Sports

Grant Goodell and Dane Clark combined to pitch a one-hitter to lead the Humboldt baseball team to a 9-2 non-conference victory over the Forest City Indians on June 9 in Humboldt. The win improved the Wildcats' record to 12-2 overall.

Wildcats sweep Cadets
Humboldt's varsity baseball team got back on the winning track by sweeping the Iowa Falls-Alden Cadets in a North Central Conference doubleheader on Monday night, June 8, at Iowa Falls. The Wildcats won 18-2 in the first game and blanked the Cadets 10-0 in the second game. The Wildcats improved to 11-2 overall, 7-1 in the NCC.

Humboldt split two games on the Iowa Central Community College field on June 5 in Fort Dodge. Humboldt won 12-2 over Sioux City West and lost 17-4 to Sioux City East.

Humboldt hosted Hampton-Dumont-CAL in a league doubleheader on June 1 and posted a 15-5 and 11-5 sweep over Hampton-Dumont-CAL.

The Humboldt High girls' soccer team, which finished runner-up in the North Central Conference standings at 9-1-3, had seven players selected to the coaches' all-conference team.

Wildcats selected to the first-team include Kaleigh Vinsand, a freshman midfielder, and senior defender Gracie Lyon. On the second-team, Humboldt had sophomore forward Ava Giros, senior defender Elyse Olson and junior goalkeeper Laina Dettmann selected. Wildcat players Adelyn Vinsand and Olivia Harklau were selected to the third-team. Vinsand is a junior while Harklau was a sophomore.

Iowa Falls-Alden was the league champion at 12-0-2. They were 17-3-2 overall after losing in the first round of the Class 1A state tournament.

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Humboldt High golf standout Cade Birdsell, fresh off an 11th-place finish in the recent Class 3A state tournament, fired an 11-under-par 97 to win the 75th annual George Lee Memorial Golf Tournament at Humboldt Country Club on Saturday, June 6.

Birdsell shot rounds of 34-32-31--97 on the par 36 Humboldt course. Jaxon Heinz was runner-up with a 102. Cade's older brother, Christian, was third with a 104. Austin Morrow of Fort Dodge was fourth with 109.

It is believed to be the lowest score ever in the tournament, which began in the 1950s and is named after six-time champion George Lee.

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Carroll Kuemper ended Humboldt's varsity girls' soccer season by downing the Wildcats, 7-0 in a Class 1A Region 5 semifinal round game in Carroll on June 2. Humboldt's season ends with an overall record of 11-4-3. Kuemper met Des Moines Christian in a regional final.

Humboldt girls win regional soccer opener
The Humboldt girls soccer team open regional tournament play with a 4-1 victory over East Sac County on May 28 at Mason Maach Field in Humboldt.

Olivia Harklau scored two goals in the first half and Ava Girres and Charlie Smith scored in the second half to power the Wildcats.

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Emmetsburg pulled out an 8-7 victory over Humboldt in non-conference softball in Humboldt on June 9. The Wildcats fell to 2-7 overall.

Iowa Falls-Alden tops Humboldt, 4-2
The Humboldt softball team traveled to Iowa Falls on June 8 and lost 4-2 to the Cadets. The Wildcats fell to 2-6 overall, 1-4 in conference play.

Humboldt lost a 12-6 conference game at Clear Lake on June 5. Humboldt fell 9-0 to the Algona Bulldogs on June 3 in Humboldt. The Wildcats got five hits overall but were unable to drive home runs as they stranded five base runners on the night. Adalee Nolting took the loss pitching for the Wildcats in the six-inning contest. Sadie Hubbell made two hits to lead Humboldt.

Humboldt High junior Cade Birdsell finished in a tie for 11th place after the second and final day of the Class 3A state golf tournament in Waterloo.

Birdsell finished with a six-over-par 150. He shot rounds of 74-76. Parker Rodgers of Nevada was the individual medalist with a five-under-par 139. Brady Oleson of Marion and Jaimie Miller of Spirit Lake both shot a 144 for runner-up honors. Carson Korver of MOC-Floyd Valley was net with 146.

Ballard Huxley won the team title with 610 strokes. MOC-FV had 612, North Polk 615, Atlantic 617, Knoxville 618 and Marion 622. The rest of the field saw Okoboji finish with 623, Des Moines Christian 628, Pella 629, Solon 632, Independence 634 and Spencer 641.

Birdsell competed at state individually a year ago and was a member of the Wildcat team that finished ninth in 2024.

The Humboldt High baseball team moved to 8-1 overall, 5-1 in the North Central Conference after sweeping Hampton-Dumont-CAL in a home doubleheader on June 1. The Wildcats won by scores of 15-5 and 11-5.

Humboldt whipped Newell-Fonda 18-4 in non-conference action at Newell on May 28.

Humboldt divided their North Central Conference home doubleheader with Clear Lake on Tuesday, May 26, winning 2-1 in the first game and falling 6-3 in the second game.

In the opener, Valley Davis pitched eight strong innings to earn the win on the mound for the Wildcats. Jackson Flaherty scored in Chase Flaherty's hit in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift Humboldt. In the second game, Clear Lake took advantage of 11 walks and four hit batsmen to come out on top.

Humboldt High sophomores Avery Fisher and Aubry Fisher both finished 11th and 12th, respectively, to highlight day one at the Class 3A state track and field championships in Des Moines on Thursday, May 21.

Avery finished in 10:39.82 while Aubry ran 10:44.82 on opening day for the Humboldt girls' track team. Humboldt's 4x800 relay unit finished 23rd in 10:17.85. The relay consisted of freshman Brayleigh Angstrom, Avery Fisher, Aubry Fisher and senior Brynn Malo.

For the Humboldt boys, the shuttle hurdle relay finished 15th in the preliminary round in 1:01.77. Brady Roth, Griffin Groat, Luke DeWinter and Valley Davis comprised the relay for the Wildcats.
The other event of the day for Humboldt was senior Jackson placing 22nd in the 200-meters in 23.08 seconds.

The Humboldt girls' soccer team lost a hard-fought 2-1 contest at Mason City on May 14.

Sadie Hubbell scored the lone goal off of an assist by Kaleigh Vinsand to lead Humboldt. Laina Dettmann made 12 saves at the net. The loss moved Humboldt to 9-2-3 overall.

Humboldt hosts Garner-Hayfield/Ventura on May 18. They travel to Clear Lake on May 19 and host Charles City on May 21 at 5:30 p.m., varsity only, to close out the regular season.

The Humboldt girls' and boys' track teams combined for six automatic qualifiers, 10 overall, for the upcoming state championships after competing in a Class 3A qualifying meet in Clear Lake on Thursday, May 14.

The girls placed third in the team scoring while the boys were sixth.

Aubry Fisher finished first in the 3,000-meters in 11:04.51 and Avery Fisher was second in 11:04.79 to earn a spot at the state meet. Wildcat senior Brynn Malo was runner-up in the 800-meters in 2:31.39 to advance to state. Aubry Fisher was also second in the 1,500-meters in 5:07.04 to advance. Humboldt's 4x800 relay advanced with a time of 10:22.09 in taking third. The relay consisted of Payton Elman, Claire Dieleman, Kate Sievers and Brynn Malo.