Jarod Cadena was the most popular guy in the Cedar Rapids Prairie gym Thursday night.

Cadena pinned Joe Gallo in 15 seconds in the final match at 182 pounds to give the fifth-ranked Prairie Hawks a dramatic 38-34 victory over No.4 Linn-Mar in an exciting Mississippi Valley Conference meet.

Prairie trailed, 34-32, when Cadena took the mat against Gallo.

"I was really pumped for that match," he said. "I was ticked that it was that close anyway. I just wanted to go out there and get it done quick.

"In that situation, I just need to go out there and get the job done. I'm just happy that we came out and got the win in the dual."

Prairie Coach Blake Williams gave Cadena some advice before the pivotal bout.

"We just said, 'Don't rush things, don't do anything too quickly,'" Williams related, laughing. "Obviously he didn't listen."

The two MVC powerhouses split their 14 matches, 7-7. Prairie collected five pins and a technical fall for decisive bonus points. Linn-Mar had four pins and a major decision, giving the edge to the Hawks.

Cadena's pin in 15 seconds was not even the quickest of the night for Prairie. Jonah Manson stuck Tylor Newhouse in 15 seconds at 285 pounds, but Dylan Kleinschmidt topped them all with a 13-second job at 113 pounds.

Manson, England and Kleinschmidt struck in succession as Prairie rallied from an early 10-0 deficit for an 18-10 lead.

"They really got after it from the start," said Williams. "We told them before, bonus points will be huge."

Skyler St. John had a pin at 160 pounds for Prairie and Josh Wenger posted a 15-0 technical fall at 138 for the Hawks. Alijah Jeffery (120), Damon Griffin (132), Toby Northrup (145) and Sam Nowak (220) had pins for Linn-Mar.

Linn-Mar senior Ross Lembeck, ranked No.1 at 152 pounds, defeated second-ranked Trey Blaha, 3-1, in the lowest scoring match of the night.

"A meet like this, it's great for the sport, because you have that atmosphere," said Williams. "You don't get that atmosphere everywhere. No matter who wins and loses, to me it's good for the sport. It really is. I wish we had more of these."

Prairie defeated Linn-Mar for the team championship at the Independence Invitational this past Saturday and has a 2-0 edge on the Lions so far. They could meet again in the semifinals of the 5 Seasons Duals this Saturday at Kennedy.

They'll see each other a lot this season, but Prairie and Linn-Mar are not in the same Class 3A district for the postseason tournament.

PRAIRIE 38, LINN-MAR 34

195 - Andrew Holladay (LM) major dec. Jesse Hynek, 15-7.
220 - Sam Nowak (LM) pinned Corey Meyer, 3:46.
285 - Jonah Manson (CRP) pinned Tylor Newhouse, 0:15.
106 - Marcus England (CRP) pinned Charlie Petersen, 1:43.
113 - Dylan Kleinschmidt (CRP) pinned Kyle Tupper, 0:13.
120 - Alijah Jeffery (LM) pinned Sam Uthoff, 1:13.
126 - Zack Fiser (CRP) dec. Alex Streicher, 5-2.
132 - Damon Griffin (LM) pinned Seth Wennermark, 5:21.
138 - Josh Wenger (CRP) tech fall Manny Jeffery, 15-0.
145 - Toby Northrup (LM) pinned Morgan Hood, 1:17.
152 - Ross Lembeck (LM) def. Trey Blaha, 3-1.
160 - Skyler St. John (CRP) pinned Seth Stecker, 2:24.
170 - Shea Hartzler (LM) def. Nick Hogan, 9-4.
182 - Jarod Cadena (CRP) pinned Joe Gallo, 0:15.