Mid-Prairie hitting its stride at the right time

By Jeff Dahn

 The Gazette   The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks didn't just shuffle their feet coming out of the gate this season, they basically fell flat on their faces.   Mid-Prairie lost senior returning starter Collin Brenneman for the year when he broke his wrist in the season-opener against Washington, and the team struggled early with only two wins in its first six games. Three of those losses came in succession to ranked teams from Solon, Mount Pleasant and North Cedar.   But the Golden Hawks (165) whipped West Liberty by 16 points on Jan. 9, and that jumpstarted a streak in which they have now won 14 of their last 15 heading into tonight's first round of the Class 2A district tournament at home against Cedar Valley Conference rival Iowa City Regina.   The slow start to the season never really created a lot concern for veteran Mid-Prairie coach Don Showalter.   “It's just a matter of coming together a little bit and adjusting to Collin not being in the lineup,” he said. “It always takes a little time. For whatever it's worth, we have a history of starting out slow and ending up kind of strong. I don't know why, but we'll see if that happens again this year.” All but three of the state's Class 2A teams - Cascade, Maquoketa Valley and MFL MarMac are the exceptions - begin district play tonight, led by unbeaten and top-ranked Solon. The Wamac Conference champion Spartans (21-0) host Alburnett (8-11) tonight in District 8, a field that includes Cedar Valley Conference cochampion North Cedar (192) and Big East Conference champion Northeast (17-3).   Mid-Prairie tied North Cedar for the CVC title with a 122 league mark. The CVC was formed after Solon, Mount Vernon, Williamsburg and Clear Creek Amana left the Eastern Iowa Hawkeye Conference and the EIHC disbanded.   Cedar Valley entrants Wilton, Durant, Tipton and West Branch join Mid-Prairie, Regina and Louisa-Muscatine in District 9.   “Going into the tournament you always hope you're playing your best ball, and hopefully we are,” Showalter said. “We haven't really blown anybody out by a big margin, so I expect good games. It's going to be a situation where a team that gets hot can kind of get through there.” A team to keep an eye on in 2A is Dyersville Beckman in District 7. The Blazers (165) played 16 games against 3A teams as a member of the Wamac this season and won 13 of them. Two of their league losses were to Solon. They host North Fayette (4-16) in a district opener tonight. Contact the writer: (319) 3688841 or

jeff.dahn@gazcomm.com