Led by two weight-class champions, Hillsboro's young wrestling team placed third among the 16 schools competing at the Hesston Invitational on Saturday.
Hillsboro finished with 132 points to trail Garden Plain with 163.5 and Smoky Valley with 144.
Sophomore Nicholas Mueller won the 130-pound class with a 3-0 record while junior Jacob Yoder claimed the title at 171 pounds with a 4-0 mark.
Senior Sean Leihy was a runner up at 145 pounds at 3-1.
Finishing fourth in their respective divisions were junior Alex Jost (1-2 at 103), sophomore Robby McClelland (2-2, 112), sophomore Toby Jones (2-2, 140), junior Grady Stultz (3-3, 152) and sophomore Tyler Lofton (2-2, 215).
"This was a nice performance from the boys in such an early-season tournament," coach Scott O'Hare said. "They competed hard and are showing signs of improvement on technique. We still have a lot to work on, but the effort and intensity are there."
O'Hare said he was pleased to bring home third place, but felt his team could have done even better.
"It shows them that hard work pays off, but that there is still room for improvement," he said.
"Although I'm disappointed that we didn't finish higher, as we had an opportunity to, the team feat was accomplished without one of the varsity wrestlers competing (sophomore Tyler Jones, 3-0 for the season) and another one wrestling up one weight class."
Marion placed ninth at the tournament. No individual results were available at press time.
Coming-With the Hesston tournament under its belts, the Trojan varsity has completed its pre-Christmas schedule. HHS will resume competition Jan. 4 with a double-dual at Hesston.
