The Trojans rolled up 147 points to outpace runner-up Burlington with 132.
?What a nice turnaround,? said coach Scott O?Hare, who was disappointed with his team?s performance at the Halstead tournament the previous weekend.
?Once again we started off wrestling pretty well, but this weekend the guys were able to keep up the intensity and continue wrestling strong throughout the tournament,? he said.
Picking up weight-class titles were Nicholas Mueller (2-0) at 135 pounds, Frankie Martin (4-0) at 171 and Jacob Yoder (5-0) at 189.
Also finishing among the top six in their respective classes were:
Tyler Jones (3-1), third at 145; Alex Jost (2-2), fourth at 112; Grady Stultz (3-2), fourth at 152; and CJ Shaw (4-2), fifth at 285.
Also competing for HHS were: Darren Mueller (0-2) at 125; Dylan Delk (1-2) at 130; Jared King (1-2) at 140.
Winning all three matches in the championship round proved to be big for the Trojans, who were tied with Burlington for the team lead going into the round.
?They had two wrestling in the finals and we had three,? O?Hare said.
Mueller prevailed in a high-energy scramble that ended in a pin of Dillon Wildon of Marion. Martin followed with a dominating 12-2 victory to claim his first career tournament title, and then Yoder outmaneuvered Josh Stillwell from Eureka, ranked third in Class 3A, by a 12-1 decision.
?The other promising thing about this tournament win is that the team did it with three varsity wrestlers out of the lineup,? O?Hare said. Aaron Bina, Zach Jost and John Hein were unable to compete because of family commitments or injury.
?All three have contributed in previous weeks by scoring team points for the Trojans,? O?Hare said.
The Trojan mentor said he hoped the team title will give his team additional confidence as the season moves to a climax.
?We have a tough few weeks ahead and the regional tournament is coming up quickly,? he said.
?As a team, we need to continue to improve and remain focused. As long as the guys understand that there is more to be accomplished, and they continue to work hard, we could have an exciting last month of the season.?
Hillsboro double dual?The Trojans tuned up for Eureka with a couple of lopsided dual wins over Nickerson and Lyons Thursday at home.
Pairing up well against two short-handed team, Hillsboro posted wins of 51-15 and 54-6, respectively.
Against the Panthers, HHS four of six matches that were determined on the mat. Nicholas Mueller, Grady Stultz and Jacob Yoder pinned their opponents, while CJ Shaw won by an 8-4 decision. Darren Mueller lost by decision and Dylan Delk was pinned.
The other five Trojan wins were by default, with one loss coming by default.
Against Lyons, Hillsboro won seven of eight matches on the mat. Aaron Bina, Grady Stultz, Frankie Martin, Jacob Yoder and Shaw won by fall, while Darren Mueller and Nicholas Mueller each posted wins on points. Jared King lost his match by fall.
Three Hillsboro wins came by default.
The mat wins by Bina and Nicholas Mueller came against Lyons foes that had beaten them in previous meetings.
?We accomplished our primary goal, which was to pick up two more MCAA league dual wins,? coach Scott O?Hare said.
Coming?The HHS varsity will return to action on Friday with a tournament at Hoisington. Matches are set to begin at 3 p.m.
