Sports

Opens State bid Thursday against Charles City opponent

For Waukon wrestling 182-pound senior Blain Swenson, the Saturday, February 11 Class 2A District 1 Tournament at Decorah High School just kept getting better and better, with every wrestler’s ultimate goal of State Tournament qualification being just the beginning.

While Swenson’s first-round win put him in great position to achieve that ultimate goal, making that achievement even better was the fact that he then also won his second match to finish an undefeated day as the District champion and earn automatic State Tournament qualification. To then top it all off, that District championship came by virtue of an 11-5 win by decision over Decorah senior Daniel Ott, who had beaten Swenson in two previous championship matches the past two Saturdays at the Northeast Iowa Conference Tournament and Class 2A Sectional 2 Tournament.

The Waukon boys basketball team had both its regular season and overall season brought to a close this past week with a busy four-game slate that included a single win in three final regular season games and a season-ending loss in the opening round of Class 2A District Tournament play. The Indians began the week with an 80-63 handling of South Winneshiek on the road Monday, February 6 before falling in back-to-back home games to end the regular season, 70-59 against Decorah Tuesday, February 7 and 78-67 against New Hampton Friday, February 10. The Tribe’s postseason also ended as its regular season did, as the Indians fell by a 57-39 count in a Monday, February 13 first-round match-up with Monticello that took place at MFL/MarMac High School.

That busy final week wrapped up the Indians’ 2016-2017 campaign with an overall season record of 6-15, including a mark of 2-10 that placed the Tribe sixth in front of winless Oelwein in Northeast Iowa Conference play.

The Kee boys basketball team brought its regular season to a close this past week, falling in a pair of final non-conference road games but still being able to celebrate something notable. The Hawks suffered a 60-41 loss at Houston, MN Thursday, February 9 and also fell at Coulee Christian by a 68-60 final result Friday, February 10, but it was in that final loss that Kee senior guard Danny Brennan reached the 1,000 career point milestone to etch himself even more firmly among Kee’s basketball elite. The final shot Brennan put through the nylon before the halftime break of Friday’s game placed him in that Kee boys basketball 1,000 point club, a group that includes just four other Hawk hoopsters, Ric Zarwell, Pat Heiderscheit, Gabe Schultz and Quinn Schultz.

The third time was the charm for Waukon wrestling 182-pound senior Blain Swenson, as he knocked off Decorah senior Daniel Ott for the first time in the past three Saturdays in their Class 2A District 1 championship match Saturday, February 11 at Decorah, earning qualification for the Class 2A State Tournament. Swenson opened the District Tournament with a 6-0 win over Independence senior Peyton Nolting to earn a championship rematch with Ott, who had defeated Swenson in their previous two meetings in the championship match of both the Northeast Iowa Conference Tournament two weekends earlier and also in the Class 2A Sectional 2 Tournament just a week earlier. In this rematch, however, Swenson took Ott down repeatedly to post a convincing, 11-5 triumph and earn his first-ever qualification for the Class 2A State Wrestling Tournament that will be held in Des Moines this Thursday through Saturday, February 16-18.

The Waukon bowling team rolled to a split of its two meets this past week, competing in its final dual meets of the regular season. The Indians first were swept by Oelwein Tuesday, January 31 in a meet rescheduled from January 17, the girls falling by an 1847-1945 final result and the boys doing likewise, 2147-2440. The bowling Tribe bounced back with some dramatics in it second meet of the week, both teams edging out the visiting Cyclones of Denver by their narrowest margin of victory this season, the girls winning by the narrowest of margins, 2000-1999, in an extra frame and the boys bowling some of their highest totals of the season to post a 2461-2435 win over Denver.

The Waukon girls basketball team posted an undefeated week, pulling out a non-conference thriller before handling the two teams that sit beneath the Indians in this season’s Northeast Iowa Conference standings. The Indians’ week began with a 45-44 home triumph over Spring Grove, MN secured in the game’s final seconds before downing both Charles City and Decorah on back-to-back nights at home, 38-28 Friday, February 3 and 47-19 Saturday, February 4 in a game rescheduled twice with the Vikings from its original January 3 date.

Evening its season record to 10-10, including a 4-7 mark in Northeast Iowa Conference play, the basketball Tribe was scheduled to travel to Decorah Tuesday, February 7 to wrap up its regular season before beginning postseason tournament play Saturday, February 11 at third-rated Crestwood, details of which can be found in a shaded box elsewhere on this same page.

The Waukon boys basketball team played in its busiest week of the season, coming up with just a single win in a week filled with four games. The Indians opened the week with a 73-69 loss at Decorah Monday, January 30 in a game rescheduled twice from its original January 3 date. The Tribe then won its only game of the week, downing MFL/MarMac, 79-77, at home Tuesday, January 31, before falling in back-to-back games to end the week, 66-56 at home to Prairie du Chien, WI Thursday, February 2 and at Charles City by a 77-51 final result Friday, February 3.

The 2016-2017 wrestling season came to an end for all but one member of the Waukon wrestling team Saturday, February 4, as senior 182-pounder Blain Swenson was the lone member of the mat Tribe to wrestle to a runner-up finish or better to earn advancement on to the next round of postseason tournament action. Swenson split his two matches at the Sectional Tournament to finish as the 182-pound runner-up, leading the way for the Indians to their sixth-place team finish with 91 team points.

Class 2A top-rated New Hampton and ninth-rated Crestwood finished first and second at Saturday’s Sectional event, each of them earning a berth in the Class 2A Regional Dual Tournament slated to be wrestled Tuesday, February 7. New Hampton and Crestwood each qualified eight wrestlers for Saturday’s District, with Decorah and Oelwein each qualifying four and North Fayette Valley advancing three wrestlers.

For her entire high school career, 2014 Waukon High School graduate Lexie Bieber kept the spirit alive and well for Waukon Indian athletics and other events as an award-winning high school cheerleader. Now in her third year of college, it is Bieber’s own spirit and drive that has helped her realize one of her life’s dreams of becoming a college cheerleader at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) in Cedar Falls.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and it’s definitely worthwhile,” the daughter of Ed and Amy Bieber of Waukon said of making this year’s UNI Cheer Squad. “I like every single aspect of cheerleading; the excitement, the involvement, the challenge of it.”

The Kee boys basketball team remained at home this past week, but had all of its action end up in the final two days of the week due to winter weather early in the week. In back-to-back nights of competition to end the week, the Hawks fell to North Fayette Valley, 81-58, Thursday, January 26 in a game rescheduled from January 17, before also allowing Postville to take home a 52-42 Kee defeat late in another Upper Iowa Conference match-up Friday, January 27.

Now holding a 2-13 overall record, 2-10 in Upper Iowa Conference (UIC) play, the Hawks were also scheduled to host Starmont Tuesday, January 24, but had that game postponed to Monday, January 30 because of winter weather. Kee was then scheduled to play at West Central Tuesday, January 31 before hosting Turkey Valley Friday, February 3 and then wrapping up its regular season with back-to-back road games at Houston, MN Thursday, February 9 and at Coulee Christian Friday, February 10.