Lawrence High won its only scheduled home dual meet of the season Tuesday night, defeating Blue Valley West, 47-24, and Olathe North, 45-32, in a double dual at the LHS West Gymnasium.

“I’m happy that they started out this way,” LHS coach Mark Dulgarian said.

The varsity team won its competition against West handily, with Emma Mercer, Blake Greenfield, Ryan Covert and Kyle McTaggert pinning their opponents. The win against North, however, required forfeits in the 130-, 171- and 215-pound weight classes and a late pin by Jake Lorenzo.

“We did really good in the first dual,” senior Cody Weber said. “In the second dual we stepped it up at the end.”

Eeking out a win against North came as no surprise. Since Dulgarian began coaching the Lions, that school has mounted a challenge.

“Olathe North and Lawrence always seem to wrestle close, tight matches,” he said.

This time, however, Weber served as a difference maker in what he called one of his best days a as a wrestler.

“Cody Weber wrestled excellent,” Dulgarian said.

The senior defeated West’s Brandon Abbott, 18-9, and pinned North’s Brad Yeenaudeal in just 14 seconds.

“My takedowns were really strong today, and I was really working hard on my feet,” Weber said. “That was pretty much the key to my success.”

Senior Kyle McTaggert, who said he has racked up about 20 pins during his varsity career, registered a quick pin as well, stopping West’s Mike Hill in 1:40.

“Once I got him on the mat, I just knew there was no way he was getting up,” McTaggert said. “I just wanted to finish it as quick as possible because it motivates the rest of your team if you get quick pins.”

McTaggert, who won his North match in a forfeit, added encouragement in other ways as he barked at his teammates throughout the matches.

“I like to yell and get people motivated. And if they can’t hear anybody else, I get as loud as I possibly can so they can hear me,” he said. “I’m just a vocal guy and I’ve always been that way.”

Brain Cain deserved shouts of approval. He defeated West’s Mike Norris, 3-0, and pinned Zach McCullough 55 seconds into the second round, triumphing despite taxing situations.

“Brian’s kind of a funkmaster,” Dulgarian said. “He’ll put himself in precarious positions and then he seems to be able to come out of it for whatever reason.”

Despite coming out on top twice, LHS, which received 18 points off opponents’ forfeits, must improve in several areas. Dulgarian estimated that poor conditioning cost his team two matches.

“We got some people that battled but lost it in the end because they don’t have the shape,” Dulgarian said. “Hopefully that will come. They’ve just got to keep working harder and harder.”

All in all, the Lions impressed, especially considering they missed two injured state-caliber wrestlers in Chris Coons and Zach Hertzel. But LHS must step up for its next meet – a competitive 27-team event Friday and Saturday at Eudora.

“Some of these guys are going to get ripped, find out what real good wrestlers are,” Dulgarian said. “The only thing I expect them to do is try to battle.”