Jefferson Wrestling

Jeff matmen honor McNiel with big win

The Jefferson wrestling team dragged out their old-fashioned uniforms from the 1970's Thursday night to honor Hall of Fame coach Bill McNiel.

Then the J-Hawks gave Kennedy an old-fashioned whipping, leggings and all.

Jefferson collected four pins, a technical fall and a major decision while piling up a 66-12 victory in a Mississippi Valley Conference meet at Jefferson.

McNiel, 74, led the J-Hawks to state wrestling titles in 1973 and 1974, rolled up a 105-24-1 record in dual meets during his 11-year career and was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1998. He and his wife, Judy, were honored in a ceremony that featured former wrestlers, assistant coaches, students, friends and opponents.

"It was great. Amazing there were that many people that were here," said McNiel, who lives just a few blocks from Jefferson. "It's pretty overwhelming."

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Baker, May, Allen help J-Hawks win title

Brenden Baker got serious about wrestling when he was in the second grade. In fact, he learned an important lesson that year about the value of making weight.

"I was supposed to wrestle at 46 (pounds), but I weighed 46.2 my first year at peewee state, so I had to bump up to 48," he said Saturday, laughing at the memory. "I didn't cut weight at all, so I wrestled 48 and I ended up getting fifth that year."

Even at a tender age, Baker did not like finishing fifth. He prefers being No.1, and that's his goal this season as a sophomore at Cedar Rapids Jefferson.

Nothing less than a state title will be satisfactory.

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No.9 J-Hawks stick No.5 Lions, 47-21

DUBUQUE - The ninth-ranked Jefferson J-Hawks upended No.5 Linn-Mar, 47-21, at a Mississippi Valley Conference double-dual wrestling meet in Dubuque Thursday night.

Jefferson finished its perfect night with a 44-18 victory over Dubuque Hempstead. The short-handed Linn-Mar Lions gained a split by topping Hempstead, 38-27.

Brenden Baker (106), Kelly May (152) and William Orr (220/285) had two pins for the J-Hawks. Patrick Rashed (126), Tavian Rashed (145) and Erik Hovey (170) also won both of their matches for Jefferson.

Noah Ajram (113), Alijah Jeffery (120), Damon Griffin (132), Shea Hartzler (160) and Andrew Holladay (195) won both of their bouts for Linn-Mar. The Lions competed without three of their top wrestlers with Matt Wempen, Toby Northrup and Ross Lembeck all sidelined with injuries.

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Baker wins title, J-Hawks 2nd at Benton meet

VAN HORNE - Brenden Baker won the 106-pound title and Jefferson also had a pair of runner-up finishers to place second Saturday in the Jerry Eckenrod Invitational wrestling meet at Benton Community High School.

Jefferson's Kyle Briggs (120) and Josh Allen (182) lost in championship bouts. The J-Hawks finished 31 points behind champion Davenport Assumption.

Washington's Trey Schuler won the 132-pound title. The Warriors placed 12th in the team standings.

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