Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton Results1-A Quarterfinal: Exira-EHK 58, Sidney 431-A Semifinal: Turkey Valley 48, Exira-EHK 46 (OT)Spartans’ final record: 24-2

 TOPEKA, KAN. -- Just two years after winning his second state wrestling title in the Iowa high school ranks, Kimballton native Evan Hansen is a national champion for the most dominant NAIA program in the country. Hansen, a redshirt freshman for Grand View University in Des Moines, claimed the 197-pound championship Saturday, March 4, at the 2017 NAIA Wrestling National Championships in Topeka, Kansas.

 DES MOINES -- Area girls basketball standouts Sophia Peppers of Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton and Kia Rasmussen of IKM-Manning were both recognized on all-state teams this week by the Iowa Newspaper Association and/or the Iowa Girls’ Coaches Association. The junior tandem has combined for more than 2,100 career points and helped their teams win 129 games over the last three seasons. Peppers, a 5-10 forward, was named first-team All-State by the I

The Harlan Community High School bowling team has partnered with Cyclone Lanes during the past three weeks to put together a mini Junior Cyclones Bowling League for the middle school students. In this league, each middle school bowler is paired with a high school bowler to help them learn the fundamentals of the game. 

 DES MOINES -- Each time the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton girls tied up Turkey Valley at crunch time Thursday, the Trojans had an answer. And so it went: fourth quarter ties at 32, 34, 36, 38, 40 and 42; another deadlock at 44 in overtime. The Spartans knotted the score seven times in all, and only once - in the final seconds of regulation - did the Trojans not score on their very next possession. When this virtual tug-of-war finally ended in the

DES MOINES -- Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton junior Sophia Peppers was one of six girls named to the Class 1-A All-Tournament Team at the Girls State Basketball Tournament in Des Moines last Friday night. In two state tournament games, Peppers ranked third in the 1-A field with 43 points while also grabbing 17 rebounds. She shot 57.6 percent from the field (19-of-33) in helping the Spartans reach the 1-A semifinals.

 DES MOINES -- Former AvoHa-Shelby-Tennant all-stater Amy Towne is one of three 2017 inductees into the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union Basketball Hall of Fame. Towne will be honored during halftime of Saturday night’s Class 5-A state championship game at Wells Fargo Arena, which can be viewed live on IPTV. The 2017 Hall of Fame inductees also include Jaime Printy (Linn-Mar) and Carli Tritz (Sioux City Bishop Heelan).

 DES MOINES -- Thursday’s Class 1-A state semifinals featured top-ranked and defending champion Springville (23-2) vs. seventh-ranked Kingsley-Pierson (24-1) at 10:00 a.m., followed by No. 3 Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton (24-1) vs. No. 2 Turkey Valley (22-3) at 11:45.

 DES MOINES -- For the second time in three years, Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton has reached the semifinals of the Girls State Basketball Tournament. The 3rd-ranked Spartans did what they needed to do in Monday afternoon’s Class 1-A quarterfinal clash with No.

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community Athletic Booster Club Hall of Fame inductees for 2017 are Dave and Lois Kramer of Earling and Steve and Dee Dee Leinen of Panama. Longtime HCS Booster Club members, the Kramers and Leinens were both honored as the newest Hall of Fame members during a girl-boy basketball doubleheader in January.

 DES MOINES -- Six Harlan Community youth wrestlers competed at the 2017 AAU State Tournament held February 25-26 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. None of the Cyclone wrestlers placed at the state meet.

 ATLANTIC -- It wasn’t that AHSTW played poorly and lost in Saturday’s Class 2-A, Substate 7 final.

 DES MOINES -- Making its third consecutive trip to the Girls State Basketball Tournament, Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton played in one of four Class 1-A state quarterfinal games Monday at Wells Fargo Arena. The third-rated Spartans (23-1) took on No. 8 Sidney (23-1) on Monday afternoon at 3:15. The winner will face No. 2 Turkey Valley (21-3) or No. 9 Janesville (24-0) in Thursday’s semifinal round at 11:45 a.m.

 MANNING -- Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton’s effective inside game was no match for Ar-We-Va’s onslaught of three-pointers Thursday night as the sixth-ranked Rockets stayed unbeaten with a 61-41, Class 1-A district final win over the Spartans in Manning. Sophomore Drew Schurke knocked down six of Ar-We-Va’s 11 total treys and scored a team-high 21 points while 6-foot-3 senior Alex Kock got things going inside in the second half and scored 12 of his

 MAPLETON -- To say that the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton girls basketball team regrouped at halftime Monday night would be an understatement. The third-rated Spartans trailed Akron-Westfield 33-20 during the intermission of their Class 1-A, Region 1 final in Mapleton, bearing little resemblance to the team that won its first two postseason games by an average of 45.5 points. Exira-EHK turned the ball over 11 times in the first half, struggled to