Metro Sports Report

Briggs thinks Jeff wrestlers got raw deal

Cedar Rapids Jefferson wrestling coach Dick Briggs is a mild-mannered guy who rarely complains, but he's upset with the way the Class 3A regional dual meet tournaments were organized this year.

First of all, he thinks the J-Hawks were short-changed when they dropped from No. 5 to No. 9 in the IWCOA dual team rankings that were used to determine which schools would host a regional tournament on Feb. 10. The top-eight teams in the rankings get to host, so Jefferson missed by one spot.

Secondly, he's disappointed his J-Hawks would have to defeat fifth-ranked Johnston in the regional finals at Johnston in order to claim a berth in the state dual meet tournament. Normally, a team seeded No. 9 would face the No. 8 seed in the regional finals, but the Iowa High School Athletic Association did not follow the chart.

The Iowa Wrestling Coaches Association (IWCOA) made the rankings, then the Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) made the pairings that were released last month.

Cougars, Lions lead parade to college

The Kennedy Cougars and Linn-Mar Lions will be leading the parade of college commitments this week.

The winter signing period begins Wednesday for many college-bound athletes, although prep athletes who are heading to NCAA Division III schools will not be signing letters-of-intent since D3 colleges do not offer athletic scholarships.

Kennedy High School plans to hold a ceremony at 2:55 p.m. Wednesday in the school cafeteria to honor the following college-bound athletes:

• Shaun Beyer, University of Iowa, football
• Dalles Jacobus, University of Iowa, football
• Tyler Dralle, Coe College, football & baseball
• Carly Langhurst, Iowa State, soccer
• Anna Frerichs, Iowa State, soccer
• Sydney Hayden, Northern Iowa, soccer
• Linden Runels, Carnegie Mellon, soccer
• Cameron Stump, Simpson, golf
• Paige Timmerman, Luther, softball
• Logen Rodriguez, Wisconsin-La Crosse, wrestling

Linn-Mar High School plans to hold a ceremony at 3:45 Wednesday in the Media Center to honor these athletes and their college commitments:

• Jenna Ajram, Chicago State, soccer
• Daniel Gorsich, Benedictine College, football
• Claire Larson, Missouri-Kansas City, soccer
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New call at UNI: I love Jalen Rima!

Jalen Rima has been attending football games at the University of Northern Iowa for as long as he can remember. He's got as many purple-and-gold caps and shirts as you could need, but he's about to get more.

Rima plans to sign his national letter-of-intent with the Northern Iowa football program Wednesday morning during a ceremony in the Cedar Rapids Prairie library, further cementing the Rima family's strong ties to the university.

Jacobus will join Hawks as a walk-on

Dalles Jacobus, the inspirational leader of the Kennedy football "family" that won 13 straight games last season, has found a new football family to call his own next year.

Jacobus said Monday he has accepted an offer to join the Iowa Hawkeyes as a preferred walk-on, joining a program that won 12 straight games this season and rocketed to national attention.

Iowa assistant coach Reese Morgan began talking to Jacobus about the possibility of joining the Hawkeyes last summer, but everything happened quickly Monday morning after Morgan contacted Kennedy Coach Brian White.