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McClain boys wrestlers defeat Chillicothe

The Highland County Press - Staff Photo - Create Article
McClain sophomore Cole Rapp is shown in the 150 lb. weight class vs. his Chillicothe opponent. (HCP Photos/Jim Jones)
By
Jim Jones, The Highland County Press

The McClain boys varsity wrestling team was back in action Thursday night in Greenfield, where they picked up a big Frontier Athletic Conference victory over Chillicothe by a 42-24 final score.

Four Tiger grapplers registered impressive pins in the match starting with sophomore Cole Rapp, who had a second-period pin in the 150-pound weight class.  Another sophomore, Carlos Gonzales, followed up with a pin in the second period over his 157-pound Chillicothe opponent.

The third pin for McClain in the match was a first-rounder by senior Justin Legge. Ethan Hill finished things off for the Tigers on the mat with another impressive first-period pin in the 285 (heavyweight) contest. Hill, who was a state placer last year for McClain, is expected to get back there this season except in the heavyweight division.

McClain’s second-year head coach Gary Ryan was extremely pleased and impressed with his team’s important FAC victory over a well-coached and scrappy Cavalier squad.

“I’m just super proud of all my kids,” Ryan said. “They’ve worked really hard all week on things that I saw needed corrected from last week, and they all fixed everything that needed fixed.

“Everybody on our team wrestled like we expected them to tonight. I thought Carlos (Gonzales) and Cole (Rapp) both looked really good in their matches.

“Cole dropped a lot of weight this week to get to 150 and looked physically exhausted coming into this match but still wrestled great, and I’m super proud of him,” Ryan continued. “He was down early but he showed what can happen when you don’t stop. He worked through it and won.

“Carlos took from what happened last week and learned from it and was impressive tonight Justin Legge and Ethan Hill, my two seniors, were on it tonight and had those two first-period pins for us, so everyone who wrestled tonight looked good. We still have a lot of room for improvement, but tonight there was no messing around by our guys.”

The McClain boys will host their annual Southern Hills Community Bank Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 30, and the girls half will be on Sunday, Dec. 31 in the McClain gymnasium.