To meet the growing need for emergency care in the region, WinnMed is pleased to welcome Rachel Masek, PA-C back to the community to provide patient care full time in WinnMed’s Emergency department.
Rachel was born and raised in Decorah and has most recently provided emergency care at Mayo Clinic Health System – La Crosse. Rachel earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Coe College in Cedar Rapids and her Master of Health Sciences Degree in Physician Assistant Studies from Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences Physician Assistant Program in Rochester, Minnesota.
At WinnMed, Rachel joins the team of six Mayo Clinic Health System emergency medicine physicians who provide emergency care in the 24/7 department. Last year, WinnMed Emergency department saw nearly 9800 patients. The WinnMed Emergency department has a total of 10 rooms including a pediatric room and is a level IV trauma certified hospital.
Steve Slessor, chief administrative officer, says, “Utilization of our emergency services has grown considerably over the past few years. By adding Rachel to the team, we are bringing in her great experience and understanding of the community while also addressing our patients’ expectations of quality and efficiently provided services. We are excited to have her at WinnMed.”
Rachel says, “Emergency medicine is the medical specialty dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of unforeseen illness or injury. We have the privilege of taking care of patients and their families during the most vulnerable moments of their lives and providing exceptional and compassionate care.” She continues, “My family and I enjoy the small town feel and close-knit community that Decorah has to offer. I look forward to providing outstanding care to the community that has shaped me into the person I am today.”
Luther College President Jenifer K. Ward announced today the addition of women’s wrestling as the college’s 11th varsity sport for women for the upcoming 2025-26 academic year.
“Luther has a long legacy of supporting its students’ desire to belong to teams, to learn discipline and resiliency and to compete,” Ward said. “We were among the first colleges to establish varsity teams for women, beginning in 1964 — well before Title IX legislation required us to. We will soon celebrate our 60th anniversary offering our women opportunities to participate in varsity athletics.”
Along with announcing the addition of the program, Ward established milestones for the upcoming months.
“This will be a planning year in 2024-25,” Ward said. “Our timeline is to use this fall and winter to get the word out to recruits that the program will begin next fall. We will begin a nationwide search for our first women’s wrestling coach this winter, so that we can hire as soon as possible after this wrestling season, and we will field our first team in the 2025-26 academic year.”
Athletic Director Renae Hartl and men’s wrestling coach Dave Mitchell joined Ward in her online announcement.
“With both the NCAA and the American Rivers Conference set to add women’s wrestling as a championship, the moment to join in is now,” Hartl said. “And with renovations underway at the future Gerdin Fieldhouse for Athletics and Wellness, including an expanded wrestling training space, the timing is perfect.”
“I have seen the growth of girls wrestling in the state of Iowa first-hand and I know many of the great coaches leading girls high school programs in Iowa and beyond,” Mitchell said. “We offered a girls’ wrestling team camp in 2023, and it grew significantly this year. One of the top questions I get asked by girls and coaches at camp, and by our alumni and Luther wrestling fans, is, ‘When is Luther adding women’s wrestling?’”
For Luther, the addition of women’s wrestling takes the college to 22 total varsity sports, with 11 for women and 11 for men. It comes two years after the college added both men’s and women’s bowling as varsity teams.
“We’re proud to add to Luther’s legacy of being a college that promotes new athletic opportunities for women,” Hartl said. “With Luther adding the sport, the state of Iowa will lead the nation with the most collegiate women’s wrestling programs to date. With the recent announcements by the A-R-C and NCAA, I know this can open up recruiting opportunities for students from other states to come to Decorah.”
Mitchell added the attraction will also be local.
“Our wrestling community is eager to have opportunities for our local and regional girls to study and compete, and the timing is perfect to provide those opportunities right here,” Mitchell said. “The coach who leads this new program is coming into a strong wrestling support system in a strong girls wrestling region. For example, we have in Decorah both the girls state team champions and the girls wrestling coach of the year, Gene Adams, who was an All-American himself here at Luther.”
The visibility and strength of Luther’s existing men’s program provides another support for the decision.
“Luther is known nationwide for excellence in wrestling, and in the future, we expect to see that excellence on both the men’s and women’s teams,” Hartl said.
This aerial view shows Luther’s extensive athletics facilities and fields in November 2020. Renovations began in 2024 on the Regents Center, which will become the Gerdin Fieldhouse for Athletics and Wellness.
“The construction for our Gerdin Fieldhouse is underway, and those plans include a wrestling facility expansion and a dedicated women’s wrestling locker room, so the time is right to move swiftly to align our programming with our facility renovation,” Ward said.
At the recent NCAA Convention, the national organization endorsed the creation of divisional championships at each level. When approved this fall, women’s wrestling became the 91stnational championship offered by the NCAA, and Division III will lead the way with more than 60 member institutions sponsoring the sport.
Competition schedules cannot be determined until later this year, as both the A-R-C and NCAA are finalizing details of participation in their respective first years of competition. The total number of first-year participants may also be a factor.
“We won’t know for a while whether this will begin as open competition or also include team duals,” Hartl said. “What we do know is young women will have the opportunity to put on that famous Luther blue singlet and compete like a Norse.”
State and national organization leaders expressed their support for Luther’s addition of women’s wrestling.
“The addition of women’s wrestling at Luther College will no doubt have a generational impact for female athletes to come,” said Erin Gerlich, executive director of the Iowa Girls High School Athletics Union (IGHSAU). “As we look across our state and our country over recent years, girls wrestling is one of the fastest growing programs offered in sports. In Iowa alone, we have consistently seen the number of high school female wrestlers grow exponentially each year and reports from the youth wrestling community show no signs of girls wrestling slowing down anytime soon.”
“On behalf of our NWCA Board of Directors, I extend a heartfelt thanks to the Luther College administration for recognizing and embracing the rising popularity of girls and women’s wrestling in a state that has always been synonymous with the sport,” said Mike Moyer, executive director of the National Wrestling Coaches Association. “Anytime we add more opportunities for young women to further their educational and athletic goals in college, it’s a win for our students and a win for our sport.”
Girls wrestling has grown exponentially in high schools since the IGHSAU sanctioned it, expanding from from 58 schools to 204 schools with teams and another 61 with cooperative sharing agreements.
“Iowa has become a leader in the collegiate world for women’s wrestling[LB1] , which allows our Iowa girls even more opportunity to pursue their wrestling dreams at the next level,” Gerlich added.
To learn more about Luther women’s wrestling, go to LutherNorse.com for updates and to find questionnaires for prospects interested in next year’s team.
Influenza season is approaching and it is an important and effective prevention strategy to get a flu shot.
When should I get a flu shot and how long does it last?
Influenza season generally begins in November and ends in March. However, there’s no set timeframe; the flu can start to spread earlier in the fall and last through May. The flu shot protects against the influenza virus for about six months. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends adults get the annual flu shot in September or October. You can benefit from the vaccine even if you don’t get it until after the flu season starts.
What types of vaccine are available this year?
The injection is the trivalent flu vaccine, which is designed to protect against three different flu viruses; two influenza A viruses and one influenza B virus, and is for ages 6 months and older. High Dose is preferred for ages 65+, and also protects against three different flu viruses. Flu mist is not available.
Who should get a flu shot?
The CDC recommends all people 6 months and older should receive the flu vaccine. It is especially important for pregnant women to get vaccinated because of their increased risk for influenza-related complications. Pregnant women can get vaccinated during any trimester, including the first. It takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body that protect against flu.
How will flu shots be given this year?
At WinnMed, influenza vaccines will be available through an appointment, though walk-ins will be accepted as the vaccine schedule allows. (If you have a scheduled appointment for another reason, you may also get a flu shot at that time.) Flu vaccine charges will be submitted to your insurance. Influenza vaccine is available in WinnMed’s Decorah, Ossian and Mabel Clinics, and the WinnMed Pharmacy. Make an appointment by calling:
Officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC®) announced the names of more than 16,000 Semifinalists in the 70th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Three Decorah High School seniors–Oliver Brummel, Mason Myers, and Jack Sovern–are among those recognized with this distinction. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 6,870 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be offered next spring.
Over 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.
To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 94 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and all National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of Finalists and will earn the Merit Scholar title.
A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.
NMSC, a not-for-profit organization, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
Photo ID (l-r): Oliver Brummel, Jack Sovern, Mason Myers
Did you know that small items like tiny pieces of aluminum foil or metal bottle caps are sometimes difficult to recycle? These small materials can fall through the cracks on our conveyor belt or fall out of bales when materials are compacted. To ensure your smaller recyclable items make it through the process, place them inside a larger recyclable container of the same material.
For example, if you have aluminum bottle caps, try wrapping them inside a larger sheet of aluminum foil to hold them all together or place them inside an aluminum container and seal it. You can also put smaller metal items in the scrap metal bin at the drop off shed.
Thank you for helping us make recycling more efficient!
Nella performs in the 2024-25 Center Stage Series on Sept. 27.
Nella, 2019 winner of the Latin Grammy for Best New Artist, will be the first act in Luther College’s 2024-25 Center Stage Series, performing at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 27, in the Center for Faith and Life Main Hall.
Born in Venezuela, Nella is a graduate of Berklee College of Music in Boston. Nella’s music is a warm, rich blend of her native country’s folklore, the sounds of her generation, and influences from Spain’s Andalusia region. Nella’s songs are deeply personal, carrying elements of her homeland’s musical tradition while connecting across cultures and borders.
“I’m really excited to start the Center Stage Season with Nella. Her vocal quality and musicianship are mesmerizing,” said Kristen Underwood, director of campus programming. “She’s touring with Gilad Barakan on guitar and the two of them will spend some time with Luther students in the afternoon as part of our celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. I love it when artists are enthusiastic about connecting with our community; Nella has been wonderful.”
In May 2019, Nella released her debut album, Voy, with its title track earning a spot on the New York Times’ list of the best songs of 2019, coming in at #14. She followed this success with the release of Doce Margaritas in 2021, her first album with Sony Music, featuring 12 songs written by Javier Limón and collaborations with Latin Grammy-winning Venezuelan guitarist Cheo Pardo.
Before her debut album, Nella appeared in the Spanish feature film Everybody Knows, starring Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem, performing songs written by Latin Grammy winner Javier Limón. Shortly after, she launched her tour dubbed Me Llaman Nella (They Call Me Nella), which featured songs from the film, other Limón-penned tunes, and Venezuelan folk songs. This two-year tour took her to the USA, UK, Spain, Venezuela, Panama, and Mexico.
Homecoming week activities for Decorah High School students will begin with the Viking Olympics on Sunday, September 15. This event aims to encourage team building among students across all grade levels.
As the week continues, students and staff will have the opportunity to cheer on sports teams and celebrate school spirit. Athletes on the volleyball, football, cross country, and swimming and diving teams will compete throughout the week.
The coronation ceremony will be Friday afternoon with a pep assembly and parade to follow.
Queen candidates from the senior class include Leah Holland, daughter of Steve and Krista Holland; Sara Johanningmeier, daughter of Scott and Kerri Johanningmeier; Greta Jones, daughter of Brian and Jennifer Jones; McKenzie Riley, daughter of Adam and Jessica Riley; and Ella Stille, daughter of Brandon and Michelle Stille.
King candidates from the senior class include Joshua Adam, son of Mike and Janet Adam; Louie Bucksa, son of Jared and Alecia Bucksa; Davis Coppola, son of Tony and Kelly Coppola; William Hahn, son of Brent and Amanda Hahn; and Grant Zilka, son of Keith and Jessica Zilka.
Junior class attendants are Ariana Albert, daughter of Chopper and Rhonda Albert, and Cael LaFrentz, son of Raef and Joie LaFrentz.
Representing the sophomore class as attendants are Kaelyn Kuhn, daughter of Tom and Karen Kuhn, and Gavin Knutson, son of Justin and Tasha Knutson.
Riley Christopher, daughter of Chance and Amber Christopher, and Bennett Coppola, son of Tony and Kelly Coppola, will represent the class of 2028.
The Homecoming parade will start at 2:30 p.m. at the high school and follow the traditional homecoming parade route down West Water Street and River Street.
The Decorah Vikings football team will take on the Mustangs of Independence High School at 7:30 p.m. The Decorah 9th grade team will play at 5 p.m.
The Homecoming queen and king, their court, and their parents will be presented at halftime of the varsity game, along with a performance by the Decorah High School Pride of the Vikings marching band.
Photo ID (l-r) DHS Senior Homecoming Court:
Front row: Louie Bucksa, Davis Coppola, Joshua Adam, William Hahn, Grant Zilka
Back row: Ella Stille, Greta Jones, Leah Holland, McKenzie Riley, Sara Johanningmeier
9-11 Attendants:
Front row: Bennett Coppola, Gavin Knutson, Cael LaFrentz
Back row: Riley Christopher, Kaelyn Kuhn, Ariana Albert
