Owen Laughlin, Cole Scamman, Ethan Richardson

(Shenandoah) -- It's been a breakthrough year for the Shenandoah wrestling team, thanks to a talented group of underclassmen that continue to make strides.

After some lean years, the Mustangs are headed in the right direction. They have a 13-6 dual record and found success at individual tournaments, such as their seventh-place finish at last weekend's John J. Harris Invitational in Corning.

The Mustangs totaled 82 points, had three semifinalists, one finalist and left Corning with five medalists.

"We left some matches out there," Shenandoah head coach Todd McGinnis said. "We probably could have won a couple more matches than we did, but I was proud of everything. I can't tell you the last time we were in the top 10 there."

The showing at John J and their 6-2 dual performance in Mount Ayr the week before have displayed the Mustangs' growth.

"Each week, we want to build on the week before," McGinnis said. "We talk about how the opportunities make us better. We're building on them and learning from them."

The Mustangs don't have any seniors. And 12 of their grapplers are either freshmen or sophomores.

"I'll admit, I sometimes forget how young and inexperienced they are," McGinnis said. "We're trying to improve each week. The big picture of having all these guys back next year definitely changes things. It's exciting. These guys work hard, and it shows."

Sophomore Cole Scamman was a John J. runner-up at 132 pounds. A district qualifier last year, Scamman has a 34-7 record. Owen Laughlin (152) and Ethan Richardson (195) were also semifinalists in Corning. Laughlin finished third to grow his record to 35-5. Richardson finished fifth. He is 23-18 this season.

Jacob McGargill (145) and Jayden Dickerson (170) also medaled at John J. McGargill -- a freshman -- is 35-11 while Dickerson has a 35-5 record in his sophomore campaign.

Tyler Babe (113), Davin Holste (120), Ethan Laughlin (126), Mark Hardy (160), Jacob Rystrom (195) and Steven Perkins (285) have also been steady contributors to Shenandoah's lineup.

The fun continues for the Mustangs this week when they venture to Clarinda for the Hawkeye Ten Conference Tournament. The Mustangs' showings in the last few weeks certainly give them a chance to finish in the top half of the team standings. They're also searching for their first Hawkeye Ten individual champion since Carroll Heitshusen won the tournament in 2010.

"We haven't verbalized any team goals," McGinnis said. "We've been at the bottom for quite a while. We're just going to do what we do every weekend. We want to score points, battle, score on the edge and score at the end of the periods. That's what we'll focus on. We'll deal with where everything else lands."

Trevor Maeder and Steve Baier have live play-by-play of the Hawkeye Ten Conference finals Saturday afternoon. Click below to hear the full interview with Coach McGinnis. 

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