SPENCER—The Bishop Garrigan Golden Bear boys swim team competed at a triangular meet at Spencer on Tuesday, Dec. 10 against the Tigers and Carroll.

Carroll won the meet with 50 points closely followed by Spencer with 44 and Bishop Garrigan finished third with 24 points. Matt Besch was the top place winner for the black-and-gold taking second in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:57.42.

SWEA CITY—The North Union Warriors’ wrestling squad hosted a Top of Iowa Conference quadrangular on Thursday, Dec. 12.

The green-black-and-silver lost to Central Springs 54-24 and Lake Mills 66-6 before defeating Saint Ansgar by the final score of 35-27.

ALGONA—Forest City remained undefeated for the year with a 75-54 non-conference boys basketball victory on Thursday, Dec. 12 over the Algona Bulldogs.

After a tight first period, the visitors broke the contest open in the second stanza to hold a 37-27 advantage at intermission and led 60-35 heading into the game’s final eight minutes of play.

ARMSTRONG—Forest City built a big, early lead and never looked back in a 78-36 Top of Iowa Conference boys basketball victory over the North Union Warriors on Tuesday, Dec. 10. The visitors took a commanding 34-13 lead to the locker room at intermission.

Lane Bruhn had a big evening for the green-black-and-silver with a career-high 19 points and Cole Nicoson narrowly missed double digits with nine points.

By Greg Grabianowski, Sports Editor

ALGONA—The North Central Conference announced recently that three schools will become members of the league after the conclusion of the 2025-2026.

Eagle Grove, Forest City and Garner-Hayfield/Ventura will move from the Top of Iowa Conference to the NCC. Additionally, Charles City will now join the conference earlier than planned, beginning in the 2026-2027 school year.

WEST BEND—Senior point guard Hailey Stalzer poured in a career-high 39 points to keep the West Bend-Mallard Wolverine girls basketball squad undefeated with a 61-14 non-conference victory on Monday, Dec. 16 over the Northwood-Kensett Vikings.

Stalzer scored 34 points in the opening half as she was successful on 14 of 23 overall field goals on the night, including six of ten behind the three-point arc and went five of eight from the charity stripe to establish her new career high.

LAKE MILLS—Top-ranked Bishop Garrigan limited Lake Mills to just seven first-half points in a 51-28 Top of Iowa Conference girls basketball victory over the purple-and-white on Tuesday, Dec. 10.

The black-and-gold dominated the opening half as they enjoyed a 15-3 lead at the conclusion of the first period and a 33-7 advantage at intermission.

LAKE MILLS—Bishop Garrigan picked up a key early season Top of Iowa Conference boys basketball victory on Tuesday, Dec. 10 with a 63-51 win over the Lake Mills Bulldogs.

The black-and-gold maintained the lead throughout the 32-minute contest, but could never put the pesky purple-and-gold squad away in the league contest.

BRITT—A fast start built an early 8-0 lead and the West Hancock Eagle boys basketball team never looked back by taking a 79-59 Top of Iowa Conference win over the North Union Warriors on Friday, Dec. 13.

The red-and-white hit 9 of 13 overall field goals in the first eight minutes to hold a 19-8 lead at the end of the first stanza. The Eagles also led 34-26 at halftime and 62-40 after three-quarters of basketball.

WEST BEND—An 11-0 run to begin the third quarter blew open a tight game at halftime as Northwood-Kensett remained undefeated on the year with a 59-41 non-conference boys basketball win over the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines.

The home team played very well the opening half as they led most of those 16 minutes. The purple-and-gold led 11-10 at the conclusion of the first stanza in the game played on Monday, Dec. 16.

COLFAX—West Bend-Mallard lost a pair of wrestling matches on Thursday, Dec. 12. Manson Northwest Webster defeated the purple-and-gold 65-6 as the only points came on a fall in 18 seconds by Mason Knapp at 113 pounds in the Twin Lakes Conference match.

The Wolverines also fell to Colfax-Mongo by the final score of 48-15. West Bend-Mallard’s points came from Jack Habben with a fall in 1:09 at 285 pounds, Kadin Knapp with a 6-1 decision and Mason Knapp by a forfeit at 113.

ARMSTRONG—Forest City went on a 16-1 run in the final 5:35 of the game to earn a 57-42 Top of Iowa Conference girls basketball victory on Tuesday, Dec. 10 over the North Union Warriors.

With the contest deadlocked at 41-41 with 5:35 remaining, the fourth-ranked Indians scored 16 of the last 17 points of the battle to earn the league win.

Shallie Walders led the green-black-and-silver in scoring with 17 points and was joined in double figures by Ainsley Ulrich with 13.

By Greg Grabianowski, Sports Editor

INDEPENDENCE—In one of the biggest wrestling tournaments in the state, the Algona Bulldog boys wrestling team placed seven individuals in the top 10 at the 30-team Cliff Kenne Invitational held on Dec. 6-7.

The red-and-black finished in ninth place in the team standings with a team score of 209 points as Alburnett won the team title with a first place team total of 348 points.

By Greg Grabianowski, Sports Editor

MASON CITY—On Thursday, Dec. 5, the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bear boys swim team competed in a triangular meet against Mason City and Fort Dodge.

The black-and-gold lost to Mason City by the final score of 125-35 and fell to the Fort Dodge Dodgers by the score of 103-48 as it was their first ever dual meet.