Open spots hinder Trojan wrestlers
Staff writer
The Hillsboro High School wrestling team finished 11th out of 12 teams at the Marion County Winter Duals wrestling meet at Hillsboro.
The Trojans sacrificed points on open positions at 103-, 112-, 119, 135-, 140-, and 185-pound weight classes.
“Having six open weight classes most of the tournament makes being competitive in this format very difficult,” coach Scott O’Hare said. “You are just giving 6 points to the opposing team for every forfeit.”
Hillsboro lost duals to Rock Creek and Chanute in its pool and lost to Marion in the consolation bracket. The Trojans did defeat Republic County and Wabaunsee in consolation matches.
“The turnaround against Wabaunsee and Republic County was simply a game of numbers and matchups; they were short handed too,” O’Hare said. “We simply matched up well against Republic County and picked up some key wins to get that dual.”
Justin King went 5-0 during the tournament in the 145-pound class and Dylan Delk was undefeated in four matches at 171 and one match at 189.
“We had to move guys around out of their actual weight class to give us a better shot at winning as a team,” O’Hare said. “In some cases it was a good move; in others, it didn’t work out as planned.”
Aaron Bina went 3-1 at 160, but lost his only match at 171. Darren Mueller also had a winning record, 3-2, at 125.
The Trojans next tournament is 9 a.m. Jan. 9 at Herington.