Local News

5 Metro wrestlers get bronze medals

DES MOINES - Sam Uthoff of Prairie, Clint Lembeck of Xavier, Matt Wempen of Linn-Mar, Shea Hartzler of Linn-Mar and Kelly May of Jefferson finished third at the Class 3A state wrestling tournament Saturday.

Uthoff beat Jackson Gallagher of Bettendorf, 5-3, for the bronze medal at 126 pounds. Lembeck stopped Spencer Nevills of Pleasant Valley, 7-1, for third place at 132 pounds.

Wempen blanked Christian Foote of Pleasant Valley, 2-0, at 145 pounds. Hartzler pinned Anthony Sherry of Glenwood in 1:34 for third place at 160 pounds. May trimmed Donovan Doyle of Iowa City West, 2-1, at 182 pounds.

Marcus England of Prairie (106), Brenden Baker of Jefferson (113) and Nolan Hromidko of Kennedy (120) all finished fourth at the state tournament.

Baker beat Nate Lendt of Southeast Polk in the first round of the tournament, but Lendt turned the tables and defeated Baker in the consolation match for third. Both matches were decided by 5-4 scores.

Noah Ajram of Linn-Mar finished sixth at 120 pounds. Kyle Briggs of Jefferson (132) and Taylor Mehmen of Prairie (195) both placed eighth.

Lions 6th, Cougars 9th in hoops poll

The Linn-Mar Lions dropped two spots to No. 6 in the new Class 4A boys basketball rankings Monday by the Associated Press.

The Lions (15-4) were upset by Xavier at home last week.

The Kennedy Cougars (14-5) remained No. 9 in Class 4A.

Xavier narrowly missed climbing into the Class 3A rankings. Keokuk is ranked 10th in 3A with 14 points, with the Saints next with 11 points.

Iowa City West (19-0) is ranked No. 1 in Class 4A. The other top-ranked clubs are Williamsburg (18-1) and Pella (17-2) in 3A, New Hampton (20-1) in 2A and Gladbrook-Reinbeck (21-0) in 1A.

CLASS 4A

1. Iowa City West (19-0), 2. Pleasant Valley (19-0), 3. North Scott (16-3), 4. Des Moines Hoover (17-1), 5. Urbandale (16-4), 6. Linn-Mar (15-4), 7. Ankeny Centennial (17-3), 8. Waukee (15-5), 9. Kennedy (14-5), 10. Ames (14-5).

CLASS 3A

1. (tie) Williamsburg (18-1), Pella (17-2), 3. Waverly-Shell Rock (18-2), 4. Le Mars (17-3), 5. Fort Madison (18-2), 6. MOC-Floyd Valley (18-3), 7. Wahlert (12-7), 8. Spirit Lake (17-3), 9. Davenport Assumption (14-5), 10. Keokuk (17-3).

Lions jump to 4th, Cougars 9th

The Linn-Mar Lions climbed three spots to No. 4 in the Class 4A boys basketball poll Monday by the Associated Press.

The Kennedy Cougars, who could face Linn-Mar in the substate finals March 3, entered the rankings this week at No. 9 in the poll. Linn-Mar is 14-3 for the season and Kennedy is 12-5.

The top-ranked teams are Iowa City West in 4A, Pella in 3A, Aplington-Parkersburg in 2A and Gladbrook-Reinbeck in 1A.

CLASS 4A

1. Iowa City West (17-0), 2. Pleasant Valley (17-0), 3. Des Moines Hoover (16-0), 4. Linn-Mar (14-3), 5. North Scott (14-3), 6. Ankeny Centennial (16-2), 7. Urbandale (15-4), 8. Waukee (13-5), 9. Kennedy (12-5), 10. Dowling (13-5).

CLASS 3A

1. Pella (15-2), 2. Williamsburg (16-1), 3. Waverly-Shell Rock (17-2), 4. Spirit Lake (16-2), 5. (tie) MOC-Floyd Valley (16-2), Dubuque Wahlert (11-6), 7. Le Mars (15-3), 8. Fort Madison (16-2), 9. Gilbert (16-2), 10. Davenport Assumption (12-5).

Lions, Cougars, Warriors draw byes

The stage has been set for the boys basketball teams from Linn-Mar, Kennedy and Washington to play in the Class 4A substate finals at the U.S. Cellular Center on Tuesday, March 3.

Now all they have to do is win one game to get there.

Linn-Mar, Kennedy and Washington have all received first-round byes in the substate tournament. That sends all three Metro teams into the substate semifinals on Friday, Feb. 27, with the winners advancing to the substate finals.

The Class 4A and Class 3A pairings were announced Monday by the IHSAA.

The seventh-ranked Linn-Mar Lions will host Marshalltown or Waterloo West in the substate semifinals. The Kennedy Cougars will host Cedar Falls or Waterloo East in the semifinals. Linn-Mar is seeded No. 1 in Substate 3 and Kennedy is seeded No. 2, making them the favorites to meet in the substate finals in a showdown for a berth in the state tournament.

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