The Cedar Rapids Prairie wrestling team huddled around Coach Blake Williams for a few minutes Thursday night after whipping second-ranked Linn-Mar and finished the meeting with a quietly confident two-word chant.

"State champs," they said in unison, announcing this year's goal for everyone to hear.

Based on what happened Thursday, they could be headed in that direction.

The fifth-ranked Hawks won nine of 14 matches and dumped the highly regarded Lions, 35-22, with a convincing performance at the Linn-Mar gym.

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Kennedy defense stifles Linn-Mar girls

Wed - 05 Dec Written by Don Taylor

Kennedy stepped up its defensive play and kept its record clean, beating host Linn-Mar 49-31 Tuesday night in a non-conference matchup of Mississippi Valley Conference girls basketball foes.

Linn-Mar (2-3) led 12-9 at the end of the first quarter, but an aggressive Kennedy defense only allowed one point in the second quarter and only 18 more points in the second half.

“Defensively we seemed to find our niche tonight,” said Kennedy Coach Tony Vis. “We look like we are building a belief that we can be successful and, as a first year coach, it’s important for us to be 4-0 early in the season.”

Jordan Holmes took control for the Class 5A No. 9 Cougars. She directed the offense and scored 16 points, including all three of Kennedy’s 3-point baskets. Stephanie Botkin was also in double figures with 11.

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