Spencer’s Eli Hookfin drives as Estherville Lincoln Central’s defender applies pressure. The Tigers dropped back-to-back games to the Midgets Monday and Tuesday 69-34 on the road to start the week and 72-54 in the field house the next night. No additional information was provided. Spencer will be on the road again Friday in the nightcap of a girl-boy double header against Lakes Conference foe Spirit Lake. (Photo by Sondra Hookfin)

EAST SAC COUNTY — With a Friday date at Super Regionals in Sioux City for a chance to appear at state, the Sioux Central girls wrestling squad competed against 11 other teams at East Sac County Monday evening. A depleted Rebel squad took just seven girls to the event and placed fourth overall as a team.

“We finally were able to compete tonight as we took a group down to Sac City for the East Sac Girls Tournament,” said Joel McCoy, girls wrestling coach.

SIOUX RAPIDS — The fifth-ranked Sioux Central girls basketball team remained in the hunt for the Twin Lakes Conference title, Monday, improving to 6-1in loop play and 13-1 overall following a convincing 64-29 home victory over the 4-3 Alta-Aurelia Warriors.

Dropping 23 in the first quarter and 20 in the third, while allowing just two points to A-A in the third frame, the Rebels were able to establish a commanding 53-14 advantage heading into the final 10 minutes of play.

SIOUX RAPIDS — After a disappointing offensive showing by Owen Mills standards against South Central Calhoun, he rebounded nicely — pun intended — with a double-double and led all scorers in a home win against Alta-Aurelia Tuesday night, 51-48.

Snowmobilers across Iowa are welcoming the return of winter, eager to get out and enjoy the fresh snow. Snowmobiling is a great way to enjoy the outdoors during the winter months, but there’s one hard truth: drinking alcohol and/or consuming drugs and riding just don’t mix.

RESIDENT FISHING

• 199,031 annual licenses.

• 8,773 lifetime fishing licenses.

• 17,428 three-year licenses.

• 1,022 seven-day licenses.

• 2,998 one-day licenses.

• 44,278 trout fees.

• 232 paddlefish licenses.

• 20,619 third line licenses (resident and nonresident combined).

• 36,327 fishing, hunting and habitat combination licenses.

RESIDENT HUNTING

So far this ice fishing season, I’ve been thinking more about ice fishing than actually doing it. Hopefully that will change soon. Looking through my ice fishing equipment reminds of some of the things that I’ve discovered about catching fish through the ice. The action that we put on a lure can play a big role in our catching success.

It’s here! Yes, ice fishing in the Iowa Great Lakes has finally begun!

Recent sub-zero temperatures have helped, but an existing layer of snow has slowed the ice building process. Still, the bays seem pretty good with around 10 inches of ice. Fisheries Biologist Mike Hawkins noted that an oxygen sampling was done on Thursday, Jan. 18 at several area lakes. The study found that oxygen levels at all lakes were at excellent levels, and the ice thicknesses were as follows:

A kid from Spencer will go down as one of the best receivers in the history of Northwestern College football, but if one were to look at his high school receiving statistics, Michael Storey’s college success would not have seemed possible.

MASON CITY — “We put on our headgear and tightened up our chin straps, Saturday, and got after it,” Spencer Tiger girls wrestling coach Dave Storm said. “We went to battle with some of the top teams in the state of Iowa at the Mason City Invite.”

SPENCER — Holding the 11th-ranked Algona Bulldogs to under 40 points was an impressive feat for the Spencer girls basketball team Saturday in the field house, unfortunately for the Tigers, their offense continued to struggle in a 35-25 loss over the weekend

“We defended as well as we have all season,” Spencer coach Matt Stevenson said. “Holding a ranked team to 35 points is great, but we have to score points.

ANKENY — Spencer made its annual trek to Ankeny for the Dave Ewing Duals Saturday — a meet the Tigers utilize as a benchmark to determine where the team’s at ahead of approaching district competition. It was a tough day for Spencer as they dropped a couple of duals to Bondurant-Farrar, 48-15; and a loaded Ankeny squad, 67-6.

BELLEVUE, Neb. — A morning trip to Bellevue, Nebraska, Saturday landed the Spencer Tigers boys swim team at the 42nd Annual Lewis Central High School Winter Classic swim meet at Bellevue East High School where they finished sixth in the team standings. The Spencer boys put together nine top 10 efforts in a loaded field from Iowa and Nebraska.

SIOUX RAPIDS — Bradi Krager went for 21 and Morgan Christian added 20 — joining the Sioux Central Rebels 1,000-point club in the process — as the Class 2A No. 5 ranked team used and abused home court advantage Friday, pummeling South Central Calhoun, 68-21. The Rebels put the game at the intermission, 51-16.

SIOUX RAPIDS — Defensively, Sioux Central’s boys basketball team limited the 9-3 South Central Calhoun to 50 points in the Twin Lakes matchup. However, the home rims were not kind to the Rebels as they failed to score in double digits in any of the four quarters, allowing them to produce only half of the Titans output in the loss Friday.