Kennedy High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Angry J-Hawks stick Kennedy, 39-21

The Jefferson J-Hawks sent a clear message to all the wrestling coaches in Iowa who pooped all over them in the latest IWCOA rankings.

You guys were dead wrong.

The angry J-Hawks captured nine of 14 bouts Thursday night and defeated Kennedy, 39-21, in a dramatic Mississippi Valley Conference showdown at the Jefferson gym.

The coaches who vote in the IWCOA rankings dropped Jefferson from No. 5 to No. 9 in the poll that was used by the IHSAA to determine the assignments for the regional dual meet tournaments next Wednesday. At the same time, the coaches lifted Kennedy from No. 9 to No. 7 and effectively gave the Cougars a nice assignment at home in the regional tournament while shipping Jefferson to Johnston.

The top eight teams in the IWCOA rankings get to host the regionals and everyone else has to travel. Jefferson drew a tough assignment in the regional at Johnston that features the fifth-ranked Johnston Dragons and Dowling Catholic.

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Cougars, Lions lead parade to college

The Kennedy Cougars and Linn-Mar Lions will be leading the parade of college commitments this week.

The winter signing period begins Wednesday for many college-bound athletes, although prep athletes who are heading to NCAA Division III schools will not be signing letters-of-intent since D3 colleges do not offer athletic scholarships.

Kennedy High School plans to hold a ceremony at 2:55 p.m. Wednesday in the school cafeteria to honor the following college-bound athletes:

• Shaun Beyer, University of Iowa, football
• Dalles Jacobus, University of Iowa, football
• Tyler Dralle, Coe College, football & baseball
• Carly Langhurst, Iowa State, soccer
• Anna Frerichs, Iowa State, soccer
• Sydney Hayden, Northern Iowa, soccer
• Linden Runels, Carnegie Mellon, soccer
• Cameron Stump, Simpson, golf
• Paige Timmerman, Luther, softball
• Logen Rodriguez, Wisconsin-La Crosse, wrestling

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Kirkwood men set Alumni Day for Saturday

The Kirkwood men's basketball program will be hosting an Alumni Day this Saturday for all former players, coaches and managers of the team.

The ninth-ranked Eagles (19-3) are hosting Iowa Lakes (15-7) in a key ICCAC conference game at 3 p.m. Saturday at Johnson Hall.

All of the alumni and their families will be admitted for free. There will be a social gathering for all the alumni at Jersey's after the game.

Jacobus will join Hawks as a walk-on

Dalles Jacobus, the inspirational leader of the Kennedy football "family" that won 13 straight games last season, has found a new football family to call his own next year.

Jacobus said Monday he has accepted an offer to join the Iowa Hawkeyes as a preferred walk-on, joining a program that won 12 straight games this season and rocketed to national attention.

Iowa assistant coach Reese Morgan began talking to Jacobus about the possibility of joining the Hawkeyes last summer, but everything happened quickly Monday morning after Morgan contacted Kennedy Coach Brian White.

"Coach White came up to me and said, 'Come see me during lunch,'" Jacobus related. "So I went up and talked to Coach Morgan during lunch and that's when I committed.

"We've been talking on and off since the summer," he said. "I went to a camp there and Coach Morgan said he liked my fight, but he wanted to watch me throughout the year and see what I can do and evaluate me from there."

Jacobus helped Kennedy reach the championship game of the Class 4A playoffs for the first time in school history.

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Dralle will play football, baseball at Coe

Cedar Rapids Kennedy football star Tyler Dralle plans to continue his career at Coe College, he announced Saturday on his Twitter account.

Dralle, a workhorse tailback for the Cougars, helped Kennedy finish with a 13-1 record and finish second in the Class 4A playoffs. He carried the ball 408 times and set the Metro record with 2,254 yards. He averaged 5.5 yards per carry and scored 24 touchdowns.

Dralle also plans to play baseball for the Kohawks. He hit .297 with three home runs and 37 RBIs for Kennedy last season, helping the Cougars finish with a 30-12 record and reach the semifinals of the Class 4A state tournament. He also compiled a 2-0 record and 1.56 ERA as a pitcher.

Dralle was named first team all-state in football by the Des Moines Register and Iowa Newspaper Association.

Williams helps Linn-Mar top Kennedy

Nate Williams rolled a 233 game and a 460 series to lead the Linn-Mar boys bowling team to a 3,177 to 2,906 win over Kennedy in a Mississippi Valley Conference meet Friday at the Cedar Rapids Bowling Center.

Nick Green had a 239 game and a 416 series for the Cougars.

KENNEDY: Nick Green 239-177=416, James Jambois 179-224=403, Max Hiatt 192-193=385, Nathan Fisher 163-178=341, Aeron Stockwell 160-170=330, Bert Goodwin 182-186=318.

LINN-MAR: Nate Williams 233-227=460, Alex Diercks 210-199=409, Jacob Wheaton 167-231=398, Ryan Wyant 161-237=398, Alex Barnett 213-177=390, Alex Johnson 174-214=388.

Kennedy 1,913-993=2,906.

Linn-Mar 2,055-1,122=3,177.

Linn-Mar girls edge Kennedy

Hannah Bates had a 382 series and Katie Routhe had a 200 game to lead the Linn-Mar girls bowling team to a tught 2,605 to 2,559 win over Kennedy in a Mississippi Valley Conference meet Friday at the Cedar Rapids Bowling Center.

Hamie Milota rolled a 307 game and a 371 series for the Cougars.

KENNEDY: Jamie Milota 207-164=371, Alyssa Wiedemeier 176-176=352, Sydney Helms 169-136=305, Abbie Haller 130-172=302, Cate Oliphant 169-132=301, Sam Eltze 152-148=300.

LINN-MAR: Hannah Bates 188-194=382, Katie Routhe 200-161=361, Mekena Diercks 158-171=329, Abbie Smith 141-171=312, Brittni Krause 154-143=297, Alexis Tschantz 119-164=283.

Kennedy: 1,631-928=2,559.

Linn-Mar: 1,681-924=2,605.

Kennedy boys nearly upset IC West

IOWA CITY - The Cedar Rapids Kennedy boys basketball team nearly upset third-ranked Iowa City West Friday night, but the Cougars squandered a 10-point halftime lead and lost 42-39 in Iowa City.

Kennedy held the Trojans (12-3, 9-1) to just 14 points in the first half and led 24-14 at intermission.

Michael Bisenius popped in four 3-pointers and scored 12 points for Kennedy (5-10, 3-7). Nobody else scored in double figures for the Cougars.

Wali Parks led Iowa City West with 17 points. Connor McCaffery had 12 points and Devontae Lane added 10.

KENNEDY (39): Brewster 3 0-0 6, Girling 1 1-2 3, Berst 1 0-0 2, Bisenius 4 0-0 12, Wall 1 0-1 2, Beyer 3 0-0 6, Gardner 2 0-0 5, Diggins 1 1-2 3, Duehr 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 2-5 39.

IOWA CITY WEST (42): Parks 6 5-5 17, Henderson 1 1-2 3, Lane 3 4-5 10, C.McCaffery 3 3-4 12, Barnes 0 0-0 0, Distgerhoft 0 0-0 0, P.McCaffery 0 0-0 0, Majors 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 13-16 42.

Halftime - Kennedy 24, Iowa City West 14. 3-point goals - Kennedy 5 (Bisenius 4, Gardner 1), Iowa City West 3 (C.McCaffery 3).

No. 6 Kennedy girls fall in OT

The sixth-ranked Kennedy girls basketball team suffered a painful overtime loss, falling to No. 14 Iowa City West 56-55 Friday at Kennedy.

The Cougars led 41-32 at halftime and 46-39 at the end of the third quarter, but the Women of Troy fought back to tie the score at 52-52 at the end of regulation and went on to win at the finish.

Lela Sellers scored 21 points for Kennedy (15-3, 8-2). Linden Runels added 10 points.

Lauren Zacharias scored 20 points for Iowa City West (11-6, 7-3).

IOWA CITY WEST (56): Morgan 2 0-0 6, Zacharias 8 0-0 20, Fay 0 1-2 1, Saunders 3 3-5 10, McGrane 0 0-0 0, Huinker 1 3-4 6, Cook 3 1-4 4, Harder 0 0-2 0, Koch 3 0-1 6, Beckner 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 8-17 56.

KENNEDY (55): Langhurst 3 0-1 8, Hamilton 1 0-0 3, Hayden 2 0-1 5, Sellers 7 7-10 21, Steele 0 0-0 0, Hellweg 0 0-0 0, Dolphin 2 1-3 5, Runels 4 0-0 10, Meier 1 0-0 3. Totals 20 8-15 55.

Halftime – Kennedy 41, Iowa City West 32. 3-point goals – Iowa City West 8 (Zacharias 4, Morgan 2, Saunders, Huinker), Kennedy 7 (Langhurst 2, Runels 2, Hamilton, Hayden, Meier).