Sports

Ramirez scores both goals as HHS moves to 4-0

Cristhian Ramirez scored both goals to lead the Humboldt boys’ soccer team past the Clear Lake Lions, 2-1 on Mason Maach Field in Humboldt on April 11.

Ramirez scored the first goal with 6:44 left in the first half and added the second goal eight minutes into the second half. Wildcats Nolan Gustafson and Johnathon Gasca each had an assist in the scoring effort.

The Lions scored late in the contest but couldn’t penetrate the Humboldt defense as goalkeeper Karson Rubel made key stops.

HHS 3, HDC 1
Nolan Gustafson scored two goals and Cristhian Ramirez added another to lift Humboldt past Hampton-Dumont-CAL, 3-1 on April 8 at Hampton. Boyan Roussev scored the lone goal for the Bulldogs, who slipped to 1-2 after taking a 1-0 lead on Humboldt early in the second half.

Humboldt hosts GHV on April 18. Girls begin at 5:30 p.m. with the boys to follow.

Pocahontas Area edged the Humboldt girls’ golf team by six strokes last Friday (April 12) at Humboldt Country Club, winning by a final tally of 211-217.

The visiting Indians were paced by Nicole Panbecker’s 46 and Delaney Janssen with a 49. Zoanne Kerns shot 46 and Addison Shimon had 60.
McKenna Mathis shot a 51 and Aries Packard had 52 to lead Humboldt. Macy Berte added a 57, Jordyn Fritz 57, Asja Anderson 60 and Morgan Mayall 60.

HHS 203, FD 224
Aries Packard was meet medalist with a 44 to lead the Humboldt girls’ golf team past Fort Dodge, 203-224 in a season-opening non-conference outing at Fort Dodge Country Club on April 9.

The Wildcats also got a 51 from McKenna Mathis, 54s from Macy Berte and Jordyn Fritz and a 56 from Morgan Mayall. Lillian Holm fired a 59.

Braxton Dencklau shot a 47 to pace the Dodgers. She was backed by Felicity Strain with a 54, Emma Lloyd with a 60 and Brielle Crouse and Alani Crouse each with a 63.

Humboldt's boys' track team opened their outdoor season Friday night (April 5) by hosting the annual Charlie Bunn Relays and ended up placing a close second with 138 points. Algona was the team champion with 141 points. Clear Lake was third with 136 and Boone was fourth at 107. Webster City followed with 84 in fifth place. Emmetsburg at 58, Eagle Grove at 37 and Pocahontas Area with 34 round out the scoring.

Humboldt won sevents, which include: shuttle hurdle relay, Elliot Carlson in the long jump, the 4x800 relay, Jackson Flaherty in the 800-meters, Mason Brown in the 400-meter hurdles, the 4x100 relay and the 4x400 relay.

Humboldt followed up by winning the Fort Dodge Dodger Relays on Monday, April 8. The Wildcats finished with 158 team points, topping Waukee Northwest at 153. Marshalltown was third with 106, followed by Mason City at 91, Fort Dodge St. Edmond at 72.5, Boone with 69, Fort Dodge at 53 and Eagle Grove with 27.5.

Tielyr Smith and Ashley Carvajal each scored a goal to lift the Humboldt girls' soccer team past the Clear Lake Lions, 2-1 in Clear Lake on April 11. The win moved the Wildcats to 3-2 overall, 3-1 in the North Central Conference.

Iowa Falls-Alden beat Humboldt in an overtime shootout, 2-1 April 9 in Humboldt. Ava McIntire scored the only goal for Humboldt.

Ava McIntire scored five goals to power the Wildcats past Hampton-Dumont-CAL, 9-0 in Humboldt on April 8.

Humboldt shutout Wright County, 5-0 in their home opener on Mason Maach Field on Thursday, April 4. The Wildcats took a 4-0 halftime lead and never looked back, moving to 1-1 on the season, 1-0 in North Central Conference play.

The Wildcats opened their season on the road at Mason City on April 2 and fell to the highly-ranked Riverhawks, 10-0.

See full story in the Humboldt Independent. Subscribe today for print/digital access by selecting the link on this page to get started!

Spencer edged Humboldt by two strokes in a season-opening golf triangular at Spencer on April 2.

The host Tigers shot a 163 total. Humboldt finished with 165 and Algona Bishop Garrigan tallied 182.

Humboldt was paced by Carson Sleiter with a 40. Corey Dettmann shot a 41.

Humboldt's next meet is April 5 at Pocahontas.

See full story in the Humboldt Independent. Subscribe today for print/digital access by selecting the link on this page to get started.

Cristhian Ramirez scored both goals to lead the Humboldt boys' soccer team past Clear Lake, 2-1 in Humboldt on Thursday night, April 11 at Mason Maach Field. The win improved Humboldt to 3-0 overall and in the North Central Conference.

Cristhian Ramirez scored three goals and Gaige Allen added one late in the game to lead the Humboldt boys' soccer team past Wright County, 4-1 Thursday night, April 4 at Belmond.

Humboldt jumped out to a 6-0 halftime lead and went on to shutout Iowa Falls-Alden, 8-0 in a boys' conference season opener at Iowa Falls on Monday night, April 1.

Cristhian Ramirez scored four goals to lead the Wildcats. Anthony Vicario, Jacob Girres, Nolan Gustafson and Sterling Scranton each had one goal for Humboldt.

See full story in the Humboldt Independent. Subscribe today for print/digital access by selecting the link on this page to get started.

Humboldt native set for final season with the Hawkeyes

By Phil Monson
Nothing has come easy for former Humboldt High athlete Jamison Heinz during his time on the University of Iowa football team.

Heinz, a 2020 Humboldt graduate who has been paying his dues as a non-scholarship walk-on for the Hawkeyes and trying to crack the starting lineup in recent seasons playing in the secondary, was dealt a setback last Saturday when he suffered a hamstring injury after the first week of spring ball.

Heinz, who has one season of eligibility left, took it in stride during an exclusive interview with the Independent earlier this week.

“Unfortunately, Saturday, I strained my hamstring doing some drills. I have some muscle and tendon damage so I’ll be out for spring ball,” Heinz said, after meeting with team doctors on Monday.

Named Big 12 Coach of the Year

Humboldt native and Iowa State University head wrestling coach Kevin Dresser led his Cyclone squad to their highest NCAA National tournament finish since he arrived in 2017.

Dresser led the Cyclones to a fourth-place finish in the team scoring with 68.5 points. Penn State won the team crown with 172.5, followed by Cornell (72.5) and Michigan (71). Iowa was fifth with 67 points.

At the national tournament last weekend in Kansas City, Cyclone senior David Carr won his second national title with a 9-8 victory over Penn State’s Mitchel Mesenbrink. Carr becomes the 17th Cyclone to win multiple national titles and the first since 2010 (Jake Varner, 2009-10).

Ersland: ‘Everybody returns next year’

Humboldt native Tony Ersland, who just completed his 10th season as head wrestling coach at Purdue University, has his team focused on next season.
The Boilermakers, who are in rebuilding mode, will return everyone on their young squad that went 6-10 overall in duals, 1-7 and ninth in the Big Ten Conference. Purdue was also ninth in the conference tournament.
The Boilermakers, who advanced five into the NCAA national championships last weekend in Kansas City, left disappointed with no one earning a spot on the podium on Saturday. A year ago Purdue finished 20th and had two All-Americans.
The biggest disappointment for Purdue was at 125 pounds, where No. 4 seeded Matt Ramos lost 4-1 in the quarterfinals, then fell 4-0 in the blood round to exit the tournament.

See full story in the Humboldt Independent. Subscribe today for print/digital access by selecting the link on this page to get started.

Relays will definitely be a strong suit for the Humboldt High boys' track team this season and their strength was evident Friday night (March 15) when the Wildcats won their own Nielsen Family Invitational inside the Humboldt Recreation Center Nielsen Fieldhouse.

The Wildcats won three relays and had numerous top-four finishes on the night. Other schools on hand included Algona, Forest City, West Hancock, Eagle Grove, Algona Bishop Garrigan, Southeast Valley, Manson-Northwest Webster and River Valley.

Humboldt's 4x400 relay of Jackson Dodd, Keegan Groat, Landyn Dencklau and Mason Van Pelt took first in 3:42.07.

The distance medley relay of Keegan Groat, Dencklau, Dodd and Mason Van Pelt also won with a time of 3:48.36.

The Wildcats' 4x60-meter shuttle hurdle relay claimed first in 37.66 seconds. It was comprised of Griffin Groat, Keegan Groat, Tyler Carlson and Coen Matson.