Metro Sports Report

Linn-Mar wrestlers primed for success

The Linn-Mar High School wrestling team ended the 2010-11 season with controversy, setbacks and disappointment.

It began when Joel Northrup got caught in a national whirlwind when he declined to wrestle a girl in the state tournament and it ended with the Lions fading to 15th place in the team standings when a strong top-10 showing appeared likely.

The Lions were worn out and wounded when the season ended, but Coach Doug Streicher saw enough last year to think the 2011-12 campaign could be much better. The time is drawing near.

Linn-Mar returns six wrestlers who qualified for the 2011 state tournament, giving Streicher a strong nucleus to begin the new season. And that doesn't count Mark Atwater, who landed in a tough bracket at the district meet last year and failed to advance to Des Moines. He's back, too.

Cougar matmen hope to do more with less

Cedar Rapids Kennedy wrestling coach Brent Paulson hopes to accomplish more with less this season.

The Cougars have approximately 33 wrestlers on the team, compared to their normal allotment of 44 or 45, but there could be strength in smaller numbers.

Almost all the guys on this year's team have wrestled before, whereas in the past Paulson might have 13 guys in the practice room who had never wrestled before. Many of those inexperienced wrestlers would lose interest and quit, which means the Cougars would end up with roughly 33 guys anyway.

Now they're starting with 33 and could stay at 33, and all of them have worn a singlet in anger before. "That's encouraging," said Paulson, starting his ninth year as head coach.

With experienced wrestlers, the learning curve isn't as steep and the coaches can work at a faster pace.

Anderson's season starts with a bang

Cedar Rapids Jefferson senior Kristian Anderson wore a big smile as he walked around the Coe Natatorium Tuesday night.

He'd just captured the 100-yard butterfly at the Cedar Rapids Metro Meet, beat Washington star Ian Ford and set a personal record. He had good reasons to be happy.

"Every P.R. (personal record), I guess I celebrate a little too much," he said.

Anderson was not gloating. Ford is one of the premier swimmers in Iowa, but Anderson knows the 100 butterfly is not Ford's best event. Nonetheless, he beat a premier swimmer who has a scholarship to swim at the University of South Dakota next year.

"It's a milestone, I guess," Anderson said. "He is a top swimmer in the state. His name is big. Obviously everybody knows who he is. I'm trying to make a name for myself, I guess."

Anderson won the 100 butterfly in 55.37 seconds. He also won the 100 backstroke in 57.82 seconds.

Anderson placed 17th in the 50 freestyle at the state meet last year as a junior and helped the J-Hawks finish 19th in the 400 freestyle relay, but he's made great strides since then.

A sneak peak at girls basketball

The calendar is ready to flip to the month of December, and that means that basketball is here.

In fact, the Prairie Hawks have a game under their belts already. With that in mind let's take a quick peak at what we will see in the Metro for 2011-2012, with last year's record in parentheses.

Jefferson (8-15)

The J-Hawks said goodbye to one of the Metro's top performers in Brittney Steffeny after her four-year varsity career came to a close. That's the bad news.

The good news is Jefferson returns a lot of fire-power for the Metro's dean of coaches Larry Niemeyer.