The Hillsboro wrestling team opened its season by splitting a pair of dual matches Thursday at Lyons.
The Trojans lost their first dual of the night to the home team, 49-30. With openings in the two lightest and two heaviest weight classes, Hillsboro faced a 24-12 deficit in forfeit points.
Winning their matches on the mat for HHS were Matt Yoder (135 pounds), Justin King (145) and Aaron Bina (160)?all by fall?while Jared King (152) and Dylan Delk (171) picked up wins on forfeits.
Hillsboro followed that match with a lopsided 54-18 win over Nickerson.
Winning on the mat were Bret Mueller (119), Darren Mueller (130), Yoder, Justin King, Bina and Delk while Lucas Sinclair (125), Jared King and A.J. Litchfield (189) picked up forfeit points. All six mat wins were by fall.
?Overall, although I was not pleased with the outcome, I was pleased with the effort,? coach Scott O?Hare said. ?As expected, we made some technical mistakes, but nothing we can?t work on correcting.
?Everyone wrestled hard and never gave up. That is all we can ask of them. We expected to see some problems with technique, with our overall lack of experience.
?As long as we continue to improve in that area and let our athleticism and mentality carry us for awhile, this will be a competitive team as the season progresses.?
In junior varsity action against Lyons, Mitchell Day was the lone victor in four matches.
Coming?Hillsboro will compete in the Hesston Invitational tournament Saturday. Matches begin at 9 a.m.