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Go to www.iowaprepsports.com Monday, Jan. 26 at noon for the weekly chat with Preps editor and girls’ basketball beat writer Jeff Linder, boys’ basketball beat writer Jeff Dahn, prep wrestling beat writer K.J. Pilcher and www.iowaprepsports.com manager Greg Schafer.
Sign-in and ask away. I’ll entertain any wrestling questions you might have, especially those about the many upcoming conference tournaments.
      
Source: KJ Pilcher

IOWA CITY — The ticking clock became too loud to ignore, and after his latest loss, Iowa City High’s Stephen Blayer took notice of time quickly expiring.
The Little Hawks senior 130-pounder realized his prep career was coming to an end, and needed to increase his efforts for a postseason run and improve last year’s seventh-place state finish.
Blayer exhibited that added intensity, going 5-0 with four first-period falls and guiding City to a 4-1 record and a team title at the Clyde Bean Duals at City High on Saturday.
The loss on …

January 25, 2009 by Jeff Dahn

Including this one. I just watched Cedar Rapids Kennedy put the hammer down on Iowa City High, 56-34, to move to 12-0 overall and 8-0 in the Mississippi Division of the Mississippi ValleyConference. The Cougars are ranked second in Class 4A (behind unbeaten Ames and just ahead of once-beaten Linn-Mar) and that was 4A No. 4 City High (10-3) they beat Saturday night.
The Cougars do nothing flashy. They simply play hard-nosed defense (they even used a little zone Saturday) and do just enough offfensively to get …

By Jeff Linder
The Gazette
jeff.linder@gazettecommunications.com
CEDAR RAPIDS — The Springville Streak lives on.
The Class 1A top-ranked Orioles overcame a frigid first half and a double-digit deficit to battle past 2A No. 1 MFL MarMac, 44-38, in the finale at Rivalry Saturday last night at the U.S. Cellular Center.
Springville pushed its record to 15-0 and won its 28th consecutive game. The Orioles’ last defeat came here last year, against Cascade.
“This is surreal,” Orioles Coach Brian O’Donnell said. “I’m so proud of the kids. To compete with a team like that is an honor. …

By Jeff Linder
The Gazette
jeff.linder@gazettecommunications.com

CEDAR RAPIDS — If Ballard had a claim as the state’s best team, Linn-Mar sent it crashing into pieces.
The Class 4A Lions ruled the No. 1-vs.-No. 1 matchup, building a 29-point lead and cruising to a surprisingly easy 59-41 win at Rivalry Saturday in the U.S. Cellular Center.
“We knew that it was going to be a great matchup,” said Linn-Mar Coach Mike Brandt. “They have a bunch of great athletes, and we had the athletes to match up with them.”
The Lions (14-0) more than matched up. Kiah …

By Jeff Linder
The Gazette
jeff.linder@gazettecommunications.com

CEDAR RAPIDS — Dennis Roloff underestimated the significance of his team’s comeback.
“What were we down?” he asked. “Ten points? Twelve.”
Higher, Coach. Higher.
Class 4A seventh-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy rallied from a 15-point deficit to defeat 3A No. 5 Davenport Assumption, 58-54, at Rivalry Saturday in the U.S. Cellular Center.
“That’s a big win,” Roloff said. “A big comeback. I don’t know if they got tired or what. We could have folded, but we didn’t, and it shows how much we’ve grown.”
Kennedy (11-3) faced a steep uphill climb at 40-25 …

By Jeff Linder
The Gazette
jeff.linder@gazettecommunications.com

CEDAR RAPIDS — That’s Fish, as in swish.
Brittany Fish continued her recent hot spell, draining four 3-pointers in five tries as Class 3A fourth-ranked Marion pulled away in the second half to beat Vinton-Shellsburg, 50-35, in a girls’ basketball game at the U.S. Cellular Center as part of Rivalry Saturday.
It started about two weeks ago at Waterloo Columbus when Fish had a school-record eight treys.
“They left me open, I got in a rhythm and took it from there,” she said.
After a back-and-forth first half, the Indians (12-1 …

DUBUQUE — Cedar Rapids Washington won three events, and Cedar Rapids Jefferson won another Saturday in the Mississippi Valley Conference swimming meet at Dubuque Hempstead.
Cedar Falls won the team title with 365 points, followed by Cedar Falls with 310 and Washington with 284.
Washington picked up a title from its 200-yard medley relay team of John Sevier, Joseph Gallet, Will McCartan and Andrew Jarvey, who swam the event in 1:41.47. Sevier won the 50 freestyle in 22.32 seconds, and Gallett won the 100 breaststroke in 1:02.77.
“The competition here is pretty rough,” …

By K.J. Pilcher
The Gazette
kj.pilcher@gazettecommunications.com

IOWA CITY — The ticking became too loud to ignore. After his latest loss, Iowa City High’s Stephen Blayer took notice of the time quickly expiring.
The Little Hawks senior 130-pounder has realized his prep career is coming to an end and needs to increase his efforts for a postseason run and improve on last year’s seventh-place state finish.
Blayer exhibited that added intensity Saturday, going 5-0 with four first-period falls and guiding City to a 4-1 record and a team title at the Clyde Bean Duals at City …

6:53 p.m. – It’s Game 5 at the U.S. Cellular Center. Maquoketa Valley leads North Linn, 12-6, after one period. Writing the Kennedy-Assumption gamer. Will be back shortly.
7:10 p.m. – OK. Back. Maquoketa Valley had an 11-point lead. It’s 19-18 now. Halftime.
7:11 p.m. – Crowd’s starting to gather again for the 8 p.m. finale.
7:25 p.m. – Nickname of the day: Kendra Kregal is “Bird.” Don’t know why.
7:28 p.m. – Bird just scored. Maquoketa Valley leads, 27-23, 4:08 left in the third.
7:30 p.m. – I figured Springville would have a huge …