Yoder second, Hillsboro seventh

Just when Trojan wrestling coach Scott O’Hare thought his young team was getting into the swing of season, he found out otherwise.

Competing in a two-day Halstead Invitational Friday and Saturday, Hillsboro seemed to shy away from its aggression, finishing seventh out of 22 teams.

It wasn’t the 87.5 that didn’t set well with O’Hare, but the fact that the Trojans appeared off track, allowing the action to come to them rather than attacking.

“In regards to the team, this was a disappointing outcome,” O’Hare said. “Overall, we competed and wrestled pretty well on Friday, but Saturday was a different story.

“We seemed to wrestle with a much more passive and reactive style throughout much of this tournament, especially Saturday. We did not seem to force the action and wrestle as aggressively as we had been to this point in the season. That was frustrating.”

Senior Matt Yoder (135) had the best outing, going 3-1 and finishing second.

Jared King (152) took third, going 4-1, and Justin King was fourth (4-2) in the 145-pound class.

Aaron Bina (160) finished fifth at 4-2.

Friday started out looking good for Hillsboro as they won their first seven out of nine matches. But the Trojans suffered a loss when 171-pound standout Dylan Delk sustained an injury and was forced to default the remainder of the tournament.

“To this point in the season it seemed like we were making up for what we lacked in experience and technique with just going hard and wrestling aggressively,” O’Hare said. “That just didn’t seem to be the case this weekend.

“Part of that may have been due to an increase in the level of competition, but we cannot let the level of competition change the way we intend to compete.”

Other Trojans competing were Bret Mueller (119, 1-2), Lucas Sinclair (125, 2-2), Darren Mueller (130, 0-2), Dimitri McClelland (140, 2-2), and Evan Just (189, 0-2).

“We will use this week to evaluate where we are at and what we need to do to turn the corner to get back to where we expect to be, both from an individual and team perspective,” O’Hare said. “We certainly still have some areas to improve on as far as technique and we must continue to correct those mistakes.

“We also need to focus this week on confidence, attitude, and mental toughness.”

Up next for Hillsboro is Saturday’s tournament at Eureka with action scheduled for 9 a.m.