State of the Cedar Rapids/Marion Metro

The Cedar Rapids/Marion Metro is a one-horse race again this season. Cedar Rapids Prairie is ranked third, but the drop off from the Hawks to the second-best team is the equivalent of jumping off the observation area at the Hoover Dam.The Metro has its share of talent on each of its teams. There's no doubt about that, but as a whole, none are very competitive with the better programs around.Cedar Rapids Prairie is very balanced with individual power at a few weights. Seniors Mickey Sprague, top-ranked at 215, and Tyler Hardin, #3 at 140, lead the way for Prairie. Even for the Hawks, they've seen there is still a big gap between them and the top two programs in 3A (Waverly-Shell Rock and Iowa City West).Linn-Mar would probably be the next best team, when healthy and everyone in lineup. Seniors Matt McDonough, top-ranked at 130, and Luke Goodson, who appears to be down to 215 for the season, are among the best at their weights. The Lions lineup is OK, but they won't be vying for any tournament hardware any time soon.Cedar Rapids Xavier has beaten Linn-Mar and could claim the Metro's #2 spot. The Saints were in the running for an MVC Valley Division title, but a blowout loss to Waterloo West brought them back down to earth. The Saints don't have any elite wrestlers, but have beaten Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Cedar Rapids Washington, so they're among the better teams within the city limits.The rest you can put in a hat and draw out without much of an argument about the order.Cedar Rapids Jefferson has done decent in some tournaments. The J-Hawks have two standouts in fourth-ranked Cody Northern and 160-pounder Jason McCormick. Jefferson has only two seniors, including Northern, in its lineup and appears too young and inexperienced to turn heads.Marion is hard to gauge. The Indians wrestle in the Wamac, which is really pressing the MVC as Eastern Iowa's elite conference. Kris Thompson (103), Alex Conway (152) and Ryan Immerfall (171) give Marion three possible state qualifiers. From top to bottom, the Indians have improved from last season, but are still growing.Cedar Rapids Washington has shown flashes of improvement. However, the Warriors appear to be the same ol' Warriors. Heavyweight Brandon Burrell has been respectable.Last is Kennedy. A strange occurrence given the success the program has seen the last decade. The Cougars are very young without much in the cupboard. Even they have some individual standouts. Ryan Russell at 125 is by far their best kid, and 189-pounder Jason Shupp, in his second season since moving from Decorah, has had a good season. Ryan Sheldon (119) has been a bright spot for the Cougars.Again, each seems to have its individual talent, but besides Prairie, lacks overall team strength.