Creston/O-M claims John J. Harris title

CORNING – Creston/Orient-Macksburg wrestling took home the 66th annual John J. Harris Wrestling Tournament title Saturday night, capping off an overall strong showing from the Panthers across two days.

The Panthers scored 191 points for first, narrowly edging out Winterset’s 187. The title is the 13th in school history and the first since 2016′s state title winning group.

A narrow points race as the matches started rolling in consolations, the Panthers held the lead over Winterset with the Huskies awaiting the results of their 195′s consolation match, while Creston/O-M had none remaining in consolation.

Winterset’s 195-pounder Carter Smuck fell early in his third-place match, ensuring the Panthers held first after the top two teams stopped competing.

When it comes to putting the 2020-21 team up against others, Creston/O-M wrestling head coach Cody Downing says there’s still a gap, despite the different generations. But, he knows winning John J. Harris as a team is not an easy feat.

“I was an assistant in 2016, and we won a state title that year,” said Downing. “We’re getting closer to being at that level, but overall team depth, we might have a more balanced lineup than some of those teams. ... We’ve got guys who are kind of learning still. Guys like Jackson (Kinsella) and Kaden (Bolton), people you expect to be in the finals and be a contender, ... it’s a different generation. Completely different team than the 2016 team, ... but under any circumstances, it’s a tough tournament to win.”

The Panthers still trail Winterset’s 15 titles for most all time, needing two to tie. Creston/O-M’s showing at John J. Harris was also the 16th consecutive season the Panthers had an individual champion, the longest active streak by any team.

Friday’s strong start

The Panthers established their presence Friday night with multiple wrestlers quickly working their way into placing matches.

Three wrestlers ended up wrestling for first-place Friday. Lincoln Keeler (113), Triston Barncastle (132) and Garon Wurster (138) ended up in gold singlets, each looking to win their first John J. Harris title.

For Keeler and Barncastle, their routes to a finals match came to a close against strong seniors with state tournament experience. Keeler fell to Riverside’s Class 1A No. 8 John Schroder and Barncastle fell to Mount Ayr’s Bryce Shaha.

The combined John J. Harris titles between Keeler and Barncastle’s opponents in the final tallied up to six. Both Panther wrestlers fell by pin.

“You always want your guys to finish as high as possible, and they battled all day,” said Downing. “Lincoln, first time in the finals, ... Triston wrested last week and won a tournament, and he’s in the finals this week. I like where he’s at right now. ... Those guys, I think I can see improvements every time out.”

For Wurster, his match ended with a 7-5 decision loss to Clarinda’s Cale Downey. He finished the day with two wins by pin and a major decision, while Barncastle had three pin wins. Keeler had a decision win and a pin.

After a broken orbital bone sidelined him for weeks, Wurster returned last week and got back into action. Wurster’s tournament appearance marked about one week after he was cleared to resume action, this time with a protective face mask.

“Garon, that was impressive, ... that was all heart getting to the finals,” said Downing. “I think we can get him there by sectionals when it matters in being closer to 100% match ready, but that was all heart. ... Every point mattered.”

Outside of the three finalists, there was still plenty of podium finishers for Creston/O-M. Austin Evans (120) and Keaton Street (145) both fell in their semifinals and worked back to third-place with pin and decision wins.

Evans’ third-place match ended in a 5-2 decision over Missouri Valley’s Riley Radke. Street placed third with a pin on Wayne’s Jakson Cobb.

Both Justin Parsons (106) and Brandon Briley (126) lost their fourth-place matches, finishing fifth. Both finished 2-for-2, each collecting pins both for wins.

Shaky Saturday showing

Holding a 14-point lead over Missouri Valley entering Saturday, the Panthers were unable to replicate the amount of success they had a day prior but had enough to hold on for the team win.

“(Saturday) was ugly to be honest with you,” said Downing. “I’m just glad we had enough coaching to get it done. We had a couple weights where we didn’t score points. I thought we would, and I thought maybe that was going to be the difference. ... We did just enough to get it done, but we got a lot more to do the next couple of weeks. Title is a title.”

Creston/O-M’s Jackson Kinsella continued his success this season with a title win at 195. A pin over Clarinda’s Cole Ridnour capped off a day where he had a 19-second pin, a 22-second pin and a 19-4 technical fall leading into the final.

The win is Kinsella’s third John J. Harris title, with the last two coming at 170 and 185. Kinsella also picked up his 150th career win, coming in the opening round against Cole Behrens of MVAOCOU.

“He had a great tournament. Last time he wrestled Rindour our feet, our footwork and hand fighting weren’t the best,” said Downing. “He’s able to clean that up and get a fall. ... If he’s able to keep doing that, I like our chances really against anybody.”

Outside of Kinsella, the Panthers only had one other podium finish. Bolton (152) placed second with a finals loss to Winterset’s Tyler Brown.

Bolton had three straight pins on MVAOCOU’s Carsten Hadley (1:16), Tyler Raybourn of Clarinda (1:03) and Andrew Kennan of Bedford/Lenox (3:45) before getting pinned himself in 52 seconds.

Several Panthers had early exits due to the single-elimination with the new tournament formatting. Briley Hayes (160) had a single match exit, falling in an 8-3 decision to eventual third-place finisher Jarrett Armstrong of Atlantic.

Kaden Street (160), Andy Weis (182), Max Chapman (220) and Chris Wilson (285) each won their opening match, but lost back-to-back matches to bounce them from competition.

“We left some points on the table with Briley at 160 and Andy at 182,” said Downing. “Seeing Armstrong, ... the guy that beat Briley, wrestle all the way back and get third made me feel a little bit better. It looked more like a quality loss. ... He knows that. Andy, ... it’s still a different deal for him at 182, but we’ve got to get there in the next few weeks to get a little more offensive-minded.”

For complete results from Friday and Saturday’s tournament, you can click here.