Three Cyclone wrestlers earn Dan Hill Invite titles

 HARLAN (Dec. 5) -- Claiming three champions and a pair of runners-up, the Harlan Community wrestlers opened the season by placing fourth out of eight teams in Saturday’s Dan Hill Cyclone Invitational in Harlan.
 Senior Jesse Schwery (195 pounds) and juniors Luke Freund (113) and Jeremiah Davis (220) all placed first for HCHS while junior Luke Musich (126) and sophomore Zane Bendorf (170) both took second in their weight class. Sophomore Matt Schwery added a third-place finish at 182.
 Five of those six Cyclones, as well as several of their teammates, have had a short amount of prep time for wrestling season since taking part in the football team’s run to the state title game that ended Nov. 19.
 “It was pretty tough, but I think the guys really stepped up and did what had to be done,” stated Jesse Schwery, a starting two-way lineman in football.
 Winterset repeated as the Dan Hill Invite team champion, holding off Logan-Magnolia by a margin of 251.5-235.5 despite the Panthers boasting six individual champions compared to just two for the Huskies. Glenwood edged HCHS for third place by six and a half points (171.5-165) and Denison-Schleswig finished fifth with 85.
 The Cyclones earned three individual titles in their home tournament for the first time since the 2012-13 squad had four champs.
 HCHS head coach John Murtaugh noted that a late start to wrestling practice for some of the guys is a good problem to have.
 “I hope we start late every year. It’s nice to be in that championship football game,” he said. “We got after it pretty hard and those guys responded. Really, I thought our shape was pretty good. I don’t remember losing a match on shape, which speaks highly of those guys, particularly who were playing football."
 Freund, Schwery and Davis are all first-time Dan Hill Invite champions. None had placed higher than fourth in previous years, but Saturday they combined to go 8-0 with five pins.
 HCHS was two seconds away from having a fourth individual champ in Zane Bendorf, who notched three takedowns in the 170-pound final vs. Winterset’s Brady Barringer and led 7-1 in the third period. Barringer was able to hit a reversal late in the match, however, and despite Bendorf’s best efforts on short time he was pinned with just two seconds left.

Dan Hill Wrestling Invitational • Saturday, December 5 • at Harlan

Team Standings -- 1. Winterset 251.5, 2. Logan-Magnolia 235.5, 3. Glenwood 171.5, 4. Harlan Community 165, 5. Denison-Schleswig 85, 6. Perry 71.5, 7. CB Abraham Lincoln 71, 8. West Central Valley 49.5.
HCHS Results
113: Luke Freund (1st place, 3-0)
120: Tytan Frohlich (5th place, 1-2)
126: Luke Musich (2nd place, 2-1)
126: Sam Schmitz (6th place, 0-3)
132: Ben Alberti (6th place, 0-3)
145: Dalton McKinley (4th place, 1-2)
152: Bret Van Baale (6th place, 0-3)
160: Reece Schwery (6th place, 1-3)
170: Zane Bendorf (2nd place, 2-1)
182: Matt Schwery (3rd place, 3-1)
195: Jesse Schwery (1st place, 2-0)
195: Kade Brouillard (5th place, 2-2)
220: Jeremiah Davis (1st place, 3-0)
220: Austin Schumacher (6th, 1-3)
285: Richard Gaul (5th place, 2-2)