Prairie Wrestling

Prairie matmen flatten a pair of foes

CEDAR FALLS - Prairie flattened a pair of foes Thursday night in double-dual meet wrestling at Cedar Falls High School.

Prairie whipped Dubuque Senior, 57-14, and Cedar Falls, 48-21.

Prairie had eight pins against Dubuque Senior and six against Cedar Falls.

Cam Rathje at 170, Austin Gould at 182, Josh Wenger at 113, Chris Walters at 120 and Trey Blaha at 126 all had two falls apiece for Prairie.

Casey Becker at 160, Connor Nolan at 285 and Skyler St. John at 138 had pins against Senior. Andrew Netolicky at 220 and Zach Becicka at 132 had falls against Cedar Falls.

PRAIRIE 57, DUBUQUE SENIOR 14

145 - Jamie Day (CRP) dec. Jake Steffen, 5-3
152 - Jared Cadena (CRP) dec. Jack Freese, 4-0
160 - Casey Becker (CRP) pinned Mitch McElmeel, 4:59
170 - Cameron Rathje (CRP) pinned Alex Gudenkauf, 1:12
182 - Austin Gould (CRP) pinned Rob Blake, 3:57
195 - Mitch Powers (DS) major dec. Trent Schulte, 13-5
220 - Jesse Blus (DS) major dec. JT Anderson, 12-4
285 - Connor Nolan (CRP) pinned Zach Meyer, 3:14
106 - Chase Lynn (DS) pinned Zack Fiser, 3:14
113 - Josh Wenger (CRP) pinned Russell Henkel, 1:47
120 - Chris Walters (CRP) pinned Mike Fisch, 3:05
126 - Trey Blaha (CRP) pinned Jordan Peterson, 3:10
132 - Zach Becicka (CRP) dec. Enoc Alverenga, 5-3
138 - Skyler St. John (CRP) pinned Zack Donovan, 2:09

PRAIRIE 48, CEDAR FALLS 21

152 - Brandon Mattias (CF) dec. Jared Cadena, 8-4
160 - Clark Doyle (CF) dec. Casey Becker, 11-10
170 - Cameron Rathje (CRP) pinned Jacob Schwab, :47
182 - Austin Gould (CRP) pinned David Langley, 5:49
195 - Zach Rahnavardi (CF) dec. Trent Schulte, 7-0
220 - Andrew Netolicky (CRP) pinned Devon Davis, 2:52
285 - Nick Terpstra (CF) pinned Tony Kavanagh, :52
106 - Dan Kelly (CF) pinned Zack Fiser, 1:45
113 - Josh Wenger (CRP) pinned Cassy Herkelman, 1:36
120 - Chris Walters (CRP) pinned Trey Hess Thomas, 4:31
126 - Trey Blaha (CRP) pinned Sam Lindaman, 1:03
132 - Zach Becicka (CRP) pinned Kris Gudey, 1:34
138 - Skyler St. John (CRP) dec. Sam Dagit, 9-6
145 - Jamie Day (CRP) dec. Taylor King, 4-1

'Accidental' coach Bogner helped build program

For a fellow who was a pioneer - though often overlooked - of the tradition-rich Prairie wrestling program, early coach Darrell Bogner is characteristically honest and humble.

“I didn’t know crap about the sport, especially when I started,” says the longtime industrial arts teacher, who came to the high school in its infancy in 1963 and retired in 1991.

Bogner began the 7th and 8th grade wrestling teams at Prairie (quite by accident) and coached them for 17 years.

“In those days,” he explains, “We had a lot of good, strong farm kids. They were tough as nails, and they hardly ever lost.”

In his career of bouncing back and forth from head junior high coach to assistant, his boys posted a 135-16 record.

And many of them, like Barry Davis and the Zalesky brothers, Jim and Larry, went on to establish a mat legacy on the Prairie varsity.  Bogner, who turns 80 this month, is perhaps better known for starting the high school  tennis program back in 1964.

He coached girls and boys for three years, then kept on with the boys for 31 more, even staying seven years after he left the classroom.  During that time, eight of his players moved to the state tournament.  His best, Mitch Brunscheen, was runner-up twice.

But Bogner, himself an accomplished tennis player who only quit the game a few years ago following two knee replacements, admits he never matched the coaching success he’d had with raw, young wrestlers.

“I loved coaching tennis,” he says. “When we started, we had four courts but only two of them were playable.  So, for the first four years all of our meets were on the road.

“Over all those 34 years, I bet we lost 70 percent of our matches. But nobody cared whether we won or lost.  And we had a lot of fun.”

Once, early on when he was trying to build both wrestling and tennis programs, a parent came to him with a question.

“Why,” the father asked, “do you know everything about tennis, but you never win? You don’t know anything about wrestling, but your teams win all the time.”

As he does a lot, Bogner laughs about the memory.

He had absolutely no notion of being in on the beginnings of a dynasty when he arrived at Prairie.  A native of Burlington, he was a one-man jack of-all-trades at tiny Sperry High School for two years after his 1957 graduation from Western Illinois University.  He then spent four years at slightly-less-tiny Riverside, where he taught, was drivers education director and acting principal, coached all sports and drove the school bus.

When the school merged with Ainsworth to form Highland Community, he moved up to what was then known by some as Cow Pie High on the south edge of Cedar Rapids.

“I wanted to have something, anything to do with sports,” he recalls. “So I was put in charge of after-school activities two days a week for 5th and 6th graders.  That first year, we had flag football in the fall, basketball in the winter and dodgeball in the spring.”

He thought dodgeball was sort of a wimpy activity.  So he asked new Prairie head wrestling coach Bob Mellgren, his neighbor in the nearby Lincolnway housing development, to teach him something about wrestling.

“On his living room floor, Bob showed me seven holds. Two take-downs, two pins and three escapes,” Bogner says.  “I showed ‘em to the kids, and they just ate it up. We had a couple of matches, and they never had so much fun.”

The novice grapplers put on an exhibition for the PTA in the original high school gym.  And that’s how the junior high wrestling program got its start.

“Bob was a linebacker at Iowa State, and he really knew wrestling,” according to Bogner. “He made it into a big program at Prairie.

“He told me that take-downs were the best way to score points, so that’s what we spent most of the time practicing on. And a lot of years we went undefeated.”

His method of motivating the tykes was pretty simple.  If they lost, the next day he’d have them run 150 laps around the balcony track in the old gymnasium.

“They didn’t like to lose,” he points out.

At one point, Prairie brought in young college wrestling champion Ron James to run the junior high team.  His first two squads were 4-4 and 5-3. Then he was drafted into the Army for two years.

“I’d been his assistant,” the old coach explains. “They asked me if I’d take over again, and I said only if they couldn’t find anybody else.  That was a mistakes ‘cause they quit looking.”

His next teams went 6-2 and 7-1. When James returned, the team was 6-2.

“I told Ron, ‘Why did you have to come back and screw everything up.'"

In the end, Bogner takes no credit for Prairie High School later becoming the home of All-American wrestlers.  He’s just tickled to have been part of it.

“I had so much fun coaching and teaching,” he says, “that it’s ridiculous.”

Prairie grapplers stick Kennedy, 52-17

WATERLOO - Zack Fiser, Chris Walters, Cameron Rathje and Andrew Netolicky collected pins Tuesday night as sixth-ranked Cedar Rapids Prairie defeated Kennedy, 52-17, in a Mississippi Valley Conference wrestling meet in Waterloo.

Trey Blaha, Skyler St. John and Trent Schulte also won matches for the Hawks against Kennedy.

Luke Kremer, Ryan Rodriguez, Sean Knox and Shane Williams picked up victories for the Cougars against Prairie. Kremer had a technical fall and Williams picked up a pin.

Prairie drubbed Waterloo East, 69-9, in the other half of its double-dual. Kennedy defeated Waterloo East, 57-24.

PRAIRIE 52, KENNEDY 17

106 - Zack Fiser (P) pinned Kobi Coden, 1:20.
113 - Josh Wenger (P) won by forfeit.
120 - Chris Walters (P) pinned Nick Waterhouse, 3:59.
126 - Trey Blaha (P) major dec. J.D. Ruzicka, 12-4.
132 - Luke Kremer (K) tech fall Zach Becicka, 24-9.
138 - Ryan Rodriguez (K) dec. River Whitters, 3-2.
145 - Skyler St. John (P) dec. Ben Feuerhelm, 6-1.
152 - Sean Knox (K) dec. Jamie Day, 8-3.
160 - Shane Williams (K) pinned Jarod Cadena, 3:38.
170 - Cameron Rathje (P) pinned Curtis Stacey, 1:51.
182 - Austin Gould (P) won by forfeit.
195 - Trent Schulte (P) dec. Dakota Aldrich, 6-2.
220 - Andrew Netolicky (P) pinned Zack Goodall, 1:15.
285 - Connor Nolan (P) won by forfeit.

PRAIRIE 69, WATERLOO EAST 9

106 - Kyler Lowe (WE) dec. Zack Fiser, 9-7.
113 - Josh Wenger (P) pinned Joey Petersen, 1:42.
120 - Chris Walters (P) dec. D.J. Robertson, 3-2.
126 - Jayden Flege (P) won by forfeit.
132 - Zach Becicka (P) pinned Cody Sahr, 1:24.
138 - River Whitters (P) won by forfeit.
145 - Skyler St. John (P) won by forfeit.
152 - Jared Cadena (P) pinned Dedrick Jordan, 1:59.
160 - Steve Wallace (P) pinned Deshay Wright, 5:27.
170 - Jesse Hynek (P) won by forfeit.
182 - Austin Gould (P) pinned Craig Phillips, :25.
195 - Trent Schulte (P) won by forfeit.
220 - Andrew Netolicky (P) won by forfeit.
285 - Darrell Caldwell (WE) pinned Connor Nolan, :38.

KENNEDY 57, WATERLOO EAST 24

106 - Kyler Lowe (WE) pinned Kobie Cowen, 3:41.
113 - Joey Petersen (WE) defeated Nathan Waterhouse, no score.
120 - D.J. Robertson (WE) pinned Nick Waterhouse, 1:36.
126 - J.D. Ruzicka (K) won by forfeit.
132 - Luke Kremer (K) pinned Cody Sahr, 1:40.
138 - Ryan Rodriguez (K) won by forfeit.
145 - Ben Feuerhelm (K) won by forfeit.
152 - Sean Knox (K) dec. Dedrick Jordan, 6-0.
160 - Shane Williams (K) pinned DeShay Wright, 1:27.
170 - Keenen Nosek (K) won by forfeit.
182 - Curtis Stacey (K) pinned Craig Phillips, 3:42.
195 - Dakoda Aldrich (K) won by forfeit.
220 - Zack Goodall (K) won by forfeit.
285 - Darrell Caldwell (WE) won by forfeit.

Lions roar past Prairie; finish 5th at Waterloo

WATERLOO -- Linn-Mar won all three of its meets Saturday to capture fifth place at the Battle of Waterloo dual meet wrestling tournament at the Young Arena.

The No. 9 Lions avenged a loss to No. 5 Cedar Rapids Prairie the Hawks hung on them at last Saturday's Five Season Duals in Cedar Rapids. Linn-Mar won eight of the 14 weight classes with two pins, a technical fall and two major decisions mixed in and beat Prairie, 34-22.

The Lions opened the day with a 37-21 win over No. 7 Mason City and closed it with a 50-19 rout of Nashua-Plainfield. Linn-Mar was 5-1 in the two-day event. The Lions also swept a pair of Mississippi Valley Conference meets Thursday at Dubuque, giving them a three-day mark of 7-1.

Andrew Holladay (170) and and Matt Wempen (106) had pins for Linn-Mar against Prairie. Ross Lembeck had a technical fall at 145 and Josh Pederson and John Connor had major decisions at 152 and 160, respectively.

In a battle of ranked wrestlers, Prairie's Josh Wenger stuck the Lions' Alijah Jeffery in 3:35 at 113 pounds. The Hawks' Chris Walters had a major decision at 120.

Linn-Mar won nine bouts in disposing of Mason City. The Lions got pins from Trevor Berry at 126, AJ Garcia at 220 and Jeffery at 113.

Lembeck, Ryley Stancel (195), Garcia and Jeffery had pins against Nashua-Plainfield. Wempen and Joel Northrup (138) recorded technical falls and Damon Griffin (120) had a major decision.

Prairie started the day with a 40-33 win over Nashua-Plainfield. The Hawks won the last two bouts to pull out the win. Wenger had a pin at 113 to put the Hawks ahead, 36-33, and Walters closed out the meet with a major decision at 120.

Prairie trailed 27-12 when consecutive pins by Austin Gould at 195, Trent Schulte at 220 and Andrew Netolicky at 285 vaulted it back into the lead at 30-27. Nashua-Plainfield went back ahead, 33-30, when Blake Dietz decked Zack Fiser at 106.

Prairie ran out of gas in its final meet and was pummelled by Mason City, 43-16. Wenger and Jayden Flege (126) had pins for the Hawks.

Iowa City West beat West Delaware, 39-36, to win the championship. Dakota Bauer's technical fall in the meet's final bout gave the Trojans the win.

LINN-MAR 34, PRAIRIE 22

132 - Joel Northrup (LM) dec. Zach Becicka, 6-0
138 - River Whitters (CRP) dec. Spencer Clabough, 7-4
145 - Ross Lembeck (LM) tech. fall Skyler St. John, 15-0
152 - Josh Pederson (LM) major dec. Jamie Day, 10-0
160 - John Connor (LM) major dec. Jarod Cadena, 12-2
170 - Andrew Holladay (LM) pinned Jesse Hynek, 1:25
182 - Austin Gould (CRP) dec. Mark Atwater, 6-4
195 - Ryley Stancel (LM) dec. Trent Schulte, 5-1
220 - Andrew Netolicky (CRP) dec. AJ Garcia, 3-2
285 - Justin Green (LM) dec. Riley Cooling, 6-1
106 - Matt Wempen (LM) pinned Zack Fiser, 3:06
113 - Josh Wenger (CRP) pinned Alijah Jeffery, 3:35
120 - Chris Walters (CRP) major dec. Damon Griffin, 15-6
126 - Jayden Flege (CRP) dec. Trevor Berry, 5-3

PRAIRIE 40, NASHUA-PLAINFIELD 33

126 - Zac Reams (NP) pinned Jayden Flege, 1:52
132 - Zach Becicka (CRP) dec. Jesse Bendickson, 7-4
138 - Cody Marks (NP) dec. River Whitters, 9-3
145 - Skyler St. John (CRP) pinned Reece Reams, 3:17
152 - Christian Miller (NP) pinned Jarod Cadena, 3:53
160 - Taylor Wedeking (NP) pinned Steven Wallace, 3:57
170 - Cam Rathje (CRP) dec. Zach Holthaus, 9-6
182 - Andy Glaser (NP) pinned Jesse Hynek, :33
195 - Austin Gould (CRP) pinned Dakota Hurd, 4:35
220 - Trent Schulte (CRP) pinned Zade McCall, :38
285 - Andrew Netolicky (CRP) pinned Zachary Woodman, 1:33
106 - Blake Dietz (NP) pinned Zack Fiser, 3:33
113 - Josh Wenger (CRP) pinned Jacob Eick, :19
120 - Chris Walters (CRP) major dec. Jake Greer, 20-9

LINN-MAR 37, MASON CITY 21

126 - Trevor Berry (LM) pinned Will Siglin, 1:11
132 - Joel Northrup (LM) dec. Andrew Bartel, 3-2
138 - Blake Spotts (MC) pinned Spencer Clabough, :54
145 - Ross Lembeck (LM) dec. Dillon Coe, 8-4
152 - Josh Pederson (LM) dec. Austin Voves, 3-2
160 - Max Krieger (MC) dec. John Connor, 5-0
170 - Andrew Holladay (LM) major dec. Stone Sturges, 9-1
182 - Jared Bartel (MC) won by forfeit
195 - Mark Atwater (LM) dec. Will Slaven, 8-4
220 - AJ Garcia (LM) pinned Tom Schiffer, 1:24
285 - Dakota Alexander (MC) dec. Justin Green, 2-1 (OT)
106 - Matt Wempen (LM) dec. Kaz Onoo, 3-2
113 - Alijah Jeffery (LM) pinned Matt Tornquist, 1:43
120 - Andres Gonzalez (MC) dec. Damon Griffin, 7-1

MASON CITY 43, PRAIRIE 16

138 - Blake Spotts (MC) major dec. River Whitters, 13-3
145 - Dillon Coe (MC) dec. Skyler St. John, 6-5
152 - Austin Voves (MC) dec. Jamie Day, 11-8
160 - Max Krieger (MC) pinned Jarod Cadena, 3:30
170 - Stone Sturges (MC) dec. Jesse Hynek, 12-6
182 - Jared Bartel (MC) dec. Austin Gould, 3-0
195 - Will Slaven (MC) dec. Trent Schulte, 5-2
220 - Andrew Netolicky (CRP) major dec. Tom Schiffer, 12-0
285 - Dakota Alexander (MC) dec. Connor Nolan, 1-0
106 - Kaz Onoo (MC) pinned Zack Fiser, 1:19
113 - Josh Wenger (CRP) pinned Matt Tornquist, :24
120 - Andres Gonzalez (MC) dec. Chris Walters, 5-3
126 - Jayden Flege (CRP) pinned Will Siglin, :34
132 - Andrew Bartel (MC) pinned Zach Becicka, 5:22


LINN-MAR 50, NASHUA-PLAINFIELD 19

138 -Cody Marks (NP) pinned Spencer Clabough, 1:15
145 - Ross Lembeck (LM) pinned Reece Reams, 1:54
152 - Christian Miller (NP) major dec. Josh Pederson, 11-0
160 - Taylor Wedeking (NP) dec. John Connor, 3-1 (OT)
170 - Andrew Holladay (LM) dec. Zach Holthaus, 6-0
182 - Andy Glaser (NP) won by forfeit
195 - Ryley Stancel (LM) pinned Dakota Hurd, 4:34
220 - Justin Green (LM) won by injury default Zade McCall
285 - AJ Garcia (LM) pinned Zachary Woodman, :30
106 - Matt Wempen (LM) tech. fall Blake Dietz, 16-1
113 - Alijah Jeffery (LM) pinned Shane Usher, 1:28
120 - Damon Griffin (LM) major dec. Jake Greer, 17-7
126 - Trevor Berry (LM) dec. Zac Reams, 11-4
132 - Joel Northrup (LM) tech. fall Jesse Bendickson, 18-3