Kennedy Wrestling

Surprising Cougars steal the show

DES MOINES - The Cedar Rapids Kennedy wrestling team surprised a lot of people at the Class 3A state wrestling tournament in Des Moines this week.

They even surprised themselves.

The Cougars surged into a tie for fourth place in the team standings Saturday following the consolation finals at Wells Fargo Arena with just a five-man team.

The Cougars have fared better than all the other Metro teams in the tournament and they've fared better than all the other Mississippi Valley Conference clubs in the tournament.

Nobody saw it coming.

"We turned a lot of heads today," said Nolan Hromidko, who placed third at 126 pounds. "I was surprised myself, actually, when I looked at the standings today, but that's what hard work and determination gets you."

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4 Metro grapplers eye state titles

DES MOINES - The emotions will be churning for four Metro wrestlers Saturday night when they join the Parade of Champions at Wells Fargo Arena prior to the final round of the Class 3A state tournament in Des Moines.

But first, they needed to calm their nerves and try to get a good night's sleep Friday after winning in the semifinals.

"Some nights I don't sleep at all and some other nights I'll sleep like a baby," said Taylor Mehmen of Prairie, who will be gunning for the 195-pound crown. "I guess we'll see when I get back to the hotel."

Clint Lembeck of Xavier (138), Logan Rodriguez of Kennedy (152) and Shea Hartzler of Linn-Mar (160) also will be battling for state crowns Saturday night.

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6 Metro wrestlers make 3A semifinals

DES MOINES - Six wrestlers from Metro high schools won their matches in the quarterfinals of the Class 3A state tournament Friday morning and will wrestle in the semifinals Friday night at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Sam Uthoff of Prairie (132), Clint Lembeck of Xavier (138), Josh Gehrke of Xavier (145), Logen Rodriguez of Kennedy (152), Shea Hartzler of Linn-Mar (160) and Taylor Mehmen of Prairie (195) are now two victories away from winning a coveted state title.

The Prairie Hawks are tied for fourth in the team standings with 39 points heading into Friday night's action. Kennedy is ninth with 31 points. Xavier is 19th with 19.5 points. Jefferson and Linn-Mar are tied for 20th with 20 points.

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17 Metro wrestlers win state openers

DES MOINES - Seventeen wrestlers from Metro schools won their opening-round matches at the Class 3A state tournament Thursday in Des Moines and advanced to the quarterfinals on Friday.

The Prairie Hawks finished with a 5-3 record in the first round with Conrad Braswell (106), Marcus England (113), Sam Uthoff (132), Morgan Hood (152) and Taylor Mehmen (195) all advancing. Tyler Pasker (220) lost in the first round, but bounced back in a consolation match and stayed alive in the tournament. Trenten Wennermark (126) and Alex Heisdorffer (285) dropped both of their matches for the Hawks and were eliminated.

Prairie is tied for third place in the team standings with 19.5 points with Johnston and West Des Moines Valley. Fort Dodge leads the Class 3A standings with 31 points, with Southeast Polk second at 28.

The Kennedy Cougars had an impressive day in the opening round with Nolan Hromidko (126), Logen Rodriguez (152), Ben Sarasin (160), Garrett Kubovec (170) and Dalles Jacobus (220) all prevailing in the Round of 16. Kennedy is tied for ninth in the team standings with 14 points after going 5-for-5 in their openers.

The Jefferson J-Hawks went 2-2 in the opening round with Joseph Sibomana (113) and Kyle Briggs (152) advancing. Brenden Baker (120) and Nick Dreckman (182) lost in the first round, but won in their wrestle-back to stay alive. The J-Hawks are in 17th place in the standings.

The Xavier Saints went 2-1 in the opening round with Clint Lembeck (138) and Josh Gerke (145) collecting pins. Keegan Schultschik (120) lost in the first round, but won his wrestle-back. The Saints are in 21st place.

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