By Greg Grabianowski, Sports Editor

IOWA FALLS—Crowning a total of six champions during the day, the Algona Bulldog girls wrestling squad captured first place at the North Central Conference tournament held on Saturday, Jan. 18 with a winning team total of 208 points.

Winning individual titles for the red-and-black were Mara Davis (100), Laura Stohr (115), Malyn Davis (120), Lillian Allie (125), Emmy Owen (140) and Regan Jensen (155).

ALGONA—In a battle of ranked Class 1A girls basketball squads, the fourth-ranked Bishop Garrigan Golden Bears defeated the 14^th-rated Mason City Newman Knights 67-46 in a non-conference contest played on Thursday, Jan. 16.

ARMSTRONG—North Union continued their winning ways in Top of Iowa Conference girls basketball contests with a 64-27 triumph over the North Iowa Lady Bison on Friday, Jan. 17.

The green-black-and-silver jumped out to a 14-9 lead after the first eight minutes of action and increased their advantage to 31-16 at intermission. The Warriors took a commanding 52-22 lead into the fourth quarter of play.

ALGONA—Bishop Garrigan trailed most of the game, but rallied in the fourth quarter for a come-from-behind 61-54 Top of Iowa Conference boys basketball win on Tuesday, Jan. 14 over the Belmond-Klemme Broncos.

The black-and-gold trailed 52-49 with 2:07 left in the contest before going on a 12-2 run to finish the game and rally for their eighth conference victory.

ARMSTRONG—For the fourth time since the calendar moved forward into the 2025 year, the North Union Warrior boys basketball team is in the win column again with the latest being a 63-41 triumph on Friday, Jan. 17 over the North Iowa Bison.

The green-black-and-silver got out fast and led 15-7 at the end of the first stanza. The home team took a 24-15 advantage to the locker room at intermission and led 53-28 going into the final eight minutes of play.

CRESTON—Four Algona boys wrestlers finished in first place at the Creston Invitational held on Saturday, Jan. 18 as the red-and-black ended up in second place in the team standings with a team score of 194 topped only by Mount Vernon’s total of 199 points.

Placing first for the Bulldogs were Elijah Wilhite at 138 pounds, Ashton Moreno at 150, Tate Slagle at 157 pounds and Carter McGregor at 165.

ALGONA—Second-ranked Algona remained perfect on the year with a trio of non-conference wins in a boys wrestling quadrangular on Tuesday, Jan. 14. The red-and-black are currently 8-0 on the year in dual meets.

Senior Tate Slagle became the all-time career win leader in the tradition-rich wrestling program with his 144^th career victory breaking the old school record of 143 by former Bulldog state champion Joe Teague.

FORT DODGE—Colin Roberts and Matt Besch each won an event to highlight the performances of the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bear swim team on Thursday, Jan. 16.

The black-and-gold dropped their dual meet against the host Dodgers by the final score of 65-24 and earned a tie with Des Moines Hoover in the second dual meet by the count of 45-45.

By Greg Grabianowski, Sports Editor

HUMBOLDT—A great second half rally by the Algona Bulldog boys basketball team fell just short as they dropped a 73-65 North Central Conference contest to the Humboldt Wildcats on Friday, Jan. 17.

The big second half comeback was propelled by good shooting as the Bulldogs connected on 18 of 27 field goals in the second half for 66.6 percent.

NEWELL—West Bend-Mallard put up a good battle, but third-ranked Newell-Fonda prevailed by the final score of 75-44 in a Twin Lakes Conference girls basketball contest played on Friday, Jan. 17.

The purple-and-gold were within 11 points late in the third quarter, but the Mustangs finished the game strong for the win. The aggressive Newell-Fonda defense forced 33 Wolverine turnovers in the loss while committing 20 turnovers of their own.

ALGONA—Algona only led twice in the game, but the last time came at the best point as the ninth-ranked Bulldogs rallied late for an exciting 47-44 North Central Conference girls basketball victory over the Clear Lake Lions on Monday, Jan. 20.

The red-and-black trailed the entire first 30 minutes of the contest before taking their first lead with 2:15 to play in the game on a field goal by Maya Lentz.

HUMBOLDT—A big third quarter got the Algona Bulldog girls basketball team the lead after trailing the entire first half, and they went onto a hard-fought 54-42 North Central Conference victory on Friday, Jan. 17 over the Humboldt Wildcats.

Humboldt raced out to a 13-2 lead at the end of the first period, held a 13-7 advantage after the first quarter of play and led 25-23 at intermission.

ALGONA—Junior Amaury Thomas poured in a career-high 24 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to help lead the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bear boys basketball team to a 66-58 non-conference win over the Mason City Newman Knights on Thursday, Jan. 16.

HAMPTON—The Algona Bulldog girls wrestling squad remained undefeated on the year in dual meets on Monday, Jan. 20 with three more wins in a quadrangular meet held in Hampton.

The red-and-black moved to 12-0 on the season by defeating Nevada 66-18, toppling Hampton-Dumont by the final score of 64-12 and beating Perry by the count of 60-17.