Cyclones sweep quad, edge closer to H-10 title
HARLAN (Jan. 23) -- Carter Bendorf’s 100th career victory put the finishing touches on another great meet for the Harlan Community wrestlers Thursday as the Cyclones swept a Senior Night quad vs. AHSTW, Kuemper Catholic and Red Oak.
HCHS opened the meet with an impressive 58-18 non-conference win over the Vikings, then picked up a pair of Hawkeye Ten wins over the Knights (58-24) and the Tigers (42-31), improving to 14-3 overall and 8-0 in the conference.
The Cyclones will look to make some history Tuesday (Jan. 28) at Creston when they face Carroll, Lewis Central (5-3 H-10) and the Panthers (7-1 H-10). Coach John Murtaugh’s team is seeking the program’s first conference dual title since the Cyclones were co-champs of the Hawkeye 8 in 1984.
Carter Bendorf, one of five Cyclone wrestlers honored along with their parents for Senior Night, pinned all three of his 182-pound opponents in the first period Thursday to reach 100 career wins.
“Carter picked up his 100th and that’s fantastic for him. To do it at home is double sweet,” said Murtaugh. “It couldn’t have happened to a nicer kid.”
The Cyclones’ four other seniors include 132-pounder Ethan Lemon, who surpassed 100 wins last year, Wyatt Obrecht (138), Thomas Frederick (170) and Nathan Henry (195). Lemon went 3-0 with two pins on Thursday, Obrecht was 2-0 with a pin and Frederick was 2-1 with two first-period pins.
“Our seniors are fantastic guys,” Murtaugh said. “They have leadership and attitude and work ethic, and when you have good kids in the program it attracts other good kids."
Junior Dalton McKinley pinned all three of his opponents for the Cyclones, even stepping up a weight class to beat Red Oak’s Jacob Echternach at 152. Junior Jesse Schwery (220/285) went 3-0 as well with two pins and a major decision.
Vikings finish 0-3
AHSTW, wrestling without two mainstays in Denver Pauley and Seth Kiesel, lost to HCHS, Red Oak (43-36) and Kuemper (37-36) and saw its dual record fall to 12-8.
The Vikings had two wrestlers go 3-0 in 195-pounder Gavyn Fischer and heavyweight Brady Canada, who both earned three pins. Canada, ranked sixth in Class 1A, won all three of his matches in less than a minute.
The dual against Kuemper went back and forth. AHSTW led 18-10 at one point, then allowed 15 straight points but came back to lead 30-25 and 36-31 before the Knights prevailed with a win by forfeit.