Heroes cleaned house at District 3 Youth Tournament

O’NEILL — Thirty members of the local League of Heroes youth wrestling team competed recently in O’Neill in hopes of punching their ticket to state, and many did just that.

The Heroes walked away with 21 state qualifiers and a Runner-Up team trophy.

The past three years have been building years for the newly-renovated program, and the coaches and wrestlers hard work is paying off.

Seven Heroes finished as District Champions and seven more earned the Runner-Up spot.

District 3 is the largest district in the state and includes 23 counties.

Hartington Heroes were competing against teams from Columbus, Norfolk, Crofton/Bloomfield and many others in North Central and Northeast Nebraska.

The Heroes started their season by hosting their first youth tournament. There were over 209 participants and brought wrestlers from Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska.

Organizers said it was a huge success and next year’s tournament is already is the works.

The Heroes took home the first place trophy for this meet.

They attended various other meets throughout the season bringing home more hardware.

The team placed first at Winside and in the Class B division in Columbus.