The Hillsboro Middle School wrestling team made the 2.5-hour trek last Saturday to Warren Middle School to enter a 20-team tournament. With only five wrestlers able to score points, the team made the most of its opportunities and placed 13th.

“Overall, it was a successful day as all of the wrestlers got a lot of mat time and very valuable experience. I liked what I saw from our younger wrestlers that did not get a win on the day, but strapped up for every one of their matches and came out ready to wrestle. They did not back down from anyone,” Hillsboro coach Chad Vaughn said.

Mason Harper continued his winning ways and battled through his pool to represent HMS in the finals match. He fell short in the finals, securing a second place finish and improved his record to 9-1.

Miley Messer showed that she was up for the task of wrestling an all-boys bracket and finished with a place place finish as well.

Heavyweight Garrett Greiner ended the day adding three wins to his record and dropping a couple of tough fought matches in route to a fifth place finish.

“Our athletes showed great improvement. There is still more to do to get to where we want to be. We had three wrestlers exceed our expectations today and two that almost won their weight classes. I am very proud of the performance of our athletes and expect great things from them this year as we get further into the season,” Hillsboro coach Bruce Messer said.

The story was provided by Bryon “Scott” Eastes.