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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.