Spirit Lake’s volleyball team suffered a straight-set loss to fifth-ranked Cherokee on Tuesday, Sept. 26. The Braves bested the Indians 3-0 (25-21, 25-13, 25-18) in Spirit Lake.

Okoboji’s volleyball team dropped a Siouxland Conference home match to Rock Valley on Tuesday, Sept. 26. The Rockets defeated the Pioneers 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-12) in Milford.

By the calendar, fall is officially here, but those 90-degree temps refused to leave until mid-week. Even so, the fall colors, yes, they are starting! Each day is a change, and with no frost in the immediate forecast, the daily gradual changes will be fun to see.

There are a lot of differences between open water fishing and ice fishing. Many of those differences are obvious.  A couple of similarities are very noticeable though. At times, lure color and lure shape can significantly impact our fishing success, through the ice or in open water. A couple of fishing trips made that very clear to me.

The best way to prevent the spread of oak wilt is to not prune any oak tree during the growing season.

“It’s best to wait until after Oct. 15 to start pruning oak trees,” says Tivon Feeley, with the Iowa DNR’s forest health program. “Then you can prune your oaks all winter long with the goal to stop pruning by March 1.”

Tree stand incidents can happen to deer hunters regardless of skill level or experience and result in serious injury or even death. Unfortunately, in nearly every case, these incidents were preventable.

To help prevent injuries, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is encouraging hunters to practice the ABC’s of Tree Stand Safety.

• Always remove and inspect your equipment

• Buckle on your full-body harness

Drivers are advised to stay alert as they travel Iowa’s roadsides over the coming weeks. Autumn deer behavior, crop harvest and peak travel times for motorists combine to hike the risk of vehicle-deer collisions in Iowa.

As fall harvest starts across Iowa, the risk of wildfires in crop fields increases.  Recent rains across Iowa provided some relief from the on-going drought, but crop fields are still dry, cured and could spark wildfires.

In a matchup between bitter Dickinson County rivals, Spirit Lake earned its intracounty bragging rights with a dominant victory over Okoboji on Friday, Sept. 22. The sixth-ranked (2A) Indians pounded the Pioneers 58-0 on homecoming night in Spirit Lake.

Harris-Lake Park’s odds of three-peating as district champions took a major hit with a 42-18 loss to West Bend-Mallard on Friday, Sept. 22. It was the Wolves’ first and only district loss of the 2023 season.

While the loss stung, Harris-Lake Park coach Lane Gunderson said he was proud of how his team battled throughout.

Despite a West Bend-Mallard score near the end of the first half, the Wolves trailed just 16-6 at halftime.

Okoboji’s Evan Osler — the top-ranked boys runner in Class 2A — put another notch in the win column Thursday, Sept. 21 when he took first place at a meet hosted by Sioux Center. Osler finished in 16 minutes, 17.58 seconds to lead the Pioneers to a fifth-place team finish at Dordt University.

Okoboji senior Akron Jostand joined Osler in the top five, placing fourth with a time of 17:04.16.

Spirit Lake — in the midst of its worst season in more than 15 years — faced a tall task when the top-ranked Western Christian volleyball team came to town for a meeting of former Lakes Conference foes on Tuesday, Sept. 19. The Indians battled, but the Wolfpack had too much firepower in a 3-0 (25-12, 25-8, 25-13) victory in Spirit Lake.

Spirit Lake is rolling.

Since suffering a 10-point loss to now-ninth-ranked (3A) Sioux Center in the second week of the regular season, the sixth-ranked (2A) Indians have won three straight games by an average margin of more than 47 points — including a 58-point drubbing of Dickinson County rival Okoboji on homecoming night last week.

The Indians will face yet another bitter rival this week when they travel to take on Estherville Lincoln Central.

The Pioneers hope to stop a five-game losing streak this week when they travel to take on one-win Garner-Hayfield-Ventura.

These two teams have met just once in the last decade. The Cardinals won their 2020 meeting 34-7 over the Pioneers.

WEEK 6 MATCHUP: Okoboji coach Eric Clouse said this is a game both teams feel like they can win. First, the Pioneers will need to stop the Cardinals’ run game.

The Wolves are coming off of a tough district loss last week to West Bend-Mallard. If Harris-Lake Park hopes to secure a share of a third straight district title, they Wolves need to win the final three games of the regular season. That quest begins Friday when they host rival Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire on homecoming night in Lake Park.