Prairie Home

JoJo Simpson commits to Upper Iowa

Cedar Rapids Prairie defensive end JoJo Simpson has accepted an offer to play football at Upper Iowa University, Prairie Coach Mike Morrissey confirmed Thursday afternoon.

Simpson was named second team all-state in Class 4A by the Des Moines Register this season. He was a first-team selection on the all-Metro and all-District teams.

Simpson, who is 6 feet and 250 pounds, used his combination of strength and speed to collect 12 sacks and 21 tackles-for-loss during the 2014 season. He made 74 tackles for the Hawks, who made the playoffs and finished 4-6.

Simpson also carried the ball 37 times for 303 yards and four touchdowns, caught two passes for 32 yards and had a 38.4-yard average as the punter.

Botkin nets 25 as Cougars top Hawks

Stephanie Botkin poured in 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds Tuesday night as Kennedy defeated Prairie, 58-41, in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls basketball game at Prairie.

Lela Sellers collected 18 points, four assists and four steals for the Cougars (9-4).

Halle Person scored 12 points for Prairie (1-10). Jenna Wagemester added 10 points. Person and Wagemester are both freshmen.

KENNEDY (58): Dunham 0 0-0 0, Dye 4 0-0 8, Hamilton 0 0-0 0, Hayden 0 2-2 2, Sellers 6 6-7 18, Steele 0 0-0 0, Timmerman 0 0-0 0, A. Hellweg 1 0-0 2, Meyer 0 0-0 0, Green 0 0-0 0, Milbrath 0 0-0 0, Runels 1 0-0 2, Dolphin 0 1-2 1, Botkin 8 9-14 25, O. Hellweg 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 18-25 58.

PRAIRIE (41): Moenk 2 0-2 4, Altenhofen 1 1-1 3, Rotter 3 1-2 7, Herold 2 0-0 4, Adams 0 1-2 1, Wagemester 4 2-4 10, Person 4 4-6 12, Lampe 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 9-17 41.

Halftime - Kennedy 36, Prairie 18. 3-point goals - Kennedy none, Prairie none.

Kennedy boys smother Prairie, 71-38

The Prairie boys picked the wrong time to travel north to visit the Kennedy gym Tuesday night.

The previously ranked Cougars came out of the gate with gusto on both offense and defense and simply hammered the Hawks, 71-38.

It might have been even more lopsided if subs hadn’t played much of the fourth quarter on both sides.

“This is the first game we really put the offense and defense together,” said Kennedy Coach Jon McKowen. “There have been times when we’ve had one or the other. But tonight we had both.”

Prairie bruiser JoJo Simpson scored the first basket of the night on a nifty dipsy-doodle under the rim. After that, it was Kennedy (7-3, 4-2) the rest of the way.

Read more...

Josh Wenger wins Metro Spotlight Award

Cedar Rapids Prairie senior Josh Wenger is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school boys this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday.

Wenger is one of the top wrestlers in the state and is currently ranked No. 2 at 138 pounds with a 28-1 record.

Wenger captured top honors at the Mendenhall Invitational in Ames Saturday, helping Prairie win the team championship in a strong field that included West Des Moines Valley and Waverly-Shell Rock.

Read more...