• Celebrating the lives and memories of a trio of Spencer High School alumni who died in a tragic accident on homecoming in 1983 warranted the No. 2 Sports Story of 2022. Honoring the trio, on the 40th anniversary of their passing, family and friends gathered to remember at this year’s SHS homecoming game. The story printed in the Sept. 23 Spencer Reporter.

• Spencer claimed its first sole district title in 27 years with a road win at Storm Lake to finish the regular season, but the real showdown occurred two weeks prior against district favorite Webster City on the Lynx home field. In a game for the ages, the Tigers battled for a 49-40 win to set up their district championship run.

• The recap of a historic night, preceding the official announcement of girls wrestling being sanctioned by the state of Iowa, brought two girls teams together for a dual in the Spencer field house in mid-January. The fact the gym was packed and rocking as the Tigers dominated is just a bonus for the Spencer Reporter’s No. 4 Sports Story of the Year.

SPENCER — It was an amazing evening at Spencer.

CARROLL — The Spencer boys swimming team traveled down to Carroll Tuesday to wrap up their final meet of the 2022 calendar year. The boys would face off against Fort Dodge and the Tigers during the event. Spencer would lose both matchups, losing to the Dodgers 70-68 and Carroll 92-46.

CARROLL — Spencer had their girls wrestling meet of 2022 on Tuesday at the Kuemper Catholic tournament. The Tigers had six girls in the championship match on the day. Shaylee Sutherland and Olivia Huckfelt picked up class wins, while Atalia Rosales, Breanna Johnson, Laila Nielsen and Kaylee Nachtigal all finished in second place. Sutherland defeated Averi Burke of Carroll, pinning her in 32 seconds. Huckfelt dominated Riley Ernst of Le Mars with a fall in 54 seconds.

MASON CITY — The Spencer girls basketball team has a lot to be cheerful for so far this season. Looking to stay undefeated into the new year with games against Mason City and Fort Dodge before Christmas. Huge opening quarters in the first and second half put the Tigers ahead early, dominating the Riverhawks 81-61 on Tuesday. Spencer would also dominate the Dodgers, 53-36 behind dominating defense.

SERGEANT BLUFF — Spencer wrestled its final meet of the 2022 school calendar year on Tuesday night. Traveling to Sergeant Bluff-Luton to face off with the Warriors. Spencer would lose the dual with SBL 57-12.

Logan Huckfelt and Gabe Cauthron were the only Tiger wrestlers to pick up a win over the Warriors. Cauthron defeated Cam Keokenchahn, picking up a fall in the third period. Huckfelt dominated Sean Zimmerman picking up an early fall in the first period.

SPENCER — The Tigers finally got a chance to play some basketball on Monday and Tuesday night, hosting Fort Dodge and then traveling to Mason City before Christmas break. Spencer would split the games losing to the Riverhawks 57-52 in a heartbreaker, after defeating the Dodgers 62-53 on Monday.

GRAETTINGER — The undefeated Sioux Central boys basketball team traveled to Graettinger Tuesday to face off with the Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire Titans. Sioux Central got going early, taking a seven-point lead at the end of the first quarter. That margin would expand to 19 at halftime. Sioux Central would dominate the Titans 81-49.

While legendary Duke college basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski graced the cover of the March issue of Sports Illustrated, it’s a story inside that area residents are turning to.

A 10-page feature in the latest edition focuses on a lesser-known basketball star who left her mark. A story relating the history of the Women’s Basketball League, the WBL, weaves that story around the career, and the murder, of Everly’s Connie Kunzmann.

SPENCER — Wrestling was the center of attention in Spencer over the weekend. Three Tiger boys achieved glory in taking first place at the Austin Roberts Memorial Tournament. Logan Huckfelt, Trayton Logan and Gabe Cauthron were all crowned champions in their weight classes. The team would finish in third place, behind Sergeant Bluff-Luton and Jackson County Minnesota.

The Iowa Lakes women's basketball team fell in overtime to Northeast 84-78. The Lakers were led by Emma Kanz with 18 points. Anisah Wolf (above) added 15 points and Jasmine Jones contributed 11 points. The Lakers are 7-7 on the season and 2-2 in conference play. Theybwill return to play at home on Saturday, Jan. 7, at 1 p.m., against Iowa Western Community College.

CHEROKEE — Sioux Central traveled to the Paul Fuhrman Tournament at Cherokee-Washington on Saturday. Two Rebels would have the best finishes for Sioux Central, Kaben Morrow and Keegan Riley led the way, both wrestlers finished in second place. The team would finish in ninth at Cherokee.

(Above) Jovi Depew finished in second place in her bracket, Depew defeated Dante Webster of South O’Brien and her own teammate Billy Fuller. (Below left) Brooks Whalen finished runner-up scoring 14 team points. Whalen picked up two falls on the day including one over Caleb Huber of Lawton Bronson Wrestling. (Below right) Payton Sutherland took first place for the Tigers, Sutherland slammed his opponent in his first match on Sunday. Sutherland scored 20 team points in his class victory.

SPENCER — It’s bee seven years since a horrific tragedy took place on Dec. 19, 2015. A late afternoon created shock waves throughout the Spencer community, the passing of 220-pound Spencer wrestler Austin Roberts on the mat.