2015 Preview: Hillsboro wrestling adds to young team
Under second-year head coach James Jones, the Hillsboro Indians wrestling team has added to their roster in hopes of filling each weight class, something they couldn’t do last season.
The Indians have 18 wrestlers on their 2015 roster, a six-wrestler improvement from last season when they totaled 12 wrestlers on the roster.
“I thought we would have even more wrestlers on the team this season, but due to some injuries and other aspects, we didn’t get as many as I thought we would,” Jones said.
Returning lettermen this year are sophomore Chad Bieler, sophomore Wyatt Wilkin, senior Curran Butler, senior Jed Asmus, senior Zack Klisz and sophomore Dawson Carter, who was one spot away from placing at districts last season.
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“I think we will be way better than last year,” Jones said. “I’ve already seen improvement, and the willingness to do what it takes to get better has greatly improved. Our goal is to try and fill all the weight classes, and we should be close.
“Hopefully by the end of the season, we should be able to do that, barring injury.”
The team will also consist of seniors James Goldick and Chase Williamson; junior Austin Miller; sophomores Deegan Boris, Jared Conn, Cordell Covault, Mason Stanley and R.J. Swackhamer; and freshmen Lane Cluff, Tyler Rumpke, Zachary Snyder and Joe Weaver.
That group of 18 wrestlers will battle in a very tough South Central Ohio League, but the plus for the Indians, besides their increase in overall wrestlers on the roster, is the fact many of the state placers from the league last season have graduated.
“Returning state placers in the league are down, but Miami Trace and Washington are still the favorites in the league,” Jones said. “They always do a great job over there, and hopefully we’ll compete at a high level in the league as well.
“We are in the middle of the pack in the league. If we stay healthy, we can be right there, but we have to improve in our dual meets within the league. We won three last year.
“I want to see more guys on our roster reach districts and to see us have more league champions on an individual basis. As a team, again, I want us to fill all the weight classes and to compete in every dual meet instead of losing because of not being able to fill those spots.”
For HHS, they will host just two meets this year, those being on Jan. 7 when they host the McClain Tigers and on Jan. 21 when they host both the Clinton-Massie Falcons and the Washington Blue Lions in an SCOL dual match.
Their other dual matches will include a Thursday, Dec. 17 match against Wilmington and Miami Trace at Wilmington H.S.; and on Thursday, Jan. 14 against East Clinton and Chillicothe at ECHS.
The regular season will end for HHS on Feb. 6 when they take part in the SCOL Tournament at ECHS.