Linn-Mar High School - Marion, Iowa

Toothless Lions whipped by Waverly-SR

The Linn-Mar Lions tried to wrestle Waverly-Shell Rock with a depleted lineup Saturday at the Dual Team Championships.

The result was predictable.

The toothless Lions got trounced by the Waverly wrestling machine, 58-10, in the Class 3A quarterfinals at the U.S. Cellular Center.

Waverly-Shell Rock finished third after losing to Bettendorf in the semifinals and beating Southeast Polk. Iowa City West beat Bettendorf, 33-19, for the championship.

Linn-Mar had only four wrestlers at their accustomed spots in the 14-man lineup due to injury, illness and an inability to make weight at the end of a grueling campaign.

It was a recipe for a wipeout against Waverly-Shell Rock, which won the traditional state wrestling tournament in Des Moines last week and has one of the top programs in the state.

"That was the best (lineup) we had," said Linn-Coach Doug Streicher.

Linn-Mar nudged North Scott, 30-29, in the regional tournament Tuesday to qualify for the state duals, but Streicher knew it would be tough to hold the lineup together.

Read more...

Lions boys show why they're No. 1

The Linn-Mar Lions showed why they are the No. 1 ranked boys basketball team in the state Friday, scoring from all over the court and employing suffocating full-court pressure defense to beat Xavier, 69-45, at Linn-Mar in a Class 4A substate semifinal.

Senior guard Shane Benton led the way for Linn-Mar (22-0) with 21 points and North Carolina-bound junior Marcus Paige added 20 points for the Lions. Senior center Ryan Mains paced Xavier (7-16) with 10 points.

Linn-Mar started the game slow. Xavier's final lead came at 8-7 with 3:18 left in the opening quarter.

"We got off to a slow start and a lot of that has to do with having a week off and having a bye," said Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson. "It's hard to stay sharp when you're used to playing and then you just practice for five days."

The Lions employed their full-court pressure and picked up the pace. Linn-Mar scored 10 straight points in the final 3 minutes of the first quarter. The Lions continued to sprint away from the Saints in the second period and put the game out of reach with a 28-point halftime lead.

Read more...

Northrup: Boys should not wrestle girls

Joel Northrup said on national television Wednesday (Feb. 23) morning that he decided in the fifth grade that he would never wrestle against a girl again.

Northrup is the Linn-Mar sophomore who forfeited his opening-round match in the Iowa state wrestling tournament last Thursday because he did not want to compete against Cassy Herkelman of Cedar Falls, one of two girls to make the tournament this year.

Northrup has declined interviews with local and state media, but he was scheduled to speak Wednesday morning with national correspondents from CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox from the KGAN studios in Cedar Rapids.

Northrup appeared on "The Early Show" on CBS. He was asked to explain his decision not to wrestle against Herkelman, which the family said last Thursday was based on religious principles.

Read more...

Lions earn date with state champs (barely)

If you want to stumble across unusual stories, just spend a few days with the Linn-Mar wrestling team.

The Lions seem to attract them.

Just last week, a Linn-Mar wrestler forfeited his match at the state tournament to a girl, sparking a national debate about gender equity, religion and the American Way.

Just when that simmered down, the Lions competed in an important dual meet Tuesday night at Linn-Mar and when it ended, nobody knew who won. Really. Nobody knew.

As it turned out, Linn-Mar won the meet on an obscure tiebreaker and earned a date in the state dual meet tournament this Saturday against Waverly-Shell Rock, the powerful team that just won its fourth straight title at the traditional state wrestling tournament in Des Moines.

Read more...