Sports

The 2017 Waukon volleyball team compiled a season record of 8-29-2 this past fall but showed signs of being able to accomplish so much more. That single-digit win total wasn’t helped along by the Indians’ results in Northeast Iowa Conference (NEIC) play, as the Tribe netters fell shy of a win in any of their six NEIC dual or tournament matches this season to finish in seventh place in the final league standings.

The return to the volleyball sidelines of a former head coach, Randy Nordheim, who once had the program at its pinnacle with State Tournament qualification in 2003, was cause for added optimism for this season. However, Coach Nordheim would be the first to admit that his time away since then from a game that has changed so much during that stretch likely played a big role in a season that certainly didn’t play out as he anticipated.

The 2017 Kee volleyball season played out to a 21-15 overall record that included a mark of 5-4 in Upper Iowa Conference (UIC) play that placed the Hawk netters in the upper half of this season’s final UIC standings under first-year head coach Lynn Winters. For an overall young squad that featured just three seniors on its roster, the Hawks played to a fairly consistent level of success, never losing more than three matches in a row while putting together a couple of four-plus match victory streaks that included one of the best postseason runs in the history of the Kee volleyball program.

Both the Kee and Waukon athletic teams will be returning to competition following the holiday break, starting that return shortly after the new year begins. That schedule for both the Hawks’ and Indians’ returns to competition in the initial weeks of January is slated as follows:

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The Kee boys and girls basketball teams will return from their holiday break with competition toward the end of the week following the New Year holiday, beginning Thursday, January 4 with the Kee boys playing host to Houston, MN. Both the boys and girls will then play at Clayton Ridge Friday, January 5 before both host Starmont Tuesday, January 9 and then play at MFL/MarMac Friday, January 12.

In its lone competition prior to entering the current holiday break, the Waukon boys basketball team rode a bit of a rollercoaster before finally coming away with a 67-59 home victory over Decorah in Northeast Iowa Conference play Thursday, December 21. Much like any teenager would try and do with such a ride, the basketball Indians took advantage of as many free rides as they could get in racking up a 27-7 scoring advantage at the free throw line over the visiting Vikings, nearly half of those freebies providing 13 of the Tribe’s 16 points in the final frame to help seal the victory.

Just like many holiday travelers, the Waukon girls basketball team was on the road this past week, wrapping up the 2017 portion of this season’s schedule with a pair of final pre-holiday contests. Unlike many during the holiday season, however, the basketball Indians were better at receiving than giving, as they handed out a pair of losses to their guests and came home with an undefeated week of competition, first unwrapping a 62-43 win at Clayton Ridge Monday, December 18 before gifting a 37-32 Viking defeat to the Decorah girls Thursday, December 21.

Entering the holiday break with a 6-3 season record, including a 4-1 mark in Northeast Iowa Conference play, Waukon will return to action after the holidays with a pair of home games, Tuesday, January 2 against MFL/MarMac and Friday, January 5 against Charles City.

The Kee girls basketball team brought the 2017 portion of this season’s schedule to completion in strong defensive fashion with a pair of non-conference victories over teams from different states, likely reaching a defensive effort of record proportions in its final game before the holiday break. The Hawks opened the week with a 52-23 home triumph over Mabel-Canton, MN Tuesday, December 19 before posting that epic defensive stifling two nights later in a 59-9 hammering of De Soto, WI Thursday, December 21, also at home, to extend Kee’s current winning streak to six games.

That six-game streak of success has the Hawks entering the holiday break with a 9-1 season record, including an undefeated mark of 5-0 in Upper Iowa Conference play. Kee is scheduled to return to action following the current holiday break with a Friday, January 5 road game at Clayton Ridge before hosting Starmont Tuesday, January 9, both of those games being Upper Iowa Conference contests.

The Kee girls basketball team played through an undefeated week in its busiest week of the season so far, sweeping three games by varying degrees. That sweep began with a 40-38 home triumph Tuesday, December 12 over a Turkey Valley team the Lady Hawks have not beaten in any of the last three seasons before the Kee hoopsters hit the road to pummel South Winneshiek, 51-29, Friday, December 15 and then post a 33-22 victory over Grand Meadows, MN at the Iowa-Minnesota Border Battle hosted by Luther College in Decorah Saturday, December 16.

Kee was next scheduled to wrap up the pre-holiday portion of its schedule with a pair of final home games, hosting Mabel-Canton, MN Tuesday, December 19 and then De Soto, WI Thursday, December 21 before their schedule enters its holiday break. The Lady Hawks will then return to action Tuesday, January 2 at Clayton Ridge before hosting Starmont Tuesday, January 9.

The Kee boys basketball team played two final Upper Iowa Conference (UIC) games prior to the holiday break, falling in both contests. The Hawks fell to Turkey Valley at home Tuesday, December 12 by a 71-54 final result before suffering the same fate on the road, an 80-42 defeat at South Winneshiek Friday, December 15.

Currently holding a 2-6 season record, including a 2-4 start to the Upper Iowa Conference season, Kee was next slated to wrap up the pre-holiday portion of its schedule with a Monday, December 18 game at De Soto, WI. Kee is then slated to return to action after the holidays with back-to-back dates, hosting Houston, MN Thursday, January 4 before playing at Clayton Ridge Friday, January 5.

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The Waukon wrestling team brought the 2017 portion of its season schedule to a close with a couple more late-week competitions this past week. The wrestling Indians first fell at Crestwood in a Northeast Iowa Conference dual meet Thursday, December 14 by a 71-8 final result before wrestling to a fifth-place team finish in the 11-team field of the Doug Guilford Tournament hosted by Starmont High School Saturday, December 16.

Falling to a 6-4 dual meet record overall, 1-2 in Northeast Iowa Conference competition, the Indians will now get a bit of a holiday break from competition before returning to action Thursday, January 4 with a home dual against Decorah followed by the Central Elkader Tournament Saturday, January 6.

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In their final competition prior to the holiday break, the Waukon bowling teams suffered a pair of losses at home to Decorah Friday, December 15. The Indian girls team fell to the visiting Vikings by a 1673-2029 final result and the Waukon boys also fell victim to a balanced Decorah effort, 2595-2848.

The Waukon bowling girls enter their holiday break with a 1-3 season record, and the Indian boys have bowled to an even mark of 2-2 so far this season. Following their holiday break, the Indians will return to action Friday, January 5 against North Fayette Valley in West Union.

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