Metro Sports Report

Hummel shows 'all guts and heart' for J-Hawks

MARSHALLTOWN – The most gutsy performance at the boys state swimming championships Saturday was turned in by Cedar Rapids Jefferson sophomore Paul Hummel.

He came close to matching his all-time personal best times in both of his races despite undergoing an emergency appendectomy on Thursday.

“I told him it was his choice if he wanted to swim or not,” said J-Hawk Coach Ryan York.

Hummel, a 6-foot-3 breaststroke specialist who also normally swims on the freestyle relays, said that once he got in the water, he felt fine.

“Oh, it hurt just a little bit,” he said matter-of-factly. “Not that bad. I felt pretty good, actually.”

He started getting excruciating stomach pains on Wednesday afternoon just before practice. York said he had a friend in college who suffered an attack of appendicitis with similar symtoms.

Thorson's gold helps Warriors claim silver

MARSHALLTOWN -- For the second year in a row, the Iowa City West boys swimming team proved silly that age-old fable about the Tortoise and the Hare.

By easily splashing their way to back-to-back state championships (and winning seven of 11 events as expected), the Trojans proved that the swift most always do win the race.

But the Washington Warriors, a surprising runner-up last year, showed once again that a steady race does indeed count for something.

Their one win came in a phenomenal performance by senior Jared Thorson in the 100 butterfly. With superior depth, however, they again claimed second place rather comfortably in what was projected to be a dogfight among at least three teams chasing after the Iowa City torpedoes.

West finished with 189 points to Washington’s 140. West Des Moines Valley was next at 119.5 and Dubuque Senior came in fourth with 98.

Pasker adds exclamation point for Prairie

Most wrestlers have to carefully watch their diet and shed pounds to make proper weight for their matches, but Tyler Pasker of Prairie faced a different problem heading into the Class 3A district meet Saturday.

Pasker actually had to gain seven pounds just to sneak into the 285-pound bracket as one of the lightest heavyweights in state history, and the gambit paid off when he pinned a much larger man to make the state tournament.

The Prairie Hawks won the district title and qualified nine wrestlers for the state tournament in Des Moines next week. Pasker might be the happiest member of the club after what happened in the Prairie gym.

The Hawks had an opening in the 285-pound division and Pasker volunteered for the job, even though he normally weighs about 190. But to be eligible for the 285-pound class, he had to "eat" his way out of the 195-pound division to meet IHSAA requirements. And at this time of year, the 195-pound class is actually 197 due to a two-pound allowance.

J-Hawks win district, send 8 to state

WAVERLY – The Jefferson wrestling team won the Class 3A district meet with 214 points Saturday at Waverly-Shell Rock and qualified eight wrestlers for the state tournament, which opens Thursday in Des Moines.

The J-Hawks finished with 214 points. Kennedy was fourth with 152.5 points and sent three wrestlers to state. Washington finished eighth with 30 points and did not have a state qualifier.

Jefferson crowned three champions. Zach Main won a 7-4 decision over Waverly-Shell Rock’s Derick Wyatt at 106 pounds, Kelly May pinned Waterloo West’s Sam Gerst in 1 minute and Dalton Kuehl won a 7-2 decision over Waterloo East’s Omar Begic.

Brenden Baker (113), Joseph Sibomana (120), Kyle Briggs (132), Tavian Rashed (152) and Luke Sedlacek (160) were runners-up for the J-Hawks and also earned state-tournament berths.

Nolan Hromidko pinned Jefferson’s Sibomana in 27 seconds to earn the 113 title for Kennedy. Dalles Jacobus won a 7-4 decision over Nekema Carter of Waterloo East for the 220 title for Kennedy. Ben Sarasin was second at 138 for the Cougars.

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Jefferson 214; 2. Waverly-Shell Rock 195; 3. Cedar Falls 173.5; 4. Kennedy 152.5; 5. Mason City 130; 6. Waterloo East 118; 7. Waterloo West 73; 8. Washington 30.