Hawks advance four to semifinals, sit in second

DES MOINES - Cedar Rapids Prairie is another round closer from a team trophy.The Hawks won four of five matches during the quarterfinals of Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 3A state wrestling tournament Friday at Wells Fargo Arena. Prairie had 63 points, trailing top-ranked and heavily favored Southeast Polk by 18 1/2 points. Bettendorf is third with 60 1/2.The Hawks managed bonus points in all three matches, including pins from Skyler St. John (145), Cameron Rathje (170) and heavyweight Andrew Netolicky. Trey Blaha posted an 8-0 major decision at 138 over Southeast Polk's Dylan Buchheit.St. John decked Josh Davis of Des Moines East in 4:38. Rathje notched his second straight first-period pin with a 1:41 fall over Oskaloosa's Andrew Landgrebe. Netolicky stuck Mason City's Tom Schiffer in 2:16."Trey Blaha went out and dominated, and so did Cam Rathje, Netolicky and Skyler," Prairie coach Blake Williams said. "Those were some big points and hopefully they're still hungry to get one more match tonight."Sam Uthoff (106), Josh Wenger (126), River Whitters (160) and 195-pounder Casey Becker have secured top-eight finishes for Prairie.The 3A semifinals are set to start at 8:30 p.m. Friday.Below are the Prairie semfinal matchups:138 - #4 Trey Blaha (37-7) vs. #7 Karsten VanVelsor (Ottumwa, 43-6)145 - #5 Derek St. John (40-9) vs. #4 Austin Boyd (Burlington, 41-4)170 - #5 Cam Rathje (36-2) vs. #3 Dylan Blackford (SE Polk, 45-3)Hwt. - #7 Andrew Netolicky (40-5) vs. #6 Zach Renshaw (Lewis Central, 47-3)