Helias wins two duals on Senior Night

Helias hosts a Senior Night double dual against Hallsville and Waynesville at Rackers Fieldhouse Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019.
Helias hosts a Senior Night double dual against Hallsville and Waynesville at Rackers Fieldhouse Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019.

It was all you could ask from a Senior Night - no fuss, no stress and two dual wins.

The Helias Crusaders wrapped up their wrestling regular-season schedule Tuesday with victories against the Waynesville Tigers (54-18) and the Hallsville Indians (66-12) at Rackers Fieldhouse.

It was Helias' first dual win against Waynesville in five years.

"It's good to break through against them," Helias coach Weston Keleher said. "We want to win all of our duals, but especially against schools that are in our area.

"Everyone considers Helias a rivalry match and we want to turn that into wins for us."

The Crusaders won six of the 10 matches against the Tigers, all coming by fall. Four of those wins came in the first period - Gavin Adams at 113 pounds (:54), Aleksey Salaz at 126 (1:14), Evan Winder at 132 (:56) and Wyatt Forck at 138 (1:47).

Dustin Luebbert of Helias won by fall in 4:37 at 160, while Curtis Rockers won by fall in 3:45 at 182.

Helias got two wins by forfeit - Eathan Herigon at 106 and Tanner Nappier at 220.

The Crusaders continued that pinning trend into the dual against the Indians. Helias won three of the five matches against Hallsville, again all by fall. Gavin Adams (:29), Salaz (1:00) and Nikolai Careaga (2:42).

Herigon, Jackson Careaga at 152, Luebbert, Rockers, Noah Wieberg at 195, Nappier and Michael Sanner at 285 all won by forfeit for the Crusaders.

Prior to the start of Helias' duals, the Crusaders honored their five senior wrestlers - Colden Imhoff, Luebbert, Randy Salaz, Wieberg and Winder.

"This is a special group," Keleher, who is in his first year at Helias, said. "They showed up and they worked hard. They're not all great athletes, but they all became good wrestlers through hard work and doing the right things."

Helias was scheduled to host Battle in a dual Friday, but it has been called off due to injuries on the Spartans.

The Crusaders will have nine days away from competition before wrestling at the Class 3 District 4 Tournament in Kearney.

Helias will be without a pair of state-ranked wrestlers for the postseason due to recent injuries - Jack Lage (No. 3 at 113) and Randy Salaz (No. 4 at 138).