Panthers sluggish entering John J. Harris

SHENANDOAH – Creston/O-M had its first action in nearly a full week in Shenandoah Thursday night, kicking off the first day of what will be a three-day stretch.

The Panthers rolled through Denison-Schleswig, Riverside and Shenandoah for three dual wins. With the esteemed John J. Harris tournament today (Friday) in Corning, head coach Cody Downing feels the guys aren’t as energized as they could be coming out of the three win night.

“We’re not fresh at all. We’ve been working really hard this week,” said Downing. “Our legs were a little sluggish (Thursday).”

Despite the sluggish showing, Creston/O-M rolled over opponents, including a shutout of Denison-Schleswig 82-0.

Against Denison, the Panthers had 11 matches end by fall. One match, Trey Chesnut at 120, ended in an 11-2 majority decision, and another in Chris Wilson’s match at 285 ended in a forfeit.

Of the group to earn a pin, the fastest was Justin Parsons (106) at 1:15.

Against Riverside, Creston/O-M rolled to a 53-18 win, landing five falls.

The Predicament’s Class 2A No. 2 in 182 Jackson Kinsella had a pin on Kaiden Hendricks at 0:52 and Sam Chapman, ranked No. 6 in 195, had a majority decision win over Edward Vleck at 16-3.

Creston/O-M also had decision wins from Garon Wurster (132) at 6-0 and Keaton Street (145) at 9-1.

The Panthers had no issue against a shorthanded Shenandoah team in a 76-3 win.

Shenandoah forfeited 10 matches and gained its lone three points in a narrow decision win by Logan Dickerson (106) over Austin Seaton at 8-7.

Wurster had a 13-1 majority decision win while Street and Owen Henderson (113) had match pins.

The three dual wins are good for the Panthers, said Downing, adding he feels the boys won every match they should have and then some.

“Not bad,” said Downing on team performance. “Our legs are a little sluggish and we looked a little slow on our feet, but for a good reason. We went two practices each day, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, ... it was good to get wins inside the conference. I thought we won the matches we were supposed to win, and I thought we upset a couple of weights. Overall, a nice evening.”

With five days in between meets due to weather postponing or cancelling meets, the Panthers did their part to stay in shape in the meantime.

“Usually we start the week of (Hawkeye 10 Conference meet) doing two-a-days, and turn up the conditioning,” said Downing. “... We tried to get a game plan and condition and work around it because there’s a good chance we’d miss a couple of days because of the weather, which we did.”

Downing said he sensed the eagerness of his wrestlers as they made final adjustments for the highly anticipated John J. Harris tournament.

“I’ve felt the tension all week,” said Downing. “With that big win Thursday night (over Winterset) we were ready to go Saturday, but we were disappointed it got cancelled. We’re ready to wrestle. We put a lot of time in in the wrestling room without matches until tonight, so we’re ready to go.”

John J. Harris notes

The 65th annual John J. Harris Wrestling Tournament will kick off in Corning today (Friday) at 4 p.m.

A total of 21 teams are traveling for the tournament. Present News Advertiser area schools will be: Bedford/Lenox, Mount Ayr, Nodaway Valley, Southwest Valley and Creston/O-M. Osceola Sentinel Tribune schools Clarke and Central Decatur will also be present.

The Atlantic Trojans are the defending champions. Creston/O-M is the most recent News Advertiser area champion, last winning in 2016. The Panthers have won the tournament nine times since the turn of 2000 and have won 13 times in the 65-year history.

To match the grand scale of the meet, 12 of the 14 weight classes will feature a wrestler ranked by The Predicament and will feature 23 ranked wrestlers (as of Jan. 9).

The two day tournament will feature pigtail matches and first round finals through 7 p.m with quarterfinals and first round consolation matches running from 7 p.m. through 10 p.m. The times, as noted by Southwest Valley athletic director Allen Naugle, are approximate and will run ahead of time when possible. You can also follow the coverage on KMA Radio and KSIB.

Saturday the tournament kicks off at 10 a.m. and will run though 6:30 p.m. Second round consolation matches will be wrestled first, followed by semifinals and third round consolations before a break.

Post-break, the consolation semifinals will take place in the activity center with the final placing matches taking place in descending order (fifth place match is first, followed by third and final) following the completion of consolation.

Weights 106 through 145 will be wrestling in the activity center of Southwest Valley high school. Weights 152 through 285 will wrestle in the high school gymnasium, where SWV’s basketball games are played. Saturday’s placing matches and consolation semifinals will take place in the activity center.

The News Advertiser’s Tyler Hetu will have coverage Friday night of the event. You can follow him on twitter (@TheTylerHetu) for updates of the meet through the evening.

Creston 82, Denison-Schleswig 0

106 – Justin Parsons (COM) fall Kaiden Krajicek (DS) 1:15; 113 – Owen Henderson (COM) fall Hugo Medina (DS) 1:33; 120 –Trey Chesnut (COM) maj. dec. Juan Chino (DS) 11-2; 126 – Beau Thompson (COM) fall Carlos Alvarenga (DS) 0:46; 132 – Garon Wurster (COM) fall Luis Mendoza (DS) 3:01; 138 – Kaden Bolton (COM) fall Manuel Garcia-Paz (DS) 2:00; 145 – Keaton Street (COM) fall Colton Johnson (DS) 5:13; 152 – Brayton Chesnut (COM) fall Thomas Gotto (DS) 1:46; 160 – Chris Aragon (COM) fall Eddie Vera Nieto (DS) 2:30; 170 – Hayden Green (COM) fall Jaxson Hildebrand (DS) 2:57; 182 – Jackson Kinsella (COM) fall Jaden Gonzalez (DS) 1:25; 195 – Sam Chapman (COM) fall Daniel Alcanraz (DS) 1:42; 220 – Andy Weis (COM) fall Max Rodriguez (DS) 4:00; 285 – Chris Wilson (COM) by forfeit.

Creston 53, Riverside 18

106 – John Schroder (RIV) fall Justin Parsons (COM) 5:06; 113 – Jace Rose (RIV) fall Owen Henderson (COM) 1:37; 120 – Trey Chesnut (COM) by forfeit; 126 – Beau Thompson (COM) fall Dennis Pilling (RIV) 1:49; 132 – Garon Wurster (COM) dec. Brody Zimmerman (RIV) 6-0; 138 – Nolan Moore (RIV) dec. Kaden Bolton (COM) 6-4; 145 – Keaton Street (COM) maj. dec. Rhett Bentley (RIV) 9-1; 152 – Ethan Reicks (RIV) dec. Brayton Chesnut (COM) 6-4; 160 – Hayden Green (COM) fall Austin Kremkoski (RIV) 4:34; 170 – Austin Seaton (COM) by forfeit; 182 – Jackson Kinsella (COM) fall Kaiden Hendricks (RIV) 0:52; 195 – Sam Chapman (COM) maj. dec. Edward Vleck (RIV) 16-3; 220 – Andy Weis (COM) fall Brok Comstock (RIV) 1:27; 285 – Chris Wilson (COM) fall Nathan Messerschmidt (RIV) 0:46.

Creston/O-M 76, Shenandoah 3

106 – Justin Parsons (COM) by forfeit; 113 – Owen Henderson (COM) fall Brandon Keltner (SHEN) 3:59; 120 – Trey Chesnut (COM) by forfeit; 126 – Beau Thompson (COM) by forfeit; 132 – Garon Wurster (COM) maj. dec. Landon Newquist (SHEN) 13-1; 138 – Kaden Bolton (COM) by forfeit; 145 – Keaton Street (COM) fall Lane Allumbaugh (SHEN) 2:33; 152 – Brayton Chesnut (COM) by forfeit; 160 – Logan Dickerson (SHEN) dec. Austin Seaton (COM) 8-7; 170 – Hayden Green (COM) by forfeit; 182 – Jackson Kinsella (COM) by forfeit; 195 – Sam Chapman (COM) by forfeit; 220 – Andy Weis (COM) by forfeit; 285 – Chris Wilson (COM) by forfeit.