The Trojans began the evening with a 35-30 loss to Hoisington, the only squad to defeat them a year ago in duals.
Five Trojans registered victories on the mat: Dylan Delk defeated Drew Reisner 9-7 at 119 pounds; Darren Mueller pinned Jerrod Umphrey at 130 pounds; Nicholas Mueller defeated Dalton Bell 11-6 at 135; Tyler Jones pinned Zane Sanders at 145; and Jacob Yoder pinned Jared Mitchell at 189.
CJ Shaw won by forfeit at 285.
Marion lost 42-27 to Hoisington. The Warriors wrestled open in three classes against Hoisington and giving up 18 point off the top proved too tough to overcome. But with four mat wins per side, the Warriors proved able to hold their ground against the Cardinals.
Marion?s wins were as follows: Andy Shipman pinned Jared Owen at 125, Adam Regnier pinned Jared Umphrey at 130, Charlie Holub defeated Zane Sanders 5-1, Tylor Neil pinned Ryan Redie at 152.
Hillsboro followed with a 52-27 win against the home team, Smoky Valley.
HHS claimed nine mat victories: Alex Jost pinned Eric Mitchell at 112; Aaron Bina pinned Tanner Lott at 119; Darrin Mueller pinned Brock Reid at 130; Nicholas Mueller defeated Jake Brady 16-5 at 135; Jones pinned Jake Coney at 145; Frankie Martin pinned Nick Henry at 171; Yoder pinned Alex Peterson at 189; John Hein pinned Jacob Baker at 215 and Shaw pinned Daniel McGunty at 285.
Marion won three of its matches on the mat in a 60-15 loss to Smoky Valley.
Adam Regnier pinned Brock Reid at 130, Charlie Holub defeated Jake Coney 10-8 at 145, and Derek Riggs pinned Jacob Baker at 285.
The long evening culminated in a 42-21 Hillsboro win over Marion.
The Trojans won six mat victories: Jost pinned Randy Regnier at 112; Nicholas Mueller pinned Levi Anderson at 135; Jared King defeated Thomas McGee 7-2 at 140; Jones defeated Charlie Holub 4-0 at 145; Zach Jost pinned Hank Collett at 160; and Frankie Martin pinned Hector Cardines at 171.
Winning by forfeit were: Bina at 119 and Gabe Anderson at 189.
The Warriors, meanwhile, claimed three wins on the mat: Andy Shipman defeated Delk 11-3 at 125; Adam Regnier pinned Darren Mueller at 130; and Derek Riggs pinned Shaw at 285.
Tylor Neil won by forfeit at 152.
?Although I am a little disappointed in the loss to Hoisington, this was a good way to start the season and it gives us a good measure of where we?re at,? said HHS coach Scott O?Hare. ?These are probably three of the toughest teams in the MCAA, and to start the season wrestling all three in the same night was a tough challenge.
?I felt like the kids competed hard and wrestled pretty well for the first night of competition,? he added. ?I was pleased with our conditioning this early in the season, as it seemed like our wrestlers were still going strong in the late matches.
?Wrestling three matches in one evening this early in the season is mentally and physically challenging.?
O?Hare said he saw room to ?tweak? for improvement as opposed to major adjustments.
?The returning varsity wrestlers performed pretty well most of the evening, but you could see that there is still some rust to knock off,? he said. ?A few young guys stepping into some varsity spots showed some promise and a lot of guts.?
O?Hare said he was pleased but not satisfied with his team?s debut.
?I have a lot of high expectations for this team,? he said. ?If they are willing to put in the time and effort, they could be very strong this year.?
Coming?Hillsboro will compete at its first tournament of the season when the Trojans travel to Hesston in Saturday. Matches begin at 10 a.m.
