Kennedy High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Prairie saves day for Metro grapplers

Thank goodness for Prairie.

The Prairie Hawks won their regional dual meet tournament Wednesday night with a convincing 51-21 victory over North Scott, but none of the other Metro wrestling teams qualified for the state tournament.

The seventh-ranked Kennedy Cougars got punched by No. 13 Clinton, 44-26, in the regional finals at Kennedy.

The ninth-ranked Jefferson J-Hawks were stunned by No. 24 Dowling Catholic in the regional semifinals at Johnston and never got a chance to wrestle for a regional title.

The 18th-ranked Linn-Mar Lions lost to No. 4 Dubuque Hempstead, 49-27, in the regional finals after sticking No. 16 Bettendorf in the semifinals, 45-24.

The sixth-ranked Prairie Hawks (19-3) will face fifth-ranked Johnston (21-2) in the quarterfinals of the Class 3A state dual meet tournament next Wednesday at 9 a.m. at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

The other quarterfinals feature Southeast Polk (16-0) against Clinton (16-2), West Des Moines Valley (21-1) against Waverly-Shell Rock (23-4), and Hempstead (27-0) against Indianola (18-2).

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Cougars beat J-Hawks in final second

There have been some tough losses, some ill-advised shots and some long meetings after games, but the Kennedy Cougars vow they won't quit and they won't back down from anyone.

It showed Tuesday night.

Drake Brewster muscled in a basket with 0.9 seconds left Tuesday to give Kennedy a 60-59 victory over Jefferson in a Mississippi Valley Conference tussle at the Jefferson gym.

The J-Hawks led by eight points entering the fourth period and led by four points with 37 seconds left in the game, but the Cougars kept battling and beat the J-Hawks for the ninth straight time.

Both clubs have only seven wins this year -- Kennedy is 7-11 and Jefferson is 7-12 -- and they were evenly matched Tuesday.

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No. 7 Kennedy girls escape J-Hawks

The Kennedy girls basketball team has a bona fide star in Lela Sellers, but the Cougars showed Tuesday night they can win a tough game on the road with Sellers having a relatively quiet game.

The seventh-ranked Cougars rallied from an eight-point deficit in the second half and escaped the Jefferson J-Hawks, 56-43, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game at the Jefferson gym.

Sellers scored only three points in the second half -- all on free throws -- but Kennedy dug a little deeper into its portfolio to head home with a glossy 17-3 record.

Carly Langhurst, Ashley Hamilton, Hailey Dolphin and Linden Runels all made clutch baskets during a 15-0 run as the Cougars wiped out a 38-30 deficit and surged into a 45-38 lead to turn the game around.

Langhurst and Hamilton began the 15-0 run with a pair of 3-pointers.

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Behn commits to Coe football

Cedar Rapids Kennedy offensive lineman Jackson Behn plans to continue his football career at Coe College next season.

Behn, who stands 6-foot-3 and 265 pounds, moved back to Cedar Rapids from Omaha for his senior year in high school and quickly claimed a spot on Kennedy's imposing offensive line that helped Tyler Dralle break the Metro single-season record for rushing.

Behn suffered an ACL knee injury in the middle of the season and required surgery. He received Honorable Mention on the all-district team despite missing the second half of the year.

Kennedy finished 13-1 and reached the Class 4A finals for the first time in school history.

Dralle also has committed to Coe for football and baseball.

Wiedemeier, Milota pace Kennedy girls

Alyssa Wiedemeier rolled a 222 game and Jamie Milota posted a 418 series to lead the Kennedy girls bowling team to a 2,518-2,388 win over Dubuque Wahlert in a Mississippi Valley Conference meet Friday at the Cedar Rapids Bowling Center.

Annie Hingtgen had a 380 series for the Golden Eagles.

DUBUQUE WAHLERT: Annie Hingtgen 165-215=380, Elena Dominguez 191-140=331, Sarah Wareham 157-136=293, Cindy Stierman 145-133=278, Mary Edwards 114-138=252, Allie Timmerman 110-103=213.

KENNEDY: Jamie Milota 212-206=418, Alyssa Wiedemeier 156-222=378, Cate Oliphant 206-131=337, Abbie Haller 166-165=331, Sydney Helms 157-152=309, Sam Eltze 149-118=267.

Dubuque Wahlert: 1,534-804=2,338.

Kennedy: 1,773-745=2,518.

Goodwin notches 473 series for Cougars

Bert Goodwin had a 257 game and a 473 series to lead the Kennedy boys bowling team to a 2,837-2,577 win over Dubuque Wahlert in a Mississippi Valley Conference meet Friday at the Cedar Rapids Bowling Center.

Jack Kamentz rolled a 384 series for the Golden Eagles.

DUBUQUE WAHLERT: Jack Kamentz 152-232=384, Justin Kluesner 208-156=364, Sang Hyuk Chae 167-171=338, Colton Hoover 152-170=322, Matt Bahl 146-151=297, Alex Nilles 129-121=250.

KENNEDY: Bert Goodwin 216-257=473, Nick Green 210-172=382, James Jambois 174-205=379, Nathan Fisher 168-180=348, Dakota Dippel 177-164=341.

Dubuque Wahlert: 1,705-872=2,577,

Kennedy: 1,939-898=2,837.

Washington boys bump off Kennedy

Justin Decker was happy and optimistic about the future when he left the Kennedy High School gym Friday night.

Jon McKowen was disappointed and frustrated.

Guess who won?

The Washington Warriors played a solid game from start to finish and defeated the Cougars, 58-42, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game that paired two Metro clubs in desperate need of victories.

Washington raised its records to 6-10 overall and 3-8 in the league. Kennedy fell to 6-11 overall and 4-8 in the MVC.

"To be honest, we played the best we have all year defensively," said Decker, in his first year as the head coach at Washington. "I challenged our guys to play a 32-minute game and we finally got one out of them.

"It's great to see that they're still buying in."

McKowen led Kennedy to the Class 4A state tournament in his first two years as head coach, but this year's club has not jelled and appears to have issues with team chemistry.

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No. 7 Cougars top No. 15 Warriors

Their No. 1 ranking is only a fond memory now, but the Cedar Rapids Kennedy girls basketball team is still enjoying one of the best seasons in school history despite losing a pair of games recently.

The Cougars added another victory to their impressive resume Friday night when they knocked off 15th-ranked Washington, 64-58, in a foul-plagued Mississippi Valley Conference game at Kennedy.

The Cougars have dropped from No. 1 to No. 7 in the Class 5A rankings following losses to Cedar Falls and Iowa City West, two MVC opponents that are ranked by the IGHSAU as well, but they are still a dangerous club at 16-3 overall and 9-2 in the league.

"It's been a solid year for us," Kennedy coach Tony Vis said. "We have to try and peak here the last couple of weeks going into the tournament."

Lela Sellers led a balanced attack for the Cougars with 20 points and more good work off the defensive backboards. Sydney Hayden scored 13 points, Hailey Dolphin had 12 points and Ashley Hamilton came off the bench to pop in 11.

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Cougars 7th, Lions 8th in girls rankings

The Kennedy girls basketball team fell from No. 6 to No. 7 in the latest Class 5A rankings, released Thursday by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.

Linn-Mar claimed the No. 8 spot in Class 5A, moving up from No. 10 last week. Washington stayed 15th.

Marion maintained its No. 7 ranking in Class 4A from a week ago.

CLASS 5A

1. Ankeny Centennial, 2. Johnston, 3. Iowa City High, 4. Cedar Falls, 5. Waukee, 6. Indianola, 7. Kennedy, 8. Linn-Mar, 9. Davenport North, 10. Southeast Polk, 11. West Des Moines Valley, 12. Iowa City West, 13. Dowling Catholic, 14. Pleasant Valley, 15. Cedar Rapids Washington.

CLASS 4A

1. Harlan, 2. Western Dubuque, 3. Council Bluffs Lewis Central, 4. Keokuk, 5. Ballard, 6. North Scott, 7. Marion, 8. Pella, 9. Fairfield, 10. Mason City, 11. Waverly-Shell Rock, 12. Grinnell, 13. Dallas Center-Grimes, 14. Boone, 15. Central DeWitt.