Freund wins Hawkeye Ten title as HCHS wrestlers 5th at conference meet

 RED OAK (Jan. 30) -- Luke Freund earned his first Hawkeye Ten championship Saturday afternoon, winning the 113-pound bracket with three pins at the conference wrestling tournament in Red Oak.
 Luke Musich (126 pounds), Zane Bendorf (170) and Jesse Schwery (195) added second-place finishes for HCHS while Matt Schwery (182) and Jeremiah Davis (220) both took home third-place medals.
 The Cyclones matched last year’s fifth-place H-10 team finish by scoring 162 points as 10 out of 11 wrestlers placed in the top six.
 Creston/O-M repeated as conference champion, boasting three individual champs and easily leading the field with 257.5 points. Clarinda won a tight battle for second place with 185.5, followed by Atlantic/CAM (182.5) and Glenwood (177).
 “As a team, we wrestled the best we have all season,” said HCHS head coach John Murtaugh. “Scoring over 160 points with 11 wrestlers was a huge accomplishment. It is a good time of the year to have peak performances.
 “A big congratulations to Luke Freund for winning the tournament. He is one of our hardest workers in the room so he deserves this recognition. Luke Musich was also impressive as he came within an eyelash of winning the title. Jesse Schwery and Zane Bendorf had solid tournaments as well. Matt Schwery and Jeremiah Davis put together great tournaments by coming back through the consolation bracket to finish in third place.”
 Freund, who placed third at last year’s conference meet, dominated at 113 by pinning Glenwood’s Briten Maxwell in 4:58, Atlantic’s Cruz Weaver (:54) and Creston’s Christian Ahrens (2:46).
 Musich, Bendorf and Jesse Schwery, meanwhile, all finished as H-10 runners-up for the second straight year.
 Musich built an early 5-0 lead against Atlantic’s Joe Weaver in the 126-pound final, but Weaver slowly rallied back and won by a slim 9-8 decision.
 Bendorf started his day with two pins and an 8-3 semifinal win at 170 before losing to St. Albert’s Cael McLaren, 7-1, in the title match.
 Schwery pinned CJ Carter of Glenwood in sudden victory (6:32) to reach the finals before losing a 21-8 major decision against 2nd-ranked Jackson Kinsella of Creston.
 Kinsella claimed his third Hawkeye Ten championship while Kuemper Catholic’s Shea Parkis (138) and Crew Howard of Clarinda (220) were also repeat winners.
 Matt Schwery’s only loss at 182 came against eventual champion Mitch Mayberry of Glenwood in the semifinal round. Schwery responded with two pins to place third.
 Davis also lost in the semis (vs. Howard), then won two hard-fought decisions - one in overtime - to take third at 220.
 Also placing for HCHS were Dalton McKinley (4th at 145), Tytan Frohlich (5th at 120), Richard Gaul (5th at 285) and Reese Schwery (6th at 160). Schwery was competing for the first time since December due to an injury.