POCAHONTAS — A trio of double-digit scorers for Sioux Central helped overcome a 33-21 halftime deficit in Pocahontas, as the Rebel boys kept the Indians winless while improving to 2-4 and 1-2 in Twin Lakes Conference play Friday night.

SHELDON — Northwest Iowa Community College announced Jesse Kuehler as its first head men’s soccer coach, starting Jan. 3. A Spencer native and a figure with an impressive soccer background, Kuehler is set to lead the college into a new era of collegiate soccer.

The Lakers women's basketball team head into the holiday break with a convincing conference win over Southeastern 73-49.

The Lakers had three scoring in double digits, led by Jordyn Stokes with 18 points, Allo Wolff added 13 points and Paige Martin finished with 12.

Southeastern’s Danajah Peterson led all scorers with 29 points.

ESTHERVILLE — The Iowa Lakes men’s basketball team pushed their record to 11-3 and 2-1 in Iowa Community College Athletic Conference play with a 99-73 win over Western Iowa Tech.

Laker head coach Jason McKinney said, “Really proud of our guys effort tonight. We played with great life and energy and did a lot of the little things we didn't do Wednesday night. I'm looking forward to see what the second half of the year looks like when we get back from break.”

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is holding an open house on Thursday, Jan. 4, from 4-7 p.m., at the Community Room at Fonda City Hall, 104 W. Second St., in Fonda, to discuss the habitat management, recreation use, wildlife populations and other topics of interest for the Towhead Lake Wildlife Area.

This will be a come-and-go open house format with staff from various programs on hand to answer questions.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has received two $60,000 donations that will allow it to complete its Motus Wildlife Tracking System Network across the state within the next five years.

The Motus Wildlife Tracking System is a network of coordinated automated radio telemetry stations used to track long-distance movements of small animals. It began in 2013 by Birds Canada, near Toronto.

The opening weekend of Iowa’s second gun deer season saw another 50,000-plus hunters enjoying time in the timber in pursuit of legendary whitetails. Unfortunately, there were three hunting incidents that serve as a reminder for hunters to review safety measures before heading out.

A fishing friend and I were talking about ice fishing recently. My friend wanted to get involved in fishing through the ice and was curious what equipment he would need to do so. Our conversation soon turned to sonar, aka “depth finders,” aka “fish finders,” and whether he needed one. My friend understood the value of sonar in open water, but wasn’t so sure it was needed on hard water. I

What a wild ride 2023 has been when it comes to our weather patterns. Across the United States, we’ve had flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes and drought. We’ve become a country with wild weather swings and extremes.

SIOUX CITY — Both Spencer and Sioux Central traveled to Sioux City Tuesday for a quadrangular with MOC-Floyd Valley at Sioux City North. The Tigers, coming off back-to-back Saturday invite titles, would remain perfect in dual competition with three dominant performances against Sioux Central, 60-12; MOC-FV, 54-24 and Sioux City North, 48-21.

MARSHALLTOWN — Spencer’s swimmers competed alongside four other schools at Marshalltown Saturday in an event featuring a variety of four-man and two-man races.

“We did have some good drop in times,” Tiger coach Katie Chapman said. “This meet was a bit different than our regular meets because it was a relay meet, but it was great competition and we were able to swim against teams that we don't normally swim against.”

SIOUX RAPIDS — Three Sioux Central players scored in double digits and the Rebel defense limited Storm Lake St. Mary’s to single digits in three quarters en route to an 82-27 win Tuesday.

“We really focused on maintaining our energy level (Tuesday night) for four quarters and I thought we did a good job for the most part,” said Stephen Tjaden, the Rebel head coach. “Defensively we were very active with our hands and that led to some run-outs in transition.

SPENCER — For the second straight week, the top 10-ranked Spencer Tiger girls wrestling team captured the tournament team title, this time on their home match with 197 points and four invitational champions Saturday.

The Spencer Tiger girls basketball team closed out last week with back-to-back, 33-point games. Unfortunately, their opponents — No. 13 Sioux Center and No. 14 Cherokee — posted 67 and 52, leaving the purple and gold of search of its first team as they fell to 0-6 on the season.

EMMETSBURG — Levi Johnson, 150-pounder, brought the Tigers’ lone championship back to Spencer following Saturday’s Bob Roethler Wrestling Invitational at Emmetsburg High School.

The Tigers faced a battery of mat challengers — some familiar, some unfamiliar — among the 17 team field competing. Spencer would finish fourth overall, with 165 points, 23.5 behind fellow Lakes competitor Estherville; and 33 points ahead of the host E-Hawks.