Seven students from Spirit Lake High School who were selected for and performed Saturday, Jan. 7, at the Northwest Iowa Bandmasters Association Honor Band in Sioux City. Students selected were (from left): Nate Walsh (euphonium), Noel Roberts (clarinet), Halleigh Hawkins (clarinet), Lauren Laven (alto sax), Paige Pearson (trumpet), Noelle Yost (flute) and Lauren Sandison (horn).

Over 160 people braved frigid temperatures to drive to the Iowa Great Lakes Chamber office to vote for the 2017 U of O Winter Games cheerleaders Jan. 4-5.
Anyone living in Dickinson County was eligible to cast their paper ballot for eight deserving candidates. Biographical information for the 21 nominees was available to each voter.

**Kolton Roth tops 100-win mark for career
Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire edged Dickinson County rival Okoboji Saturday to win its home wrestling tournament on Saturday in Graettinger. The Titans totaled 195 points to the Pioneers' 182.5, and junior Kolton Roth picked up career win No. 100 to put the cherry on top of a memorable day.

Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire and Sioux Central combined for 136 points in a Twin Lakes Conference barn-burner in Ruthven, as the Titans pulled off a 71-65 win over the Rebels.

Okoboji overcame a second quarter slump Saturday afternoon to earn a 59-56 win over MOC-Floyd Valley in Milford. A bucket by sophomore Kip Hurd late in the final stanza put the Pioneers up for good, sending Okoboji on to its second Siouxland Conference win of the season.
Okoboji coach Ryan Paulsen said his team played especially well defensively against Dutch scoring-leader Trenton De Haan.

Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire fell behind early and never got over the hump Monday in a 66-57 loss to Sioux Central in Ruthven.
The Rebels started the game with a three-pointer by Mac Prior and stretched that lead to five with an old-fashioned three-point play by Jake Hanson.
Back-to-back buckets by Tom Geelan and Jacob Conlon made it a one-point game, but Hanson and Hunter Decker combined for five points to stretch the Rebels' lead to 13-7.

The Harris-Lake Park girls and boys basketball teams split a pair of games with Sibley-Ocheyedan on Monday, as the girls defeated the Generals 75-57 to secure their fifth straight win, and the boys fell 84-75 in Sibley.
In the girls contest, Harris-Lake Park jumped out to a 23-8 lead after one and led 41-30 at the break. The Wolves continued to push the pace in the second half, outscoring the Generals 21-13 in the third before hanging on for the 18-point win in the final stanza.

Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire junior Kolton Roth reached the 100-win mark for his career at the Titans' home wrestling tournament on Saturday. Roth, a two-time state qualifier for GT/RA, placed fifth at last year's Class 1A state wrestling tournament. Roth is currently ranked second at 132 pounds behind Martensdale-St. Mary's sophomore Joshua Tibbits.

The Spirit Lake girls basketball team let a fourth-quarter lead slip away at the CNOS Classic in Sioux Falls over the weekend, as the Indians lost their second straight contest with a 58-54 loss to Dakota Valley on Saturday.
The Indians trailed 13-12 after one quarter of play and 28-26 at the break, but battled back in the third quarter, outscoring Dakota Valley 15-10 to hold a 41-38 through three.

The Iowa Lakes men's basketball team fell to 8-4 on the season with a 94-79 loss to Indian Hills on Wednesday, Jan. 4.
The Lakers were led by Cody Cox with 17 points. Mitchell Keller had 15. Dennis Joiner had 13. Jaylon Tapplar had 12, and Kyle Beisch had 11. Joiner led the team with seven rebounds.
Indian Hills was led by Tre Hansbrough with 16 points.
The Lakers will return home to play on Jan. 11 against Quakerdale Prep.

The Harris-Lake Park girls and boys basketball teams split a War Eagle Conference doubleheader with Gehlen Catholic on Friday, as the girls won their fourth straight with a 55-35 win over the Jays, and the boys fell 64-57 in Le Mars.

The Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire girls and boys basketball teams split a varsity doubleheader with Manson-Northwest Webster on Friday night, as the girls lost 45-40 in double overtime and the boys won 52-40.

The Okoboji wrestling team picked up a pair of dual meet victories on Thursday at a quadrangular in Milford. The Pioneers defeated Manson Northwest Webster 51-30 and East Sac County 48-35, but fell to Pocahontas Area 39-36.
Senior Riley Anderson led the way, going 2-0 on the night.

The Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire girls and boys basketball teams earned a sweep over Clay Central-Everly on Thursday, as the girls defeated the Mavericks 55-17 and the boys picked up a 63-58 road win in overtime.
In the girls contest, GT/RA jumped out to a 10-4 lead after one quarter of play and held a 21-12 lead at the break. In the third quarter, the Titans pulled away with a 13-2 score before salting away the victory by outscoring the Mavericks 21-3 in the final stanza.

Humans don't hibernate, so it's time to get out of the house.
Bring your toddler, ages 2-5, to the next Nature Tots Wednesday, Jan. 11, at the Dickinson County Nature Center in Okoboji and go for a Wintertime Walk.
"We will focus on snow and how animals survive through the winter," said naturalist Charles Vigdal.