MASON CITY—The North Union Warriors wrestling squad earned a Top of Iowa Conference dual meet win on Thursday, Jan. 12 with a 60-18 victory over the Mason City Newman Knights.

Gavyn Morphew, Draven Keeler, Kacey Hamsmith, Brennen Bollinger and Kolton Walter all won by falls while teammates Kade Madden, Dalton Tobin, Kaleb Lufkin, Ethan Preston and Koen Zotz each won by forfeit.

MILFORD—Algona improved to 15-2 overall on the year in overall dual matches on Tuesday, Jan. 10 with a trio of non-conference victories.

The red-and-black defeated Okoboji/Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn 50-24 before topping Blue Earth Area 58-18 and ended the evening with a 60-12 win over Estherville-Lincoln Central.

GOWRIE—The West Bend-Mallard Wolverines wrestling squad earned a pair of Twin Lakes Conference dual matches victories on Thursday, Jan. 12.

The purple-and-gold started off the evening with a 48-21 triumph over the Sioux Central Rebels and finished the night with a 46-36 win over the Southeast Valley Jaguars.

HUMBOLDT—In a key North Central Conference dual match, the Humboldt Wildcats won a 40-21 win over the Algona Bulldogs on Thursday, Jan. 12.

Barrett Morgan, Taevyn Zinnel, Tate Slagle, Ashton Moreno and Gavin Goche all won by decisions for the red-and-black while teammate Cohen Reffer earned six points via a win by forfeit.

EMMETSBURG—MaKayla Erpelding placed first at 110 pounds to highlight the performances of the Algona Bulldog girls’ wrestling squad at the E-Hawk Lady Invitational held on Monday, Jan. 16.

Erpelding showed Joley Schmahl of Spirit Lake Park the lights in 4:31 in the semi-finals and pinned Angelina Anguiano of Okoboji in the finals in 3:52.

By Greg Grabianowski

Sports Editor

GARNER—Senior Caden Weber drilled a three-pointer with 1.5 seconds left to give the Algona Bulldog boys’ basketball team an thrilling 50-49 non-conference victory over the Garner-Hayfield/Ventura on Saturday, Jan. 7.

NEVADA—Four Algona Bulldog girls’ wrestlers finished in first place in their weight division at the Nevada girls’ wrestling round robin held on Thursday, Jan. 5. No team scores were kept in the tournament.

Harley Tobin went 4-0 at 100A pounds with all four wins coming via a fall while teammate Reece Taylor was 3-0 at 105B pounds with a trio of falls during the night.

ARMSTRONG—Sophomore Grady Madden scored a driving lay-up with nine seconds left in overtime to give the North Union Warrior boys’ basketball team a huge 51-49 Top of Iowa Conference victory over the Garner-Hayfield/Ventura Cardinals.

The visitors scored twice in the final minute of regulation to rally and force an extra period. Both squads are now 7-3 overall and each team has two losses in the conference, two games behind league leader Lake Mills.

ARMSTRONG—North Union built an early advantage and never looked back in a 53-30 Top of Iowa Conference girls’ basketball victory on Friday, Jan. 6 over the Garner-Hayfield/Ventura Cardinals.

Olivia Merrill started the home team’s engine by scoring the contest’s first five points before the red-and-black dented the scoreboard with a three-pointer. The Warriors then went on an 11-0 run to finish the first stanza with a 16-3 lead.

GRAETTINGER—Ethan Zaugg of West Bend-Mallard along with Brennen Bollinger and Landon Price of North Union all won individual titles at the G-T/R-A Invitational held on Saturday, Jan. 7.

North Union ended up in third place in the team standings with 150 points while West Bend-Mallard placed 11^th with 64 points as Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley topped the 12-team field with a team score of 225 points.

ALGONA—Opening the 2023 part of their schedule at home on Thursday, Jan. 5, the Algona Bulldog boys’ wrestling team split a pair of matches.

The Bulldogs dropped a 36-28 North Central Conference match to the Clarion-Goldfield/Dows Cowboys but bounced back with a 70-6 non-conference decision over the Eagle Grove Eagles.

BRITT—The top-ranked Bishop Garrigan girls’ basketball squad showed no effects of a two-week layoff for the Christmas break in an 88-23 Top of Iowa Conference romp over the West Hancock Eagles on Friday, Jan. 6.

The state’s leading scorer Audi Crooks poured in a game-high 35 points while side-kick Molly Joyce joined her in double digits with 18 points as did Sacha Alesch off the bench with 11 points.

ALGONA—Algona ended a brief two-game losing streak with a 60-21 North Central Conference girls’ basketball pasting on Friday, Jan, 6 over the St. Edmond Gaels.

The home team held a 14-6 lead after the game’s first eight minutes and took a 24-11 advantage to the locker room at halftime. The red-and-black also led 47-16 after three periods of North Central Conference girls’ basketball.

WEST BEND—West Bend-Mallard played well the first eight minutes but Sioux Central took over from there and ended the purple-and-gold’s four-game winning streak by handing them a 67-50 Twin Lakes Conference defeat on Friday, Jan. 6.

The Wolverines led 15-10 at the conclusion of the first quarter before the visitors took a 31-27 lead to the locker room at halftime. The Rebels held a 48-36 advantage going into the final eight minutes of action.

WEST BEND—Sioux Central remained unbeaten on the season on Friday, Jan. 6 with a 73-50 Twin Lakes Conference boys’ basketball victory over the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines.

The visitors had a narrow 13-10 lead at the end of the first quarter and took a 32-27 advantage at the halftime break. The Rebels opened the contest up in the third frame as they took a 54-42 lead into the fourth period.