Hamilton Heights’ Sam Van Hook and Guerin Catholic’s Oliver Kerr wrestle during the Huskies Golden Eagles match on Tuesday. (Margaret Fallin)
By RICHIE HALL
ARCADIA – Imagine you’re a wrestling coach and that over half of your team consists of freshmen.
That was Hamilton Heights coach Gary Myers at the beginning of the season. But as it turns out, those freshmen are pretty good. The young group has led the Huskies to a 17-2 record, with their latest victory a 70-12 win over Guerin Catholic Tuesday at the Heights gym.
“I’ve got nothing to worry about,” said Myers. “Now we just got to train.”
As it turns out, the young Huskies are good at training as well.
“They got a great work ethic,” said Myers. “We’ve worked them hard. I’ve worked these guys harder than I have kids in the past, but these guys have absorbed all that. It looks different to me, because usually I get one or two ninth-graders, but I got 16 freshmen in a room. They’ve all just bought into winning and working.”
Seven of those freshmen were winners in their Tuesday competition. That included pins from Braxtyn Baber, Seth Van Hook, Sam Van Hook, Kase Powell and Braden Rutledge. Two more freshmen, Thiago Zuniga and Jonah Wolfgang, won matches by forfeit.
There are upperclassmen on the Heights team as well. State-ranked senior Simon Kuhn won by pin at 150, and senior Nathan Flanders got a fall at 157. The other Huskies victories went to sophomores Asher Barricks, Hans Frymier and Jude Bailey.
Guerin Catholic’s two winners are also young. Freshman Rafe Liechty and sophomore Gabriel Liechty both won their matches by fall.
“We’ve got a lot of new kids, first-year wrestlers, whether they’re seniors or freshmen,” said GC coach Dan Hubbard. “We’ve been getting a lot of mat time and getting better every meet.”
Both teams will compete at the Elwood sectional, which takes place on Jan. 31. This week, Heights hosts Anderson tonight in a dual meet, then competes in the Bill Kerbel Invitational Saturday at New Haven. The Golden Eagles host their own invitational on Saturday.
HAMILTON HEIGHTS 70, GUERIN CATHOLIC 12
Meet started at 144 pounds
144: Asher Barrick (HH) def. Jeremiah Richardson (GC) by fall, 0:40
150: Simon Kuhn (HH) def. Liam Skelly (GC) by fall, 1:43
157: Nathan Flanders (HH) def. Leo Walden (GC) by fall, 0:49
165: Braxtyn Baber (HH) def. Jackson Kaufman (GC) by fall, 1:10
175: Seth Van Hook (HH) def. Sean Canny (GC) by fall, 1:00
190: Hans Frymier (HH) def. Stephan Abedalla (GC) by fall, 0:44
215: Thiago Zuniga (HH) won by forfeit
285: Sam Van Hook (HH) def. Oliver Kerr (GC) by fall, 0:39
106: Rafe Liechty (GC) def. Zeke Rice (HH) by fall, 1:19
113: Jude Bailey (HH) def. Caden Muller (GC) by technical fall, 16-0
120: Jonah Wolfgang (HH) won by forfeit
126: Gabe Liechty (GC) def. Isaac O’Brien (HH) by fall, 0:58
132: Kase Powell (HH) def. Joseph Dunasky (GC) by technical fall, n/a
138: Braden Rutledge (HH) def. Isaiah Quirk (GC) by fall, 1:35
