Kennedy High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Urbi, Kitsos power Kennedy swimmers

Brennan Urbi and Stefan Kitsos of Cedar Rapids Kennedy have their names written all over the state leader board in boys swimming this year.

Urbi ranks 10th to 22nd in three events, Kitsos ranks 12th to 25th in three other events and they are members of three relay teams that rank 13th to 21st.

That's not bad for now, but they both think they can climb even higher as the season moves toward the state meet in February.

"I definitely think we have the potential to move up," Urbi said Monday night. "I think it's just going to come down to what we want to put in at practice and how much we really want to buckle down and make ourselves get better, no matter how much it's going to hurt during those weeks of training."

Urbi and Kitsos, both juniors, had a hand in four victories Monday as the 16th-ranked Cougars topped No. 27 Jefferson, 104-66, in a Mississippi Valley Conference meet at Jefferson.

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Manning wins Metro Spotlight Award

Cedar Rapids Kennedy senior Brendon Manning is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school boys this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday.

Manning, a 6-foot-4 forward, is one of the most improved basketball players in the Metro area this season. He averaged just 3.2 points and 1.6 rebounds in 11 games last year and missed the second half of the campaign with a broken ankle, but he has become one of the leaders for the Cougars this year.

Manning enjoyed three big games for Kennedy this past week as the Cougars raised their record to 5-1 with three straight victories.

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Manning paces Cougars by Solon

Brendon Manning broke his ankle midway through the season last year and made only a marginal contribution to the Kennedy basketball team at 3.2 points and 1.6 rebounds per game.

The 6-foot-4 senior is a different guy this year.

Manning scored 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds Saturday night as the Cougars topped Solon, 63-49, in a sluggish affair at the Kennedy gym for his second big outing in a row.

Manning collected 25 points, eight rebounds and six assists Friday when Kennedy upended eighth-ranked Dubuque Hempstead, 83-76, in Dubuque. That means he averaged 21.5 points and 11 rebounds for the weekend, a far cry from what he contributed a year ago.

Manning is averaging 14 points and 6.7 rebounds overall for Kennedy, which raised its record to 5-1 Saturday.

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3 Cougars win titles in Fort Madison

FORT MADISON - Ben Sarasin, Logen Rodriguez and Sam Pape won championships for the Kennedy Cougars Saturday at the Fort Madison wrestling tournament.

Sarasin breezed through the competition at 138 pounds with four straight pins in 23 seconds, 16 seconds, 1:09 and 2:48 in the finals. He flattened Ben Nelson of Burlington for the title.

Rodriguez claimed top honors at 145 pounds with two quick pins, a 16-4 major decision and a 10-7 verdict over Logan Grimm of Wapello in the finals. His pins took only 15 seconds and 32 seconds.

Pape drew an opening-round bye at 182 pounds and then pinned three straight opponents in 1:07, 1:41 and 10 seconds in the finals. He flattened Ty Stockwell of Van Buren for the title.

Nolan Hromidko placed second for Kennedy at 120 pounds. Dylan Ironside (126) and Dalles Jacobus (220) placed third.

Clinton won the 13-team tournament with 189 points. Kennedy finished fourth.

Team Standings

1. Clinton 189, 2. Ankeny 157, 3. Burlington 155, 4. Kennedy 153, 5. Fort Madison 150, 6. West Hancock 127.5, 7. New London 93, 8. Muscatine 86, 9. Wapello 78, 10. West Burlington/Notre Dame 66.5, 11. Van Buren 66, 12. Keokuk 65, 13. Louisa-Muscatine 21.

Cougars bump off No. 8 Hempstead

DUBUQUE - Brendon Manning poured in a career-high 25 points Friday night as Kennedy upended eighth-ranked Dubuque Hempstead, 83-76, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game at Moody Gymnasium in Dubuque.

Manning also collected eight rebounds and six assists for the Cougars (4-1).

Cole Murdock finished with 19 points and seven assists for Kennedy. Bryton Heisler pitched in 18 points in the high-scoring affair.

Kennedy rallied in the fourth quarter with its press and trapping defense.

Hempstead (4-1) played without the services of point guard Martell Wilson.

Kennedy girls fall to City High

IOWA CITY - The Kennedy girls bowling team lost to Iowa City High, 2507-2122, in a Mississippi Valley Conference meet at Colonial Lanes in Iowa City Friday.

Jamie Milota led Kennedy with a 323 series.

Kennedy - Abbie Haller 143-147=290, Sydney Helms 143-129=272, Jamie Milota 167-156-323, Kayla Sickles 97-138=235, Jill Zaiser 117-93=210, Alyssa Wiedemeier 151-119=270.

Iowa City High - Taylor Hayslett 156-143=299, Brooke Shaw 150-202=352, Liz Gross 152-148=300, Bella McBride 130-118=248, Shyniece Cirillo 171-174=345, Brittnee Price 184-166=350.

Kennedy - 1390 + 732 = 2122
City High - 1646 + 861 = 2507

Sellers leads Cougars to win

Lela Sellers had 17 points as the Kennedy girls basketball team beat Dubuque Hempstead 53-44 Friday at Kennedy.

Sydney Hayden and Steph Botkin each had 13 points for the Cougars (6-3).

Jess Brown had 17 points for the Mustangs (1-7).

DUBUQUE HEMPSTEAD (44): Bybee 2 1-1 6, Bitter 1 0-0 3, Kluesner 1 0-0 3, Brown 6 3-5 17, Beringer 1 0-1 2, O’Hare 1 2-2 5, Megan Goneau 0 0-0 0, Rileu 3 0-0 6. Totals 15 6-9 44.

KENNEDY (53): Hayden 5 1-2 13, Sellers 7 1-2 17, Runels 0 3-5 3, Botkin 6 0-0 13, Hamilton 1 2-2 4, Dolphin 1 0-0 2, Dye 0 0-0 0, Timmerman 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 7-11 53.

Halftime – Kennedy 29, Dubuque Hempstead 23. 3-point goals – Dubuque Hempstead 6 (Brown 2, Bybee, Bitter, Kluesner, O’Hare), Kennedy 5 (Hayden 3, Sellers 2, Botkin).

Svoboda’s 461 series leads Cougars

IOWA CITY – Doug Svoboda had a 461 series to lead the Kennedy boys bowling team to a 2,857 to 2,463 win over Iowa City High on Friday at Colonial Lanes.

Kolby Melsha led the Little Hawks with a 400 series.

Kennedy (2,857): Doug Svoboda 215-246=461, James Jambois 180-191=371, Aaron Smith 192-173=365, Davis Sutton 158-187=345, Alec White 163-178=341, George Goodwin 128-167=295.

Iowa City High (2,463): Kolby Melsha 216-184=400, Austin Young 155-162=317, Andrew Franz 170-139=309, Paul Sirena 162-147=309, Garrett Highly 155-142=297, Adam Fiagle 122-157=279.

Kennedy: 1,883-974=2,857.
Iowa City High: 1,632-831=2,463.

10 forfeits mar Kennedy-Wash meet

The Kennedy Cougars barely had to break a sweat Thursday night in their 60-17 victory over Washington in a Mississippi Valley Conference meet at Kennedy.

Washington put only four wrestlers on the mat all night and forfeited nine matches to Kennedy. There was a double-forfeit at 113 pounds.

Nolan Hromidko (126) and Logen Benion (160) had pins for the Cougars. Jordan Henderson (138) had a pin for Washington and Will Foreman (120) won a technical fall.

KENNEDY 60, WASHINGTON 17

170 - Todd Gusta (CRK) won by forfeit
182 - Sam Pape (CRK) won by forfeit
195 - Jack Nolan (CRK) won by forfeit
220 - Justin Johnson (CRK) won by forfeit
285 - Dalles Jacobus (CRK) won by forfeit
106 - Cam Shaver (CRK) won by forfeit
113 - Double forfeit
120 - Will Foreman (CRW) tech fall Austin McLeod, 17-2
126 - Nolan Hromidko (CRK) pinned Logan Sears, 0:55
132 - Logan Black-Marchard (CRW) won by forfeit
138 - Jordan Henderson (CRW) pinned Kale Crawford, Fall 3:35
145 - Logen Rodriguez (CRK) won by forfeit
152 - Cameron Roehlk (CRK) won by forfeit
160 - Logen Benion (CRK) pinned Matt Ackerman, 3:20