The surging Jefferson wrestling team has enjoyed a special season this year with upset victories over Linn-Mar and Iowa City West, so the Prairie Hawks knew the J-Hawks would be gunning for their hides as well Thursday night.

The Prairie matmen did not say much about the challenge before the meet, but they spoke volumes with their performance on the mat.

The seventh-ranked Hawks surged to a 32-10 lead and claimed an impressive 35-25 victory in a Mississippi Valley Conference meet on Senior Night at Jefferson.

Prairie Coach Blake Williams did not spend a lot of time - if any - reminding his guys that the J-Hawks were a dangerous club that had already taken care of Linn-Mar and Iowa City West, a pair of conference top-10 heavyweights.

"We didn't really talk about any of that stuff. We don't do that," said Williams. "We just say, 'One match at a time.' They know who they're going to wrestle and they don't need any added motivation."

Jefferson had not lost a dual meet all season before running into Prairie.

"I think they came out and they wrestled harder than we did," said Matt Orton, who serves as Jefferson's co-head coach with Dick Briggs. "The matches that were pivotal, they won.

"It looked like we spent a lot of time on defense, on our heels, and they were coming after us. And when we had opportunities, we weren't capitalizing.

"It's a learning experience. It's disappointing," said Orton. "I think our kids are obviously disappointed, but Prairie wrestled well."

The Hawks captured seven of the first 10 matches while building their 32-10 lead, with back-to-back pins by Sam Uthoff at 120 pounds and Zack Fiser at 126 setting the tone. Josh Wenger added a pin at 138 pounds to make it 21-7, then fourth-ranked Trey Blaha gave sixth-ranked Kelly May a bloody nose at 152 pounds and posted a 9-1 major decision to give Prairie a 25-10 lead.

A major decision by Skyler St. John at 160 pounds and an overtime verdict by Nick Hogan at 170 pounds made it 32-10.

"We knew it was going to be a good rivalry and a good meet, so we just had to come out and wrestle our best, every minute, every second, and that's what we did as a team," said Blaha. "We just do what we do. We fight our butts off in the room. We work hard.

"We prepared for this meet just like we did any other meet," he said.

Jefferson sophomore Brenden Baker, ranked No.1 at 106 pounds, gave the J-Hawks a 4-0 lead with a major decision, but Prairie quickly took control before a sizeable audience at Jefferson.

"You know what? When you have two good teams and a good atmosphere like this, it's good that the kids came ready to wrestle," said Williams. "We always preach, 'Just take care of yourself.' No matter who you wrestle, just take care of yourself. And for the most part we did that.

"There are still some things to work on, but I think it was a good springboard for this weekend."

The Mississippi Valley Conference meet will be held at Waterloo East on Saturday with Prairie, Linn-Mar, Iowa City West, Jefferson and others all looking to make their mark.

"A barnburner," Williams predicted. "It will be fun. The MVC is way up, I believe. The depth is a lot better and I think it's going to be fun."

The action starts Saturday at 10 a.m.

"It's going to be a meat-grinder," said Orton. "It's been a long time since it's been this tough. It's going to be fun. I'm excited for our kids to get an opportunity for redemption for some of these matches and see where we're at."

Dalton Kuehl (220) and William Orr (285) collected pins for Jefferson in the final two matches Thursday, pulling the J-Hawks within 10 points at the buzzer. Josh Allen, ranked No.8 at 182 pounds for Jefferson, defeated 10th-ranked Jarod Cadena, 8-4.

Prairie and Jefferson both clobbered Dubuque Senior in the double-dual.

PRAIRIE 35, JEFFERSON 25

106 - Baker (CRJ) major dec. England, 12-5.
113 - Kleinschmidt (CRP) dec. Sibomana, 7-5.
120 - Uthoff (CRP) pinned Jellison, 1:15.
126 - Fiser (CRP) pinned Briggs, 1:28.
132 - Moncivais (CRJ) dec. Wennermark, 9-7.
138 - Wenger (CRP) pinned Culver, 5:29.
145 - T.Rashed (CRJ) dec. Mehmen, 6-2.
152 - Blaha (CRP) major dec. May, 9-1.
160 - St.John (CRP) major dec. Sedlacek, 12-4.
170 - Hogan (CRP) dec. Dreckman, 10-8 (ot).
182 - Allen (CRJ) dec. Cadena, 8-4.
195 - Hynek (CRP) dec. Hovey, 9-4.
220 - Kuehl (CRJ) pinned Meyer, 1:39.
285 - Orr (CRJ) pinned Hesseltine, 0:42.

PRAIRIE 78, DUBUQUE SENIOR 5

220 - Meyer (CRP) won by forfeit.
285 - Hesseltine (CRP) won by forfeit.
106 - England (CRP) won by forfeit.
113 - Lynn (DS) tech fall Kleinschmidt, 18-1.
120 - Uthoff (CRP) pinned Steffen, 0:56.
126 - Fiser (CRP) pinned Budde, 1:06.
132 - Wennermark (CRP) won by forfeit.
138 - Wenger (CRP) pinned Hesselman, 0:42.
145 - Mehmen (CRP) pinned Hoerner, 2:59.
152 - Blaha (CRP) won by forfeit.
160 - St.John (CRP) pinned Giesmann,1:32.
170 - Hogan (CRP) won by forfeit.
182 - Cadena (CRP) won by forfeit.
195 - Hynek (CRP) pinned Thoma, 2:52.

JEFFERSON 65, DUBUQUE SENIOR 15

220 - Kuehl (CRJ) won by forfeit.
285 - Orr (CRJ) won by forfeit.
106 - Baker (CRJ) won by forfeit.
113 - Lynn (DS) pinned Sibomana, 3:28.
120 - Briggs (CRJ) pinned Steffen, 0:58.
126 - Budde (DS) pinned Jellison, 3:51.
132 - Moncivais (CRJ) won by forfeit.
138 - Culver (CRJ) pinned Hesselman, 3:16.
145 - T.Rashed (CRJ) pinned Hoerner, 2:58.
152 - May (CRJ) won by forfeit.
160 - Sedlacek (CRJ) tech fall Giesmann, 17-0.
170 - Dreckman (CRJ) won by forfeit.
182 - Allen (CRJ) won by forfeit.
195 - Thoma (DS) dec. Hovey, 5-1.