DES MOINES - The Cedar Rapids Prairie and Cedar Rapids Jefferson wrestling teams got off to promising starts at the Class 3A State Duals Wednesday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Both teams prevailed against strong competition in the opening round, then both clubs smacked into brick walls in the semifinals.

The Prairie Hawks were socked by top-ranked Southeast Polk in the semifinals, 56-12, and the Jefferson J-Hawks lost to second-ranked Bettendorf, 44-29.

Prairie and Jefferson advanced to the "Battle of Southwest Cedar Rapids" for third place Wednesday night, while Southeast Polk and Bettendorf were headed for a showdown for the title.

Prairie dumped fifth-ranked West Des Moines Valley, 35-23, in the opening round Wednesday. Jefferson bumped off third-ranked Johnston, 33-19, for a pair of satisfying victories over CIML clubs.

Prairie was seeded No. 4 and was a slight favorite over Valley. Jefferson was seeded No. 6 and was a slight underdog against Johnston, but that worked in Jefferson's favor.

"Coming in we were kind of upset with what we were seeded," said Jefferson sophomore Tavian Rashed. "We were the sixth seed and we wanted to prove something down here."

The J-Hawks proved they were better than advertised and Rashed proved once again that he's a tough rascal. Rashed had an emergency appendectomy on Tuesday, Feb. 10, but he wrestled four days later in the Class 3A district tournament and won a district title.

Rashed felt fine Wednesday in Des Moines, but the district meet last Saturday was a profile in courage.

"It was tender," he said. "There was a little bit of pain to it. I had to fight through it. I wanted to wrestle."

All of the J-Hawks had that fighting spirit against Johnston Wednesday. Coach Dick Briggs juggled his lineup, searching for the best matchups, and got four straight victories from Nick Dreckman (182), Kelly May (195), Erik Hovey (220) and Dalton Kuehl (285) to take a commanding 27-15 lead after 12 bouts.

Dreckman, May and Hovey all wrestled "up" a weight class and came through in style. Hovey prevailed in overtime, then Kuehl got a pin in 1:23 for a 12-point margin.

"That was as complete of a victory by 14 guys, all working towards it, as we've had all year," said Briggs. "I am so proud of them. Even the kids that lost battled hard and kept it tight and did what they could."

Prairie was locked in a tight battle with West Des Moines Valley in the opening round, but the Hawks broke it open with three straight pins by Nick Hogan (170), Jarod Cadena (182) and Taylor Mehmen (195) for an imposing 32-11 lead.

Prairie won only two matches against powerful Southeast Polk. Cadena collected another pin at 182 and Josh Wenger won by injury default at 138, but the Rams captured the other 12 bouts.

"They're a tough team," said Prairie Coach Blake Williams. "Ranked eighth in the nation for a reason. There's no doubt about that.

"Our kids fought hard," he said. "You live and learn and you move on."

QUARTERFINALS
PRAIRIE 35, WDM VALLEY 23

120 - Grant Stotts (Valley) dec. Dylan Kleinschmidt, 6-5
126 - Sam Uthoff (Prairie) major dec. Joel Shapiro, 10-2
132 - Seth Wennermark (Prairie) dec. Tristan Cobb, 3-0
138 - Zach Fiser (Prairie) dec. Todd Robinson, 9-2
145 - Josh Wenger (Prairie) major dec. Chase Sandy, 13-2
152 - Jack Koethe ( Valley) tech fall Chase St. John, 15-0
160 - Austin Stotts (Valley) dec. Morgan Hood, 8-7
170 - Nick Hogan (Prairie) pinned Tanner Smith, 5:11
182 - Jarod Cadena (Prairie) pinned Rocky Lombardi, 1:12
195 - Taylor Mehmen (Prairie) pinned Ben Campos, 0:54
220 - Brady Smith (Valley) dec. Jonah Manson, 3-2
285 - Zachary Matt (Valley) pinned Tyler Pasker, 2:45
106 - Marcus England (Prairie) dec. Spencer Hutchinson, 7-4
113 - Noah Hughes-Reilly (Valley) dec. Trenten Wennermark, 6-4

JEFFERSON 33, JOHNSTON 19

120 - Alec Ksiazek (Johnston) dec. Joseph Sibomana, 6-2
126 - Travis Price (Johnston) dec. Seth Jellison, 2-0
132 - Dylan Pappas (Jefferson) dec. Sam Nielsen, 4-1
138 - Henry Pohlmeyer (Johnston) dec. Kyle Briggs, 4-1
145 - Matt Culver (Jefferson) dec. Shane Vaughan, 2-1
152 - Tavian Rashed (Jefferson) dec. Austin Garcia, 12-8
160 - Luke Sedlacek (Jefferson) dec. Anthony Piagentini, 9-2
170 - Nathaniel Standish (Johnston) pinned Caleb Ziegenhorn, 2:36
182 - Nick Dreckman (Jefferson) dec. Ben Wilson, 7-5
195 - Kelly May (Jefferson) dec. Drew Singbush, 8-2
220 - Erik Hovey (Jefferson) dec. Boris Petrusic, 3-1 (OT)
285 - Dalton Kuehl (Jefferson) pinned Tom Dusen, 1:23
106 - Zach Price (Johnston) major dec. Zach Main, 14-2
113 - Brenden Baker (Jefferson) won by forfeit

SEMIFINALS
SOUTHEAST POLK 56, PRAIRIE 12

126 - Nolan Hellickson (Southeast Polk) major dec. Sam Uthoff, 12-1
132 - Zach Barnes (Southeast Polk) major dec. Seth Wennermark, 10-2
138 - Josh Wenger (Prairie) def. Keegan Shaw, injury
145 - Aaron Meyer (Southeast Polk) tech fall Chase St. John, 20-4
152 - Briar Dittmer (Southeast Polk) pinned Morgan Hood, 0:46
160 - Brady Buchheit (Southeast Polk) major dec. Angel Peralta, 10-1
170 - Mason Kerr (Southeast Polk) pinned Nick Hogan, 2:42
182 - Jarod Cadena (Prairie) pinned Kameron Padavich, 3:22
195 - Deion Mikesell (Southeast Polk) dec. Taylor Mehmen, 7-5
220 - Ethan Andersen (Southeast Polk) pinned Jonah Manson, 0:50
285 - Jake Marnin (Southeast Polk) pinned Jackson Hesseltine, 0:08
106 - Gauge Perrien (Southeast Polk) dec. Marcus England, 6-1
113 - Nathan Lendt (Southeast Polk) pinned Lucas Harmening, 3:26
120 - Devin Frentress (Southeast Polk) dec. Jaron Lathrop, 12-6

BETTENDORF 44, JEFFERSON 29

126 - Jackson Gallagher (Bettendorf) tech fall Seth Jellison, 16-1
132 - Paul Glynn (Bettendorf) pinned Dylan Pappas, 3:12
138 - Bradley Holmes (Bettendorf) pinned Michael Handley, 3:06
145 - Fredy Stroker (Bettendorf) pinned Matt Culver, 1:20
152 - Cody Clendenen (Jefferson) dec. Josh Walls, 7-4
160 - Dayton Racer (Bettendorf) pinned Caleb Ziegenhorn, 1:09
170 - Luke Sedlacek (Jefferson) tech fall Jake Zickuhr, 18-3
182 - Chris Patricio (Bettendorf) pinned Nick Dreckman, 4:17
195 - Kelly May (Jefferson) pinned Keegan Glaus, 3:46
220 - Erik Hovey (Jefferson) dec. Ian Beck, 6-3
285 - Dalton Kuehl (Jefferson) pinned Vince Klim, 0:58
106 - Mason Morris (Bettendorf) dec. Zach Main, 5-2
113 - Jack Wagner (Bettendorf) won by forfeit
120 - Joseph Sibomana (Jefferson) won by forfeit