GILBERT—Algona junior Gavin Weber qualified for the Class 3A state cross-country meet after his sixth place showing at the district meet held on Wednesday, Oct. 24 to highlight the performances of the red-and-black squad.

Weber crossed the finish line behind five Gilbert runners to take sixth place overall in a season-best clocking of 16:04.20 to make the state meet for the first time in his high school career.

Friday, Nov. 1

11:15 A.M.

Class 3A Boys

Gavin Weber, Algona

Saturday, Nov. 2

10:30 A.M.

Class 1A Girls

Tyra Schupbach, West Bend-Mallard

Julia Swift, Bishop Garrigan

By Greg Grabianowski, Sports Editor

ALGONA—The Algona swim team hosted their third and final home meet of the season on Thursday, Oct. 25 by entertaining the Decorah Vikings as the visitors prevailed by the final score of 106-70.

The red-and-black won four individual events during the evening, including a new school record from Ella Welp in the 100-yard breaststroke with a winning time of 1:09.38. The old record was a time of 1:11.25 by Jessica Anderson in 2016.

HULL—Defending Class 3A state champion Hull Western Christian ended the Algona Bulldogs’ volleyball season as the Wolfpack topped the red-and-black in three straight sets on Thursday, Oct. 24 in the Class 3A regional semi-finals.

The home team jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the opening game and extended their advantage 10-2 and 13-4 before going onto a 25-14 victory in the opening set.

REMSEN—Fourth-ranked Remsen St. Mary’s exploded for 20 points in three minutes in the third period to break open a 14-0 contest at halftime and went onto a 42-8 victory over the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines on Friday, Oct. 25 in the first round of the eight-man playoffs.

GILBERT—The Algona Bulldog girls’ cross-country squad ended their 2024 season at the Class 3A regional meet held on Wednesday, Oct. 23.

The red-and-black squad finished in 12^th place in the 13-team field in the team standings with 280 points. The three teams qualifying for the state meet at Fort Dodge were Sioux Center, Gilbert and MOC/Floyd Valley.

BUFFALO CENTER—North Iowa prevailed in three straight sets over the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines in a Class 1A regional semi-final in a contest between two teams having their best season in the past 10 years on Monday, Oct. 28.

The purple-and-gold finished the year with an overall match record of 18-10 and went 53-35 in games played in those 28 matches while the Lady Bison continued their dream season by taking a mark of 28-5 to a regional final against Saint Ansgar.

WEST BEND—West Bend-Mallard opened Class 1A regional volleyball tournament play on Monday, Oct. 21 at home with  a win over the Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire Titans in three straight sets.

The purple-and-gold were dominant all evening long as they won the opening game by the score of 25-12 before taking the second set by the count of 25-10 and ended the match with a 25-14 victory in game number three.

SPIRIT LAKE—Algona opened Class 3A regional volleyball play on Tuesday, Oct. 22 on the road and came back home with an impressive victory in three straight sets over the Spirit Lake Indians.

The opening game was tight early before Algona eased out to a 12-7 lead. Spirit Lake slowly chipped away at the lead and finally drew even at 18-18 and then took a 21-18 advantage.

MASON CITY—Mason City Newman ended the North Union Warriors’ volleyball 2024 season as the Knights topped the green-black-and-silver in three straight sets in the Class 1A regional opener played on Monday, Oct. 21.

The home team won the opening game by the score of 25-14 before taking game number two by the count of 25-18 and ended the match with a 25-13 victory in the third set.

MANLY—The 2024 season came to an end for the West Bend-Mallard Wolverine boys’ cross-country team at the Class 1A district meet on Thursday, Oct. 24 as the purple-and-gold had just two runners and no team score.

The three teams that advanced to the Class 1A state cross-country meet this week for that district were Ogden, Sioux Central and Sibley-Ocheyedan.

MANLY—Both the Bishop Garrigan and North Union boys’ cross-country teams competed in the Class 1A district meet held on Thursday, Oct. 24 as neither team had enough runners for a team score.

The three teams qualifying for the Class 1A state meet in Fort Dodge this weekend from that district were Lake Mills, St. Edmond and North Butler.

By Greg Grabianowski, Sports Editor

HAMPTON—Junior Gavin Weber was the individual champion with the Algona Bulldog boys’ cross-country team finishing third as a team at the annual North Central Conference cross-country held on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at Maynes Grove in Hampton.

By Greg Grabianowski, Sports Editor

LAKE PARK—Second-ranked Bishop Garrigan completed a perfect regular season with a 62-0 shutout district victory over the Harris-Lake Park Wolves on Friday, Oct. 18. The black-and-gold finished the regular season with a perfect 8-0 record and won the district title with a 6-0 mark.

The Golden Bears will open the eight-man playoffs at home on the grass at Conway Field against the Tripoli Panthers (3-5) on Friday night at 7 p.m.

By Greg Grabianowski, Sports Editor

BISHOP GARRIGAN—Most of the time when the Algona Bulldogs and Bishop Garrigan Golden Bears compete in an athletic event, one can throw out the season records in the cross-town battle.

That was the case again on Tuesday, Oct. 15 as the 5-22 Golden Bears entertained the 12-8 Bulldogs as the two squads battled for five wild sets before the red-and-black prevailed.