The Hillsboro Middle School wrestling program hosted the Washington Blue Lions on Thursday, Dec. 10 and suffered a 48-37 loss.
The night started off well for the Indians as Mia Skinner returned to the lineup, and she did not disappoint. The 80-pound wrestler started the dual with an impressive performance knocking off her Lion opponent 5-3.
“It was a very gutsy performance,” coach Scott Eastes said. “She showed the kind of grit that we are looking for in our program. After spending a couple of weeks out of the wrestling room, she showed no rust at all. I was very impressed with her performance and look forward to seeing how she develops over the course of the next couple of months.”
Skinner started a string of 5 consecutive wins for the Indians with outstanding wrestling from Jonah Wilson and Cameron Hottinger.
Corbin Winkle and Darrion Mann received forfeit victories to run the score up to 27-0.
After suffering two straight losses, Ryan Burns put on another impressive showing, pinning his opponent in the first period.
The Indians then gave up two forfeits and another pin, before Carter Boyd answered the bell with an 8-0 shutout in another gut check match.
Going into the last three matches, the Indians clung to a 37-30 lead. That’s where the wheels fell off. The Lions pinned out, and despite winning seven matches and suffering six defeats, the Lions won the dual.
Pins ultimately made the difference.
“Our kids have to learn to fight off of their backs and avoid pins,” Eastes said. “That was our demise this evening. Two of our wins were decisions and all of the Lions wins were pins. So, despite winning a slim majority of the matches, it came down to pins and we were on the short end.”
“I was not entirely disappointed in our performance this evening. We knew that you are never as good or as bad as your first performance. We knew that coming off of a stellar performance on Saturday, we would have our hands full with a very well-coached Lions team. I felt like we held our own and showed that we are going to be a problem for anyone we wrestle this year. These kids do not have any quit in them. We have several first-year kids that are working out some kinks and when things start clicking for them, we will be much better off. I believe it would be a mistake for anyone to overlook this team in our league this year.”
The Hillsboro Indians will wrestle again at home next Thursday, Dec 17 against another league rival in Miami Trace at 6 p.m.
“We’ll be back in the wrestling room working hard and correcting some of our mistakes and be ready for another tough battle against Miami Trace next week,” coach Wyatt Wilkin said.
Submitted by Scott Eastes.
