GUTHRIE CENTER -- Led by first-place finishes from Gabe Pauley and Erik Jorgensen, AHSTW qualified four wrestlers for districts and Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton added one qualifier at Saturday’s Class 1-A, Sectional 13 Tournament held in Guthrie Center. Panorama won the meet with 235 points and AHSTW took second with 191.5, advancing both teams to 1-A regional duals competition on Tuesday night.

 HARLAN -- Nick Tarney made it official on Wednesday morning, signing a national letter of intent to play football at Wayne State College. The Harlan Community High School senior and son of Ted and Lori Tarney, rural Avoca, chose the Wayne, Nebraska school after also looking closely at Minnesota State-Mankato, Augustana and William Jewell. A two-sport standout in football and baseball at HCHS, Tarney was recruited by the Wildcats as a fullback

 HARLAN -- Harlan Community Activities Director Mitch Osborn announced earlier this week the hiring of Willie Baughman as the Cyclones’ new head volleyball coach, pending school board approval. Baughman is in his fourth year as a math teacher at Harlan Community and was the 7th grade volleyball coach his first two years.

 HARLAN -- Brushing aside yet another inauspicious start, the Harlan Community girls basketball team put to rest its four-game losing skid Tuesday night with a 64-58 win over Atlantic. HCHS fell behind 10-0 in the opening minutes - continuing a recent trend of slow starts - but regrouped quickly to finish the first quarter with a 20-19 lead.

 REGIONAL -- The Harlan Community girls basketball team will be sent east for this year’s Class 4-A regional tournament, traveling from Adel to Huxley to possibly Pella if they can keep on winning. The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union announced its regional pairings for Class 4-A and 5-A on Monday, placing HCHS in a six-team Region 8 bracket.

 AVOCA -- The AHSTW boys basketball team moved one step closer to a possible Western Iowa Conference title here Tuesday night, outscoring IKM-Manning 86-74 behind Rhett Welsh’s career-high 29 points and 17 boards. Jon Brandt countered with a career-best 30 points for the Wolves, who threatened to rally several times after falling behind 44-30 at halftime. AHSTW finished with a 16-point advantage at the free throw line - making 26-of-35 attempt

 AVOCA -- IKM-Manning’s three-point shooting proved to be the difference maker on Tuesday night in a 65-55 girls basketball win at AHSTW. The Wolves connected on 9-of-21 treys in the game, led by Kia Rasmussen’s 4-of-10, while the Lady Vikes misfired on all eight of their long-range attempts. IKM-M outscored AHSTW 20-11 in the second quarter to build a 33-21 halftime lead and was able to hold on despite the Lady Vikes keeping it close by shoot

 ATLANTIC -- Every high school basketball season features peaks and valleys.

 HARLAN -- Bad starts have been plaguing the Harlan Community girls basketball team during its recent four-game slide. Last Friday night, Kuemper Catholic scored the first 19 points of the contest, then answered a Harlan rally with a 16-3 third-quarter run to hand the Cyclone girls a 66-50 loss. It was the second time in five nights that Kuemper jumped on HCHS early.