Metro Sports Report

Baker helps J-Hawks slay ranked foes

IOWA CITY - Brenden Baker needs to give up gymnastics as a hobby and stick with wrestling.

It's a lot safer.

Baker broke four toes on his left foot trying to do a flip at the gymnastics academy where he works and was sidelined for three months, but he returned to the wrestling mat in fine form Thursday night to help the third-ranked Jefferson J-Hawks beat two ranked teams in a double-dual meet in Iowa City.

Baker, ranked No. 2 at 113 pounds, collected two pins in his first action of the season as Jefferson defeated seventh-ranked Linn-Mar, 45-17, and topped fifth-ranked Iowa City West, 44-27, in the Mississippi Valley Conference affairs.

It was the second straight year that the vastly improved J-Hawks have defeated the two traditional MVC powers.

Craggs makes quick impact with Riders

For his next trick, RoughRiders Coach Mark Carlson will pull a puck out of his pocket and turn it into gold.

The man with the magic touch promoted Sam Craggs to the varsity Wednesday and sure enough the 17-year-old winger scored a goal on his first shot for the RoughRiders in his very first game.

Craggs gave Cedar Rapids a 1-0 lead in the first period and the RoughRiders skated to a 6-3 victory over Green Bay before 2,197 fans at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena.

The RoughRiders needed replacements Wednesday because four of their top players are in Saskatchewan playing for a U.S. team at the World Junior A Challenge International Tournament.

Craggs, Alec Semandel and Joey Marooney all made their debuts with the RoughRiders Wednesday night. They were so new to the lineup that none of them had their names on the back of their jerseys, but they did not play like no-name guys.

Wirth helps Kohawks top Cornell

MOUNT VERNON - Every basketball team needs a hard-nosed player who can contribute in lots of ways and lead her club on the floor.

For the Coe College women's basketball team, that person is Allie Wirth.

Wirth filled up the boxscore Tuesday night and shrugged off a scary fall late in the game as the Kohawks defeated Cornell, 60-48, in Mount Vernon.

The 5-foot-10 junior from Cedar Falls finished with 11 rebounds, eight points, four assists and two steals in 30 solid minutes in the non-conference game.

"She does a ton of little things," said Coe Coach Randi Henderson. "And most important, she's going to do the dirty work.

"She does all the things that some players aren't committed to doing. And because of that she plays a significant role for us.

"That was the best I've seen Allie Wirth play for us," said Henderson.

Schmarzo returned 'home' to Coe

MOUNT VERNON - Max Schmarzo left the comforts of Palo Alto, Calif. to play college basketball at Coe, but in a sense he came home to join the Kohawks.

Both of his parents are from Iowa, they both graduated from Coe and his father, Bill, was an All-American basketball player for the Kohawks in the 1970's.

At first, the California boy was reluctant to become an Iowa boy in college.

"My parents told me to come to Coe and I'd like it," he said Tuesday night. "I said I never would, but I ended up coming here and I like it. It's kind of funny."