DES MOINES—Four members of the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bears football team were named first-team all-state recently by the Iowa Football Coaches Association. Also named to the eight-man second-team all-state squad was West Bend-Mallard’s Clint Fehr.

The four Golden Bears honored were running back Trayton Cink, offensive lineman Carter Schwab, linebacker Ethan Marso and defensive utility player Keaton Helleseth.

DES MOINES—After a very successful 2024 campaign, three members of the Algona Bulldog football team were selected to Iowa Football Coaches Association all-state teams recently.

Senior Alex Manske was named to the first-team as an offensive utility player while classmate Jack Limbaugh was a first-team choice as a defensive lineman. Another senior Tate Slagle was chosen to the second team as a defensive back.

MASON CITY—Mara Davis and Regan Jensen earned individual titles to highlight the performances of the Algona Bulldog girls’ wrestling squad at the Riverhawk Girls Invitational held on Tuesday, Nov. 26.

The red-and-black finished third in the team standings in the 11-team field with 177.5 points as Mason City won the team title with 214.5 points.

FORT DODGE—Sophomore Graclyn Eastman poured in a career-high 30 points to help lead the top-ranked Bishop Garrigan Golden Bear girls basketball squad to a 78-20 non-conference victory in the season opener held on Tuesday, Nov. 27 over the St. Edmond Gaels.

ALGONA—Algona scored the first 10 points of the contest and never trailed in a 66-37 season opening victory over the Estherville-Lincoln Central Midgets on Monday, Dec. 2.

Senior Ben Helmers poured in a game-high 27 points while teammate Evan Allie tossed in 18 points as eight different red-and-black players dented the scoring column.

WEST BEND—Propelled by a 9-0 start to begin the game, the North Union Warrior boys basketball team went onto a 66-48 season opening victory on Monday, Dec. 2 over the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines.

Junior point guard Khael Jones spearheaded the fast start with 11 first quarter points, three assists and three steals in the stanza as the visitors held a 21-8 lead at the conclusion of the game’s first eight minutes of action.

ARMSTRONG—West Bend-Mallard rallied by out-scoring North Union 14-9 in the game’s final eight minutes to pull out a hard-fought 43-39 season-opening non-conference girls basketball win on Tuesday, Nov. 26.

The purple-and-gold used a huge advantage on the boards as they out-rebounded the home team 44-22 on the night, including 13 off the offensive glass in the contest.

ALGONA—Fifth-ranked Forest City out-scored sixth-ranked Algona 14-6 in the game’s final 3:39 to break open a two-point contest and went onto a 64-54 season-opening non-conference win on Tuesday, Nov. 26 in battle of two Top 10 ranked Class 3A teams.

The contest was very tight early until the home team went on a 6-0 run to take a 13-8 lead. But, Forest City hit a late three-pointer to make the score 13-11 at the conclusion of the first period.

FORT DODGE—St. Edmond went 10 of 10 from the free throw line in the final 1:22 to hold on for a hard fought 56-51 season opening non-conference boys basketball victory over the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bears.

The green-and-white had gone 5 of 13 at the charity stripe during the contest before draining the last 10 foul shots they attempted late in the contest.

ALGONA—Top-rated Estherville-Lincoln Central ground out a 53-26 non-conference girls basketball victory on Monday, Dec. 2 over sixth-ranked Algona.

The home team was as cold as the temperature outside in the loss and also committed 22 turnovers as the red-and-white limited them to just six first-half points.

Former Algona football player James Wartick was recently honored for his play on the field this fall. Wartick was selected to the Heart of America first team as an offensive lineman. The 6’ 5”, 275 pound senior helped lead the Grand View Vikings to a perfect 10-0 regular season and the squad began their playoff run last weekend in Des Moines.

Former Algona High School graduate A’Laliah Perry is one of numerous athletes named to the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference’s all-academic team for the fall semester. Perry is a 5’ 11” sophomore outside hitter for the Northern State Wolves in Aberdeen, S.D.

By Greg Grabianowski, Sports Editor

ALGONA—Nine players that made the first-team all-area squad for the first time last fall are back to highlight the 20th annual Kossuth County Advance’s All-Area Volleyball Team.

ALGONA—Algona won 10 of 14 matches to post a 55-23 North Central Conference dual meet girls wrestling victory on Monday, Nov. 25 over the Clear Lake Lions.

The red-and-black recorded falls for Laura Stohr (115) in 0:59, Sienna Fehr (135) in 3:29, Regan Jensen (155) in 3:42, Reagan Haynes (170) in 2:20 and Eden Geddings (105) in 1:42.

NEVADA—Both Reagan Haynes and Mara Davis ended up in second place to highlight the performances of the Algona Bulldog girls wrestling squad at the Central Iowa Kickoff held in Nevada on Saturday, Nov. 23.

The red-and-black ended up in fourth place overall in the team standings with a team score of 141.5 points as a total of 33 teams competed in the early season tournament.