CRESTON -- On a night highlighted by senior Aaron Johannsen’s 100th career win, Harlan Community finished 0-2 as a team at Tuesday’s Creston/Orient-Macksburg wrestling double dual. HCHS nearly erased an 18-point deficit in its first dual against Lewis Central before falling just short, 33-31, then lost to the host Panthers 62-12. Creston (16-3 overall) also beat LC 50-19, locking up second place in the Hawkeye Ten dual standings with a 9-1 rec

January 19 • at Ida GroveVARSITY GIRLS -- OA-BCIG 2080, HCHS 1942Indv. Total: OA-BCIG 1374, HCHS 1277; Baker Games: OA-BCIG 706, HCHS 665HCHS Game & Series ScoresKenzie Jones    142-155 -- 297Jessie Phipps    124-147 -- 271Molly Wingert    113-156 -- 269Samantha McCool    151-109 -- 260Jayden Gessert    96-84 -- 180Baker GamesHCHS: 113, 125, 174, 135, 118.OA-BCIG: 129, 171, 134, 118, 154.

OMAHA, NEB. -- Harlan Community claimed four individual champions and placed second out of six teams at the Omaha Burke Wrestling Invitational last Saturday. Winning their six-man round-robin brackets for HCHS were Oscar Olmos at 138 pounds, Jacob Wingert (170), Aaron Johannsen (220) and Daniel Soll (285).

 CARROLL -- For the third Saturday in a row, the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton girls demonstrated they know just how to respond when the chips are down. Exira-EHK’s most recent conquest may have been its most impressive to date as the third-ranked (1-A) Spartans swiftly erased an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit and picked up an impressive 69-63 non-conference victory at Kuemper Catholic. Trailing 56-48 early in the fourth, Exira-EHK rattled off

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community  boys shook off a cold start with a torrid stretch of outside shooting last Friday night, defeating Red Oak 79-56 in Hawkeye Ten action. HCHS trailed 11-2 after missing its first seven shots, then responded with a prolonged 37-11 run to take control of the contest.

 CARROLL -- Putting the ball in the basket wasn’t a problem for Harlan Community Saturday night as the Cyclone boys made a season-high 15 three-pointers and scored at least 16 points in all four quarters. Finding a way to slow down Matt Dentlinger and Kuemper Catholic, on the other hand, proved more than a little bit difficult. Dentlinger, a South Dakota State recruit, scored 17 of his game-high 26 points in the second half - passing 1,000 car

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community wrestling team capped Thursday’s home quad with three pins and a forfeit to rally past AHSTW, 42-38, and finish with a 2-1 record. The Cyclones split a pair of Hawkeye Ten duals - beating Kuemper Catholic 52-23 and losing to Red Oak 51-29 - before using a strong finish to top the Vikings.

 HARLAN -- Red Oak scored the first nine points of the game and led 30-11 midway through the second quarter Friday night en route to a 55-35 win over the Harlan Community girls. Ranked 15th in Class 3-A, the Tigers improved to 11-3 overall and 5-2 in the Hawkeye Ten Conference. HCHS, which briefly cut the Tiger lead to single digits late in the first half, dropped to 5-6 overall and 3-4 in the conference.

 MOUNT AYR -- Harlan Community came within one match win of an undefeated team championship last weekend, placing second with a 7-1 record at the 2017 Ron Scott Memorial Dual Tournament held Friday and Saturday in Mount Ayr. Lathrop (Missouri) rallied to beat HCHS 35-33 in the first round of the tournament and won the title with an 8-0 mark, also surviving a 39-37 decision vs. Shenandoah on Saturday.

 AVOCA -- Racking up 58 first-half points and shooting 60 percent from the field, the AHSTW boys basketball team crushed Riverside 94-21 last Friday night and improved to 12-1 on the season (9-1 inside the Western Iowa Conference). The Vikings led 31-8 after one quarter and 58-12 at halftime

 ELK HORN -- A strong first half of offense carried the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton boys last Saturday as the Spartans completed a season sweep of Glidden-Ralston with a 66-55 home victory. Scoring with relative ease in its half court offense as well as in transition, Exira-EHK led by as many as 17 points in the first half and took a 43-28 lead into halftime before holding off a second-half Wildcat rally. Dakota Rold, a 6-foot-6 sophomore, led t

 CHARTER OAK -- Trailing by 12 points entering the fourth quarter, the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton boys rallied within 50-48 at the two-minute mark but couldn’t finish the comeback in a 64-59 loss at Charter Oak-Ute last Friday night. “Charter Oak-Ute has a nice starting five with several years of experience,” said E-EHK coach Doug Newton. “We came out flat and they were able to grab the lead and gain some confidence.

 HARLAN -- Zach Klaassen’s first 99 wins as a head basketball coach included a pair of state championships, three conference titles and four consecutive trips to the state tournament...

 HARLAN -- Harlan Community will be hosting a special event in conjunction with the Red Oak girls and boys basketball games on Friday, January 20. HCHS will be celebrating the 380th Anniversary of the National Guard and honored to have Brigadier General Steve Warnstadt - along with other distinguished military guests -  present to read the promotion of Harlan Community Superintendent Justin Wagner from Lieutenant Colonel to the rank of Colonel

 HARLAN -- A first-half scoring drought and a fourth-quarter free throw disparity proved Harlan Community’s biggest downfalls Saturday night as Glenwood outlasted the Cyclone boys 63-60 in a Hawkeye Ten nail-biter. The second half featured 13 lead changes, including eight during a three-minute stretch of the fourth quarter. The Rams went ahead to stay on Andrew Blum’s late put-back and survived when Shane Chamberlain’s three-pointer was off th