By Greg Grabianowski, Sports Editor

WEST BEND—North Union defeated the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines 48-33 on Tuesday, Dec. 7 in a non-conference wrestling match.

The Warriors also topped Sioux Central narrowly by the score of 43-42 but fell to Pocahontas Area by the score of 42-30 while the Wolverines lost to Pocahontas Area 42-29 and Sioux Central by the count of 34-33.

NEWELL—A high powered Newell-Fonda team was in road gear on Thursday, Dec. 9 and handed the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bears a 97-52 defeat in non-conference boys basketball action.

The blue-and-white led 19-9 at the end of the first quarter before increasing their advantage to 58-24 at halftime. The Mustangs took a commanding 82-42 lead into the fourth period.

NORTHWOOD—Surpassing their win total of the entire 2020-21 campaign, the North Union Warriors earned their third victory of the season with a 62-48 win over the Northwood-Kensett Vikings.

The visitors led 15-7 at the end of the first period but trailed by one point at 26-25 at intermission. The Warriors took a 41-33 advantage into the fourth quarter of action.

OGDEN—With a perfect 5-0 mark on the day, the Algona Bulldogs wrestling squad won the championship on Saturday, Dec. 11, at the Ogden Duals.

Algona opened the day with a 45-33 victory over Carroll High School and followed that up with a 51-27 triumph over the Gilbert Tigers.

The red-and-black then defeated Woodward-Granger by the score of 72-12 and ended pool play at a perfect 4-0 with a 56-21 win over Greene County.

SIOUX RAPIDS—West Bend-Mallard drop a pair of Twin Lakes Conference wrestling matches on Thursday, Dec. 9. The purple-and-gold fell to Sioux Central 39-30 and lost to Manson Northwest Webster by the score of 39-36.

Aaron Massner, Garrett Fehr, Logan Grimm, Damon Fehr and Ben Massner all recorded falls against Sioux Central and Lucas Fehr registered a pin against Manson Northwest Webster.

HARTLEY—Despite a career-high evening from Kierstin Montag, the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Hawks defeated the West Bend-Mallard on Monday, Dec. 13 by the score of 66-55.

The home team led 13-8 at the conclusion of the first stanza and took a 29-23 advantage to the locker room at intermission. The Hawks held a 50-38 lead at the end of the third quarter.

NORTHWOOD—Heading east for a non-conference tussle on Monday, Dec. 13, No. 12 ranked (Class 2A) North Union rolled past the Northwood-Kensett Vikings by the score of 64-42.

The green-black-and-silver took a 10-4 lead at the end of the first period and extended that advantage to 27-12 at halftime and led 46-27 heading into the fourth quarter.

IOWA FALLS—Iowa Falls-Alden out-scored the Algona Bulldogs 15-10 in the final eight minutes to take a 56-51 North Central Conference win on Saturday, Dec. 11.

Algona held a slim 15-13 lead at the conclusion of the first period and took a 30-26 advantage to the locker room at intermission and the contest was deadlocked at 41-41 headed into the fourth quarter.

HARTLEY—Stepping outside of Twin Lakes Conference play, the West Bend-Mallard Wolverine boys basketball team dropped a 66-45 decision on Monday, Dec. 13 to the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Hawks.

The home team jumped out to a 19-6 lead at the conclusion of the first quarter and increased that advantage to 35-16 at halftime. The Hawks also led 48-34 heading into the fourth period of action.

ALGONA—Lake Mills remained undefeated on the year with a 67-40 Top of Iowa Conference boys basketball victory over the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bears.

The visitors raced out to a 23-4 lead at the conclusion of the first period and increased the lead to 47-16 at intermission. The Bulldogs also took a 60-28 lead heading into the fourth quarter of action.

ESTHERVILLE—Estherville-Lincoln Central raced out to huge early lead and never looked back in an 84-38 non-conference boys basketball victory on Thursday, Dec. 9, over the North Union Warriors.

Leading the green-black-and-silver in scoring with eight points each was Danyal Fothergill and Logan Odegaard closely followed by Teagon Fothergill with seven points.

IOWA FALLS—Algona earned a pair of North Central Conference wrestling match wins on Thursday, Dec. 9 by defeating Iowa Falls-Alden 70-6 and Clear Lake by the score of 52-15.

In the victory over Iowa Falls-Alden, the red-and-black got falls from Tate Slagle, Ian Fehr, Brandon Harris, Colby Jennings and Jagger O’Neall. Jacob Zabka won by major decision while teammates Isaac Wilson and Luke Carter both won by decisions.

EMMETSBURG—Senior Aaron Massner was the runner-up at 138 pounds on Saturday, Dec. 11 to highlight the performances of the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines wrestling squad at the Bob Roethler Invitational.

Massner opened the day with a pin of Dayton Strohman of Emmetsburg in 54 seconds and won by fall in 1:46 over Ryan Pyle of Okoboji in the quarterfinals.

SAINT ANSGAR—Traveling east on a long road trip, the North Union Warriors wrestling squad lost three Top of Iowa Conference matches on Thursday, Dec. 9.

The green-black-and-silver lost to Saint Ansgar by the score of 36-33 before falling to Central Springs by the count of 57-24 and was defeated by Lake Mills by the score of 57-21.

FOREST CITY—Forest City pulled away in the second half on Tuesday, Dec. 7, to hand the North Union Warrior boys basketball team their first loss of the season with a 63-37 Top of Iowa Conference defeat.

Forest City held an 8-6 lead at the end of the first stanza and took a 24-17 advantage to the locker room at intermission. The Indians increased the lead to 44-33 at the conclusion of the third quarter of play.