Prairie High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Prairie rides balanced scoring to victory

Cedar Rapids Prairie hosted Dubuque Hempstead on Friday night in Mississippi Valley Conference basketball and defeated the Mustangs in a defensive struggle, 47-42.

The Hawks took the lead in the first quarter and never gave it up. Prairie welcomed back seniors Tom Eilers and Ty Mougin from inactivity and they gave the Hawks some needed experience, depth and punch.

“It felt so good to be back in the game and helping my teammates," said Eilers, who scored 10 points. “Coach (James Moses) says I am a hybrid. I can play inside and I can play on the perimeter. I think I prefer the outside, though.”

Eilers shared scoring honors with Kentrel Smith, who also scored 10 points. None of those points were more important than the four key free throws he dropped in down the stretch to preserve the Prairie lead.

Jace Hanna and JoJo Simpson chipped in nine points apiece to create a very balanced offensive attack for the Hawks.

“I missed the front end of a one-and-one but I didn’t let it bother me,” said Smith. “I just knew I had to let it go and concentrate on the next one. Just like practice.”

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Prairie, Linn-Mar grapplers roll in Waterloo

WATERLOO -- Andrew Netolicky delivered in the clutch for the Cedar Rapids Prairie wrestling team Friday at the Battle of Waterloo.

Netolicky pinned Sean Lord of Waverly-Shell Rock in 1:04 in the final match of the Pool B finals to give Prairie a 32-28 victory over No.5 Waverly-Shell Rock.

The fourth-ranked Hawks advanced to the championship round on Saturday in the 32-team tournament along with Linn-Mar, West Delaware and Davenport Assumption. Those four teams will meet in a round robin to determine a champion.

The Linn-Mar Lions cruised through Pool C with three lopsided victories on Friday.

The championship round will begin at 4 p.m. Saturday with Prairie facing West Delaware and Linn-Mar meeting Davenport Assumption. The next round will begin at 6 p.m. with Linn-Mar facing West Delaware and Prairie meeting Assumption. The final round is scheduled for 8 p.m. with Prairie wrestling Linn-Mar and West Delaware facing Assumption.

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Harper picks Iowa Western for football

Cedar Rapids Prairie receiver Demetrius Harper has committed to play football at Iowa Western Community College, the Iowa Prep Sports website has reported.

Harper caught 59 passes for 685 yards this season and scored nine touchdowns, including two TDs on kickoff returns.

Harper helped Prairie finish 8-4 and reach the third round of the Class 4A playoffs.

Iowa Western won the NJCAA national title this year with a 27-7 victory over Butler (Kan.).

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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