Sports

The month of August is simultaneous with the arrival of fall activities and pre-season camps.

Humboldt will host a pair of football camps this week. The grades 5-6 sessions run from Aug. 2-3 while the grades 7-12 sessions will run from Aug. 4-6. All sessions are held at the high school practice field.

Volleyball camp will take place Aug. 5-8 for grades 5-12 with sessions from 5-8 p.m. Aug. 5-6 and 8-11 a.m. on Aug. 7.

Band camp at Humboldt High School takes place from 9 a.m. to 12 noon Aug. 4-6.

Fall sports practices begin on Aug. 9.

Humboldt’s Gabe Smith looks back with a sense of accomplishment.

The former Humboldt High School soccer standout, who lost his senior spring season in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, feels like he made up for it in his first and only year on the Iowa Central Community College men’s team.

“I think it was a great experience for me. There were lots of new people that I played with and most of them are all international background and so it was really cool to meet those guys,” Smith said.
“I got to know those guys pretty well and be close with them. It made it a whole different level for me at Iowa Central. It was a lot different from high school. I really enjoyed the time that I had there,” Smith said.

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Amber Westling, a former Humboldt High soccer standout and 2019 HHS graduate, looks back fondly on her last two years playing for the Tritons.

“It was a lot different from high school. In high school you would have a one or two-hour bus ride to an away game. In my freshman year at Iowa Central, we had a nine-hour bus drive to Coffeyville, in Kansas. That’s near the border of Kansas and Oklahoma. That was during pre-season,” Westling said.

“In my freshman year, we had pre-season practices twice a day, morning and afternoon,” Westling said.

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The post-season accolades continue for Humboldt’s two graduated senior softball players.

Shortsop Jori Hajek and infielder Kendal Clark were both selected to the Coaches Association Class 3A All-Central District team.

See full story in the Independent.

Humboldt, runners-up in the North Central Conference baseball standings, placed six players on the coaches all-conference team released last week.
Wildcat junior shortstop Caden Matson was one of seven players to be a unanimous first-team pick. Humboldt senior pitcher/third baseman Cade Witzke was selected as a first-team pitcher.
On the second-team, Wildcat sophomore infielder Joshua Thurm was joined by senior catcher/pitcher Colby Clarken, who was listed at utility.
Humboldt’s third-team selections include junior right fielder Levi Newton and junior first baseman Hayden Holm.
The group helped Humboldt finish 10-4 and runner-up in the conference standings. The Wildcats were 23-10 overall. In post-season Humboldt beat Charles City 13-9 in their first round substate tournament game before falling to Waverly-Shell Rock, 4-1 in the semifinals.

Humboldt native and Iowa State wrestling coach Kevin Dresser, has agreed to a contract extension through June 2026.
Dresser, the 2019 NWCA National Coach of the Year, has rebuilt the Cyclone wrestling program since he took over the position in February of 2017.
Iowa State went 9-3 (4-1 Big 12) in dual action last season and had two Big 12 champions in David Carr and Gannon Gremmel. ISU also qualified eight wrestlers for the 2021 NCAA championships. It’s the third season in a row the Cyclones have qualified eight or more wrestlers for the national tournament.
“We are thrilled to know Coach Dresser will be leading our wrestling program for another five years,” Jamie Pollard, ISU director of athletics, said. “Coach Dresser has restored the excitement in our program with his tenacity and relentless energy. He has surrounded himself with outstanding assistant coaches who share his vision for the future of our wrestling program.”

Thompson and Hubbell 2nd team, Lee on 3rd team

Humboldt has six players named North Central All-Conference softball.
Senior infielders Kendal Clark and Jori Hajek, along with junior outfielder Alexis Hansen, were named first-team. Clark was a unanimous pick.
Wildcats selected to the second-team include sophomore infielder Addison Thompson and eighth grade utility player Elsie Hubbell. Freshman Reagan Lee was named to the third team.
Clark, who was also selected to play in the senior all-star game in Waukee on July 24, batted .506 with 11 home runs and 29 runs batted in. She hit 14 doubles and drew 21 walks. She had an on base percentage of .626 and a slugging percentage of 1.086.
Clark set school records individually in four areas. Her 11 home runs in a season broke the old mark of 10, which she set in 2020. Katie Ruby also hit 10 homers in 1999.

The Humboldt baseball team saw their season come to a close on Monday night (July 19) in Waverly in a Class 3A substate semifinal round game against Waverly-Shell Rock.

The host Go-Hawks posted a 4-1 victory over Humboldt to end the Wildcats' season at 23-10 overall. WSR will meet Webster City in a substate final in Webster City on Wednesday night, July 21. Webster City defeated Clear Lake, 4-0 Monday night in Webster City.

Humboldt had four hits on the night, led by Caden Matson with two singles.

Cade Witzke took the loss on the mound pitching for Humboldt. Witzke allowed five hits and struck out two.

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The Humboldt baseball team opened Class 3A substate tournament play at home Friday night (July 16) by beating the Charles City Comets, 13-9.

The 23-9 Wildcats got six strong innings of pitching from Caden Matson and Cade Witzke threw the seventh inning in relief to lead the Wildcats. The Comets collected 12 hits off of the Wildcats, who finished with 11.

Trevor Jacobson led the Wildcats with three hits. Matson had two hits and drove in two runs. Colby Clarken also had two hits for Humboldt.

The victory moved Humboldt into a substate final in Waverly on Monday, July 19, against Waverly-Shell Rock. WSR defeated Hampton-Dumont-CAL, 6-0 Friday night in Waverly. In the other half of the substate, Clear Lake drilled Algona, 18-1, and Webster City shutout Eagle Grove, 10-0. Clear Lake (17-14) will play at Webster City (25-1) on Monday night in a semifinal round game.

The Humboldt baseball team ended their regular season Tuesday night (July 13) in an 8-5 loss at home to Storm Lake. Humboldt finishes their schedule at 22-9 overall.

HHS boys top HDC, 3-1
Caden Matson belted a pair of home runs to lift the Humboldt baseball team to a 3-1 victory over Hampton-Dumont-CAL on Monday night (July 12) at Hampton. The victory improved the Wildcats to 22-8 overall, 10-4 in conference play.

Cade Witzke pitched the final four innings to earn the win on the mound.

Humboldt finished runner-up in the conference standings.

The Wildcats will host Charles City on Friday, July 16 in a first round substate tournament game at 7 p.m.