ARMSTRONG—Falling for the first time in 2022, the North Union Warriors volleyball squad dropped a Top of Iowa Conference match in four sets on Thursday, Sept.1 to the Forest City Indians.

Forest City, ranked 15^th in Class 3A,  won the opening game by the score of 15-25 but the home team responded by taking the second set by the score of 25-16 to even the match at one apiece.

WEST BEND—West Bend-Mallard scored early and often in their eight-man district opener as the purple-and-gold clubbed the St. Edmond Gaels 66-22 on Friday, Sept. 2.

The Wolverines built a huge 52-6 advantage at intermission and cruised to the district victory as the entire squad got a chance to have some playing time in the contest.

ALLISON—North Union built a 28-6 halftime advantage and went onto a 35-6 Class A district opening victory over Friday, Sept. 2 over the North Butler Bearcats.

The contest was deadlocked at 6-6 after the first 12 minutes of action before the green-black-and-silver took control of the game in the second period with 22 unanswered points.

The Warriors received the opening kickoff and drove 63 yards in eight plays as Bryer Prochniak went the final two yards for the touchdown.

BUFFALO CENTER—Bishop Garrigan improved to 2-0 on the season on Friday, Sept. 2 as the black-and-gold topped the North Iowa Bison by the score of 32-14 in eight-man district opener for both teams.

The Golden Bears’ defense was outstanding in the second half, blanking the blue-and-white to earn the victory as they put the game away with 12 points in the final 12 minutes.

MASON CITY—A pair of Bishop Garrigan Golden Bears cross-country runners narrowly missed a top 10 finish to highlight the performances of the black-and-gold at the Newman Invitational held on Tuesday, Aug. 30.

Gavin Swift placed 11^th for the Golden Bear boys in 19:17.87 as Daniel Meis was 53^rd with a time of 22:22.05 just ahead of teammate Ethan Kuper in 54^th place in 22:23.52.

MILFORD—A pair of area boys’ cross-country teams competed at but did not have enough runners for a team score on Thursday, Sept. 1 at the Okoboji Invitational.

Both North Union and West Bend-Mallard did not have enough runners to compile a team score on Thursday as the Warriors had four varsity runners and the Wolverines three.

Gavyn Morphew was the top area place winner at Okoboji Invitational as he took 25^th place for the green-black-and-silver in 19:40.40.

MILFORD—Sophomore Jacey Welbig of North Union placed fourth overall to highlight the performances of a pair of area girls’ cross-country squads at the Okoboji Invitational on Thursday, Sept. 1.

Welbig stopped the watches at 20:55.20 as she came across the finish line. West Bend-Mallard’s Tyra Schupbach also turned in a top 10 showing as she took 10^th place with her time of 21:50.30.

MANSON—The West Bend-Mallard Wolverines volleyball squad went on the road on Thursday, Sept. 1 in Twin Lakes Conference action and dropped a four-set match to the Manson Northwest Webster Cougars.

The home team took the first two games by the identical scores of 17-25 before the purple-and gold fought back to take the third set by the score of 25-15. But the Cougars ended the match with a 14-25 victory in the fourth game.

BUFFALO CENTER—Opening Top of Iowa Conference play with a four-set victory over North Iowa on Tuesday, Aug. 20, the North Union Warriors volleyball squad remained undefeated on the season in six matches.

The Lady Bison won the first game by the score of 20-25 before the green-black-and-silver roared back to take the next three sets by the scores of 25-18, 25-23 and 25-11.

ALGONA—It took all sets to determine a winner as the Algona Bulldogs’ volleyball squad opened the 2022 North Central Conference season with a victory over the Clear Lake Lions on Thursday, Sept. 1 in the league opener for both clubs.

The home team took the first two games by identical scores of 25-23 before Clear Lake fought back to win the third game by the score of 25-15.

By Greg Grabianowski

Sports Editor

ALGONA—Six season champions were crowned on Thursday, Aug. 25 as the 2022 dirt track racing season at the Kossuth County Speedway came to an end.

The crowd was treated to double features as last week’s races were rained out after the heat races were competed by a much needed thunderstorm that rolled through the Algona area.

ALGONA—Bishop Garrigan scored early and often in a 52-6 season opening victory on Friday, Aug. 26 over the Janesville Wildcats. The home team raced out to a 28-0 advantage at halftime and never looked back.

Bishop Garrigan scored on their first possession of the 2022 season as Cal Birkey dashed the final 27 yards for the score at the 9:33 mark of the opening stanza as the home team led 6-0.

By Greg Grabianowski

Sports Editor

EMMETSBURG—Algona built a 26-0 first half advantage and went onto a 39-27 non-district victory over the Emmetsburg E-Hawks on Friday, Aug. 26 in the season opener for both football teams.

SPENCER—The Algona Bulldog boys’ cross-country team placed three young men in the top eight runners and finished second in the team race to highlight the performances of three area squads on Thursday, Aug. 25 at the Spencer Invitational.

The red-and-black’s team total of 63 was topped by only Okoboji’s score of 51 points with Bishop Garrigan taking eighth place with 195 and North Union did not have enough runners for a team score.

SPENCER—Algona’s Moriah Knapp was the runner-up and North Union’s Jacey Welbig placed third to highlight the performances of three area girls’ cross-country squads on Thursday, Aug. 25 at the Spencer Invitational.

Knapp crossed the finish line with a time of 20:02.51 just ahead of Welbig in 21:01.00 as Peyton Morey of Spencer won the race with her clocking of 19:53.10.