Cyclones host quad on Senior Night

The HCHS Cyclones girls wrestling team hosted a quad Monday which featured Carroll, Kuemper Catholic, and Denison.
It was also Senior Night as Secilia Kurtz, Katie Namanny, Emma Christensen, Paige Wilwerding, Kyrsten Madden, and Addison Obrecht were honored by the school.
“We’re still growing the girls program here at Harlan, but I think we’ve become more of a family and less of a team,” Obrecht said. “I think we do really well working together. We have all really clicked and administration has done a great job of recognizing us and putting us out there this year. I’m really glad to continue to grow the program for our underclassmen.”
The girls faced off against Kuemper Catholic losing 36-26, but still came away with some wins, starting with Cyclone Elle Stephens over Sadie Smith with a technical fall at 4:48. Madden was also able to earn a win over Anna Schuette in a 13-7 decision.
“I remember there was just a few seconds left and we restarted,” Madden said. “Usually when I’m in the bottom position I’m used to someone being on my left side, but she was on my right. I kind of froze and she [Schutte] almost pinned me. Tarah kept saying you’re good kid, you’re good kid and I was just so relieved I didn’t get pinned.”
Carroll got on the mat next with Harlan, being victorious 45-24. However, Stephens came up with another victory against Reese Haller via a fall at 2:59.
The final match of the night came against Denison, where the Cyclones lost 42-24, but still got some individual victories. The first Cyclone victory was Lucy Degroot over Siclaly Corona beating her in a fall in 40 seconds. Stephens came away with her third win of the night beating Analia Campos with a fall at 1:24, along with Obrecht winning with a fall at 1:19 over Marisol Granados.
However, the most emotional victory came when Kurtz got a victory over Addison Ransom of Denison with a fall at 1:38. Kurtz walked off the mat in tears after she dropped her first two matches of the quad.
“These girls put their hearts out on the mat,” said Cyclone Head Coach Tarah Devlin-Lawler. “Seeing Secilia get her win was amazing. This was the first time she’s competed all year. Listening to her say she couldn’t do it and she wanted to be done. I told her I have every confidence in her and, she just had to have some confidence in herself and she went out there and won. Watching these girls win is amazing.”
The girls will get on the mat in their next match Friday, when they head to Riverside High School competing against 22 other schools.
Devlin-Lawler said the team has more experience this year, and are learning more each match.
“Being able to go out and compete is the biggest thing,” Devlin-Lawler said. “This was our first tournament last year, going to Riverside, so we’ve got some matches under our belt.”