Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports

Free State’s Justin LaMarche gets his arm raised following a victory during the boys wrestling edition of the City Showdown against Lawrence High on Jan. 21 at Lawrence High School.

As he mentally prepared for Wednesday night’s Senior Night clash with crosstown rival Free State Firebirds, the enormity of the moment was not lost on Lawrence Lions senior grappler Jaiden Harrell.

“Two hours before the match, I was so anxious I was crying in my mom’s arms,” Harrell recounted.

In one of the more electrifying bouts of the boys wrestling edition of the City Showdown held at Lawrence High School, Harrell overcame his anxiety, springing an upset on Zane Shaw, the No. 2 ranked 190-pound wrestler in 6A.

Free State would ultimately emerge with a 45-31 victory in the boys wrestling edition of the City Showdown, but Harrell’s upset of Shaw gave his Lions a positive conclusion to a competition that looked much closer heading into the late stages of this rivalry matchup.

Harrell pulled out a 4-3 decision, with Shaw spending the final minute of the match desperately hunting for either a takedown or at least forcing Harrell into a second stalling penalty to force extra time.

Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports

Lawrence High’s Jadin Harrell gets his arm raised following an upset victory over Free State’s Zane Shaw during the boys wrestling edition of the City Showdown on Jan. 21 at Lawrence High School.

Harrell dropped four of his previous matches to Shaw, including Shaw sending Harrell to the backside of the 190-pound bracket at last year’s 6A state championship tournament.

“I knew if I was able to get to my shots, get to a leg, it was going to be hard to stop me,” Harrell said. “I haven’t really done a good job of getting to legs, but tonight I felt like I did a good job of doing that.”

The turning point, Harrell said, came during his first, and ultimately only, takedown of Shaw in the final minute of the second period.

“I knew right then and there that I was in the driver’s seat,” he said, “and I just had to maintain.”

Harrell pushed his one-point advantage heading into the third period to a 4-2 lead with an escape point in the final minute of regulation time. He gave away one point on a stalling call, but was otherwise successful holding off a relentless effort from Shaw.

Shaw, who moved to 26-4 on the season, was glum after the loss.

“I’ve always out-wrestled him, I just didn’t this time,” he said. “We both got in deep on shots, but he was the one who finished and I just came up short.”

Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports

Lawrence High’s Jadin Harrell and Free State’s Zane Shaw size each other up for an opening during a match at the boys wrestling edition of the City Showdown on Jan. 21 at Lawrence High School.

Shaw, who entered the night with 100 career victories and ranked No. 2 in 6A, chalked up his lone previous loss to Harrell as “a weird match.”

“It wasn’t much of a big deal,” Shaw said, adding that he considers Harrell to be a rival on an individual level.

Free State held an early 11-0 lead, but the Lions clawed back to go on top 28-22. Free State, the 7th-ranked 6A team in the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association rankings released Tuesday, finished strong by winning four of its final five matches to conclude the dual.

In all, the Firebirds collected victories in eight of 12 contested bouts, while also coughing up forfeits in the 106- and 113-pound weight divisions.

“Given the circumstances, I think we looked decent overall,” Free State coach Randy Streeter said, adding that his squad was undermanned due to injury and illness. “So what had to have a few JV guys step in.”

The evening’s festivities opened with senior Cameron Salb’s defeat of Jace Schofield via technical fall in the 215-pound division. In quick succession, the Firebirds notched a second victory courtesy of Cesar Martinez’s take-down of Malachi Chrismon in a heavyweight clash.

Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports

Free State’s Damian Quick tries to maintain control over Lawrence High’s Galen Dewhirst during the boys wrestling edition of the City Showdown on Jan. 21 at Lawrence High School.

Other Free State victories included: Damian Quick pinning junior Galen Dewhirst at 120 pounds; Tristan Moore earning a 17-1 technical fall over freshman Drennen Shorter at 132 pounds; Hudson Andrew with a 18-3 tech fall over sophomore Ryan Farrell at 150 pounds; Justin LaMarche pinning junior Patrick Stanwix 44 seconds into their 157-pounds match; Coghlan Odom pinning over senior Hunter Lown at 165 pounds; and Ben Lyles pinning senior Delmon Moorhead at 175 pounds.

“Quick looked sharp at 120, and Ben Lyles looked good at 175,” Streeter said, while also lauding Martinez — a junior varsity grappler who filled in admirably to earn a varsity victory in the heavyweight division.

“Cesar came up big and got a pin,” Streeter said.

Lawrence’s victories were notched by senior Lou Elsten, as the No. 4 ranked 6A wrestler at 126 pounds pinned sophomore Avett Landis; fellow senior Dominic Phommaseng scored a pin of freshman Hoyt Jeter at 138 pounds; sophomore Blaine Schwada earned a 17-7 major decision victory over the the 6th-ranked 6A wrestler at 144 pounds in junior Brogan Hagen; and Harrell’s triumph over Shaw.

“We still have a lot of things to work on,” Lawrence coach Patrick Naughton said. “But I was really impressed with how our varsity team came together and did really well to keep it tight.

“When Free State is at full strength, they have a great shot of coming back from (the state tournament) with some golds.”

Naughton said his squad needs to quickly make strides in the area of takedowns.

“Just setting up our takedowns, he said. “We’re going forward and back too much. We need to be setting up the fakes and things like that.”

Both teams will compete at the BVNW Husky Invite on Jan. 23-24 at Blue Valley Northwest High School in Overland Park.

Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports

Lawrence High’s Lou Elsten walks around the mat prior to the boys wrestling edition of the City Showdown against Free State on Jan. 21 at Lawrence High School.

Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports

Free State’s Ben Lyles goes for a takedown attempt against Lawrence High’s Delmon Moorhead during the boys wrestling edition of the City Showdown on Jan. 21 at Lawrence High School.

Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports

Lawrence High’s Blaine Schwada smiles while talking with teammates during the boys wrestling edition of the City Showdown against Free State on Jan. 21 at Lawrence High School.

Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports

Free State’s Tristan Moore lifts Lawrence High’s Drennen Shorter off the mat during their match at the boys wrestling edition of the City Showdown on Jan. 21 at Lawrence High School.

Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports

Lawrence High wrestlers cheer on teammate Jadin Harrell during the boys wrestling edition of the City Showdown against Free State on Jan. 21 at Lawrence High School.

Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports

Free State wrestlers celebrate after teammate Blaine Schwada clinched his victory during the boys wrestling edition of the City Showdown against Lawrence High on Jan. 21 at Lawrence High School.