Metro Sports Report

Prairie girls bowl them over

MARSHALLTOWN – High school bowling tournaments usually don’t feature cheerleaders.

But the iconic Totem Bowl in Marshalltown on Tuesday was nearly as raucous as any Friday night gym as former Prairie bowler Nick Blood and a bunch of his buddies were on hand to cheer on this year’s record-setting girls team.

With a different chant for each of the six girls, they celebrated every made split and especially every strike. And by the end of the night the boys were hoarse as the Prairie girls bowled over the four-team field and easily danced their way into the state tournament next week in Des Moines.

With an unbeaten record and the highest team average in the state by far, the Prairie girls will be the team to beat.

17 Metro wrestlers win state openers

DES MOINES - Seventeen wrestlers from Metro schools won their opening-round matches at the Class 3A state tournament Thursday in Des Moines and advanced to the quarterfinals on Friday.

The Prairie Hawks finished with a 5-3 record in the first round with Conrad Braswell (106), Marcus England (113), Sam Uthoff (132), Morgan Hood (152) and Taylor Mehmen (195) all advancing. Tyler Pasker (220) lost in the first round, but bounced back in a consolation match and stayed alive in the tournament. Trenten Wennermark (126) and Alex Heisdorffer (285) dropped both of their matches for the Hawks and were eliminated.

Prairie is tied for third place in the team standings with 19.5 points with Johnston and West Des Moines Valley. Fort Dodge leads the Class 3A standings with 31 points, with Southeast Polk second at 28.

The Kennedy Cougars had an impressive day in the opening round with Nolan Hromidko (126), Logen Rodriguez (152), Ben Sarasin (160), Garrett Kubovec (170) and Dalles Jacobus (220) all prevailing in the Round of 16. Kennedy is tied for ninth in the team standings with 14 points after going 5-for-5 in their openers.

The Jefferson J-Hawks went 2-2 in the opening round with Joseph Sibomana (113) and Kyle Briggs (152) advancing. Brenden Baker (120) and Nick Dreckman (182) lost in the first round, but won in their wrestle-back to stay alive. The J-Hawks are in 17th place in the standings.

The Xavier Saints went 2-1 in the opening round with Clint Lembeck (138) and Josh Gerke (145) collecting pins. Keegan Schultschik (120) lost in the first round, but won his wrestle-back. The Saints are in 21st place.

Prairie finishes 6th at state duals

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.

Reeling Saints drop 5th in row

The Xavier Saints are healthy again, but they need a healthy dose of confidence before heading into the Class 3A postseason tournament next week.

And they really need a win.

The Saints played well in stretches Tuesday night but lost to Cedar Falls and sharp-shooter AJ Green, 64-57, for their fifth straight loss in Mississippi Valley Conference games.

Once sitting pretty with a 13-2 record, the Saints have dropped all the way to 13-7 heading into another tough game Thursday night in the regular-season finale at Dubuque Wahlert.

Green, a baby-faced sophomore, popped in eight 3-pointers and scored 28 points for the Tigers, who are ranked No. 7 in Class 4A with a 16-4 record. The Saints led 45-40 entering the final period, but they were outscored 24-12 in the fourth quarter.