The Hillsboro Hawks Boys Varsity Wrestlers added two more dual wins on Thursday, January 21 against Fox and Rockwood Summit to raise their season record to 30-1. Head Coach Matt Mitchell was pleased, and said, “We had some good matches tonight. It was nice to see our guys continue to compete at a high level. Right now we are just trying to stay focused with districts and sectionals coming up.”
In the first dual of the night, Hillsboro defeated Fox 57-15. Of the seven contested weight classes, the Hawks won six. Gavin Alexander started it off at the 113 lb. weight class with a fast pin, taking only 35 seconds to subdue his opponent. Aidan Haggard was next, wrestling at 120. He also won by pin, in 1:24. Evan Morris, at 132, earned a decision win 6-1. Dalton Litzsinger, at 138, won by pin in only 27 seconds. Wyatt Johnson, at 170, won by pin in 1:12. Finally, Zach McNees finished the dual with a pin in 4:24.
Mitchell was encouraged by the result, and said, “Fox is a class four school. They have some tough kids. I was excited to see Johnson fill in and get his first Varsity win. He is a hard worker. We were glad to see that payoff for him last night.”
Litzsinger knows there is more work to do before the season is over. He said, “Our team is putting in a lot of work outside the room right now and it really keeps everyone else motivated to wrestle as hard as they can every time they step on the stripe.”
Hillsboro won the next dual against Rockwood Summit 45-34. This time there were 10 contested weight classes. Hillsboro won seven. Alexander again started it off with a pin, in 1:14. Haggard was next and also earned a pin, in 3:17. Sam Richardson, at 126, pinned his opponent in just 11 seconds, and at 132, Morris won by decision 6-5. Then Raymund Barnett, at 145, earned a pin in 5:47, while at 152, Griffin Ray took only 24 seconds to pin his opponent. At 195, McNees pinned his opponent in 1:18.
Mitchell had a lot to say about the dual. “Against Summit we wrestled well. Right now we are a little short handed with some kids out of the line-up but we still got the team win. Eddie Hines had a gritty match. He will make adjustments and get better. I thought McNees also wrestled really well last night taking care of business against a quality opponent. Summit will probably win District 2. They will be a good opponent in our sectional, so it was important to wrestle well against them tonight,” said Mitchell.
The 152 lb. grappler Ray said he keeps it simple, “I’m focusing on keeping my head right, wrestling well, and school and that’s about it.”
McNees has been working hard and it’s paying off. He said, “My offense is definitely clicking right now I’m wrestling pretty well.”
Hillsboro has one more chance to leave a lasting impression on their opponents before districts. The Hawks are once again in action this weekend, at the SEMO Varsity tournament. Mitchell noted, “We are focused on wrestling our best. We will see a lot of teams this weekend that we will see in districts and sectionals.”
The Hawks seem focused and poised to continue their domination on the mats this season.
