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Outdoors: Iowa conifers struggling with winter burn

DES MOINES — Iowa Department of Natural Resources foresters are anticipating reports of moderate to severe winter burn damage to arborvitae and white pine trees across Iowa.

“The ground remains frozen, but the ambient temperatures have been above freezing,” explained Tivon Feeley, DNR forest health forester. “The tree is forced to use their water reserves in the needles, but can’t absorb new water from the frozen soil. The lack of water causes the trees to dry out.”

Outdoors: Appreciating Iowa’s Wildlife Diversity Program

DES MOINES ― Many folks may associate the Iowa Department of Natural Resources almost exclusively with hunting and fishing, but the DNR is responsible for all of Iowa’s wildlife. Thousands of species that create the unique place that is Iowa … and while a handful of those wildlife are managed using hunting, fishing and trapping, what about the thousands of other species that cannot be managed this way? Everything from songbirds, to butterflies, to minnows and turtles?

Outdoors: Tips for late season ice fishing success

Many years it’s hard to know when the ice fishing season is starting to wind down. Mother Nature controls that, and she does things her own way. Depending on where you live, some years we get to fish through a hole in the ice a couple of weeks into March. In other years, the season is winding down by late February.

Outdoors: Colder weather helping ice fishing

Well, where our good ice has been, our ice survived the latest warm spell. Now, with the latest sub-freezing weather, our lake accesses are much better, and the forecast appears to favor a later ice-out.

Sports coverage notice

As a result of the Iowa Newspaper Association Conference in Des Moines, all coverage of Spencer and Sioux Central’s coed basketball games this week will be included in next Tuesday’s Spencer Reporter.

2025 IGHSAU State Wrestling Tournament Preview

First Round Matches

Spencer

On to state

AMES ― After all was said and done Friday night in Ames, Spencer sat comfortably above the eight-team field, sending nine to state and winning the Class 2A district wrestling title overall by more than 40 points.

Dave Storm, Tiger head coach, said, “We had a great day at regionals in Ames on Friday. Every girl contributed to the team score with at least one win. As a team, we raised the bar and set some records for future teams to aim for.

Ranked trouble continues

SPENCER — Spencer’s Kennedy Graettinger turns the corner as she drives the lane against No. 11 Spirit Lake in the Tigers Lakes Conference loss. Played in the field house, the Indians took the contest, 66-38, Friday. Tuesday, No. 6 Cherokee comes to town followed by the Tigers neighbor to the south, Sioux Central, Thursday for a girl-boy nonconference contest. (Photos by Scott Merchant)

 

SPENCER GIRLS VARSITY BASKETBALL

Friday, Jan. 31 ― Spencer

Pair of Tigers bring home Lakes title

SPIRIT LAKE ― Going into the final round, Spencer had six boys in the finals, but only seniors Wyatt Heying and Levi Johnson — in back-to-back weight classes — brought home Lakes Conference championships at Spirit Lake, Thursday night. Estherville Lincoln Central dethroned the Tiger team comfortably, scoring 267.5, while Spencer edged the Storm Lake Tornadoes by half a point for runner-up honors in the team race.

Johnson victorious in SD

SPIRIT LAKE ― The Les Tlustos-Brookings Invite, a one-day tournament featured teams from across South Dakota — and Spencer. It was the first time the Tigers traveled to the Brookings, South Dakota, invite. The opening became available followed a cancellation by Emmetsburg; but the big surprise was an unranked Tigers team taking home a title.

A Tiger sweep

CARROLL — Spencer swept at Carroll in a boy’s swimming meet Thursday night. The Tigers edged their hosts 49-45, and owned Atlantic 69-24, Thursday in the team’s final meet of the regular season.

Jesse Kuehler, coach for Spencer, said, “Great final meet from the boys. The goal was to go out and put our final stamp on the season before we hit the district meet, and we did just that. Everyone had goals in place for tonight's meet, and we did a great job of hitting those goals.”

Double-OT loss

SPENCER — “This was a really good high school basketball game,” said Kory Petzenhauser, Spencer coach.

The Tigers took 12-3 Spirit Lake into a double OT before falling by three points, 66-63, Friday night in Spencer.

Petzenhauser said, “Both teams were able to make runs throughout the game, and both teams had numerous chances to win the game, and unfortunately for us, they made just a couple of more plays to sneak out with the win.

Hart, Frerk move on to state

SIOUX CENTER — In a large field at the Class 1A District in Sioux Center, Friday night, Sioux Central finished fifth overall, in a close race for fourth. Both Nichole Hart and Nataley Frerk will move on, competing at the Xtream Center, in Coralville, beginning Thursday.

Joel McCoy, Rebels coach, said, “Congrats to Nichole Hart and Nataley Frerk on qualifying for state. They put on two gutsy performances and both ended up winning their true second place wrestle back matches.

Getting the ‘W’ behind the W's

SIOUX RAPIDS — The Rebels slowly pulled away from East Sac City, Friday night, 44-33, at home. The second quarter was the most dominant for Kasey Krager’s girls. In the second frame, Sioux Central outscored the Raiders 14-8 to turn their one-point lead to seven at the break en route to an 11-point win.

“East Sac did a nice job of handling pressure and getting the game slowed down,” Krager said. “Fortunately, we were able to make enough shots and plays to be on the winning side.

Deuschle places runner-up in Pokey

POCAHONTAS — A fourth-place finish at the Lynn Moody Invite, in Pocahontas, was Sioux Central’s final tournament ahead of the 1A District Meet in two weeks. The Rebels put together 135.5 points, while Woodbury Central was crowned champion with a team score of 256.

Chance Rice, Sioux Central coach, said his team “wrestled well. Had a few kids step up and really impress today.”

Rebel boys pick up 10th win

SIOUX RAPIDS — Sioux Central dominated play against East Sac County in boys basketball action Tuesday night, turning a 10-point lead at halftime into a 53-29 win. The deciding factor was the 20-7 advantage the Rebels had in the final quarter.

“Just a fantastic defensive effort by our guys. They were locked in from the start and forced them to take tough contested looks all game,” Sioux Central coach Stephen Tjaden said.

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