Prairie Wrestling

Prairie wrestlers 4th in new rankings

The Cedar Rapids Prairie wrestling team defeated Linn-Mar and Bettendorf in high-profile battles last week, but the Hawks still trail the Lions and Bulldogs in the new rankings issued Thursday by The Predicament.

Linn-Mar is ranked No.2, Bettendorf is No.3 and Prairie is No.4 in the now poll. Southeast Polk topped the rankings again this week.

The Predicament measures a team's projected strength for the traditional state tournament, rather than a team's strength for a particular dual meet. So even though Prairie demonstrated it can defeat Linn-Mar and Bettendorf in head-to-head action, The Predicament believes Linn-Mar and Bettendorf would finish ahead of Prairie in an open tournament.

In other words, The Predicament thinks Linn-Mar has more firepower with top-ranked Alijah Jeffery (120), top-ranked Ross Lembeck (145), second-ranked Matt Wempen (113) and second-ranked Joel Northrup (145) capable of reaching the state finals.

By contrast, The Predicament thinks second-ranked Cam Rathje (170) is the only Prairie wrestler who will make the finals at this point.

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Prairie matmen roll by J-Hawks, Rams

DUBUQUE -- Trey Blaha and Cam Rathje collected a pair of pins Thursday night as Cedar Rapids Prairie flattened Cedar Rapids Jefferson and Dubuque Senior in a Mississippi Valley Conference double-dual in Dubuque.

Prairie whipped the J-Hawks, 58-12, and flattened the Rams, 67-9.

Blaha recorded his pins at 138 pounds in 3:19 and 3:23. Rathje got his pins at 170 pounds in 3:20 and 2:47.

Zack Fiser (120), Josh Wenger (126), Jamie Day (145), Skyler St. John (152) and Jesse Hynek (220) all wrestled twice and won two matches for Prairie.

Jefferson trimmed Dubuque Senior, 40-37, in the third leg of the double-dual. Kyle Briggs (113) and Michael Moncivais (132) had two victories for the J-Hawks.

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Prairie grapplers stunned by West Delaware

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.

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Prairie matmen dump No. 2 Linn-Mar, 35-22

The Cedar Rapids Prairie wrestling team huddled around Coach Blake Williams for a few minutes Thursday night after whipping second-ranked Linn-Mar and finished the meeting with a quietly confident two-word chant.

"State champs," they said in unison, announcing this year's goal for everyone to hear.

Based on what happened Thursday, they could be headed in that direction.

The fifth-ranked Hawks won nine of 14 matches and dumped the highly regarded Lions, 35-22, with a convincing performance at the Linn-Mar gym.

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