Linn Mar's Mark Atwater (left) and Iowa City West's Mickey Relfrey compete during the finals at the Missouri Valley Conference meet, Saturday January 28, 2011 Xavier High School in Cedar Rapids. Atwater beat Relfrey in the 189 pound weight class. (Becky Malewitz/The Gazette)

CEDAR RAPIDS – Advantage, Jack Hathaway.

The Iowa City West junior has a little good-natured competition with teammate Justin Koethe. The two standout wrestlers try to out perform the other, attempting to score the most pins and team points. Hathaway has the edge and added to it Saturday.

Hathaway pinned his way through the field and Koethe scored two falls before winning by decision as both won their third Mississippi Valley Conference title, helping West cruise to its eighth straight team championship Saturday at Cedar Rapids Xavier. West crowned seven champions, tallying 264.5 points.

Hathaway scored three first period falls, decking Dubuque Wahlert’s Greg Vance in 46 seconds for the 125-pound title. Koethe wrestled about 30 seconds in his first two matches, beating Iowa City High’s eighth-ranked Brent Hamm, 5-1, for the title at 160.

Hathaway said the two try to one-up the other every week. It is a way to add fun and push one another.

“We come off the mat and look at each other,” Koethe said. “if someone doesn’t get a pin, we just mess around with each other.”

Both took steps closers to join a select group of four-time MVC champions. Hathaway made quick work of his foe, but Koethe had to wrestle the full six minutes for just the eighth time this season. Koethe scored takedowns in the first and third period to top Hamm.

“I thought he wrestled pretty good,” Koethe said. “He was defensive. he didn’t really do anything offensive, so he slowed me down a bit.”

Koethe said conference titles won’t mean a lot until he completes the sweep and Hathaway is focused on the title neither have won.

“The conference doesn’t bother me,” Hathaway said. “I’m all about state.”

Hathaway leads Koethe in falls (31-18), but the competition will be settled by who wins the first championship in Des Moines.

“We’ll see when state comes around,” Koethe said. “it goes to whoever places higher.”

West dominated the MVC, placing nine in the finals. Top-ranked Phillip Laux (103), Kegan Wakefield (119), Dakota Bauer (130), Elijah Sullivan (140) and Britt Thompson each won for West. Momentum rolls from one wrestler to the other.

Cedar Rapids Washington's Tyler Burrell holds opponent Chantz Rodriguez to the mat during the final round of the Missouri Valley Conference meet, Saturday January 28, 2011 Xavier High School in Cedar Rapids. Burrell beat Rodriguez in the 285 pound weight class. (Becky Malewitz/The Gazette)

“It’s pretty continuous,” Hathaway said. “We all go hard and do what we need to do.”

Cedar Rapids Prairie had four finalists, placing a distant second with 175.5 points. Zach Witte was the Hawks’ lone champion, while Trey Blaha (103), Jayden Flege (112) and Chris Walters (119) were runners-up. Most of the Hawks surpassed their tournament seeds and showed their balance with 13 of 14 wrestlers placing.

“We lost a few close matches we would have liked to have turned around, but overall I thought it was a pretty good effort,” Prairie Coach Blake Williams said. “We were able to get somebody in there at each weight and score some points. That’s big.”

Witte claimed his second MVC title in his third finals appearance with a 3-2 win over No. 5 Garrett Hathaway. Witte scored a takedown in the final minute to take  control and improve to 31-0. The goal is to remain unbeaten, which would result in a state title.

“Anything’s possible,” Witte said. “That’s what I’m shooting for.”

Linn-Mar was one of three Metro schools to crown two champions. Mark Atwater (189) and A.J. Garcia (215) produced a pair of upsets that ignited the Linn-mar fans.

Atwater, returning from a thumb injury, dropped West’s sixth-ranked Mickey Pelfrey, 3-2, scoring a takedown in the final 25 seconds. Garcia topped his teammate’s feat by knocking off top-ranked Conner Herman, 9-3, for his title.

“It means a lot,” said Garcia, a 2010 state qualifier who is currently ranked eighth. “It’s a big steppingstone for what I have ahead of me at district and state.”

Garcia had two takedowns and a key reversal before adding three back points late. As the match wore on, Garcia seemed to get stronger. the win was enough to earn Outstanding Wrestler honors voted on by coaches.

“Once I got that takedown it just motivated me,” Garcia said. “I had to keep going and do what I can do.”

Garcia, who beat City High’s No.9 Brad Gingerich, 6-4, with a last second takedown to advance to the finals, admitted he received a jolt from watching Atwater’s victory. He feeds off his teammates’ successes.

“It gives me a good adrenaline rush when my teammates do well and they win a lot,” said Garcia, who helped the Lions place third with 140 points.

Top-seeds Luke Kremer and Ryan Sheldon each won championships for Cedar Rapids Kennedy, which was fourth. Kremer won his second MVC title with a 4-1 win over Shane Broderick of Dubuque Wahlert at 135. Kremer beat Broderick, ranked sixth in 2A, in the finals last year and even beat him in overtime recently.

“I thought Kremer was better moving his feet, creating more opportunities to score,” Kennedy Coach Brent Paulson said. “We’ve worked on that this week.”

Iowa City West's Elijah Sullivan holds Kennedy wrestler Ryan Rodrighez on the mat during the finals at the Missouri Valley Conference meet, Saturday January 28, 2011 Xavier High School in Cedar Rapids. Sullivan beat Rodriguez in the 140 pound weight class. (Becky Malewitz/The Gazette)

Kremer is top-ranked at 135 and improved to 33-3. He has been free of illness and injury which kept him out of the MVC as a freshman and hindered his progress last year.

“He’s been healthy this year,” Paulson said. “That’s been huge. he feels good.”

Sheldon pinned Xavier’s Peter Ickes in 3:52 at 171. Sheldon (35-1) pinned his way through the bracket to claim his first conference title. Paulson called it a “typical Ryan” performance.

“He’s beaten good kids along the way,” said Paulson, noting Sheldon hasn’t lost since the first weekend in December and 24 wins by major decision technical fall or pin. “He’s dominated some good kids along the way.”

Cedar Rapids Washington also crowned two champions. No. 10 Tyler Burrell held his top-seed capturing the crown at heavyweight with a 7-0 win over Xavier’s Chantz Rodriguez. Troy Neagle claimed the Warriors’ first title, however, winning the 112-pound championship.

Neagle surprised some, reaching the finals with an overtime pin of West’s ninth-ranked Ernest Willis. Neagle whipped Willis to his back, getting the fall in 6:59. He followed it by beating Prairie’s Jayden Flege, 12-3, in the finals, using two reversals to catch Flege on his back both times.

“Coach told me to go after it,” said Neagle, who improved to 23-12, “and I did it.”

Neagle lost two Willis and Flege on the same evening 16 days earlier. He was confident he could beat both. When he did he gave a mild two-handed fist pump, but then it sank in while he signed his bout sheet.

“I didn’t think too much after the match,” Neagle said. “Once I signed the paper I realized I was a conference champion.”

Xavier advanced three wrestlers to the championships. Braxton Chicchelly (130) joined Ickes and Rodriguez as runners-up.

Photos by Becky Malewitz

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MISSISSIPPI VALLEY CONFERNECE CHAMPIONSHIPS

At C.R. Xavier

Teams —1. Iowa City West 264.5; 2. C.R. Prairie 175.5; 3. Linn Mar 140; 4. C.R. Kennedy 125; 5. Dubuque Hempstead 95; 6. C.R. Jefferson 91.5; 7. Cedar Falls 89.5; 8. C.R. Xavier 89; 9. C.R. Washington 86.5; 10. Dubuque Wahlert 77; 11. Iowa City High 75.5; 12. Dubuque Senior 69; 13. Waterloo West 66; 14. Waterloo East 22

Championship matches

103 pounds — Phillip Laux (ICW) tech fall Trey Blaha (CRP), 20-5 (5:16); 112 —Troy Neagle (CRW) dec. Jayden Flege (CRP), 12-3; 119 —Kegan Wakefield (ICW) major dec. Chris Walters (CRP), 9-1; 125 — Jack Hathaway (ICW) pinned Greg Vance (DW), :46; 130 —Dakota Bauer (ICW) dec. Braxton Chicchelly (CRX), 10-6; 135 —Luke Kremer (CRK) dec. Shane Broderick (DW), 4-1; 140 — Elijah Sullivan (ICW) major dec. Ryan Rodriguez (CRK), 17-9; 145 — Zach Witte (CRP) dec. Garrett Hathaway (ICW), 3-2; 152 — Britt Thompson (ICW) pinned Evan Smith (DH), 1:25; 160 — Justin Koethe (ICW) dec. Brent Hamm (ICH), 5-1; 171 —Ryan Sheldon (CRK) pinned Peter Ickes (CRX), 3:52; 189 —Mark Atwater (LM) dec. Mickey Pelfrey (ICW), 3-2; 215 —AJ Garcia (LM) dec. Conner Herman (CRJ), 9-3; Hwt. —Tyler Burrell (CRW) dec. Chantz Rodriguez (CRX), 7-0.