Throw down showdown

?Obviously, I am happy for the guys for winning the team title,? coach Scott O?Hare said. ?More important, I am pleased with the way the guys competed and wrestled, even after the week of sickness they have battled through.?

Hillsboro defeated Republic County 64-6, Russell 36-30, Remington 54-15, Southeast of Saline 41-32 and Bennington 54-16.

?The team scores appear lopsided, partly due to the open weight classes some of the other teams had,? O?Hare said. ?However, we also won each dual on the mat when counting only contested matches.?

In varsity matches, Brett Mueller went 4-1, Robby McClelland 5-0, Darren Mueller 3-2, Nicholas Mueller 5-0, Matthew Yoder 3-2, Aaron Bina 3-2, Dylan Delk 3-2, Tyler Jones 5-0, Jared King 2-3, Gabe Anderson 4-1 and John Hein 4-1.

Two of Nicholas Mueller?s victories were by fall, enabling him to break the school career record he tied Thursday night with a pin against Nickerson. His new record of 67 eclipses the previous mark of 65 set by Ronnie Davis in 2002.

In junior varsity matches Saturday, Dimitri McClelland went 1-0, Jonathan King 3-0, Justin King 2-0, Dakota Peterson 1-0 and Evan Just 1-0.

Hillsboro triangular?The Trojans won both ends of their home double dual with Nicker?son and Lyons Thursday.

Hillsboro opened with a 46-15 win over Nicker?son. Nicholas Mueller (130 pounds), Aaron Bina (140), Tyler Jones (152), Gabe Anderson (189) and John Hein (215) won on the mat.

Robby McClelland (119), Matt Yoder (135) and Evan Just (171) added default wins.

The nightcap with Lyons was more dramatic. A combination one default loss and two losses on the mat put HHS in an early 16-0 hole. But consecutive wins by Nicholas Mueller, Yoder, Bina, and Dylan Delk gave the Trojans the lead, 21-16.

Even with default victories by Jared King (160) and Just (189), victory wasn?t assured until Hein pinned his opponent at 215 for a 39-25 lead. Lyons picked up a default win at 285 to narrow the final margin to eight points.

?We knew Nickerson was a dual that we should easily win with the number of open weights they had,? coach Scott O?Hare said. ?However, Lyons had looked pretty strong this season and I knew it would be a competitive dual for us. If we had stayed with a normal lineup, John Hein would have received a forfeit at 189, then we would have forfeited to Lyons at 215 and 285, handing them the dual by a score of 33-37,? O?Hare added.

?Instead, we had Evan Just take the forfeit at 189 and we bumped John Hein up to 215, needing him to pick up a win to seal the team victory. John came through.?

Coming?Hillsboro will wrap up its dual season Thursday when the team travels to Haven for showdowns with Lyons and Haven. Action begins at 5:30 p.m.

On Saturday the Trojans will compete in the Remington Invitational as the final tune-up before the regional tournament a week later at Garden Plain. Matches begin at 9:30 a.m.