Cyclones split double dual vs. Panthers, Titans

 HARLAN (Jan. 28) -- The Harlan Community wrestlers completed their regular dual season Thursday with a Senior Night split against Creston/Orient-Macksburg and Lewis Central.
 Creston/O-M won the meet by defeating LC 81-0 and beating HCHS 55-19. The Cyclones finished the night with a 66-3 victory over the short-handed Titans.
 HCHS (15-7 overall) tied Atlantic for fourth place in the Hawkeye Ten dual standings at 7-3. Creston/O-M (21-3) wrapped up the conference dual title with a 10-0 mark while LC finished 8-10 and 4-6, respectively.
 “I thought we let one (dual) get away we could have got - Glenwood [in December]. But other than that I thought we did probably as well as we could,” said HCHS coach John Murtaugh of the dual season.
 “(Creston is) solid up and down the lineup. Every one of their kids has a winning record except for one, and he had a .500 record, so they’re really a tough dual team. We could have made it a little bit more respectable. We lost two matches in there we should have won. I wasn’t happy about that. We’ve got to win those matches.”
 Murtaugh added that it was nice to get one last H-10 win against Lewis Central, which left several of its top wrestlers at home and competed in just six matches.
 Four Cyclones finished 2-0 on the night, including two pins for Zane Bendorf at 170 pounds. Luke Musich won once by decision and once by fall, Jesse Schwery had a pin and a forfeit and Luke Freund won by major decision and forfeit.
 Schwery gave the team a 12-point turnaround in the Creston dual, narrowly avoiding a second-period loss by fall before pinning Creston’s Matt Chapman in 5:28.
 Prior to the Cyclones’ two duals, four senior wrestlers and five statisticians were recognized along with their parents for Senior Night. This year’s senior wrestlers include Richard Gaul, Dalton McKinley, Reese Schwery and Jesse Schwery.
 Reese Schwery did not compete Thursday as he was still recovering from injury, but he did return to action for Saturday’s Hawkeye Ten Conference Tournament.
 “I feel bad for Reese that he couldn’t wrestle, but we’re trying to get him healthy for the postseason,” Murtaugh said. “Jesse has really had a fine year. He’s just a real positive kid and the kids really rally to him. Dalton’s been a four-year starter for us and ran up quite a few wins. I think he’s sitting at about 92 right now. And Richard got on the mat and got a (JV) pin, so that was good.”

HCHS Wrestling Double Dual • Thursday, Jan. 28
Creston/O-M 55, Harlan Community 19 --- 145: Dalton McKinley (H) lost 11-0 MD to Keaton Street; 152: Kaden Bolton (C) won by forfeit; 160: Bret Van Baale (H) LBF 1:14 to Briley Hayes; 170: Zane Bendorf (H) WBF 3:27 over Austin Seaton; 182: Matt Schwery (H) LBF 5:15 to Andy Weis; 195: Kade Brouillard (H) LBF :43 to Jackson Kinsella; 220: Jesse Schwery (H) WBF 5:28 over Max Chapman; 285: Jeremiah Davis (H) lost 3-1 (OT) to Chris Wilson; 106: Justin Parson (C) won by forfeit; 113: Luke Freund (H) won 15-2 MD over Lincoln Keeler; 120: Tytan Frohlich (H) LBF 1:29 to Austin Evans; 126: Luke Musich (H) won 7-5 over Brandon Briley; 132: Josh Kopiasz (H) LBF :43 to Triston Barncastle; 138: Ben Alberti (H) LBF :46 to Garon Wurster.
Harlan Community 66, Lewis Central 3 --- 152: Bret Van Baale (H) won 9-8 over Logan Koch; 160: Stephen Fah (H) won by forfeit; 170: Zane Bendorf (H) WBF 2:44 over Christian Jasek; 182: Alex Monson (H) WBF 1:37 over David Bernal; 195: Matt Schwery (H) won by forfeit; 220: Jesse Schwery (H) won by forfeit; 285: Jeremiah Davis (H) won 7-0 over Sam Barrientos; 106: Double forfeit; 113: Luke Freund (H) won by forfeit; 120: Tytan Frohlich (H) won by forfeit; 126: Josh Kopiasz (H) won by forfeit; 132: Luke Musich (H) WBF 1:01 over Jackson Edwards; 138: Ben Alberti (H) lost 8-1 to AJ Henderson; 145: Dalton McKinley (H) won by forfeit.