Indians win dual match against Tigers

Having a nearly full roster and a couple of pin fall victories for the Hillsboro Indians on Thursday night proved to be a huge difference maker in the South Central Ohio League dual match against Highland County rival McClain at the HHS gym.

Hillsboro defeated the Tigers, 39-29, as there were a total of eight matches decided on the mat, and a total of five matches were decided via forfeit.

This was the Indians’ first SCOL win of the season.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” HHS head coach James Jones said. “The difference of winning and losing the dual was we had several matches where kids didn’t get pinned and fought all the way through and battled to the end.

“Another difference is we almost had a full lineup, and I keep telling the kids how important each and every one of them are, and this proves that. If we are going to win and turn this thing around, we are going to need everybody. We need everybody to work hard and continue to improve.”

In the head-to-head matches on the mat, the Tigers won, 5-3, but the Indians won the first match of the night with Dawson Carter defeating Shane Huff by pin fall with 55.6 left in the first period at 106 pounds.

The Tigers responded with a 13-2 win via decision by Tanner Tite in the 126-pound weight class over Zack Klisz.

At 132 pounds, McClain gained their second win of night, this one being Keegan Rawlins defeating Chad Bieler by pin fall with 32 seconds left in the first period.

In the 138 pound match, McClain’s Sid Wardlow won by a 15-9 decision over Wyatt Wilkin.

McClain also won at 145 pounds as Tommy Johnson wrestled Hillsboro’s Zack Snyder to a 12-0 decision.

At 152 pounds, Hillsboro gained a win, as Cordell Covault won with a 12-6 decision against McClain’s Jon Stroud.

The 160-pound match saw Jake Badgley of McClain defeat Mason Stanley with a pin in the first period.

“Head-to-head, we won 5-3, and that was the best we could do with our situation,” MHS head coach Shane Paul said. “(Hillsboro) has filled up their room, got the kids out, so they beat us, that’s the bottom line.

“Our kids looked good for the most part, but I saw some things we need to work on, though. There were some instances where we could have executed better.”

But the Indians answered with a pin fall win of their own in the final match on the mat as Curran Butler defeated Ethan Taylor in the first round.

“Another key to tonight was we had a couple key pins at 170 with Butler and at 106 with Carter,” Jones said. “Those pins matched their pins and were big for us.

“Every year, McClain is tough. Since (Shane) Paul has taken over, it is not a guaranteed victory, and he’s done a great job there. I know as long as he is there, I know it is going to be a battle.”

Once the forfeit wins were added into the mat scores, the Indians jumped ahead by 10 points for the SCOL victory.

MHS is now 1-2 in the SCOL.

In the junior high matches, the Tigers of Greenfield Middle School defeated Hillsboro, 48-12.

Next week, the Tigers will wrestle at three different events.

“Hats off to Hillsboro, they did a good job, wrestled hard and won,” Paul said.

Jones wanted to thank those who are involved with the program from the community.

“I want to thank those from the community for helping with the program and coming out and supporting the kids,” he said. “Without the community support, this program isn’t going to be successful.

“We have to keep getting more kids out and have the community constantly urging the kids to come out for the program.”