Wennermark’s pin powers Prairie past Jefferson

CEDAR RAPIDS — Cedar Rapids Prairie's Trenten Wennermark stared at the scoreboard between periods and looked up at a daunting deficit.

He remained optimistic even when everybody else had their doubts.

Wennermark then pulled of the improbable or even the impossible to some. After trailing 9-0 at one point, Wennermark reversed Cedar Rapids Jefferson's third-ranked Brenden Baker to his back and recorded a pin, helping the Class 3A fourth-ranked Hawks to a 42-30 victory over the No. 8 J-Hawks Thursday night at Jefferson.

Wennermark said he hadn't beaten Baker in three previous tries.

'I told myself that I'm not letting him get me this time again,' Wennermark said. 'I just took it to him.'

Baker dominated early, racking up a takedown, reversal and five nearfall in the first two periods. Wennermark answered with a reversal in the second and added another in the final period when Baker became too high on top.

'I caught his head and had his leg so I locked it up,' Wennermark said. 'I kept running until I got him on his back.'

The fall ignited the Prairie crowd, giving the Hawks a 21-9 lead. Prairie Coach Kane Thompson said Wennermark has the ability to be dangerous the entire match.

'He was under the understanding that no matter what the score is, you keep wrestling, good things will happen,' Thompson said. 'That's exactly what he did.'

The Hawks (9-0) won eight bouts, including six pins. Fourth-ranked 195-pounder Taylor Mehmen secured the win with a first-period fall in the last bout after the J-Hawks battled back within six.

The Hawks opened the dual with one from Tyler Pasker at 220.

'Bonus points set the tone,' Thompson said. 'Bonus points make up a big portion of that win.'

In the lone match of ranked foes, Prairie's No. 6 Marcus England beat No. 7 Joseph Sibomana, 8-3, at 113. After giving up the first takedown, England scored six straight points, adding two nearfall at the end. He settled in after his first reversal.

'He put a hammer on top,' Thompson said of England. 'When he's focused for six minutes, there aren't a lot of guys who are going to score on him a whole lot.'

Ninth-ranked 106-pounder Conrad Braswell, top-ranked Sam Uthoff (132) and Casey Hogan added falls for Prairie, who avenged a loss to the J-Hawks in their home gym last year.

'It's been the main conversation at practice this entire week,' Wennermark said. 'Every day Thompson would bring it up and they would try to put us down into the ground. It turns out that we did that to them.'

Jefferson (4-1) won four straight matches to have a chance, entering the final weight. Second-ranked Kyle Briggs and No. 5 Tavian Rashed sparked the J-Hawks with consecutive pins at 152 and 160, respectively.

Matt Culver (170) added a decision and Nick Dreckman (182) had a pin, cutting the lead to 36-30. Freshman Colten Mastin also had a pin at 120 for Jefferson.

AT C.R. JEFFERSON

C.R. Prairie 42, C.R. Jefferson 30

(Individual takedowns in parentheses)

220 pounds — Tyler Pasker (CRP) pinned Blake Owens, 1:57 (1,0); Hwt. — David Bonner (CRJ) dec. Alex Heisdorffer, 6-3 (2,0); 106 — Conrad Braswell (CRP) pinned Jaden Collins,: 37 (1,0); 113 — Marcus England (CRP) dec. Joseph Sibomana, 8-3 (1,1); 120 — Colten Mastin (CRJ) pinned Jacob Tedrow,: 45 (1,0); 126 — Trenten Wennermark (CRP) pinned Brenden Baker, 4:33 (0,1); 132 — Sam Uthoff (CRP) pinned Zach Main, 1:23 (1,0); 138 — Chase St. John (CRP) dec. Dalton Mastin, 12-6 (5,0); 145 — Casey Hogan (CRP) pinned Cody Clendenen, 2:56 (1,0); 152 — Kyle Briggs (CRJ) pinned Rhett Ruzicka, 3:21 (3,0); 160 — Tavian Rashed (CRJ) pinned Morgan Hood, 1:59 (3,0); 170 — Matt Culver (CRJ) dec. Derek Horak, 14-7 (6,0); 182 — Nick Dreckman (CRJ) pinned Preston LaGrange, 3:52 (2,0); 195 — Taylor Mehmen (CRP) pinned Taylor Viktora, 1:31 (1,0).

MEET STATISTICS

Takedowns — CRP 11, CRJ 19. Reversals — CRP 6, CRJ 5. Escapes — CRP 13, CRJ 6. Nearfall points — CRP 4, CRJ 8. Penalty points (awarded) — CRP 0, CRJ 1. Total match points — CRP 51, CRJ 63.

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