Roy Siemering knows what it means to sacrifice, work hard and wait your turn.

It paid off Thursday night (Dec. 2).

Siemering celebrated his move into the starting lineup with a gritty 1-0 victory over fifth-ranked Ryan Rodriguez at 140 pounds as Prairie spanked Kennedy, 51-14, in the season opener in prep wrestling at Prairie.

Siemering wrestled a handful of matches last year as a varsity reserve, but it took him four long, hard years to become the top guy at his weight. Then it took him three long, hard periods to subdue one of Kennedy’s top grapplers.

“That was big for me. That was awesome,” said Siemering, finally the top guy at his weight as a senior. “It’s pretty cool to be down here, to be in the spotlight and stuff.”

Siemering cut 17 pounds to make 140 this year. It took considerable sacrifice and determination. “Winning that match, it’s all worth it,” he said.

Rodriguez nearly escaped in the final seconds to tie the bout, but Siemering hung on. Rodriguez tossed his headgear away in frustration when it ended.

As it turned out, Siemering had more than Rodriguez to battle during the six-minute match.

“I was about to puke on him,” he said. “I ate a little before the match, and that wasn’t a good thing.”

Prairie did a lot of good things in the double-dual, however. The Hawks smothered Waterloo East, 75-0, in the first meet, then won 10 of 14 bouts against Kennedy.

Kennedy topped Waterloo East, 57-16, in the other contest.

On paper, it looked like Prairie and Kennedy might be evenly matched. The Hawks have five ranked wrestlers in their starting lineup and the Cougars have four, but Prairie clearly had the stronger overall team.

“I like the fight of the kids, I like the attitude of the kids,” Prairie Coach Blake Williams said.

Cam Rathje collected a significant win for Prairie when he defeated sixth-ranked Shane Williams, 9-6, at 152 pounds. Zach Witte, ranked fifth at 145 pounds, pinned Kennedy’s Logan Kubovec in 1 minute, 23 seconds.

Kennedy got an exciting victory from Ben Feuerhelm at 130 pounds when he nipped River Whitters, 5-4, with a reversal with three seconds to go. Feuerhelm said he had “no idea” how much time was left when he executed the winning maneuver.

“I had the drive to win within me, I guess,” he said.

Kennedy’s ranked wrestlers went 2-2 in the meet. Rodriguez and Williams lost, but Luke Kremer and Ryan Sheldon prevailed in their bouts.

Kremer, ranked seventh at 135 pounds, beat Casey Becker in a major decision, 12-3. Kremer finished sixth at the state meet last season.

Sheldon, ranked fourth at 171 pounds, defeated seventh-ranked Alex Steenblock with a major decision, 11-3. Sheldon placed eighth at state last season.

Trey Blaha, ranked eighth at 103 pounds for Prairie, won by forfeit. Peyton Wagner, ranked fifth at 160, beat Jordan Baskerville, 8-2. Andrew Netolicky, ranked seventh at 189 pounds, wrestled at 215 and recorded a pair of pins, decking Kennedy’s Jake Dunne in 1:01.

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PRAIRIE 75, WATERLOO EAST 0

103 — Trey Blaha (P) won by forfeit; 112 — Jayden Flege (P) pinned Davon Caldwell, 1:43; 119 — Chris Walters (P) won by forfeit; 125 — Dylan Becker (P) dec. Soloman Martin, 12-10; 130 — River Whitters (P) won by forfeit; 135 — Casey Becker (P) won by forfeit; 140 — Roy Siemering (P) pinned Adam Choplin, 2:50; 145 — Zach Witte (P) pinned Dakota Chambers, :32; 152 — Cam Rathje (P) pinned Dajon Taylor, 1:11; 160 — Peyton Wagner (P) won by forfeit; 171 — Alex Steenblock (P) dec. Jeremy Helgeson, 7-3; 189 — Austin Gould (P) won by forfeit; 215 – Andrew Netolicky (P) pinned Cameron Winters, 5:37; HWT — Dillon Brunscheen (P) dec. Darrell Caldwell, 3-2.

KENNEDY 57, WATERLOO EAST 16

103 — No match; 112 — Davon Caldwell (WE) dec. Chris Haman, 4-0; 119 — Taylor Moss (K) won by forfeit; 125 — J.D. Ruzicka (K) pinned Soloman Martin, 1:47; 130 — Ben Feuerhelm (K) won by forfeit; 135 — Luke Kremer (K) pinned Garrick Gautney, :56; 140 — Ryan Rodriguez (K) pinned Adam Choplin, 1:09; 145 — Logan Kubovec (K) pinned Dakota Chambers, 1:04; 152 — Shane Williams (K) pinned Dajon Taylor, 1:45; 160 — Jordan Baskerville (K) won by forfeit; 171 – Ryan Sheldon (K) dec. Jeremy Helgeson, 9-3; 189 – Zach Deitrich (K) won by forfeit; 215 — Cameron Winters (WE) pinned Jake Dunne, :36; HWT – Tyler Meyerhoff (WE) won by forfeit.

PRAIRIE 51, KENNEDY 14

103 — Trey Blaha (P) won by forfeit; 112 — Jayden Flege (P) pinned Chris Haman, :50; 119 — Chris Walters (P) pinned Taylor Moss, 5:52; 125 — J.D. Ruzicka (K) dec. Dylan Becker, 4-0; 130 — Ben Feuerhelm (K) dec. River Whitters, 5-4; 135 — Luke Kremer (K) maj. dec. Casey Becker, 12-3; 140 — Roy Siemering (P) dec. Ryan Rodriguez, 1-0; 145 — Zach Witte (P) pinned Logan Kubovec, 1:23; 152 – Cam Rathje (P) dec. Shane Williams, 9-6; 160 — Peyton Wagner (P) dec. Jordan Baskerville, 8-2; 171 — Ryan Sheldon (K) dec. Alex Steenblock, 11-3; 189 — Austin Gould (P) pinned Zach Deitrich, 4:35; 215 — Andrew Netolicky (P) pinned Jake Dunne, 1:01; HWT — Dillon Brunscheen (P) won by forfeit.