa by 9-8 decision in the semifinal. In the championship, McKeen earned a 16-3 major decision over SWAT’s Jazz Christensen.

Okoboji/HMS’ Kaela Weston was crowned champion at a tournament hosted by Sioux Central on Friday, Nov. 22 in Sioux Rapids. Weston pinned Sioux Central’s Ashley Alvarado twice — first in 4 minutes, 57 seconds and again in 1:56 — to win the 100-pound bracket.

Audrina Bennett, Reece Logan and Cassie McKeen led the Spirit Lake Park girls wrestling team in its season-opening tournament held Tuesday, Nov. 19 at Western Christian High School in Hull. Bennett and Logan earned runner-up finishes at 110 pounds and 135 pounds, respectively, and McKeen placed third at 105 pounds.

The Okoboji/HMS girls wrestling team kicked off the 2024 season with duals against Emmetsburg and Sioux Central Tuesday, Nov. 19 in Emmetsburg. The Pioneers went 2-0 on the night, defeating the Rebels 57-24 and the E-Hawks 66-10.

Whenever something special happens in my life, I often quote the song “Oh, what a night!” made famous by The Four Seasons. It might be a family deal, a victory in a big game or as in the case of Thursday, Nov. 14, it was the annual Fall DNR Night sponsored by the Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Club (IGLFC).

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has scheduled a virtual public meeting to update the public on statewide chronic wasting disease (CWD) surveillance and management efforts.

Iowa’s most popular deer hunting seasons are just around the corner, when roughly 100,000 hunters take to the timber for the long-awaited gun seasons.

Iowa’s first gun season is Dec. 7-11. Second gun season is Dec. 14-22.

Last year, hunters reported around 60,000 deer during these two seasons, which is more than half of the total deer harvested for all seasons, and wildlife experts are forecasting a similar harvest.

Burn the boats. Spirit Lake is headed to the ‘ship.

After a dominating performance against Prairie City Monroe in the Class 2A semifinal held Saturday, Nov. 16 at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, the Indians will square off with familiar foe West Lyon in the championship game slated for 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 22.

Pheasant hunting is such a great sport. Every day seems to bring something different. Just when you think you have things figured out, something different pops up. No matter what, though, trust the dogs! Whether it’s a retriever or a pointer, trust the nose!

My friends and I got together again a few days ago. It seems like when a person becomes a “certain age”, a.k.a. “retired”, they spend more time getting together with friends or acquaintances who have also achieved “retired” status.  

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is providing $900,000 in competitive grants for communities to plant trees.

The Iowa DNR received these funds from the USDA Forest Service Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The IRA Iowa Tree Planting Grant provides reimbursable grants to purchase trees, mulch, tree staking/protection and supplemental watering by contractor or city staff.