“Expect the unexpected.” This may be the best way to describe the first four contests of 2021 for the Spencer Tigers, which improved its mark to 3-1 following 17-7 win over Sioux Center at Dale Norton Field Friday night under the full moon. The game was full of twists and turns...

FOREST CITY — Spencer’s girls volleyball team won three of four matches at the Forest City Tournament in preparation for a key nonconference match Tuesday. The Tigers achieved a 15-6 record following the four match, best-of-three format Saturday at Forest City...

FORT DODGE — The Spencer swim team chalked up two first-place finishes the four-team Gary Winkler Invitational hosted by Fort Dodge Saturday. The first event of the meet, the 200-yard medley relay, ended with a championship for the quartet of Emily Quanbeck, Brooke Moser, Mya Miller and Brooklyn Ferguson who bested the field at 2:00.36...

SIBLEY — The Sioux Central football squad opened Class 1A, District 1 contests with a solid 29-2 victory over Sibley-Ocheyedan Friday. The Rebels were victorious on the Generals’ homecoming night. “It was a tough game through four quarters,” The Sioux Central coach Brandon Goodchild said. ...

SIOUX RAPIDS — The Sioux Central girls and boys cross-country teams hosted 10- and 13-team fields at Little Sioux Golf Course Thursday. The Rebels boys placed fourth among the 13 teams while the girls ran a combined eighth of 10 squads. “Both varsity squads ran great races as a team,” Sioux Central coach Kelsey Miller said. “They are showing consistent improvement and ran very well at a meet in warm, windy conditions.”...

Lucas Oil American & Sprint Car Series results at the Clay County Fair Speedway on Sept. 14 which attracted many drivers from a half-dozen states and Canada. LUCAS OIL ASCS — A FEATURE 1. Matt Covington, Glanpool, OK; 2. Blake Hahn, Sapula, OK; 3. Dylan Wesbrook, Scotland, Ontario, Canada; 4. ...

The annual IMCA Hobby Stock took center stage Wednesday at the Clay County Speedway. Race winners when the dust was settled were: A Feature I, Cory Probst, of Brewster, Indiana; IMCA Modified, Kelly Shyrock, of Fertile; IMCA Sportmod, Matthew Looft, of Swea City; IMCA Sport Compact, Jaedon Erickson, of Welcome, Minnesota; IMCA Stock Car, Kaylee Devries, of Spencer...

The Tigers have won two consecutive games, 49-14 over Bishop Heelan and 41-8 against Mason City. Spencer scored 40-plus unanswered points in stretches during both non-district victories after the opposition led early.

STORM LAKE — It was a solid day for Tiger runners at the Storm Lake cross-country meet Tuesday. The seventh-ranked girls out-paced 12 other teams to win the championship by 21 points, besting M-OC/FV. The boys ended in third place, 11 points out of runner-up honors, behind Unity Christian...

HOLSTEIN — Sioux Central’s boys and girls cross-country teams competed at the Ridge View hosted Tim Thomas Meet Saturday in Holstein. The Rebel girls finished fifth among the 14-team field while the boys placed ninth out of 16 squads. The girls missed fourth place by two points, finishing just behind Alta-Aurelia and the boys finished by the same margin behind eighth place Bishop Garrigan...

Like many years in the past, Iowa Lakes Community College men’s soccer coach Ben MacRae’s 2021 roster includes players from many continents, in addition to top regional recruits. The formula has been rewarded in the past three months with two wins at the NJCAA Division I National Tournament and a 6-1 record so far this season. ...

Spencer and Sioux Central clashed on the volleyball court for the second time in three days and the Tigers prevailed 3-0 Monday at the field house. Spencer won by set scores of 25-16, 25-15, 25-11. The Tigers improved to 11-5 after the victory. “It took a little adjusting to get used to ‘the big net,’ as we call it, but then we found the groove,” Spencer coach Tara Hauschen said. “We had some good passing to the net and Abigail Horst had some great sets...

SIOUX CITY — Spencer girls swimmers at Sioux City West’s meet Saturday were led by the 100-yard breaststroke as Brooke Moser, Lily Gross and Audrey Farrar finished second, third and fourth. “We had excellent relays and time cuts across the board which is great this early in the season,” Spencer coach Amie Lawrence said...

Spencer’s offense featured both its run and passing games as it dominated for 3 1/2 quarters, scoring 41 unanswered points in a 41-8 victory over Mason City. Karter Petzenhauser recorded three touchdowns, two on passes from Evan Johnson and one on a rush. Johnson and TaRon Green added the other rushing touchdown. Izak Peterson also converted two field goal attempts. The defense shut out the Mohawks after allowing them their early lead.

Ten volleyball teams will compete beginning at 8:30 a.m. Saturday for the crown at Spencer’s volleyball tournament at the field house. Squads are assigned to one of two pools. Teams in the Tigers’ pool (records prior to Thursday) are: Spencer 8-3, Sioux Central 1-3, West Lyon 9-3, Bishop Heelan 1-2 and Mason City 5-2...

LE MARS — The Spencer girls cross-country team gave eventual champion Bishop Heelan Catholic a challenge before Spencer placed runner-up at the Le Mars hosted meet Tuesday. Six of the Tigers’ seven harriers concluded in the top 25 in an 11-team meet...

ESTHERVILLE — The Sioux Central cross-country teams took on six and nine other teams respectively, at their debut meet Estherville Lincoln Central’s meet at Estherville Golf Course Tuesday. The Rebel girls finished fifth of seven teams and the boys were fifth of 10 squads at the 2021 season’s first meet...

POCAHONTAS — Pocahontas Area handed Sioux Central a heartbreaker of a defeat, 20-15, Thursday. The Rebels, who led early 8-7, slipped to 1-2 on the season while the Indians were 3-0 after the win. Sioux Central struck first as Ethan Mills returned the opening kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown. The two-point conversion attempt by Gibson Olson...

Rutter joins Red Raider recruiting class The Spencer to Orange City wrestling connection continues to be strong. Tigers senior wrestler Cole Rutter signed a National Letter of Intent to attend Northwestern College next fall on Wednesday. Mom, Cara, and and dad, Aaron, flanked Rutter as he signed the documents and Red Raider wrestling coaches were present...

Mason City’s football team may choose to forget its first trip to Spencer’s Dale Norton Field. Led by three touchdowns by Karter Petzenhauser, the Tigers earned their 1-1 record with 41 straight points and a 41-8 victory over the Mohawks. Following an opening drive for the home team, the Mohawks took their brief 8-0 lead at the 7:37 mark in the first quarter...

ROCKWELL CITY — Spencer’s volleyball team advanced to the finals of the South Central Calhoun Tournament Saturday and claimed runner-up honors. The Tigers were 7-2 following the tournament, which concluded with a 2-0 loss to the host Titans (no set scores available at press time.)...

SIOUX RAPIDS — Sioux Central and Manson-Northwest Webster provided fans with a big night on offense Friday. The two squads reached 100 total points in the Rebels’ 68-32 victory. Sioux Central junior Ethan Mills tallied five 4-yard touchdown runs of the team’s 10 scores and ended with 147 yards. He concluded drives with three 1-yard runs, one from 2 yards and one from 6 yards out...

Spencer hosted Mason City in the first full meet of the girls swim season Thursday at Spencer Family YMCA. The event ended in a tie score at 81. “We had a great close meet from start to end,” Spencer coach Amie Lawrence said. “We had great sprint races and relays as well a a great start of the season times for our distance events.”...

SPIRIT LAKE — Make that two-for-two for the Spencer girls cross-country team. The Tigers beat runner-up Cherokee by 16 points to earn the crown at Spirit Lake’s meet held at Brooks Golf Course Tuesday. Spencer placements were third, fourth, seventh, 10th, 11th, 15th and 24th...

ORANGE CITY — Spencer’s volleyball team went home happy with its third match effort Tuesday. The Tigers ended the MOC-Floyd Valley Dutch Invite on a good note with a 2-1 victory. Set scores against the Dutch were 21-14, 10-21, 15-13. Spencer was 4-2 for the season as it lost to Sheldon 10-21, 8-21 and Cherokee, 17-21, 14-21 earlier...

SIOUX CITY — A trio of swimmers, including champion Brooke Moser, concluded in the top five to pace the 50-yard breastroke effort for Spencer girls swim team at the sprint meet at Sioux City West Tuesday. Lily Gross gave the Tigers a runner-up in the event followed by Audrey Farrar was fourth; Erikka Dunn ended seventh; Camyen Krukow ninth and Caymen Krukow ninth...

SIOUX RAPIDS — The Sioux Central volleyball team began the match with Pocahontas Area with momentum and a first-set win. But the Indians gradually took control of the battle and that led to a 3-1 Twin Lakes Conference victory for Pocahontas Area. The Indians prevailed by set scores of 22-25, 25-16, 25-14, 25-18...

Friday at Dale Norton Field, 7 p.m. SPENCER The Tigers lost to Class 2A area power Spirit Lake, 27-13, Friday in the season opener. Spencer’s TaRon Green scored a touchdown on a 50-yard run and Cadence Hofmeyer scored on a 1-yard run, both in the third quarter. ...

SPIRIT LAKE — Spencer improved, winning the second half Friday against Spirit Lake, but could not overcome a scoreless first-half in a 27-13 non-district win in the season opener. The Indians, ranked ninth in Class 2A led 15-0 at halftime before Spencer scored twice in the third quarter closing the gap to 15-13...

PAULLINA — Sioux Central and South O’Brien have split a dozen recent games, and Friday night’s season opener was another close, hard-fought contest but it went to the Wolverines’ win column, 14-8. Rebels rusher Gibson Olson (25 carries, 78 yards) scored a touchdown from 1-yard out and Ethan Mills took it in for the two-point conversion with 1:21 left in the game. South O’Brien recovered an on-side kick attempt and ran out the clock...

WEST BEND — Sioux Central’s volleyball squad rallied to tie West Bend-Mallard then won the Twin Lakes Conference clash, 3-2, Thursday. The Rebels won 20-25, 25-9, 16-25, 25-14, 25-11. Sioux Central evened its record at 1-1 with the victory over the Wolverines...

WEST BURLINGTON — The Iowa Lakes Community College women’s volleyball team competed at the Southeastern Community College Tournament this weekend and posted a 1-3 record. ILCC beat host Ellsworth Community College, 25-23, 25-18 and 25-18. They lost by 3-0 set totals to three Illinois teams, Spoon River, Highland and Heartland. ...

COUNCIL BLUFFS — Iowa Lakes Community College’s men’s soccer team played two matches and won them both at the Iowa Western Invitational. The Lakers faced off against Barton on Friday and beat the Cougars 2-1, with a comeback after a 1-0 deficit. Sophomore midfielder-forward Leonardo Seixas scored the first ILCC goal in the 64th minute to tie the game. With five minutes left, freshman Henry Tolbert’s goal was the game winner...

ESTHERVILLE — Iowa Lakes Community College women’s soccer team’s new coach and soccer have been a duo for years. “I have been playing soccer since I was the age of 5,” Abbey Miller said. “I played four years at Heritage High School in Saginaw, Michigan, and at Grand Valley State where we won two national championships. I always played goalie, which is a lot of mental work.”...

Spencer, 6-4 in 2020, will face a traditional rival as it travels to Spirit Lake for the 2021 season opener Friday. The Tigers, a Class 4A District One team, are coming off were co-district champion season. Head coach Jim Tighe’s squad beat Humboldt, 42-35, in their playoff opener but lost to Boyden Hull/Rock Valley, 42-7 the next round in 2020. Most of the Spencer returning players are on the defense. Senior Ethan Johnson will be the quarterback. Michael Jordan is the returning running back with the most yards in 2020; Cadence Hofmeyer led in tackles for returning players and senior punter Blake Blazek, with more than 700 yards last season is also back.

Despite dire weather predictions earlier in the day, it was “all systems go” for the Spencer girls and boys cross-country 5K meets, with a schedule tweak, Thursday with nine girls and 11 boys squads competing at Spencer Municipal Golf Course. The Tigers' girls squad won the meet with four Spencer runners placing in the top six. ...

Spencer’s Early Bird volleyball tournament proved the old adage “the early bird gets the worm,” or in this case, the victories, correct. The Tigers took on three foes, South O’Brien, Okoboji and Manson Northwest Webster and each had the same fate against the home team, a 2-0 loss...

ESTHERVILLE — Spencer girls swim squad earned three of the top four finishes in seven varsity events against Estherville-Lincoln Central/Algona Tuesday in the season opener. “I was very proud of how the girls swam in their first meet swimming with many new events and relay combinations,” Spencer coach Amie Lawrence said...

ESTHERVILLE — The Sioux Central volleyball team finished its season opener at Estherville-Lincoln Central by pushing the host Midgets in the third set. Sioux Central lost the third set, 23-25 after 16-25, 13-25 defeats the first two set battles. In the third set, the Rebels led 11-10 and rallied from three points down, for a 22-all tie with Morgan Christian at the serve...

Spencer’s football team held a rare Friday morning intrasquad scrimmage, as the Gatorade scrimmage was changed due to weather. At the start, it was the varsity offense against the sophomores on defense. “It was your typical scrimmage,” Spencer head coach Jim Tighe said. “We did not look as sharp due to it being so controlled but I saw some good things. We’ve been battling ourselves now for three weeks counting camp. There weren’t any injuries, though.”...