Live blog: #6 C.R. Prairie beats #9 Linn-Mar, 26-24

The night has all the makings of a classic dual between No. 6 Cedar Rapids Prairie and No. 9 Linn-Mar. It's the third meeting of the season between the top two teams in the Cedar Rapids/Marion Metro area. Prairie won the first bout on Dec. 10 at the Five Seasons Duals and Linn-Mar answered a week later with a win at the Battle of Waterloo. Neither team were at full strength.

The teams each have seven wrestlers in the latest installment of The Predicament's statewide Class 3A individual rankings. We could see four matches between ranked foes:

113 - #3 Josh Wenger (CRP) vs. #4 Alijah Jeffery (LM)

170 - #5 Cameron Rathje (CRP) vs. #2 Mitch Wantock (LM)

182 - #5 Austin Gould (CRP) vs. #7 Mark Atwater (LM)

220 - #4 Andrew Netolicky (CRP) vs. A.J. Garcia (LM) - Garcia listed at 220 but is ranked eighth at heavyweight.

It's also senior night for the Hawks. Should be a fun and exciting dual. Let "The Art of Noiz" get you in the mood.

(For updates just hit refresh and they should fill in)

We're starting at 195. We are four minutes away from introductions and the silky smooth voice of announcer John "Bubba" Randles, who also announces at the state tournament. Then Trent Schulte (CRP) vs. Ryley Stancel (LM) will kick things off.

Captains are meeting and we will be starting soon.

195 - Trent Schulte (CRP) vs. Ryley Stancel: Stancel with the opening takedown about :45 into first period. 2-0 Stancel. Scramble on the edge of the mat and Schulte with an escape. 2-1 with :43 to go in first. First ends with Stancel leading 2-1.

Stancel starts down for the second. Stancel with escape with :45 left in second for 3-1 lead. Second period ends with Stancel leading 3-1.

Schulte down for third. Schulte with reversal with more than a minute left to tie it 3-3. We have overtime after a rideout with some good scrambles.

Schulte hit a beautiful high crotch to his right and finishes for takedown and a 5-3 win in sudden victory overtime. CRP leads, 3-0.

220 - #4 Andrew Netolicky (CRP) vs. #8 hwt. A.J. Garcia (LM): This is one of the top matches of the night, but the previous match proved you don't need ranked wrestlers for a heck of a match. Scoreless first period.

Garcia starts down for second and gets quick escape for 1-0 lead.

Netolicky chooses down for third and Garcia automatically releases. 1-1 and we'll start neutral. Two matches and two overtimes.

Scoreless sudden victory. Garcia down for first 30-second tiebreaker. Garcia with escape with :18 to go. 2-1 lead. Now Netolicky will start down. netolicky escapes 2-2. Final tiebreaker garcia goes down and gets reversal on edge of the mat for a 4-2 win. We're tied 3-3.

Garcia's reversal

Hwt. - Tony Kavanagh vs. Justin Green (LM): Green with an opening takedown and Kavanagh gets an escape. First period ends with Green leading, 2-1.

Green down to start second and gets escape. 3-1 lead. Second ends with Green leading 3-1.

kavanagh starts down for third and gets escape with more than 1:30 to go. 3-2 Green. green wins 3-2 and Linn-Mar leads 6-3 after three.

 106 - #5 Matt Wempen (LM) vs. Zack Fiser (CRP): Wempen dominant in opening period with a takedown and then adds three-point nearfall. Wempen leads, 5-0, after first.

 Fiser starts neutral and wempen with a takedown for 7-0 lead. Wempen turns him for NF3 again and then turns Fiser a third time getting a fall in 3:17. Linn-Mar leads, 12-3.

113 - #3 Josh Wenger (CRP) vs. Alijah Jeffery (LM): Jeffery comes out like gangbusters with a takedown and nearly back points. 2-0 Jeffery. jeffery in control for the first period and leads 2-0 at the end.

Jeffery starts down for second. Jeffery with reversal and 4-0 lead with 1:23 to go in second. Jeffery adds NF2. 6-0 after second.

Wenger down to start third. Jeffery turns him and gets NF3 and Wenger with reversal. Wenger with headlock throw at end of match but no points. Jeffery, who did escape, wins 10-2. 16-3 Linn-Mar.

120 - #4 Chris Walters (CRP) vs. Damon Griffin (LM): A lot of action to start with major scrambling but no points. Walters does score a takedown and griffin answers with escape. 2-1 Walters after first.

Walters starts down and gets escape. He leads 3-1 in second. Griffin locks up a cradle and puts Walters on his back for five points. Griffin leads, 6-3, with :33 to go in second. Walters with escape and almost has takedown as time expires in period. Griffin leads, 6-4.

griffin gets escape to start third. 7-4 Griffin. Walters with takedown with :25 to go. Releases griffin and then gets another Takedown with :10 to go. Griffin called for seconds stall call on edge and Walters leads 9-8. he rides him out last couple seconds for 9-8 win. Linn-Mar leads, 16-6.

126 - Trey Blaha (CRP) vs. Trevor Berry (LM): Blaha gets takedown edge shortly after the opening minute. 2-0 lead for Blaha. First period ends with Blaha leading, 2-0.

Blaha starst down for second. Blaha with escape and then scores a takedown on a nice fireman's carry for 5-0 lead. Berry with a reversal when Blaha gets too high. 5-2 Blaha. :39 to go in 2nd. Blaha with reversal for 7-2 lead and that's how the second period ends.

Berry chooses up for third. Blaha with reversal and then exchanges and escape and takedown for 11-3 lead. Blaha wins 11-3. Linn-Mar leads 16-10.

132 - Zach Becicka (CRP) vs. #4 Joel Northrup (LM): Northrup with the first takedown and working the near wrist tough on top. Becicka with escape and the period ends with Northrup lead, 2-1.

becicka down to start second. Northrup trying to turn becicka and called for an illegal move, looking like he was attempting a bow-and-arrow. he appears to argue and then points in a downward motion and ref hits him for unsportsmanlike conduct. Ref and coaches huddle. Streicher says before last year's state tournament they asked it was OK'd. Ref said the twisting of the knee in the move made it illegal. Northrup releases him and then adds a takedown and NF3 and then NF 2 before period ends. Northrup up, 9-4.

 Northrup with E1 and then adds three more takedowns. He posts 16-6 major decision. Linn-Mar up, 20-10.

138 - Skyler St. John (CRP) vs. Spencer Clabough (LM): Clabough rushes St. John and is awarded takedown on edge. St. John slides through with a quick reversal. Not sure if the first takedown was there. Period ends in 2-2 tie.

Clabough starts down in second. He gets an escape midway through the period for 3-2 lead. Clabough dumps St. John to his hip and almost has takedown but St. John slides his hips around and gets on top for takedown 4-3 St. John at the end of the second.

St. John starts down for third. he hits a switch and scores a reversal with 1:41 to go in match. St. John wins, 6-3, and pulls Prairie within 20-13 of Linn-Mar.

145 - River Whitters (CRP) vs. #4 Ross Lembeck (LM): Lembeck with first takedown less than :30 into match. Lembeck releases Whitters to make it 2-1 Lembeck. Lembeck adds a takedown with about :25 to go in first. 4-1 lead at the end of first.

Whitters down to start second. Whitters escape followed by a Lembeck takedown. 6-2 lead for Lembeck. he releases Whitters. :51 to go and 6-3 lead for Lembeck. Lembeck with another takedown and an 8-3 lead to end the second.

Lembeck down to start third. Whitters penalized for pulling Lembeck's headgear. 9-3 Lembeck, which grows to 12-3 after an escape and quick takedown.

Lembeck working for back points late but can't get them but he does get a point for stalling to win 13-3. Linn-Mar up, 24-13.

152 - Peyton Wagner (CRP) vs. Josh Pederson (LM): Not a lot of action. Scoreless first. Interested to see if they move Witte up. he has returned from a broken wrist.

Wagner down to start first and Pederson automatically releases him to start in neutral for second. Wagner shoots in and Pederson called for stalling. they go out of bounds and we're still scoreless. Wagner in deep and trips Pederson for takedown but Pederson keeps whizzer in and fends it off as they go out of bounds. Pederson with a knee-tap and Wagner goes into an under-arm spin. No points. Second ends with Wagner up 1-0.

Pederson chooses neutral. 1-0 Wagner to start third. Wagner with a double and does a great job to drive through and finish. He leads 3-0 with :45 to go. Pederson with escape in final 8 seconds. Wagner wins, 3-1. Linn-Mar leads, 24-16.

160 - #1 at 152 Zach Witte (CRP) vs. John Conner (LM): Witte moves up to face Conner. He gets opening takedown and releases Conner. Looks like he is trying to score big bonus here. Conner called for stalling. Referee said he's working the edge too much. First period ends with Witte leading, 2-1.

Witte down to start second. He gets escape in :11 and leads 3-1. It will be interesting to see how Witte's conditioning is. Last Monday he mentioned going live in practice really tested his lungs. Witte buries the head and comes around behind. 5-1 lead. Add a late stalling point. AT the end of the second, Witte leads 6-1.

Conner chooses down for third. Witte grants automatic escape. 6-2 Witte. Conner dinged again for stalling. Another point. Witte up 7-2 with 1:24 to go. He's added a couple takedowns and now leads 11-3 with less than :30 to go. Conner hit one more time which is two points for Witte, who wins, 13-3. Linn-MAr leads 24-20 with two matches left.

170 - #5 Cameron Rathje (CRP) vs. #2 Mitch Wantock (LM): It's come down to the last two matches, pitting a pair of ranked wrestlers. Can't ask for more. Scoreless first. Wantock almost hit duck on edge of the mat but time expired.

Rathje down to  start second. rathje escape and 1-0 lead. Wantock has only been in competition for two weeks, returning from a broken ankle suffered during football. See if his shape will play a factor. It didn't for Witte. Second ends with Rathje leading, 1-0.

Wantock down for third. Wantock escape 1-1. Wantock takedown to go up 3-1. rathje with an escape with :50 to go and then a takedown with :20 to go and wins 4-3. 24-23 Linn-Mar entering the final match.

182 - #5 Austin Gould (CRP) vs. #7 Mark Atwater (LM): It all comes down to this one. Gould in on a nice outside single, but Atwater holds him off. No points and the first ends scoreless.

Atwater chooses down. Gould is tough on top. Atwater called for stalling. Gould rides him out. Scoreless after second. HUGE JOB by Gould.

Gould chooses down and Atwater gives automatic escape to start third. 1-0 Gould. Gould's defense has been very good. Atwater has been in twice and deep but Gould fends him off. That trip overseas in the offseason has paid dividends. Gould comes around behind with a takedown in last  few seconds and gets 3-0 win. Prairie wins, 26-24.