SIOUX CITY — A third place finish at the loaded Sergeant Bluff-Luton Invitational Saturday. Not bad Tigers, not bad.

The Spencer boys wrestling crew led all tournament teams with 31 pins at Long Lines Arena, host site of the clash.

It was a 1-2 week for the Spencer boys swim team as they were able to beat Fort Dodge in the Dodgers home pool on Tuesday, while falling to Carroll. They would travel once again Thursday, swimming in Sioux City where they were overwhelmed by West, 124-46. Results from the West meet were unavailable at press time.

TIGERS SPLIT TUESDAY DUAL

SIOUX RAPIDS — The third quarter provided No. 2 Newell-Fonda with all the cushion it would need to down No. 8 Sioux Central in a battle of top 10 girls basketball teams. The Mustangs outscored the Rebels by 15 points, to take the lead for good after the Rebels enjoyed a 21-20 advantage at the half.

“We weren’t able to play the way we wanted to and all of that credit goes to Newell Fonda and the consistent pressure they put on you,” Sioux Central coach Kasey Krager said.

Sioux Central’s boys opened wrestling tournament action at Okoboji Saturday where they placed eighth out of 10 teams. Kaben Morrow was the Rebel’s lone champion who captured a 7-6 finals win. Four other Sioux Central wrestlers placed in the top four, including Remi McGregor, Hunter Cooper, Gavin Casey and Tanner Deuschle. First-year coach Chance Rice said, “I believe we wrestled pretty well Saturday but also left a lot on the table.

SIOUX RAPIDS — The home team stayed close to the visitors but, Friday night, Sioux Central suffered a 63-58 loss to Newell-Fonda in the second half of a girl-boy doubleheader on the Rebel floor.

After falling behind by five in the first quarter by five, Sioux Central would close the game to one possession at the intermission, 31-28. The Mustangs would go back up by six heading into the final 10 minutes before finishing with win.

Iowa Lakes athletes Brady Abkes, Kendall Umscheid and Mackenzie Schnetzer all earned honorable mention in the category of trap. The ICCAC Sports Shooting announced their inaugural All-Region qualifiers and special awards after the 2023 season. Award earners were recognized based on statistics throughout the season. The Lakers plan to compete in the ACUI Nationals in San Antonio the third week of March 2024.

Sam West has had a great start to the season in the first month of his sophomore season. The Iowa Lakes forward does it all game-in and game-out for the Lakers and last week was no different. In three games he posted an average stat line of 18 points, 8.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. He had 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists in 20 minutes of their game. He had 13 points and five boards in Game 2 of the week.

The Iowa Lakes men’s basketball team improved to 9-2 overall and 1-0 in Iowa Community College Athletic Conference play with a 110-94 win at Northeast.

The Lakers were led by Kai Evans with 36 points. Ashton Hermann had 23 points, Jaedan Jefferson had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Sam West added 13 points. Northeast was led by Jacob Martin with 18 points.

The Lakers will next play Saturday when they host Southwestern. Tip for the game will be 3 p.m.

More than $415,000 in 50% cost-share grants were recently awarded to 131 Iowa rural fire departments to help their efforts to protect Iowan’s and their property from wildfires. The grants offer valuable funding assistance for wildfire suppression, personal protective and communications equipment.

Avoid the crowds and the “item out of stock” message this holiday season and get something every boater can use — new U.S. Coast Guard-approved wearable lifejackets.

Lifejackets make an excellent gift because each person on board a vessel is required to have one, and kids age 12 and younger must wear one while the vessel is underway.

With winter knocking on our door, ice fishing is right around the corner as well. Each year, we see thousands of anglers come to the Iowa Great Lakes. Ice fishing is a great way for a family to get out of the house and spend time outdoors. We are spoiled here in the Iowa Great Lakes to have many lakes and areas to explore and fish.

There was more frost on the ground this morning than there has been in several months. A variety of birds have left the area for their winter homes, and other types of birds are gathering to do the same. A check of the calendar confirms that winter is closing in. It’s time to think about fishing through holes in the ice. Following are a few things that some expert ice anglers do to catch more fish through those holes.

It seems like no matter what we’re involved in, there are those who just seem to be a step above. They have the skills that set them apart from others and often have the charisma that makes people want to be around them. As an outdoor writer, I have been fortunate enough to interview some of the best of the best in both the hunting and fishing world.

Hunters donated more than 4,500 deer hides to Elks Lodges across Iowa last year, which was an increase of nearly 600 hides from the 2022 season. The deer hides are used by the Veterans Leather Program to make professionally-crafted leather gloves for veterans in wheelchairs and also turned into leather used for therapy programs for recovering veterans.

Iowa is experiencing the third worst outbreak of epizootic hemorrhagic disease behind only the outbreaks in 2012 and 2019 in severity. The disease appears to have hit southeastern Iowa the hardest, but has been reported in 74 counties, which is the highest number of counties to report the disease in one year.