Sports

Humboldt's boys' wrestling team had no trouble in sweeping a home quad on Jan. 15 inside the Wildcat gym to improve to 11-2 overall on the season in duals.

Humboldt beat Webster City (46-27), Spencer (57-22) and Iowa Falls-Alden (47-21). The Wildcats finish the North Central Conference dual slate at 5-2.

Humboldt also took time out to recognize head coach Chad Beaman, who now has over 500 career dual victories. He is in his 24th season at Humboldt. He also had career stops at West Central Valley Stuart and Council Bluffs Lewis Central.

Humboldt returns to the mat on Saturday, Jan. 17, in the Osage Duals.

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

The Humboldt boys’ basketball team picked up their third straight victory by beating South Central Calhoun, 48-44 on Jan. 13 in the Humboldt gym in non-conference action. Cade Birdsell scored 19 points while Jackson Flaherty and Chase Flaherty each had nine for the Wildcats. Chase Hansen made six. SCC (5-7) was led by the junior class duo of Evan Myers and Garrett Krause each with 14 points. Humboldt is now 6-4 overall, 2-3 in conference play.

The Wildcats visit Algona on Friday night, Jan. 16.

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

The Humboldt girls’ basketball team picked up another victory Tuesday night (Jan. 13) at home by turning back South Central Calhoun, 54-41 in a non-conference win. Ava Fischer scored 25 points and Jada VanDeWalle netted 10 to power the Wildcats, 5-5 overall, 2-4 in conference play. SCC (4-9) was paced by Sadie Weelock's 15 points. Blair Schleisman and Macie Dorman each had 12.

Humboldt visits Algona on Friday night, Jan. 16.

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 ready for final season with Cyclones

By PHIL MONSON
Caden Matson isn’t going anywhere. The 2022 Humboldt High School graduate graduates from Iowa State University in May and will play one more season of football for the Cyclones next fall.

Matson, an invited walk-on who has played special teams for the Cyclones the last three seasons, played quite a bit at safety this past season and worked his way into the starting lineup for the final two games of the 2025 season, where the Cyclones finished 8-4 overall.

“I played quite a bit in the secondary starting with the TCU game and then started in the Oklahoma State game and in the Kansas game,” Matson said.

Humboldt got back into the win column by running past Newell-Fonda, 70-47 in a non-conference game in the Humboldt gym on Jan. 8. Cade Birdsell scored 15 points, Jackson Flaherty had 13 and Valley Davis and Dane Clark each scored 12 for Humboldt, which evened its record at 4-4 overall.

St. Edmond clips Humboldt in OT, 61-55
Humboldt's varsity boys' basketball team played their best game of the season on Tuesday night (Jan. 6) in the Humboldt gym but it wasn't enough as visiting Fort Dodge St. Edmond pulled away late for a 61-55 overtime victory over the Wildcats.

Chase Flaherty scored 17 points, Cade Birdsell had 16 and Jackson Flaherty made 11 to lead Humboldt, which slipped to 3-4 overall, 1-3 in the North Central Conference.

St. Edmond, ranked No. 1 in Class 1A, was led by Hunter's Horn's 25 points. Cory Bargfrede finished with 12 points and Jake Koopman and Galles each had 11 for St. Edmond, which improved to 6-0 overall, 5-0 in the NCC.

Fort Dodge St. Edmond raced out to a 17-2 lead to start the game and withstood a Humboldt rally to post a 60-51 victory over the Humboldt girls' basketball team in a North Central Conference game in the Humboldt gym on Tuesday night, Jan. 6.

Jada VanDeWalle scored 17 points and Ava Fischer had 16 to pace the Wildcat scoring. Payton Elman was next with six while Kate Sievers and Kiera Anderson each had four. Kayleigh Vinsand netted three and Brayleigh Angstrom added one. Humboldt slipped to 4-4 overall, 2-3 in the NCC. Fischer, a senior, scored her 1,000th career point on her first basket of the game with 1:05 in the first quarter.

St. Edmond (4-2, 3-1) got 32 points from Chloe Palmer. Eden Horn had 10.

Humboldt returns to action on Friday at Iowa Falls-Alden in NCC action.

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

The Humboldt boys wrestling team split two conference matches at Clarion on Jan8. Humboldt beat Clear Lake 48-31 and lost 64-11 to No. 2 ranked Clarion-Goldfield-Dows. Humboldt is 8-2 overall and 3-2 in conference action.

Hendricks 1st, HHS boys 11th in Osage tournament
Broedy Hendricks was the individual champion at 190 pounds to lead the Humboldt boys' wrestling team at the Osage tournament on Saturday, Jan. 3.

The top-ranked Hendricks improved to 19-0 on the season as he went 3-0 on the day to win his weight class. Tate Halverson placed fifth at 175 pounds. Henry Kramer was sixth at 126, as was Karson Reinhardt at 132. Jaxson Kirchhoff was seven at 165. Caleb Vinsand was eighth at 150.

Osage was the team champion with 162.5 points. Woodbury Central was second, Algona third and Denver fourth in the 18-school field of teams.

The Humboldt girls' wrestling team placed sixth in the team scoring of the Belle Border Battle tournament in St. James, MN, on Jan. 3.

Humboldt senior Danica Diedrick led the Wildcats with a runner-up finish at 170 pounds. Kennedy Robinson was fourth at 235. Dayton Cleghorn at 148 and Gracey May at 112 both placed fifth. Letty Jenson was eighth at 100 and Mia Sorensen was eighth at 155.

Humboldt traveled to Algona on Monday night, Jan. 5, and lost a conference dual to the Bulldogs by a score of 64-18. Humboldt beat Lake Mills 42-33 in the first match of the night.

Humboldt is now 6-6 overall in matches, 3-1 in the North Central Conference. Humboldt returns to action in the Ogden tournament on Saturday, Jan. 10.

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

Humboldt High School senior football standout Jack Guy, one of the top offensive linemen in the state last season, has been selected to play in the annual Shrine Bowl All-Star game in July.

Guy is the 32nd Humboldt player to play in the summer all-star classic, which began in 1973. The game pits the top seniors across the state with players from north of Highway 30 meeting players from the south.

Guy is a 6-foot-2, 260-pounder who was named the top offensive lineman in Class 3A District 1 this past season. He was a first-team all-district pick and topped it off by being named first-team all-state. In an interview with the Independent, Guy says he’s humbled by the honors.

Things are looking up for Humboldt’s Parker Sleiter.

Sleiter, a 2025 Humboldt High School graduate, capped his first season at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs as a starting long snapper on the Reivers football team, which won the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I National Championship.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pounder started every game as the starting long snapper on punts and field goals in Iowa Western’s 12-1 season. It was the school’s third national title in the last four years.

The Reivers rallied to beat Hutchinson Community College of Kansas 28-10 in the national championship game back on Dec. 17 in Amarillo, TX, on the home field of West Texas A & M University, an NCAA Division II school.