Sports

In what turned out to be the Kee girls basketball team’s lone game of the past week - a match-up of Class 1A top five-rated teams returning from State Tournament berths last season, the more veteran upperclassmen experience of the defending Class 1A State Runner-Up Turkey Valley Trojans proved to be too much for the first-time State Tournament qualifying Lady Hawks Tuesday, December 13. Having handed the Kee basketball girls their only two regular season losses last season, the host Trojans continued that trend with a 63-35 defeat of the Hawks.

Falling to a 4-1 record in this season’s early-going, including a 3-1 start in Upper Iowa Conference (UIC) play, the Kee basketballers are next scheduled to wrap up the 2016 portion of their schedule with a Tuesday, December 20 non-conference game at De Soto, WI prior to the holidays.

The Waukon girls basketball team ended up playing just one of its two contests this past week, having a Friday, December 16 home game with Waverly-Shell Rock postponed to Tuesday, December 20 due to a winter storm that blasted into the area through the weekend. The Lady Indians ended up being blasted by another storm in the one game they did play, as the Class 3A sixth-rated Crestwood Cadets handed them a 62-28 defeat Tuesday, December 13 in Cresco.

The Indians were also scheduled to host Waverly-Shell Rock Friday, December 16 but had that game postponed by the weekend’s winter storm. Now holding a 2-4 season record, 1-2 in Northeast Iowa Conference play, the basketball Tribe was scheduled to wrap up the 2016 portion of its schedule by hosting Clayton Ridge Monday, December 19 and then making up that Waverly-Shell Rock postponement Tuesday, December 20 prior to the holiday break.

In what turned out to be its only competition of the week, the Waukon wrestling team hosted its final dual matches at home already this season in hosting Crestwood and Caledonia, MN Thursday, December 15. The wrestling Indians were gracious hosts in allowing both teams to leave as winners, the mat Tribe falling to Crestwood by a 47-24 count and to Caledonia by a 40-36 final result. In between those two Indian duals, Crestwood also topped Caledonia by a 42-28 final result.

With the home double-dual losses, the Indians’ season record evens out to 5-5, including a 1-2 mark in the Northeast Iowa Conference. The wrestling Tribe was also scheduled to compete at the Doug Guilford Invitational hosted by Starmont High School Saturday, December 17 but had that event canceled by a winter storm, not to be made up this season. The Indians will next wrap up the 2016 portion of their schedule by traveling to Fillmore Central in Minnesota Tuesday, December 20 prior to the holiday break.

In what ended up being their only contest of this past week due to winter weather, the Indian basketball boys’ early-season winning streak was brought to an abrupt halt in a home Northeast Iowa Conference match-up with Crestwood Tuesday, December 13, the basketball Tribe falling by a 75-35 final result. A blistering first quarter pace set the tone for an early double-digit hole for the Indians, with Crestwood’s defense then limiting the Tribe to just seven total points in the second half of the contest.

The Kee girls basketball team initially had three games on its schedule this past week, but ended up playing just one game, that one game extending the Hawks’ season-beginning win streak to four consecutive games. The Lady Hawks had a Tuesday, December 6 date at Postville not include a varsity game because the host Pirates could not field a varsity girls basketball team this season. A Saturday, December 10 home date with Houston, MN also did not materialize due to a scheduling conflict. Kee’s lone contest played this week was a Friday, December 9 home game with West Central, a game the Hawks dominated to a 69-34 victory.

Waukon football junior Mitchell Snitker was recognized with postseason honors for his efforts on the football field during this 2016 season, helping the Indians to a 6-3 season record, including a third-place finish in Class 2A District 4 with a 5-2 record. Snitker was named to the Class 2A All-State Second Team by the Iowa Newspaper Association as a defensive back, and was also named to the Des Moines Register’s Class 2A All-Iowa Team as a defensive back. Snitker picked off a team-high six interceptions this season, a total which ranked third in Class 2A this fall, returning one of those for an 81-yard touchdown. He also compiled 45 tackles, including 31 solo stops, totals that ranked fourth and second, respectively, on this season’s team. He also paced the Indian offense this season with 1,318 total yards that included 856 yards on 126 rushes and 462 yards on 34 catches, furthering his team lead with 19 touchdowns.
 

The Waukon wrestling team completed a busy end to this past week, hosting a home double-dual before competing in another weekend tournament. That Thursday, December 8 home double-dual saw the mat Indians pick up their first win in a Northeast Iowa Conference dual meet since the 2010-2011 season with a 42-33 victory over Oelwein before falling to Class 2A top-rated New Hampton, 69-6, in the nightcap. The wrestling Tribe then battled to an eighth-place team score finish out of 10 squads at the South Winneshiek Tournament Saturday, December 10.

The Waukon girls basketball team secured its first Northeast Iowa Conference win of the season in splitting its two games this past week on back-to-back nights. The Lady Indians suffered a 67-52 non-conference loss at Caledonia, MN Thursday, December 8 but bounced back to score a 56-30 home victory over Oelwein Friday, December 9.

Now holding a 2-3 season record, 1-1 in Northeast Iowa Conference play, the basketball Tribe is scheduled to host Class 3A sixth-rated Crestwood Tuesday, December 13 before Waverly-Shell Rock comes to town Friday, December 16. The Indians will then wrap up the 2016 portion of their schedule by hosting Clayton Ridge Monday, December 19 prior to beginning the holiday break.

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A slow start to the ballgame eventually played out to a good start to the season for the Waukon boys basketball team, as the Indians opened their 2016-2017 campaign with a 76-43 home win over Postville Monday, November 28. Finding themselves in a 12-0 hole after nearly five scoreless minutes to open the contest, the basketball Indians finally found their offensive groove to outscore the visiting Pirates by a 15-2 count through the final three minutes of that opening frame and then post a 24-10 outscoring of Postville in the second quarter to bolt to a 39-24 halftime advantage on the way to the non-conference victory.

The Waukon bowling team hit the lanes for the second time this season, hosting Tripoli Friday, December 2 and showing some improvement over its inaugural outing more than a week ago. That improvement resulted in the program’s first win for the girls team, a 1857-1158 triumph over the visiting Panthers. The boys team was matched up against yet another strong opponent in falling to Tripoli by a final score of 1798-2658.

The bowling Indians will next hit the road for the first time this season, traveling to Buffalo Center this Friday, December 9 to bowl against North Iowa. The Tribe will then remain on the road the following week, competing at Decorah Friday, December 16 before heading into the holiday break.

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