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Angry J-Hawks stick Kennedy, 39-21

The Jefferson J-Hawks sent a clear message to all the wrestling coaches in Iowa who pooped all over them in the latest IWCOA rankings.

You guys were dead wrong.

The angry J-Hawks captured nine of 14 bouts Thursday night and defeated Kennedy, 39-21, in a dramatic Mississippi Valley Conference showdown at the Jefferson gym.

The coaches who vote in the IWCOA rankings dropped Jefferson from No. 5 to No. 9 in the poll that was used by the IHSAA to determine the assignments for the regional dual meet tournaments next Wednesday. At the same time, the coaches lifted Kennedy from No. 9 to No. 7 and effectively gave the Cougars a nice assignment at home in the regional tournament while shipping Jefferson to Johnston.

The top eight teams in the IWCOA rankings get to host the regionals and everyone else has to travel. Jefferson drew a tough assignment in the regional at Johnston that features the fifth-ranked Johnston Dragons and Dowling Catholic.

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Cougars, Lions lead parade to college

The Kennedy Cougars and Linn-Mar Lions will be leading the parade of college commitments this week.

The winter signing period begins Wednesday for many college-bound athletes, although prep athletes who are heading to NCAA Division III schools will not be signing letters-of-intent since D3 colleges do not offer athletic scholarships.

Kennedy High School plans to hold a ceremony at 2:55 p.m. Wednesday in the school cafeteria to honor the following college-bound athletes:

• Shaun Beyer, University of Iowa, football
• Dalles Jacobus, University of Iowa, football
• Tyler Dralle, Coe College, football & baseball
• Carly Langhurst, Iowa State, soccer
• Anna Frerichs, Iowa State, soccer
• Sydney Hayden, Northern Iowa, soccer
• Linden Runels, Carnegie Mellon, soccer
• Cameron Stump, Simpson, golf
• Paige Timmerman, Luther, softball
• Logen Rodriguez, Wisconsin-La Crosse, wrestling

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Kirkwood men set Alumni Day for Saturday

The Kirkwood men's basketball program will be hosting an Alumni Day this Saturday for all former players, coaches and managers of the team.

The ninth-ranked Eagles (19-3) are hosting Iowa Lakes (15-7) in a key ICCAC conference game at 3 p.m. Saturday at Johnson Hall.

All of the alumni and their families will be admitted for free. There will be a social gathering for all the alumni at Jersey's after the game.

Jacobus will join Hawks as a walk-on

Dalles Jacobus, the inspirational leader of the Kennedy football "family" that won 13 straight games last season, has found a new football family to call his own next year.

Jacobus said Monday he has accepted an offer to join the Iowa Hawkeyes as a preferred walk-on, joining a program that won 12 straight games this season and rocketed to national attention.

Iowa assistant coach Reese Morgan began talking to Jacobus about the possibility of joining the Hawkeyes last summer, but everything happened quickly Monday morning after Morgan contacted Kennedy Coach Brian White.

"Coach White came up to me and said, 'Come see me during lunch,'" Jacobus related. "So I went up and talked to Coach Morgan during lunch and that's when I committed.

"We've been talking on and off since the summer," he said. "I went to a camp there and Coach Morgan said he liked my fight, but he wanted to watch me throughout the year and see what I can do and evaluate me from there."

Jacobus helped Kennedy reach the championship game of the Class 4A playoffs for the first time in school history.

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