The Linn-Mar Lions came within a whisker of derailing the top-ranked high school wrestling team from Wisconsin on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Prairie Hawks succeeded in knocking off the No.1 team from Iowa.

It was a good day for the two Metro powers at the 22nd Annual Five Seasons Dual Wrestling Tournament.

It was nearly a great day.

Linn-Mar split its 14 matches with Kaukauna (Wis.), but the Galloping Ghosts got enough bonus points to nip the Lions, 33-32, in the championship match of the prestigious 16-team tournament at Cedar Rapids Washington.

Meanwhile, the Prairie Hawks bumped off top-ranked Bettendorf in the consolation match for third place, 39-35, on the adjoining mat.

"It's good to see," said Prairie Coach Blake Williams after the Lions and Hawks had flexed their muscles. "I think the Mississippi Valley Conference is really tough this year, and the Metro is a lot tougher this year."

Linn-Mar topped Prairie, 40-29, in the semifinals Saturday, avenging a 38-34 loss to the Hawks Thursday night in an MVC meet at Prairie.

Linn-Mar's match against Kaukauna came down to the wire. Damon Griffin gave the Lions a 32-30 edge with a gritty 3-2 victory in the next-to-last bout at 132 pounds, but Robert Lee - a Wisconsin state champ - was a little too tough for Linn-Mar's Manny Jeffery in the final match at 138 and gave the Ghosts their 33-32 edge with a 5-0 verdict.

The Lions enjoyed taking a shot at the top-ranked Division I club from Wisconsin.

"We came out thinking we were going to beat them. That's what we have to visualize, no matter who they are," said Linn-Mar junior Sam Nowak, who pinned his opponent from Wisconsin in 1:35 at 220 pounds.

"A pretty good day," said Nowak. "You always want first, but you have to look at what you did. Beating Prairie, that's a really good win for us."

Alijah Jeffery posted a 15-0 technical fall at 120 pounds for Linn-Mar in the finals to collect five team points. He wanted a pin, however, which would have given the Lions an extra point and ultimately would have tied the score at 33-33 and sent the refs looking for a tiebreaker.

"We wrestled tough," said Jeffery, who is ranked No.1 at 120 pounds. "They came ready to wrestle today. We did too, but some key matches didn't go our way. That's the difference."

Andrew Holladay pinned his opponent in 4:57 to give the Lions six points at 195 pounds. Noah Ajram (113), Toby Northrup (145) and Ross Lembeck (152) collected major decisions for Linn-Mar.

Kaukauna rolled up 24 points with three pins and a forfeit, and those extra points proved to be the difference.

Linn-Mar Coach Doug Streicher enjoyed matching his team against Kaukauna, which finished second at the Wisconsin state tournament last year by a single point.

"That's awesome," Streicher said after the hotly contested meet. "That was a good dual. Exciting. Win or lose, we want to figure out what kind of team we have as far as conditioning, as far as being in close matches. That's exactly what we needed."

Kaukauna Coach Jeff Matczak scoured the Internet during the offseason, looking for a stiff tournament for his team and decided to bring his squad to Cedar Rapids. The Galloping Ghosts beat Bettendorf in the semifinals, 34-31, before cutting it even thinner in the finals against Linn-Mar.

"That's a great day for us," said Matczak. "We came here because we wanted to get some great dual meet competition. We saw the scores last year and we thought we could compete here. It was a really good early-season test for us. This was perfect."

Matczak said his school has made a two-year commitment to the Five Seasons Duals and will return to Cedar Rapids next year.

Prairie split its 14 matches with Bettendorf, 7-7, but the Hawks collected bonus points in all their victories and clinched the triumph when Seth Wennermark pinned his opponent at 132 pounds in the next-to-last bout in 69 seconds.

22ND ANNUAL FIVE SEASONS DUALS

1st - Kaukauna (Wis.) 33, Linn-Mar 32
3rd - Prairie 39, Bettendorf 35
5th - West Delaware 37, Iowa City West 29
7th - Alburnett 40, Charles City 36
9th - Mason City 54, Urbandale 15
11th - Kennedy 49, Iowa City High 17
13th - Washington 42, Waterloo East 18
15th - West Delaware JV 58, Marion 12

LINN-MAR SCORES
Linn-Mar 72, Waterloo East 12
Linn-Mar 39, West Delaware 35
Linn-Mar 40, Prairie 29
Kaukauna 33, Linn-Mar 32

PRAIRIE SCORES
Prairie 60, West Delaware JV 15
Prairie 52, Charles City 13
Linn-Mar 40, Prairie 29
Prairie 39, Bettendorf 35

KENNEDY SCORES
Charles City 55, Kennedy 15
Kennedy 42, West Delaware JV 21
Urbandale 38, Kennedy 34
Kennedy 49, Iowa City High 17

WASHINGTON SCORES
Kaukauna 72, Washington 7
Iowa City High 45, Washington 33
Washington 36, Marion 18
Washington 42, Waterloo East 18

MARION SCORES
Bettendorf 68, Marion 10
Mason City 70, Marion 9
Washington 36, Marion 18
West Delaware JV 58, Marion 12

LINN-MAR 40, PRAIRIE 29
Semifinals

106 - England (P) pinned Petersen, 2:44
113 - Ajram (LM) pinned Kleinschmidt, 1:30
120 - A.Jeffery (LM) major dec Uthoff, 13-0
126 - Wempen (LM) pinned Fiser, 3:16
132 - Griffin (LM) dec Wennermark, 7-3
138 - Wenger (P) tech fall M.Jeffery, 16-0
145 - Northrup (LM) pinned Hood, 3:39
152 - Lembeck (LM) dec Blaha, 3-2
160 - St.John (P) won by forfeit
170 - Hartzler (LM) tech fall Hogan, 16-0
182 - Cadena (P) pinned Oberbroeckling, 3:33
195 - Holladay (LM) major dec Hynek, 15-1
220 - Nowak (LM) dec Manson, 5-2
285 - Sickels (P) pinned Newhouse, 0:40

KAUKAUNA 33, LINN-MAR 32
Finals

145 - Northrup (LM) major dec VanHandel, 16-7
152 - Lembeck (LM) major dec Hietpas, 18-6
160 - Kloehn (K) dec. Hartzler, 3-1
170 - Shukoski (K) pinned Oberbroeckling, 1:31
182 - Trull (K) pinned Gallo, 3:10
195 - Holladay (LM) pinned Holzschuh, 4:56
220 - Nowak (LM) pinned Martin, 1:35
285 - Russum (K) won by forfeit
106 - Trent Leon (K) pinned Petersen, 1:07
113 - Ajram (LM) major dec Lee, 13-0
120 - A.Jeffery (LM) tech fall Gioacchini, 15-0
126 - Tres Leon (K) dec. Wempen, 6-4
132 - Griffin (LM) dec. Jansen, 3-2
138 - Lee (K) dec. M.Jeffery, 5-0

PRAIRIE 39, BETTENDORF 35
3rd Place

145 - Ryan (B) pinned Hood, 1:26
152 - Woodard (B) dec. Blaha, 4-3
160 - St.John (P) pinned Kranovich, 0:42
170 - Belanger (B) pinned Hogan, 1:50
182 - Cadena (P) tech fall Neyrinck, 15-0
195 - Pasker (P) won by forfeit
220 - Hynek (P) pinned Erpelding, 1:14
285 - Manson (P) pinned Burkland, 5:28
106 - Wagner (B) tech fall England, 30-14
113 - Schwarm (B) pinned Kleinschmidt, 0:53
120 - Glynn (B) dec. Uthoff, 7-5
126 - Fiser (P) major dec Gallagher, 12-2
132 - Wennermark (P) pinned Salas, 1:09
138 - Stroker (B) pinned Peralta, 0:31