The Cedar Rapids Prairie wrestling team nearly had a great week.

The Hawks defeated second-ranked Linn-Mar Thursday night in a dual meet, then whipped No. 6 Iowa City West and No. 3 Bettendorf in the quarterfinals and semifinals of the Five Seasons Dual Team Tournament Saturday.

Those big victories over Class 3A opponents set the stage for the championship match, where Prairie blasted to a 36-4 lead over West Delaware in the first eight matches.

The coronation seemed near, but disaster struck.

West Delaware, which is ranked No. 1 in Class 2A, roared back with five straight pins and a decision to stun Prairie 37-36 for the title Saturday afternoon at Kennedy.

The Prairie Hawks, ranked No. 5 in Class 3A, had to settle for second place in one of the premier tournaments in the state.

"Up until those last half-dozen matches, it was a pretty good week," said Prairie Coach Blake Williams. "We've just got to learn a big lesson from this as a team and individually.

"Nothing is given, nothing is for sure."

One thing is sure, however: West Delaware has a powerful Class 2A team that can compete with any Class 3A club in the state.

West Delaware did the same thing to Linn-Mar in the semifinals Saturday. The Lions rolled to a 31-6 lead after nine matches, but West Delaware finished the match with five straight victories and a 34-31 triumph.

First they stunned Linn-Mar, then they stunned Prairie.

Prairie came within one more victory (or one less pin) of claiming the top prize in the Five Seasons Tournament.

"It was a tough week, but at the end it left a sour taste in our mouth," said Prairie 182-pounder Austin Gould. "We need to come back and fight arder and get ourselves healthy and prove ourselves."

Gould gave the Hawks a 36-4 lead over West Delaware with a 3-0 victory and the championship appeared within reach, but the visitors from Manchester had other ideas.

West Delaware got a pin in 37 seconds at 195 pounds, then another pin in 1:36 at 220 pounds to make it 36-16 with four matches left.

West Delaware collected another pin in 2:34 at 285 pounds and then another in 1:23 at 106 to draw within 36-28 and make it interesting with two matches remaining.

West Delaware drew within 36-34 with its fifth straight pin at 113 pounds in 24 seconds, which left the entire contest in the hands of the 120 pounders.

Prairie sophomore Zack Fiser trailed early in the final match at 120, but he rallied and tied Sam Phillips 6-6. Fiser fell behind 12-8 in the third period and hurt his knee with 1:05 to go, but gamely continued and battled to the end.

Phillips won, 12-9, and the sizable number of West Delaware fans left happy.

West Delaware put very talented wrestlers on the mat during its comeback against Prairie. Jacyn Goebel, who is ranked No. 1 in Class 2A at 182 pounds, competed at 195 pounds and ignited the big comeback with a pin.

Then came Adam Reth, who is ranked No. 1 at 220 pounds, and then big Dean Broghammer, who is No. 1 at heavyweight. Then came Patrick Woods, who is No. 1 at 106 pounds, followed by Phillips, who was subbing for a second-ranked teammate at 113.

Prairie faced a succession of tough opponents, but it didn't make them feel any better about the outcome.

"For Thursday and the firt 3 1/2 meets today, we fought real hard," said Williams. "It just kind of snowballed there at the end. We've just got to make sure that doesn't happen again as a team.

"We've got to have 14 guys fighting and not 10-11-12 or whatever it is. If we get all 14 to fight, good things are going to happen. But that last meet, we didn't have that.

"We'll find out if this is going to motivate them even more."

Linn-Mar was nipped by Bettendorf, 38-37, in the battle for third place. Matt Wempen, who won a state title for the Lions last season, was defeated in the quarterfinals by Kaz Onoo of Mason City and forfeited his next two matches at 113 pounds against West Delaware and Bettendorf.

Linn-Mar Coach Doug Streicher said Wempen was seeking medical treatment, but declined to discuss Wempen's condition.

Saturday's tournament was held at Kennedy and Washington. Kennedy, Washington and Marion all lost their opening-round matches and fell into the consolation bracket.

FIVE SEASONS DUAL TEAM TOURNAMENT

OPENING ROUND
Bettendorf 74, Iowa City West JV 3
Charles City 57, Urbandale 15
Prairie 83, Marion 0
Iowa City West 66, Washington 12
West Delaware 84, Waterloo East 0
Alburnett 72, Iowa City High 12
Mason City 48, Kennedy 12
Linn-Mar 80, West Delaware JV 0

QUARTERFINALS
Bettendorf 41, Charles City 23
Prairie 52, Iowa City West 18
West Delaware 43, Alburnett 28
Linn-Mar 54, Mason City 21

SEMIFINALS
Prairie 39, Bettendorf 29
West Delaware 34, Linn-Mar 31

FINAL ROUND
1st - West Delaware 37, Prairie 36
3rd - Bettendorf 38, Linn-Mar 37
5th - Alburnett 39, Charles City 34
7th - Iowa City West 38, Mason City 31
9th - Urbandale 63, Iowa City High 18
11th - West Delaware JV 40, Marion 36
13th - Kennedy 42, Iowa City West JV 39
15th - Washington 45, Waterloo East 18

SEMIFINALS

PRAIRIE 39, BETTENDORF 29
120 - Zack Fiser (P) pinned Jackson Gallagher, 1:19
126 - Fredy Stroker (B) pinned Josh Wenger, 1:44
132 - Logan Ryan (B) tech fall Dylan Becker, 28-13
138 - Trey Blaha (P) dec. Jacob Ludwig, 12-8
145 - Andrew Sass (B) pinned Jamie Day, 1:11
152 - Alex Hernandez (B) dec. Skyler St. John, 4-3
160 - River Whitters (P) pinned Malique Hudson, 3:16
170 - Cameron Rathje (P) pinned Cassin Wolfe, 5:23
182 - Austin Gould (P) major dec. Austin Dougherty, 13-0
195 - Casey Becker (P) pinned Zachary Moffitt, 2:25
220 - Jesse Hynek (P) pinned Blake Crutcher, 4:49
285 - Andrew Netolicky (P) dec. Savion Coleman, 4-0
106 - Jacob Schwarm (B) dec. Sam Uthoff, 10-4
113 - Paul Glynn (B) pinned Jonah Nassif, 1:49

WEST DELAWARE 34, LINN-MAR 31
120 - Alijah Jeffery (LM) pinned Sam Phillips, 0:51
126 - Damon Griffin (LM) major dec. Reilly Ryan, 20-8
132 - Emmanuel Jeffery (LM) major dec. Dallyn Putz, 12-1
138 - Shea Hartzler (LM) pinned Mason Steffen, 3:36
145 - Joel Northrup (LM) dec. Zach Muller, 5-3
152 - Ross Lembeck (LM) major dec. Tim Tutton, 17-4
160 - Jake Voss (WD) dec. Dakota Digmann, 8-4
170 - Brent Lammers (WD) dec. Luke Wempen, 5-0
182 - Andrew Holladay (LM) major dec. Thomas Oleson, 9-0
195 - Jacyn Goebel (WD) pinned Sam Nowak, 1:00
220 - Adam Reth (WD) won by forfeit
285 - Dean Broghammer (WD) pinned Justin Green, 1:06
106 - Patrick Woods (WD) major dec. Noah Ajram, 10-1
113 - Zach Less (WD) won by forfeit

CHAMPIONSHIP
West Delaware 37, Prairie 36

126 - Josh Wenger (P) pinned Zach Meyer, 2:55
132 - Dylan Becker (P) pinned Connor Wickman, 3:22
138 - Trey Blaha (P) pinned Mason Steffen, 1:04
145 - Zach Muller (WD) major dec. Jamie Day, 18-5
152 - Skyler St. John (P) dec. Jake Voss, 9-7
160 - River Whitters (P) pinned Alex Reetz, 1:44
170 - Cameron Rathje (P) pinned Brent Lammers, 3:59
182 - Austin Gould (P) dec. Thomas Oleson, 3-0
195 - Jacyn Goebel (WD) pinned Casey Becker, 0:37
220 - Adam Reth (WD) pinned Jesse Hynek, 1:36
285 - Dean Broghammer (WD0 pinned Andrew Netolicky, 2:34
106 - Patrick Woods (WD) pinned Sam Uthoff, 1:23
113 - Zach Less (WD) pinned Jonah Nassif, 0:24
120 - Sam Phillips (WD) dec. Zack Fiser, 12-9

THIRD PLACE
Bettendorf 38, Linn-Mar 37

126 - Fredy Stroker (B) pinned Damon Griffin, 0:19
132 - Logan Ryan (B) pinned Emmanuel Jeffery, 1:38
138 - Shea Hartzler (LM) won by forfeit
145 - Joel Northrup (LM) pinned Andrew Sass, 1:37
152 - Alex Hernandez (B) dec. Ross Lembeck, 8-3
160 - Dakota Digmann (LM) major dec. Malique Hudson, 10-0
170 - Cassin Wolfe (B) pinned Luke Wempen, 1:54
182 - Andrew Holladay (LM) pinned Austin Dougherty, 3:27
195 - Sam Nowak (LM) pinned Zachary Moffitt, 1:57
220 - Justin Green (LM) dec. Blake Crutcher, 4-2
285 - Savion Coleman (B) pinned Ben Overdyk, 1:32
106 - Jacon Schwarm (B) tech fall Noah Ajram, 16-1
113 - Paul Glynn (B) won by forfeit
120 - Alijah Jeffery (LM) pinned Jackson Gallagher, 0:44