Sports

After an opening-round step down the postseason path with a first-round Class 3A Region 4 Tournament win over Oelwein the weekend before, the Waukon girls basketball team’s tournament trail took a much steeper direction when the Lady Indians had to travel to fourth-rated Dubuque Wahlert Wednesday, February 18. Coached by 1978 Waukon High School graduate Kris Spiegler, the Golden Eagles returned more than half their starting line-up from a Class 3A State Tournament Runner-Up finish from last season and added a sharp-shooting freshman to the mix who nearly outscored the Indians all on her own in firing in seven three-pointers to lead Wahlert to a 71-30 defeat of the bucket Tribe.

Regan, Keeling, Lange and Egan earn wrestleback opportunities, join Stortz and Mitchell in third place

The Waukon boys wrestling team competed in its Class 2A District 7 Tournament at Osage Saturday, February 14, an event that offered the opportunity to extend the season for any wrestlers finishing within the top two of their weight class but also held the reality of an end to any wrestler’s season. In a tournament field loaded with at least a dozen wrestlers ranked within the top eight of their respective weight classes, including eight from a Decorah squad that had recently wrestled to a Team Dual State Tournament runner-up finish, the Indian matmen ended up advancing one wrestler to this season’s Class 2A State Tournament but had six others on the brink of qualification who all ended up in third place, all helping the mat Tribe to a third-place team finish in this year’s eight-team District Tournament field.

A second consecutive season of representation for the Waukon girls bowling program at the destination where every high school bowler and team longs to be provided some history of its own when sophomore Megan Huinker competed in the Class 1A Individual State Tournament Tuesday, February 10 at Cadillac XBC in Waterloo. Being the second consecutive Waukon girls bowler to compete in the season grand finale, after 2025 graduated senior Lauryn Howard made program history as the first Lady Indian to qualify for State Bowling last winter, Huinker created her own bit of history as she became the first Waukon girls bowler to bring home a State Tournament medal as a top-eight finisher at the event, bowling her way to a sixth-place finish among this season’s Class 1A bowling elite.

The Waukon girls basketball team both ended its regular season and began its postseason within two games this past week, with both of those contests being played against fellow former Northeast Iowa Conference opponents at home and both ending up in the win column. The Lady Indians wrapped up their regular season schedule with a 56-11 home triumph over Charles City Tuesday, February 10 and then opened their Class 3A Region 4 Tournament with a 56-46 victory at home over Oelwein Saturday, February 14.

A return trip to every high school wrestler’s ultimate destination resulted in an extended stay this time around for Waukon girls wrestling junior Makenna Kurth, as the 120-pounder wrestled her way to a sixth-place finish among the Class 1A elite in this year’s Iowa High School Girls State Tournament held Thursday and Friday, February 5-6 at Xtream Arena in Coralville.

Having also qualified for that season grand finale two seasons ago as a freshman at 110 pounds, the first-year high school competitor at that time split the four matches she wrestled to have her first-ever high school state tournament ended on the first day of competition. This year, the 120-pound junior put together a pair of wins in three matches in her first day of competition to end up wrestling six total matches over two days, evenly splitting all those bouts with three wins and three losses to end up as the Class 1A 120-pound sixth-place finisher in her 16-wrestler bracket.

This past week of Waukon bowling saw the start - and continuation - of the postseason for the Waukon girls bowling team, and the end to the regular season for the Waukon boys team in a final flurry on the lanes. The Waukon boys ended up falling short of qualifying for the final eight-team bracket in their North Central Conference Baker Tournament in Waterloo Wednesday, February 4 before falling to Charles City, 2034-2927, in a final home dual match Friday, February 6.

Senior Colton O’Neill becomes all-time leader in career assists for Waukon boys basketball

The Waukon boys basketball team played through its most challenging week of the season with a full schedule of three games this past week, two of which did not make the win column to end up doubling the number of losses the Indians have experienced this season. The bucket Tribe opened the week trying to avenge one of its earlier season losses, taking that opportunity into overtime before falling to Upper Iowa Conference (UIC) leader Crestwood for a second time this season, 77-70, in a Tuesday, February 3 battle at home. The Indians suffered a second consecutive loss for the first time this season with a 61-47 home defeat suffered against Decorah Thursday, February 5 in a game rescheduled from December 18, but they bounced back from those back-to-back losses to record a 41-32 road victory at North Fayette Friday, February 6.

The Waukon girls basketball team ended up with three games on its schedule this past week, sandwiching two Upper Iowa Conference (UIC) victories around a lone non-conference loss. The Lady Indians opened the week with a 36-33 overtime victory at home over Crestwood Tuesday, February 3 before falling at home to Class 4A Decorah by a 54-47 final result Thursday, February 5 in a game rescheduled from January 18. Waukon’s girls then closed out the week getting back on the winning track the very next night with a 49-36 victory at North Fayette Valley Friday, February 6.

The Lady Indians were next scheduled to host Charles City Tuesday, February 10 to wrap up their regular season before Class 3A Regional Tournament play is scheduled to begin Saturday, February 14 at home against Oelwein.

The Kee girls basketball team played through an undefeated week in sweeping two non-conference games this past week to build upon a now seven-game win streak since an initial loss to start the new year. The Lady Hawks traveled to East Buchanan Monday, January 26 to make up a January 19 postponement and came home with a 75-50 victory before also disposing of Edgewood-Colesburg with relative ease, 59-39, at home Thursday, January 29 to currently hold a 12-5 season record that includes a mark of 8-2 in Upper Iowa Conference play, where they currently sit in second place behind Class 1A 11th-rated Turkey Valley in the Upper Iowa Conference Small School Division standings.

Jorja Johnson, Lily Baxter, Danika Reiser earn wrestleback opportunities, end up in third place

The lone competition for this past week for the Waukon girls wrestling team was one of opportunity for continuation of this 2025-2026 season with a required top-two individual finish, or quite possibly an end to it, as the Lady Indians competed in the Class 1A Region 3 Tournament hosted by Crestwood High School in Cresco Friday, January 30. That opportunity came to reality for one Lady Indian, as junior Makenna Kurth wrestled her way to the 120-pound championship and qualification for this year’s Class 1A State Wrestling Tournament.