South Winn managers, cheerleaders, coaches and wrestlers enjoy the schools first-ever UIC Wrestling Championship after Saturday’s meet in Calmar. A runner-up six times, the Warriors really savored this title.  The 2018 UIC Champions are (front, l-r) Mia French, Madisen Ondrashek, Karissa Kleve, Gabe Kipp, Manning Kuboushek, Rodney Schwartzhoff, Braxton Smith, Jackson Lukes, Felicity Taylor, Taylor Numedahl, and Alexa Jacobsen; (row two) Jake Elsbernd,Kerrigan Upton, Sierra Breitsprecher, Katelyn Heying, Dawson Huinker, Toby Conway, Zach Taylor,, Logan Schnuelle, Gabe Sadler, Alyssa Hertges, Chelsea Dietzenbach, Andy Norton, and Ethan Adams; (row three) Kenny Mikota, Jake Everts, Seth Greve, Tayton Bullerman, Tanner Tollefsrud, Steven Moore, Damon Meyer, Kale Euans, Zach Poshusta, Kaylie Rommes, Jason Schmelzer.

Warriors win it all!

By Jerry Wadian
jwadian@thefayettecountyunion.com

“We’re no longer a bridesmaid,” yelled several South Winn fans as their beloved Warriors won their first-ever UIC title. 

It was back in 1998 that SW and Turkey Valley shared a team known as SWTV and it won the conference title. 

Since then, the Warriors have been runners-up six times. The most heartbreaking finish came in 2004 when South Winn lost the title to North Fayette by ½ point! The Warriors have also finished third five times since 1998.

The spell of also-rans was broken Saturday as SW beat MFL/MM, 247-212. Fittingly enough it came in front of the hometown fans in Calmar.

Kole Johnson puts in two of his 10 points Friday against South Winn. The TigerHawk freshman has provided a spark since his elevation to the varsity. Last week, he had 24 points in NFV’s two games. (Jerry Wadian photo)

Rough week for NFV boys

By Jerry Wadian
jwadian@thefayettecountyunion.com

The NFV boys only had a pair of basketball games last week; unfortunately they lost both games. 

Tuesday, Jan. 23, the NFV boys lost, 60-54, at Clayton Ridge. They returned home Friday night to lose, 61-48, to South Winn. 

Tuesday in Guttenberg, the TigerHawks did a lot of things well, such as outrebounding the Eagles, 26-19, including a four-board advantage on the offensive glass. NFV also had more assists, 14-8, and made more steals, 11-9, than CR.

Paul Foxwell, Allamakee-Clayton Rural Electric Cooperative (REC) general manager and vice president, holds an antenna that is placed on vertical properties as part of the Skyways fixed-wireless Internet service the company recently launched in Fayette County. One such antenna is located on the water tower in downtown West Union. (Chris DeBack photo) 

REC launches Skyways in Fayette County

By Chris Deback
cdeback@thefayettecountyunion.com

Rural Americans typically get the short end of the stick with technology. 

Here in rural northeast Iowa, it always seems as though this area is playing catch-up when it comes to the latest and greatest technological breakthrough. It’s especially true for people who live out “in the country” on gravel roads with the Internet. Those Fayette County citizens have few options when it comes to getting broadband Internet service. 

The options that are available, like satellite Internet, can’t keep up with the high bandwidth requirements most people are looking for when selecting an Internet provider. While speed may be an issue, so, too, are data caps that severely limit what someone can do on the Internet. In today’s day and age, 10 gigabytes doesn’t go very far when utilizing all that the Internet has to offer. 

Allamakee-Clayton Rural Electric Cooperative (REC) is trying to change that with the introduction of Skyways, a fixed-wireless Internet service that can reach up to 25MB download speeds and won’t have a data limit.