DES MOINES -- Up until now, the state place-winners banner hanging in the Harlan Community wrestling room listed Cyclones at each place (first through eighth) - except for seventh.
HCHS junior Marcus Streit changed all that on the last day of the 2009 State Wrestling Tournament Saturday with a win by fall in his seventh-place, Class 3-A 285-pound final. Pinning Cedar Rapids Prairie senior Austin Teel in 2:19, Streit capped a 3-2, medal-winning week against some tough competition inside Wells Fargo Arena.
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"I made school history, I guess. First time anyone has got seventh," he said wryly. "I'm pretty satisfied. It's a good feeling walking out of here with seventh place."
Streit, ranked eighth going into his second straight state meet, wrestled five seniors over a four-day period and finished the season with a record of 41-9. His only two losses in Des Moines came against the pre-state No. 1 and No. 2 in 3-A, who entered the week with a combined record of 73-0.
"It wasn't easy for him, I'll tell you that," said HCHS head coach John Murtaugh. "He had a relatively easy match the first round, but after that it got real tough. It wasn't an easy road, but he hung in there and stayed tough, and was rewarded in the end.
"It's a springboard for him next year, but also for the team, because I think Marcus is going to be a really good leader for us."
The Cyclones' senior state qualifier this year, 189-pounder Brion Barrett, opened with an impressive first-round win on Wednesday, but suffered a pair of close defeats on Thursday to finish out of the place-winners with a 1-2 record. All three of Barrett's opponents were ranked, and he finishes his first varsity season at 32-12.
Afterward, he had mixed emotions on his overall performance.
"Good, I guess, but not really," Barrett said. "I would have liked to have been up on the medal stand."
Coach Murtaugh is generally not hesitant to sing the praises of Barrett, and the same was true on Saturday.
"Brion did everything he could do, and probably more," he said. "Winning the first round and then he ran into a hammer (in the quarterfinals) just like Marcus did, then losing by one point (in the consolations). He came within one match point of being a state medalist (and) he started wrestling in the ninth grade; he certainly exceeded a lot of people's expectations.
"But that's Brion. He's a really soft-spoken guy, but if you're gonna go to war, you want him beside you."
HCHS finished tied for 35th in the Class 3-A team standings with 11 points. Waverly-Shell Rock won the 3-A title by a 146.5-138.5 margin over Iowa City West.
Streit wins three of five
Streit blanked Wednesday's first-round foe, Thomas Freeman of Des Moines Roosevelt, 6-0, to set up a quarterfinal match versus No. 2-ranked Jacob Crawford (Southeast Polk) on Thursday. Streit hung tough with the eventual heavyweight runner-up before getting pinned late in 5:52. He responded by pinning his next opponent, sixth-ranked Kevin Harp of Iowa City High in just 1:36. Harp entered state with a record of 34-1.
On Friday, Streit suffered a cut in his third-round consolation match against No. 1-ranked TrAyvonious Pendleton of Waterloo East, who ended up in third place. The match went the distance, with Pendleton pulling out a 6-4 win.
"The Crawford kid was just a load for us," Murtaugh noted. "The Waterloo East kid - we were in that (match) . . . and Marcus had that cut on his head, and I think that actually helped (Pendleton) more than anything else . . . taking those (blood timeouts). I thought we were getting him tired . . . part of the game plan was to wear that kid out, and unfortunately it was the cut on our head that was giving (him) some breaks. But that's the way the cookie crumbles."
Streit had to take blood time against Teel on Saturday as well, but after a scoreless first period he needed only 19 seconds to turn Teel to his back and score the pin with a power half-nelson using the legs. It was the same move he used to start the season with a championship win in the Dan Hill Invitational.
"I figured I'd finish the season the way I started it," Streit said. "He didn't fight it very much. Most of the heavyweights don't fight it. Once they start going over, it's done."
"Murtaugh added: "It was nice to see him win that last match. When you wrestle the medal matches on Saturday, a lot of times it comes down to who wants that higher place and who's willing to settle. Coach (Dan) Hill told me when I was wrestling for third, 'you know third is better than fourth,' and I told Marcus, 'seventh is better than eighth, so let's go get that thing,' and he sure did."
Looking ahead to next year, Streit says he would like to return to the 215-pound weight class that he qualified for state in as a sophomore. Streit is somewhat under-sized for a heavyweight.
"I'm hoping I can drop down to 215 and do better . . . be in the (championship) finals next year," he said.
Barrett recap
At 189, Barrett started strong on Wednesday with a commanding 10-4 win over No. 8-ranked Devin Johnson of Pleasant Valley. One day later, he stayed close with second-ranked Brandon Abernathy of Indianola before suffering a quarterfinal pin in 5:31. Abernathy entered state with a 38-2 record and placed third.
Barrett's elimination match was also Thursday afternoon, and he fell just short, 3-2, against fifth-ranked Casey DeHoedt of Cedar Rapids Jefferson (29-7).
Murtaugh reaction
One week after being very discouraged with the outcome of the Cyclones' district meet, Murtaugh was pleased with how Barrett and Streit finished the season. He still wishes, however, that more HCHS wrestlers would have qualified.
"I thought our two guys did a great job down here. They just competed like champions, and that's all you can ask," he said. "The disappointment is that we didn't have more guys down here, and we should have to be honest with you. We did not have a very good district tournament, and the goal next year is to finish the season better.
"I thought (Barrett and Streit) wrestled the best that they possibly could, but we need to do that as a team next year, and that's something that the seniors-to-be need to make sure happens."
2009 State Wrestling Tournament (Feb. 18-21)
at Des Moines
Class 3A Team Scores: (Top 10)
1. Waverly-Shell Rock 146.5, 2. Iowa City West 138.5, 3. Des Moines Roosevelt 122.5, 4. Southeast Polk 109, 5. Indianola 79, 6. Urbandale 78.5, 7. WDM Valley 74, 8. Waterloo East 73, 9. Lewis Central 58.5, 10. Bettendorf 48.
Others: T-35. Harlan Community 11, Glenwood 11, T-39. Thomas Jefferson 10, T-53. Abraham Lincoln 1.
HCHS Individual Results:
189: Brion Barrett, sr. (DNP, 1-2)
Won 10-4 over #8-ranked Devin Johnson, Pleasant Valley, jr.; LBF, 5:31, to #2 Brandon Abernathy, Indianola, so.; lost 3-2 to #5 Casey DeHoedt, Cedar Rapids Jefferson, sr. (Barrett finished 32-12)
285: Marcus Streit, jr. (7th place, 3-2)
Won 6-0 over Thomas Freeman, Des Moines Roosevelt, sr.; LBF, 5:52, to #2-ranked Jacob Crawford, SE Polk, sr.; WBF, 1:36, over #6 Kevin Harp, Iowa City High, sr.; lost 6-4 to #1 TrAyvonious Pendleton, Waterloo East, sr.; WBF, 2:19, over Austin Teel, Cedar Rapids Prairie, sr. (Streit finished 41-9)
Class 2A Team Scores: (Top 10)
1. Ballard Huxley 220, 2. Denver-Tripoli 88.5, 3. Clear Lake 87.5, 4. Davenport Assumption 72, 5. Columbus Jct. 64.5, 6. West Delaware 64, 7. East Marshall/GMG 57.5, 8. Forest City 54.5, 9. Centerville 51, 10. West Liberty 46.
Others: 16. Odebolt-Arthur/BC-IG 29.5, T-18. Clarinda 26, T-30. Atlantic 17, 46. Shenandoah 10, T-55. Carroll 6, T-66. Red Oak 2, T-68. Creston/O-M 1.
