DES MOINES - There are no easy matches at the Class 3A state dual meet wrestling tournament.

Consider the Prairie Hawks, for instance.

The Hawks have one of the best high school wrestling teams in Iowa, but they had to fight like crazy just to finish with a 1-2 record at the state meet in Des Moines Wednesday.

Prairie lost to the powerful Johnston Dragons, 34-25, in the opening round, then rebounded nicely with a 46-36 verdict against Clinton in the consolation bracket.

The Hawks (20-5) finished the day with a 37-36 loss to Waverly-Shell Rock, another potent club, in the match for fifth place.

West Des Moines Valley trimmed Southeast Polk, 31-26, for the state dual meet title.

Prairie was hoping to finish third or higher in the tournament, but Coach Kane Thompson would have been satisfied if the Hawks had defeated Waverly-Shell Rock and finished the day with two good victories.

"That would make me feel good going into tomorrow," said Thompson, looking ahead to the individual state tournament that begins Thursday, "but it's a short-lived feel-good because of the short turnaround of being ready to go tomorrow.

"But anytime you win something, it can't be bad."

Prairie and Waverly-Shell Rock split their 14 matches. Both teams had five pins or forfeit victories, but Waverly collected an extra team point for a major decision to win the meet.

Prairie lost the first four matches against Johnston and fell into a 13-0 hole before Derek Horak collected a pin at 170 pounds to pull the Hawks within 13-6. Marcus England pulled the Hawks within 22-19 with a major decision at 113 pounds, but they fell back again when they had to forfeit at 120 pounds with Jacob Tedrow sidelined with mononucleosis.

Prairie's No. 2 wrestler at 120 pounds is sidelined with a knee injury, so they had to forfeit that weight class against Johnston and Clinton. "We don't even had a backup," said Thompson. "We're stuck there."

The Hawks fell behind Johnston 34-19 when Trenten Wennermark got pinned at 126 pounds. Sam Uthoff got a pin for the Hawks at 132 to make the final score 34-25.

Johnston won nine of 14 matches against Prairie.

"They're tough. Kind of what you thought," said Thompson. "I think maybe we were flat a little bit, just maybe weren't ready. I think they wanted to be ready, but I just thought we didn't look like we did at regional duals."

Clinton stuck Kennedy in the regional duals to reach the state meet last week, giving Prairie another tough opponent in the second round Wednesday.

This time the Hawks got the upper hand with five pins from Mike Jasa, Derek Horak, Preston LaGrange, England and Uthoff. Chase St. John clinched the victory with a 14-1 major decision at 138 in the final bout.

"That was a lot better," said England. "I feel like the team was more competitive in that round. It's always tough to lose the first round. I don't know if some of the guys were really up and ready to go.

"Coach talked to us about that," he said, "but I feel like we bounced back well in the second round and our guys were very competitive and we were able to get the win.

"That's definitely a confidence booster going into the next round. We'll give our best effort and see what we can do."

The Hawks were able to use a few back-up wrestlers against Clinton and still get the victory, giving some of their guys a chance to save energy for the individual state tournament Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

"We were able to win and win smart," said Thompson. "We were able to rest quite a few state qualifiers and still win that dual, so that's a pretty important thing.

"That is a really good team we just beat," he said after topping Clinton. "Our kids responded well. I think that was pretty much their full-go lineup, so I feel pretty good about that win."

JOHNSTON 34, PRAIRIE 25

138 - Nick Graham (J) major dec. Chase St. John, 11-0
145 - Ethan Ksiazek (J) dec. Casey Hogan, 6-2
152 - Collin Hushagen (J) dec. Morgan Hood, 8-4
160 - Austin Gracia (J) dec. Mike Jasa, 9-3
170 - Derek Horak (P) pinned Atnhony Piagentini, 3:19
182 - Drew Singbush (J) dec. Preston LaGrange, 7-5
195 - Taylor Mehmen (P) pinned Emin Okic, 1:40
220 - Ben Wilson (J) dec. Tyler Pasker, 4-2
285 - Jake Ryan (J) dec. Alex Heisdorffer, 11-6
106 - Conrad Braswell (P) dec. Cade Moss, 3-0
113 - Marcus England (P) major dec. Blake Anderson, 9-1
120 - Zach Price (J) won by forfeit
126 - Elliott Pohlmeyer (J) pinned Trenten Wennermark, 3:11
132 - Sam Uthoff (P) pinned Avery Swizdor, 0:37

PRAIRIE 46, CLINTON 36

152 - Clem Butler (C) pinned Rhett Ruzicka, 0:45
160 - Mike Jasa (P) pinned Ben Chapman, 2:00
170 - Derek Horak (P) pinned Trajae Lackland, 4:10
182 - Preston LaGrange (P) pinned Luke Larkin, 0:42
195 - Justin Guilliams (C) pinned Stuart Boston, 0:42
220 - Trevor Barry (C) pinned Chance Halfhill, 0:41
285 - Tyler Clark (C) pinned Jackson Hesseltine, 0:45
106 - Isaac Larkinn (C) pinned Ted Zangerle, 4:28
113 - Marcus England (P) pinned Kyle Guilliams, 4:14
120 - Evan Sander (C) won by forfeit
126 - Sam Uthoff (P) pinned Sam Curtis, 1:26
132 - Chase St. John (P) major dec. Jess Chapman, 14-1

WAVERLY-SHELL ROCK 37, PRAIRIE 36

152 - Morgan Hood (P) pinned Jacob Herrmann, 2:00
160 - Zach Wagenhoffer (W) pinned Mike Jasa, 3:47
170 - Trevor Byram (W) major dec. Derek Horak, 13-5
182 - Jamiir Moore (W) pinned Preston LaGrange, 0:38
195 - Taylor Mehmen (P) pinned Samuel Stover, 1:02
220 - Tyler Pasker (P) pinned Riley Steckelberg, 1:36
285 - Jacob Eggleston (W) pinned Alex Heisdorffer, 1:21
106 - Conrad Braswell (P) won by forfeit
113 - Derick Wyatt (W) pinned Ted Zangerle, 5:05
120 - Marcus England (P) pinned Dalton Rinnels, 1:03
126 - Trenten Wennermark (P) dec. Ian Heise, 7-6
132 - Austin Yant (W) pinned Lucas Hamening, 5:16
138 - Lorgan Derifield (W) dec. Chase St. John, 3-1
145 - Casey Hogan (P) dec. Dalton Woodyard, 3-1