Sports

The Waukon girls basketball team played to a split of its two games this past week, both of them being played on the road and against Northeast Iowa Conference (NEIC) foes. The Lady Indians snapped their recent two-game skid with a 59-35 win at New Hampton Tuesday, December 12 before falling to Class 4A fourth-rated Waverly-Shell Rock by a 59-34 final result Friday, December 15.

Holding a 3-4 season record that includes a 1-2 mark in NEIC play, the Lady Indians were next scheduled to wrap up the pre-holiday portion of their schedule with two home games, hosting Decorah Tuesday, December 19 before playing again Thursday, December 21 at home against Sumner-Fredericksburg. The Tribe will return to the court after the new year Tuesday, January 2 for a home game with Kee before traveling to Charles City Friday, January 5.

The Waukon boys basketball team played to a split of the two games on its schedule this past week, continuing its undefeated start to the season early in the week before having that streak ended as the competition week came to a close. The Indians began the week with a 64-43 win at New Hampton Tuesday, December 12 before falling at the home of a Waverly-Shell Rock team yet undefeated in Northeast Iowa Conference play, 65-29, Friday, December 15.

The Waukon girls and boys bowling teams both rolled their way to victory Friday, December 8 in hosting their counterparts from North Iowa that did not have enough players to formulate team scores, as each of the Bison squads had just four bowlers and the head-to-head competition in these duals counts five bowlers for each squad. The Lady Indians posted a win of 1888-1427 pins, while the Waukon boys did likewise by a final pin count of 2162-1395.

The bowling Lady Indians are next scheduled to travel to Waverly-Shell Rock this Friday, December 15 before the Waukon boys do likewise Tuesday, December 19 to wrap up the pre-holiday portion of their season schedules. They will return to the lanes after the start of the new year Friday, January 5 to take on North Fayette Valley at West Union.

The Kee girls basketball team played through a busy week of three games this past week, starting with a strong win but having a weekend pair of contests get away to narrow losses. The Lady Hawks first handled Clayton Ridge by a 48-23 final result in a Tuesday, December 5 home Upper Iowa Conference contest before falling at undefeated North Fayette Valley, 46-38, Friday, December 8 and then to De Soto, WI, 52-47, in a rare Saturday, December 9 mid-day matinee played at the La Crosse Center in La Crosse, WI.

The Lady Hawks will next host Postville Tuesday, December 12 before playing at South Winneshiek Friday, December 15. The Kee girls will then wrap up the pre-holiday portion of their schedule, traveling to West Central Tuesday, December 19 before hosting New Hampton Thursday, December 21.

The Hawks will then return to the court after the new year with a Tuesday, January 2 game at Waukon followed by a home match-up with Turkey Valley Friday, January 5.

Senior 132-pounder Justin Murphy, 157-pound junior Holten Palmer each win tournament titles

The Kee boys basketball team continued its undefeated start to this season with another pair of victories, each of those coming on opposite ends of the final margin spectrum but both helping the bucket Hawks remain atop the early-season Upper Iowa Conference (UIC) team standings. Kee opened the week with an 81-31 home drubbing of Clayton Ridge Tuesday, December 5 before taking on one of the UIC’s two other unbeaten squads in a road game at North Fayette Valley Friday, December 8, where those two 4-0 overall teams waged a war against one another that came down to the final seconds before the Hawks secured the 55-51 triumph to stay a game ahead of also-unbeaten South Winneshiek’s 3-0 UIC record thus far.

The Waukon girls and boys bowling teams hosted their first home dual match of the 2023-2024 season, welcoming Decorah to its refurbished home at Grumpy’s Lanes in Waukon Friday, December 1. The bowling Indians ended up being gracious hosts to the visiting Vikings, allowing Decorah to take home a pair of victories as the boys fell by a 2655-2377 final result and the Lady Indians had an early head-to-head competition lead snatched away in the Baker round of competition for a loss by just seven pins, 2230-2223.

The bowling Indians are next scheduled to host North Iowa this Friday, December 8. They will then travel to Waverly-Shell Rock Friday, December 15 to wrap up the pre-holiday portion of their season schedule.

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The Kee boys basketball team got its 2023-2024 campaign off to a busy start, playing three games in a span of four days this past week and putting all three of those game in the win column at differing degrees of difficulty. The Hawks opened the season with a 64-25 home romp over Central Elkader Tuesday, November 28 before bringing home a 56-48 win from De Soto, WI Thursday, November 30. Kee wrapped up the week holding on for a 59-57 triumph at the home of last season’s undefeated Upper Iowa Conference champion, MFL/MarMac, in thrilling fashion Friday, December 1.

The Hawks were next scheduled to host Clayton Ridge Tuesday, December 5 before playing at North Fayette Valley Friday, December 8. They will then host Postville Tuesday, December 12 before playing back-to-back dates to end next week, playing at South Winneshiek Friday, December 15 and then taking on Alburnett at of the UIU Shootout hosted by Upper Iowa University in Fayette Saturday, December 16.

For its 2023-2024 campaign, the Waukon boys basketball team will look to benefit from the return of six players with varsity letterwinning experience from a season ago. Those half dozen veterans are coming back from a squad that posted a 3-18 season record last winter and graduated just a pair of seniors from its roster.

Those six returning letterwinners will be headlined by four seniors, including Jacob Courtney, Kole McCormick, Jack O’Neill and Mason Wasson. Junior Jaxon Brinkman and sophomore Colton O’Neill help complete that list of experienced veterans who will set the pace for this season’s squad that has 23 young men currently in consideration in this season’s early-going.

The Waukon girls wrestling team pulled double duty this past week, wrestling in both a dual event and a weekend tournament against some considerable competition. The Lady Indians opened their dual meet schedule with a 39-34 loss at home to Crestwood Tuesday, November 28 before competing in the large, two-day Dan Gable Donnybrook Tournament held in Coralville Thursday and Friday, November 30 and December 1. The mat Tribe finished 23rd in the tournament’s 43-team scoring field made up of squads from all over the Midwest, with seniors Mia Kurth and Kloe Hemmersbach each wrestling to a team-best fifth-place individual finish at 105 and 190 pounds, respectively.