3A State Wrestling Tourney: Prairie pins way to third place after first day

DES MOINES — Cedar Rapids Prairie has numbers and plenty of points to go with them.

The Hawks used them to put them in position for a team trophy.

Prairie won five first-round matches and had eight wrestlers remaining after the opening session of the Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 3A state wrestling tournament at Wells Fargo Arena. The Hawks were in third with 22 ½ points, trailing second-place Bettendorf by four. Southeast Polk was first with 39 ½.

Marcus England (106), Sam Uthoff (126), Josh Wenger (138) and 195-pounder Taylor Mehmen all won by fall. Jarod Cadena recorded a technical fall in his bout at 182. They accounted for 9 ½ bonus points for the Hawks.

'That is huge when you're trying to get up there and contend for a trophy,' Prairie Coach Blake Williams said. 'You have to have bonus points and a lot of pins. We did that.'

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Brothers Trent and Seth Wennermark won consolation matches at 113 and 132, respectively. Heavyweight Tyler Pasker went 1-1 and remains in the consolation bracket.

'We still have numbers,' Williams said. 'That is always key in a tournament like this.'

Cedar Rapids Jefferson advanced four to Friday's quarterfinals. Third-ranked Brenden Baker highlighted the J-Hawks' round, beating Southeast Polk's No. 2 Nate Lendt, 5-4, at 113.

'I just stayed in there and kept wrestling,' Baker said. 'I ended up coming out victorious like I hoped.'

Baker trailed late, scoring a takedown and riding Lendt out the final 28 seconds for the win.

'I knew there was short time, so I had to try something,' said Baker, who faces Bettendorf's top-ranked Jack Wagner in the quarterfinal. 'It's the state tournament. You try anything you can to win.'

Jefferson's Luke Sedlacek scored two late takedowns to beat Southeast Polk's Brady Buchheit, 6-5, at 160. Kelly May (182) and heavyweight Dalton Kuehl won by fall.

'They are familiar,' Jefferson co-head coach Dick Briggs said. 'They were down here last year.

'Hopefully, they are comfortable here, by now, and can carry it through the tournament.'

Kyle Briggs, a state medalist last year, won his consolation match after an opening loss at 132. The J-Hawks were in a three-way tie for ninth with Iowa City West and West Des Moines Valley.

Linn-Mar was perfect in four first-round matches, sitting tied for 16th with 10 points. The Lions received major decisions from third-ranked Matt Wempen (145) and Shea Hartzler (160). Noah Ajram (120) and 152-pounder Toby Northrup won by decision.

Wempen dominated Des Moines Roosevelt's Tanner Murray, 13-2. He is looking for his fourth state medal, winning a title in 2012 and placing fourth as a sophomore and fifth last year.

'The biggest thing here is to come out here and wrestle a hundred percent,' Wempen said. 'You have to be aggressive and not hold anything back. Just give your all.'

Cedar Rapids Kennedy has all three qualifiers remaining. Nolan Hromidko (120) won by fall, decking Davenport Central's Josue Dansou in 2:42. Fifth-ranked Ben Sarasin added a fall in the 138 consolation round, while 220-pounder Dalles Jacobus won a consolation match by decision.

Iowa City West went 4-2 in the first round. Aaron Stumpf (113) and 182-pounder Donovan Doyle led the way with pins. Tanner Rohweder (120) and John Milani (170) reached the quarterfinals. Nate Kelsay (160) remains in the consolation bracket.

Western Dubuque advanced two to the quarterfinals in second-ranked Max Lyon at 170 and Dylan Hoefler (220). The Bobcats have Bradan Birt (113), Ryan Kenneally (195) and heavyweight Aaron Costello competing in the consolation bracket.

Cedar Rapids Xavier's Clint Lembeck (132) had one of the marquee first-round matchups. Third-ranked Lembeck fell to Bettendorf's No. 2 Paul Glynn, 8-6, but rebounded with a technical fall over Des Moines East's Chance Raleigh.

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