2019 Sectional Wrestling Preview: McClain and Hillsboro wrestling ready for tournament season
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
This weekend, the McClain Tigers and the Hillsboro Indians will represent Highland County at the 2019 Sectional Wrestling Tournament, which is the first step in the postseason as wrestlers begin to work their way to district and state tournaments.
Both McClain and the Indians compete in the Frontier Athletic Conference, where the Tigers were in a three-way tie for second place in the conference, while the Indians were fifth in the FAC. The Tigers are coming off an invitational dual win at the McClain Invitational this past weekend, where overall this year they finished 17-4 as a team.
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“For the season, this team has shown a lot of fight. Missing our top wrestler — Ethan Taylor — who never got cleared from a football injury, I was skeptical of our ability to have a great deal of team success,” MHS head coach Shane Paul said. “Our guys have overachieved in my opinion, and having a 17-4 record is an incredible year. We beat some very tough teams along the way.”
McClain has 10 wrestlers with at least 15 wins, and of those wrestlers, McClain has seven wrestlers with 20-plus wins, including Kade Rawlins at 38-1 overall and Quinton Smith with a record of 32-7 overall.
In a closer look at Rawlins, Coach Paul spoke about his 38-win wrestler and what he expected of him from the sectionals and about his overall season.
“I suspect Kade Rawlins will be our only No. 1 seed, and I believe he has a great shot at a sectional title. He has only one loss on the season and is close to 40 wins,” Paul said. “Kade was injured at the Southern Hills Community Bank Invitational at our place over the holiday break, but he fought through the injury and won that tournament.
“Then the following week, he competed at the Licking Valley Invitational, still fighting through the injury, and came up short in the finals. Kade wrestled in dual matches only when we needed him to win for the team to win. Kade is finally healthy and will be ready to wrestle.”
Other overall records for McClain wrestlers this season include: Ethan Burns (113) 18-14, Lucas Jansen (120) 29-6, Aidan Salyers (126) 8-21, Dawson Jansen (132) 25-15, Jacob Krafthefer (138) 26-9, Nathan Franz (152) 7-8, Tanner Tite (170) 17-7, Phil Waters (182) 25-9, Kyler Trefz (195) 20-20 and Kai Borrelli (285) 15-15.
“We have several guys with a shot at the Top 4, so we will see how it all shakes out Friday and Saturday,” Paul said.
This season, the Indians have four wrestlers with at least 15 wins, including senior two-time state qualifier Lane Cluff, who enters the sectional tournament at 42-2 overall. Richard Adkins is 31-11, Isaac Lewis is 26-11 and Tanner Warner is 15-26 on the season.
Also wrestling for the Indians at sectionals will be Garrett Fannin, who made his season debut at the FAC Tournament.
In his three previous sectional tournaments, Cluff was the champion last year in the 285-pound class, runner-up in 2017 and fifth place his freshman year of 2016. Last year, Cluff was 3-0 at sectionals with a 4-2 decision win in the championship round against Alex White of Westfall.
“Lane is having a great year. We have had some mental mistakes that have cost us the two losses we have on the year, but those are fixable things and we are looking to close out a great career with a place on the podium (at state) this year,” Hillsboro head coach Greg Rhoads said. “We as a coaching staff have been telling him for years that we truly believe he is a top guy in the state, he just has to trust himself and go do it.”
There is also Adkins with his 31 wins this season at the 160-pound weight class, who is looking to get back to districts as he did one season ago, though last year he wrestled at 152.
“Richard Adkins is another senior for us who is having an excellent season,” Rhoads said. “He was a district qualifier last year at 152 and has moved up to 160 this year. He has really embraced the changes and challenges that have been put in front of him and succeeded.”
Also for the Indians, look for Lewis, Warner and Fannin, as Lewis has flipped his record from 11-26 a year ago to 26-11 this season.
“The change in his record is tremendous and a real testament to the type of kid he is. He shows up and wants to get better and fully buys into the mentality and process that it takes to be a great wrestler,” Rhoads said of Lewis. “Tanner Warner was a district alternate last year for us at 113 and is up to 120 this year. Tanner is also a second-year wrestler with a real talent. We just need to make sure as coaches that we get that talent out when it counts.
“Garrett Fannin will be the last wrestler for us at sectionals, Garrett’s first matches were at the FAC tournament, where he wrestled better than we expected. He is a young kid that is making changes and doing things right. We are excited to see what this weekend could possibly bring for him.”
Rhoads described this 2019 season as one with “challenges,” as the Indians were not able to fill many weight class due to injuries this season.
“The season as a whole is one that we have had a lot of challenges. We have lost kids to injuries, both before and during the season,” Rhoads told The Highland County Press. “One was Brennen Priest, who was a senior that hadn't wrestled in a few years and came back out this year. It’s a tough thing to do, and we admire the heck out of him for what he did.
“Justin Conn was another guy we lost in the middle of the season due to injury. Conn, like the rest of our sophomore class, has real promise about their future in the sport, we just unfortunately had an injury take that away from us.
“We lost some other key contributors to our team due to other reasons, but they have been in the room for the entirety of the season, making themselves and their teammates better for the future. I look forward to cutting it loose this weekend and trying to take every guy we have competing to the next stage.”
The 2019 SE District Sectional Wrestling Tournament on Friday and Saturday. The event will begin at 6 p.m. Friday and then continue on Saturday at 10 a.m., as both days will take place at Washington High School in Washington C.H.
Both McClain and the Indians compete in the Frontier Athletic Conference, where the Tigers were in a three-way tie for second place in the conference, while the Indians were fifth in the FAC. The Tigers are coming off an invitational dual win at the McClain Invitational this past weekend, where overall this year they finished 17-4 as a team.
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“For the season, this team has shown a lot of fight. Missing our top wrestler — Ethan Taylor — who never got cleared from a football injury, I was skeptical of our ability to have a great deal of team success,” MHS head coach Shane Paul said. “Our guys have overachieved in my opinion, and having a 17-4 record is an incredible year. We beat some very tough teams along the way.”
McClain has 10 wrestlers with at least 15 wins, and of those wrestlers, McClain has seven wrestlers with 20-plus wins, including Kade Rawlins at 38-1 overall and Quinton Smith with a record of 32-7 overall.
In a closer look at Rawlins, Coach Paul spoke about his 38-win wrestler and what he expected of him from the sectionals and about his overall season.
“I suspect Kade Rawlins will be our only No. 1 seed, and I believe he has a great shot at a sectional title. He has only one loss on the season and is close to 40 wins,” Paul said. “Kade was injured at the Southern Hills Community Bank Invitational at our place over the holiday break, but he fought through the injury and won that tournament.
“Then the following week, he competed at the Licking Valley Invitational, still fighting through the injury, and came up short in the finals. Kade wrestled in dual matches only when we needed him to win for the team to win. Kade is finally healthy and will be ready to wrestle.”
Other overall records for McClain wrestlers this season include: Ethan Burns (113) 18-14, Lucas Jansen (120) 29-6, Aidan Salyers (126) 8-21, Dawson Jansen (132) 25-15, Jacob Krafthefer (138) 26-9, Nathan Franz (152) 7-8, Tanner Tite (170) 17-7, Phil Waters (182) 25-9, Kyler Trefz (195) 20-20 and Kai Borrelli (285) 15-15.
“We have several guys with a shot at the Top 4, so we will see how it all shakes out Friday and Saturday,” Paul said.
This season, the Indians have four wrestlers with at least 15 wins, including senior two-time state qualifier Lane Cluff, who enters the sectional tournament at 42-2 overall. Richard Adkins is 31-11, Isaac Lewis is 26-11 and Tanner Warner is 15-26 on the season.
Also wrestling for the Indians at sectionals will be Garrett Fannin, who made his season debut at the FAC Tournament.
In his three previous sectional tournaments, Cluff was the champion last year in the 285-pound class, runner-up in 2017 and fifth place his freshman year of 2016. Last year, Cluff was 3-0 at sectionals with a 4-2 decision win in the championship round against Alex White of Westfall.
“Lane is having a great year. We have had some mental mistakes that have cost us the two losses we have on the year, but those are fixable things and we are looking to close out a great career with a place on the podium (at state) this year,” Hillsboro head coach Greg Rhoads said. “We as a coaching staff have been telling him for years that we truly believe he is a top guy in the state, he just has to trust himself and go do it.”
There is also Adkins with his 31 wins this season at the 160-pound weight class, who is looking to get back to districts as he did one season ago, though last year he wrestled at 152.
“Richard Adkins is another senior for us who is having an excellent season,” Rhoads said. “He was a district qualifier last year at 152 and has moved up to 160 this year. He has really embraced the changes and challenges that have been put in front of him and succeeded.”
Also for the Indians, look for Lewis, Warner and Fannin, as Lewis has flipped his record from 11-26 a year ago to 26-11 this season.
“The change in his record is tremendous and a real testament to the type of kid he is. He shows up and wants to get better and fully buys into the mentality and process that it takes to be a great wrestler,” Rhoads said of Lewis. “Tanner Warner was a district alternate last year for us at 113 and is up to 120 this year. Tanner is also a second-year wrestler with a real talent. We just need to make sure as coaches that we get that talent out when it counts.
“Garrett Fannin will be the last wrestler for us at sectionals, Garrett’s first matches were at the FAC tournament, where he wrestled better than we expected. He is a young kid that is making changes and doing things right. We are excited to see what this weekend could possibly bring for him.”
Rhoads described this 2019 season as one with “challenges,” as the Indians were not able to fill many weight class due to injuries this season.
“The season as a whole is one that we have had a lot of challenges. We have lost kids to injuries, both before and during the season,” Rhoads told The Highland County Press. “One was Brennen Priest, who was a senior that hadn't wrestled in a few years and came back out this year. It’s a tough thing to do, and we admire the heck out of him for what he did.
“Justin Conn was another guy we lost in the middle of the season due to injury. Conn, like the rest of our sophomore class, has real promise about their future in the sport, we just unfortunately had an injury take that away from us.
“We lost some other key contributors to our team due to other reasons, but they have been in the room for the entirety of the season, making themselves and their teammates better for the future. I look forward to cutting it loose this weekend and trying to take every guy we have competing to the next stage.”
The 2019 SE District Sectional Wrestling Tournament on Friday and Saturday. The event will begin at 6 p.m. Friday and then continue on Saturday at 10 a.m., as both days will take place at Washington High School in Washington C.H.