Sports

The Waukon volleyball team faced a tall task in traveling to Class 4A 11th-rated Waverly-Shell Rock Tuesday, September 20 for its only competition of this past week. The highly-regarded Go-Hawks handed the Tribe netters defeats of 5-25 an 6-25 before the Indians battled them much closer to just a 23-25 defeat in the third and final set.

Now holding a 7-10-1 overall record, including a 1-2 Northeast Iowa Conference mark, the volleyball Indians were scheduled to host New Hampton Tuesday, September 27 before taking part in the Waterloo Columbus Tournament Saturday, October 1. The Tribe netters will then travel to Class 4A fourth-rated Charles City Tuesday, October 4.

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The Waukon football team remained undefeated in its Class 2A District 4 quest so far this season, sinking the Sailors of Waterloo Columbus on their Homecoming night with a 43-7 road ambush Friday, September 23. Although holding just a single win this season, Waukon football coach Chad Beermann was not about to let his charges overlook the host Sailors, who had rallied for a furious comeback to give the football Tribe a 30-27 home scare last season. A stifling Indian defense that limited Columbus to just 123 total yards of offense, and an opportunistic Tribe offense that took advantage of seven Sailor turnovers in the ballgame left little doubt there would be no repeat scare this season.

In a game that may likely have play-off repercussions despite being played so early in the season, the Waukon football team played host to Cascade Friday, September 16 in a match-up between two teams battling with overall undefeated Class 2A District 4 colleagues Union of LaPorte City and North Fayette Valley atop the District standings. In trying to take care of that District 4 business, it was the team that took care of the ball best that ended up remaining among the District’s unbeatens, as the football Indians took advantage of two Cascade fumbles and two interceptions to come away with a 20-14 home victory.

The Waukon volleyball team did not stray from home at all this past week, hosting both a dual match and its own weekend tournament, and winning three of five matches along the way. The Indians first fell to Oelwein in three sets Tuesday, September 13 before sweeping three consecutive pool play matches at its own Waukon Invitational Tournament Saturday, September 17. Those wins over De Soto, WI, Houston, MN and Central Elkader advanced the Tribe netters to the Gold Tournament, where they received a first-round bye but then had their day ended by eventual tournament champion New Hampton in two straight sets.

The Waukon girls cross country team competed at the Starmont Invitational Tuesday, September 13, one of their largest meets of the season. The meet is scored in two different methods, including an overall team score involving the more than 20 teams competing and also a separate team score for Class 1A teams competing, as well as for Class 2A and Class 3A teams competing at the meet.

The team finish for the Indians improved as the competition got younger, the varsity Indians finishing 12th, the junior varsity Indians coming in sixth and the Indian middle school girls winning their respective meet. The varsity Indians’ 12th-place finish in the overall 20-team scoring field came from a score of 314 points, that same effort resulting in the varsity Indians placing sixth in the field of 11 Class 2A/3A teams with 175 team points.

The Waukon volleyball team made two trips to Cresco this past week, having much more success on its first venture there than in its second. The Tribe netters first competed in a Northeast Iowa Conference dual match at Crestwood, winning three of four sets in a Thursday, September 8 match rescheduled from its original September 29 date. The Indians returned to Crestwood High School Saturday, September 10 for the annual Kepros Tournament, but won just one of three matches in pool play to be eliminated from the tournament early. That lone Tribe win came against Turkey Valley, and the two Indian match losses came against the two teams that would end up competing for the tournament championship, North Fayette Valley and the same Crestwood squad the Indians had defeated earlier in the week.

The Waukon football team opened its Class 2A District 4 schedule at Dyersville Beckman Friday, September 9, one of the several District 4 opponents receiving highly-regarded accolades in the season’s early going with top 10 ranking consideration. Sporting their own bit of that same recognition, the Indians used a well-balanced overall attack and showed little regard for any of those Beckman accolades to hand the host Blazers a 32-7 defeat.

Getting off to a 1-0 start in Class 2A District 4 play and improving their season record to 2-1 on the year, the Indians will host Cascade in District 4 play this Friday, September 16. The Cougars opened their Class 2A District 4 schedule with a 34-14 home loss to North Fayette Valley this past Friday, their first loss in their 2-1 season record after two season-opening victories over Maquoketa, 47-12, and Central DeWitt, 28-13.

The Decorah High School swim team hosted its only home swim meet of the season, competing against Waterloo Thursday, September 1 at Luther College in Decorah. The host Vikings dominated the meet, defeating Waterloo by a 143-43 final scoreboard result.

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The Waukon boys cross country team competed in the uniquely-scored Dick Pollitt Go-Hawk Classic hosted by Waverly-Shell Rock Thursday, September 8 after the meet was postponed from Tuesday, September 6 due to weather. The Indians ended up in 11th place in the final overall 12 scoring team standings based on the meet’s grade competition format and unique scoring system.

With the meet matching each grade level in a race - seniors running only against seniors, etc., and the finishes of only two runners from each grade race being allowed to count in the overall team score, the Indians finished with 107 team points.

The Indians were scheduled to compete at the Starmont Invitational Tuesday, September 13 and will then prepare to host their own Waukon Invitational the following Tuesday, September 20. Further details of the Indians’ only home meet of the season can be found in the shaded box printed elsewhere on these same Sports pages.

The Waukon football team wrapped up its non-district schedule locked in a defensive battle that featured a total of nine turnovers between the Indians and the visiting New Hampton Chickasaws Friday, September 2. The football Tribe fell victim to five of those miscues, including four in a scoreless second half and three fourth quarter interceptions that helped a 20-14 Indian halftime advantage wilt away to a 21-20 defeat.

Having their season record even out at 1-1 so far this fall, the Indians will begin Class 2A District 4 play this Friday, September 9 at Dyersville Beckman. The Blazers are also 1-1 on the season, opening the season with a 28-14 victory at Clayton Ridge and suffering a 28-17 loss at Western Dubuque this past Friday, September 2.