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I was a tough week for the Lancaster School District when it lost a freshman basketball player - McKayla Hore - to an automobile accident earlier in the week. That would make it tough to keep your focus in anything else you were involved in, especially just a few days later.
But, the Lancaster wrestlers kept enough focus to slip by Iowa-Grant/Highland in perhaps a preview of things to come later.
The Arrows are ranked number one in D3 in the early polls while the Panthers are ranked fifth. The Panthers are SWAL defending chaps and a state team qualifier.
The match was what it was billed to be with Lancaster coming out on top 36-34
The Panthers took the early lead on a 5-3 win by sophomore Jordan Jenks over Arrow Tyson Wolfe at 116, but the Arrows eventually took a 24-3 lead, one they wouldn't relinquish despite a roaring comeback by the Panthers.
I-G/H trailed 36-18 with three matches to go. The Arrows sealed the win when John VanDeHey avoided getting pinned by Cody Rider in their 220 match, losing 15-2. A forfeit to Panther heavyweight Ben McFall and a pin by Shania Sarbacker at 106 pulled them to within two, as close as they could get.
"This team is a lot different than last year's," said Iowa-Grant/Highland coach Ryan Allen. "We have several guys out there who just haven't seen much mat time. This was a great match for us to start out with, against a loaded team like Lancaster. It was an all around good match for both teams."
"Cody did everything at 220 that he could to get a pin, except get the pin," Allen mentioned. "VanDeHey did a nice job of avoiding getting pinned and securing the match."
"We're going to see a lot of them (Lancaster) near the end of the season - at the CLASH and at regionals," he added. "We are just going to keep on working hard and try to compete every match. We're not where we want to be at the end of February and I don't want them to be."
I-G/H is at Darlington Friday night for a SWAL dual and go to the always tough Dubuque Tourney on Saturday.
Lancaster 36 Iowa-Grant/Highland 34
113-Jordan Jenks (I-G/H) won by decision over Tyson Wolf 5-3; 120-Dustin Reynolds (L) won by forfeit; 126-Cole Martin (L) won by pin over McClain Marshall; 132-Joe Crosby (L) won by pin over Weston Saturn; 138-Kyle Mezera (L) won by decision over Luke Nowak 4-3; 145-Trenton Cornell (L) won by decision over Tucker Sarbacker 9-3; 152 Brian Halverson (I-G/H) won by decision over Alex Withey 4-2; 160-Blake Bomkamp (I-G/H won by forfeit; 170-Ethan Soderstrom (L) won by pin over Ross Caygill; 182-David Chadd (L) won by pin over Kyle Soderstrom; 195-Derek Peat (I-G/H) won by pin over Connor Flynn; 220-Cody Rider (I-G/H) won by major decision over John VanDeHey 15-2; 285-Ben McFall (I-G/H) won by forfeit; 106-Shania Sarbacker (I-G/H) won by pin over Troy Deiter.