Trent Pedersen of North Union is lone returnee to the 20th annual edition of the All-Area Boys Basketball Team.  Joining him on this year’s squad is teammate Nathan Eaton along with Jackson and Riley Helmers of Algona and Cade Winkel and T.J. Schnurr of Bishop Garrigan.

Ice-cold shooting in the second half proved to be costly for the North Union Warrior boys’ basketball squad as the team dropped a 54-36 decision to the West Hancock Eagles.
The green-black-and-silver led 28-25 in the third quarter before giving up a 12-0 run and going without a score for over five minutes in the Class 1A semi-final contest played at Britt on Tuesday, Feb. 21.

A young, scrappy Newell-Fonda hung around long enough to force two extra periods and took a 73-68 double overtime boys’ basketball victory over the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bears.
Four players reached double figures for the Mustangs, who overcame an 11-point deficit in the first half and big performances from Cade Winkel and T.J. Schnurr for the black-and-gold in the Class 1A district semi-final contest played at Britt on Thursday, Feb, 21.

Sergeant Bluff-Luton used a school-record breaking performance by sophomore Connor Groves in a 75-47 victory over the Algona Bulldog boys’ basketball squad.
Groves, a 5’ 11’ guard, nailed nine three-point field goals enroute to a 30-point performance in the Class 3A district opener played at Spirit Lake on Monday, Feb. 20.

A trio of area wrestlers completed at the state wrestling tournament at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines over the weekend with Juan Falcon of West Bend-Mallard competing in Class 1A at 182 pounds and going 1-2 for the purple-and-gold.
A pair of Algona wrestlers competed in Class 2A on Thursday, dropping a pair of matches as Dominick Etherington competed at 220 pounds and Josh Wegener wrestled in the 285 pound class for the red-and-black.

Algona advanced a pair of wrestlers to the Class 2A state wrestling tournament from the district meet at Webster City on Saturday, Feb. 11 as the red-and-black finished in seventh place as team with 44 points.
Dominick Etherington at 220 pounds and Josh Wegener at 285 both were runner-ups and did not need a wrestle-back after posting a first round win over the third place winner to punch their ticket to Des Moines.

n the regular season finale for both teams, Bishop Garrigan defeated Garner-Hayfield/Ventura by the score of 57-45.  The Top of Conference girls’ basketball game was played on Thursday, Feb. 9 at Algona.
Bishop Garrigan broke a 4-4 tie early with a 10-3 run to take a 14-7 advantage and enjoyed a 14-10 lead as the buzzer sounded to end the first period of action.

North Union built an early lead and gradually pulled away to earn a 44-25 boys’ basketball victory over the West Bend-Mallard.  The non-conference regular season finale for both squads took place at West Bend on Friday, Feb. 10.
Trent Pedersen scored the first two baskets of the game before a three-pointer by Jeff Riesenberg got the home team on the scoreboard. 

Emmetsburg took the lead early and gradually pulled away in a 53-22 non-conference girls’ basketball victory over the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines in a game played at Emmetsburg on Monday, Feb. 6.
The black-and-gold led 9-2 at the conclusion of the first period before extending its advantage to 23-6 at intermission and also led 41-13 at the end of the third quarter.

Algona went on the road in North Central Conference girls’ basketball action and came home with a 55-37 victory over the Iowa Falls-Alden Cadets.  
With the victory, the 15th ranked Bulldogs improved to 16-4 overall and are now 10-3 in the league with one game remaining.  The conference game was played at Iowa Falls on Friday, Feb. 3.

It came down to the last match of the day but the Algona Bulldogs finished in second place as a team at the Class 2A sectional wrestling meet and advanced to the regional team duals on Tuesday.
The red-and-black compiled 187 team points to edge Clear Lake by one point to finish as the runner-ups behind Clarion-Goldfield’s 242 as the red-and-black advanced six wrestlers individually to Webster City on Saturday at noon, including one champion and five runner-ups.

It has been a tough season for a young West Bend-Mallard Wolverine boys’ basketball squad, who earned its first victory of the season with a 55-48 win over the Eagle Grove Eagles in a non-conference contest played at West Bend on Friday, Jan. 27.
The visitors started fast in the game and enjoyed a 9-2 lead as the first stanza of play ended.  The Wolverines had a good second quarter, out-scoring the Eagles 17-8 to take a slim 19-17 advantage into the locker room at intermission.

Bishop Garrigan out-scored North Union 29-11 in the final eight minutes to earn a 69-54 Top of Iowa Conference boys’ basketball victory in a contest played at Armstrong on Friday, Jan. 27.
Freshman Cade Winkel scored 13 straight points for the Golden Bears in fourth period as the black-and-gold turned a 46-42 deficit into a 55-49 advantage during that stretch in the game.

North Union scored the first 13 points of the game and never trailed in earning a key 66-44 Top of Iowa Conference girls’ basketball victory over Bishop Garrigan in a contest played at Armstrong on Friday, Jan. 27.

It took a little extra time but Dominick Etherington earned the 220-pound title to highlight the performances of the Algona Bulldogs wrestling squad at the North Central Conference championships held in Algona on Saturday, Jan. 21.
Three other Bulldog teammates finished as the runner-ups while three more ended up in third place as the host school finished third in the team race with 169 points.