Mueller sets HHS wins record, Trojans take Hoisington title

Also finishing among the top four were John Hein, runner up at 189 pounds, Darren Mueller third at 125, Aaron Bina third at 140, Bret Mueller fourth at 112 and Gabe Anderson fourth at 171.

?Overall, I was pleased with our performance,? coach Scott O?Hare said. ?Obviously, it was very rewarding for the guys to bring home a team championship plaque for the second week in a row. These last two weeks have given us a pretty good look as to where we are at and what we need to be doing down the stretch.?

Nicholas Mueller?s 5-0 record for the day gave him 120 wins for his career, breaking the school record of 117 held by James Bina. In the finals, Mueller, who is ranked fourth in his weight class in Class 3-2-1A, defeated third-ranked Levi Schneider of Ellsworth by a 17-12 margin.

Unlike most tournaments that run on a double-elimination format, the Hoisington event uses pools and a round-robin format.

Each bracket with six or fewer wrestlers was set up so every wrestler matched up head-to-head with everyone else in the weight class.

Brackets with more than six wrestlers were grouped into two pools, where they wrestled in round-robin style, then were placed into bracket play according to their finish in the pool.

?This format really maximizes the number of matches everyone gets as opposed to a typical double-elimination bracket format,? O?Hare said.

?All the guys got in at least three matches and most of them got four or five matches in a six-hour time frame.?

This is the third year Hills?boro has competed at the Hoisington tournament.

?I?m really glad we added it,? O?Hare said. ?For one, it gives our kids a lot of matches against a number of teams we normally do not see in the course of the season.

?Also, but doing it on Friday afternoon and evening, it gives varsity wrestlers at least one Saturday off as we head into the final portion of the season. This gives them some much-needed rest time for their bodies.?

JV at Marion?The HHS junior varsity wrestlers competed at Marion on Saturday with the following results: Justin King (3-0), first place at 135 pounds; Dylan Delk (4-0), first at 140; Dakota Peterson (4-0) first at 152; Dimitri McClelland (3-1), second at 125; Evan Just (4-1), second at 171; Matt Wiebe (0-3), fourth at 145; Jonathan King (0-4), fifth at 125; Casie Allen (0-4), fifth at 140.

Coming?Hillsboro will host a double dual versus Nickerson and Lyons on Thursday with matches starting at 5:30 p.m.

On Saturday, HHS will compete at the Southeast of Saline Dual Tournament with matches starting at 10 a.m.