Trojan grapplers take third at Herington
Four Trojans grab
second-place finishes,
three finish in top four
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
What a difference a day can make.
Two days earlier after a dual victory against Halstead and Hesston in Hillsboro, Hillsboro High School wrestling coach Scott O'Hare was thankful his team could get back on the mat since being out of action since Dec. 8.
After a third place finish Saturday at the Herington Invitational, Hillsboro's highest finish ever under the fifth-year coach, O'Hare had mixed emotions.
Hillsboro scored 115.5 points.
"Although we are wrestling pretty well, we don't want to be content with just finishing in the top three," O'Hare said. "We still have a number of technical issues to work out and some new stuff to get in.
"This is traditionally one of the tougher tournaments we compete in during the season."
Four wrestlers made it to the championship match. 135-pound Nick Mueller, 171-pound Frankie Martin, 189-pound Jake Yoder, and 215-pound John Hein, all took second place.
Mueller took down his first two opponents in nearly identical times of one minute, seven seconds, and 1:09 in the championship semifinals, setting up the title match against Abilene's Nick Peterson.
Mueller battled Peterson all the way through the third period before Peterson was able to score the fall.
Martin was victorious in the first round against Hill City's James McCullough, scoring a fall in the first round in 2:06 and beating his Council Grove opponent by a 5-1 decision, to face Chapman's Noel Richardson.
Richardson dominated the match, securing the victory in the third period.
Yoder won by forfeit in the first round and scored a fall in the second period against an Abilene opponent in 3:40 to set up a title-match against Wamego's Hal Rivard.
Rivard handed Yoder his first loss of the season with a 5-2 decision.
Hein also had a first-round forfeit before beating Chase County's Trenton Harshman with a fall in 4:23 to set up a match with Wamego's Charlie Snyder.
Snyder secured the title with a fall on Hein in 1:49.
The Trojans would have had five in the final match, but 145-pound Tyler Jones lost a hard-fought 4-2 decision in the semifinals.
Jones finished the day 3-1, beating Council Grove's Jordan Johnson, 6-1 in the consolation finals.
Alex Jost and Aaron Bina each placed fourth in the 112- and 119-pound classes, respectively.
Jost moved on to the championship semis via forfeit, and suffered a fall to a Chapman opponent 1:17 into the match.
Jost scored a fall on Council Grove's Alex McBee in the consolation semifinals in just less than a minute, but dropped a heartbreaking 10-9 decision to the hosting Railers' Anthony Henley to finish the day 1-2.
Bina fell in the first round to the Cowboys' Courtney Strauss in 3:14, but he stayed alive with a 9-2 decision against Herington's Jayce Demont.
Bina was able to push Council Grove's Cody Fuqua all the way to the third period of the consolation final match before suffering a fall in 3:35 for a 1-2 finish.
"Now we have to find a way to convince the guys that they have to wrestle with more aggressiveness, intensity, and attitude," O'Hare said. "Now that we are past the weight certification issues this week, I am hoping some of the guys will be able to start focusing even more on the wrestling and mental aspects and have less to worry about as far as weight management is concerned."
The Trojans face another difficult meet Saturday, traveling to Halstead for a 21-team invitational with a 10 a.m. start.
Other results:
hillsboro double dual (jan. 3)
hillsboro 49, Hesston 21
103 - open, both schools. 112 - Alex Jost (HIL) def. Tanner Strohl (HES) 21-8. 119 - Travis Janzen (HES) p. Aaron Bina (HIL) 2:58. 125 - James Medlin (HES) p. Dylan Delk (HIL) 1:56. 130 - Darren Mueller (HIL) def. Zach Weber (HES) 5-3. 135 - Nicholas Mueller (HIL) p. Tesse Lintz (HES) :46. 140 - Mathew Wiebe (HIL) open (HES). 145 - Tyler Jones (HIL) p. Tyler Goertzen (HES) :46. 152 - Clint Janzen (HES) p. Lonnie Benda (HIL) 3:03. 160 - Monte Etheridge (HES) def. Zach Jost (HIL) 5-4. 171 - Frankie Martin (HIL) p. Kevin Schultz (HES) 1:30. 189 - Jacob Yoder (HIL) open (HES). 215 - John Hein (HIL) p. Parker Broadfoot (HES) 4:56. 285 - C.J. Shaw (HIL) open (HES).
hillsboro 60, halstead 12
103 - Terrin Bradfield (HAL) open (HIL). 112 - Alex Jost (HIL) p. Ryan White (HAL) :25. 119 - Dimitri McClelland (HIL) open (HAL). 125 - Dylan Delk (HIL) p. Seth Jankard (HAL) 2:27. 130 - Darren Mueller (HIL) def. Roman Kane (HAL) 8-6 (ot). 135 - Jake Hattabaugh (HAL) def. Nicholas Mueller (HIL) 3-2. 140 - Jared King (HIL) open (HAL). 145 - Evan Jost (HIL) open (HAL). 152 - Lonnie Benda (HIL) open (HAL). 160 - Spencer Soward (HAL) def. Zach Jost (HIL) 15-11. 171 - Frankie Martin (HIL) def. Sheldon Meitler (HAL) 14-8. 189 - Jacob Yoder (HIL) p. Jared Bean (HAL) 1:27. 215 - John Hein (HIL) open (HaL). 285 - C.J. Shaw (HIL) p. Lucas Sampaio (HAL) :22.
