BELMOND—Sophomore point guard Michael Joyce poured in a career-high 32 points to lead the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bear boys basketball team to an 81-35 Top of Iowa Conference opening victory over Belmond-Klemme on Tuesday, Dec. 3.

Joyce connected on 13 of 22 overall field goals on the night, went five of eleven behind the three-point arc and sank his only free throw attempt in establishing a new career high.

MILFORD—Senior Brennen Bollinger claimed first place at 285 pounds to highlight the performances of the North Union Warriors wrestling squad at the Okoboji Invitational held on Saturday, Dec. 7.

The green-black-and-silver ended up in 10^th overall in the team standings with 59 points as Okoboji took the team title with a total of 181 points.

BELMOND—Number one ranked Bishop Garrigan fought off a gritty Belmond-Klemme Bronco girls basketball squad 53-45 on Tuesday, Dec. 3 in the Top of Iowa Conference opener for both teams.

The black-and-gold maintained a comfortable lead throughout the contest, but could never put the home team away in the turnover filled game that saw the Golden Bears force 26 turnovers, but also committed 21 miscues.

ALGONA—Building a huge first half lead, the eighth-ranked Algona Bulldog girls basketball squad cruised to a 62-42 North Central Conference season opening victory on Friday, Dec. 6 over the Iowa Falls-Alden Cadets.

The Bulldogs led 10-6 at the conclusion of the opening frame before extending that advantage to 30-12 at intermission. The red-and-black also enjoyed a 46-25 lead heading into the final eight minutes of action.

GRAETTINGER—West Bend-Mallard used a big second period to earn a 42-35 non-conference girls basketball victory on Tuesday, Dec. 3 over the Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire Titans.

Both teams struggled taking care of the basketball as the home team committed 23 turnovers while the Wolverines committed a total of 34 turnovers in the win.

CORALVILLE—Sophomore Reagan Haynes finished in fourth place at 170 pounds to highlight the performances of the Algona Bulldog girls wrestling squad at the Dan Gable Donnybrook Tournament.

Six Bulldog wrestlers ended up in the top 12 finishers in the two day tournament that took place on Thursday, Dec. 5 and Friday, Dec. 6 as a total of 44 teams competed in the tourney.

STORM LAKE—The West Bend-Mallard Wolverines wrestling team opened their 2024-2025 season on Thursday, Dec. 5 on the road against Emmetsburg and Storm Lake.

The purple-and-gold fell to Emmetsburg in a Twin Lakes Conference match by the final score of 54-10 and fell to the Storm Lake Tornadoes by the score of 78-6 in a non-conference match.

SPENCER—For the first time ever, the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bear boys swim team competed in an event on Tuesday, Dec. 3 at Spencer.

Bishop Garrigan finished in fourth place with a team score of 234 points as the Spencer Tigers ended up in first place with a team total of 574.

The top place winner for the black-and-gold was Matt Besch in second place in the 100-yard butterfly event with his clocking of 1:01.17.

MANSON—Mason Knapp placed second at 113 pounds to highlight the performances of the West Bend-Mallard Wolverine wrestling squad at the Doug Wood Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 7.

The purple-and-gold finished in 10^th place overall in the team standings with a team score of 42.5 points as Alta-Aurelia won the team title with a total of 252.5 points.

WEST BEND—West Bend-Mallard scored the first 19 points of the game and never looked back in a 61-15 Twin Lakes Conference girls basketball victory on Friday, Dec. 6 over the Southeast Valley Jaguars.

The aggressive purple-and-gold defense forced a total of 33 Jaguar turnovers leading to many easy baskets in the transition game.

ARMSTRONG—Second-ranked Estherville-Lincoln Central’s suffocating defense shut down the North Union offense on Monday, Dec. 9 in a 52-14 non-conference girls basketball victory over the green-black-and-silver.

The aggressive Midget defense forced 22 Warrior turnovers in the contest while doing a great job of taking care of the basketball as they committed just six turnovers on the night.

NORTHWOOD—The North Union Warrior wrestling team began the 2024-2025 season with a Top of Iowa quadrangular on Thursday, Dec. 5.

The green-black-and-silver lost to Northwood-Kensett 42-24, fell to North Butler/Clarksville 45-30 and were blanked by the Osage Green Devils 83-0.

Max Merrill (190), Lucas Dreyer (215) and Brennen Bollinger (285) all went 2-1 during the evening as Jackson Hutchinson, Merrill, Dreyer and Bollinger each recorded a fall.

ARMSTRONG—An 11-0 run to end the first half proved to be the difference in the game as the Estherville-Lincoln Central midgets defeated the North Union Warriors 49-46 on Monday, Dec. 9 in a non-conference boys basketball play.

Trailing 7-2, North Union scored the final 10 points of the first period to lead 12-7 at the end of the frame. In the second quarter, the visitors reversed the run as they turned an 18-17 deficit into a 28-18 advantage.

GRAETTINGER—A pressure defense forced 30 West Bend-Mallard turnovers as Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire earned a 75-34 non-conference boys basketball victory on Tuesday, Dec. 3 over the purple-and-gold.

That pressure defense came up with a total of 21 steals as many of those thefts led to easy baskets as the home team built a huge first half advantage.

BUFFALO CENTER—North Union went on the road in Top of Iowa Conference boys basketball play on Friday, Dec. 6 and came home two points short in a hard-fought 45-43 league loss to the North Iowa Bison.

The green-black-and-silver had a couple of good looks in the final 10 seconds of the contest, but the basketball bounced harmlessly off the rim.