Highland matmen place 3 wrestlers at Mascoutah Invitational Tournament
A two-day trip to Mascoutah on Friday, Dec. 17, and Saturday, Dec. 18, for the Mascoutah Invitational Tournament allowed the young Highland wrestling team to have a bit of success while, simultaneously, get better.
The Bulldogs, who took nine grapplers to Mascoutah for the two-day event, showed well on the mats as three individuals placed in the top eight in their respective weight classes.
“I was pleased overall, even with the kids that lost because they’re improving and a lot of those kids have never wrestled. We can see improvement with them, so I was pleased with all the kids that we took,” Highland coach Shorty Ohren said.
Freshman Tyson Rakers had a solid outing in his first Mascoutah Tournament appearance as he placed seventh at 132 pounds.
Fellow freshman Ashton Zobrist also had a decent weekend, finishing eighth in the 195-pound division.
In the 160-pound class, junior Benny Mitchell continued his steady production, wrestling his way to a third-place finish.
Given the fact Ohren had eight underclassmen competing among the nine wrestlers the Bulldogs took to Mascoutah, he was very pleased with the team’s performance.
“I took nine (kids) and a third of them placed. All the other ones that wrestled were either freshmen or sophomores, so I’m happy with what they did and I’m seeing improvement with the kids. That’s the big thing,” Ohren said.
In the team standings, Highland placed 23rd overall with 41.5 points.
Civic Memorial won the tournament with 219.5 first-place points. Triad finished third with 173 points, Waterloo placed 12th with 103 points, Jerseyville took 21st with 49 points and host Mascoutah placed 26th with 27 points.
The Bulldogs will have some time off for the holiday before resuming match action Wednesday, Dec. 29, and Thursday, Dec. 30, at the Lincoln Tournament.
“We’ll get (time) to rest up and heal some aching bones. It’s a good time to have the break because some of the guys are sore,” Ohren said.
Highland bowling
The Highland Lady Bulldogs bowling team traveled south to Herrin on Saturday, Dec. 18, and competed in the Herrin Tiger Tournament.
It was a productive road trip for HHS as the Lady Bulldogs placed third overall in the tournament field.
Tiffany Hediger led Highland with a fifth place finish and Carissa Merkle was solid with a 12th place performance.
Highland Boys Basketball
Four days after knocking off archrival Triad, the Highland basketball team added another successful Mississippi Valley Conference outing to their early season conference resume.
The Bulldogs traveled to Bethalto on Tuesday, Dec. 21, and scratched and clawed their way past a game CM Eagles club for a 54-51 overtime victory.
Sophomore guard Jake Ottensmeier led the Bulldogs with 15 points while forward Gunnar Mackey added 10 points. Logan Powers and Joe Jansen also contributed with 9 and 8 points, respectively.
Dathan Greene paced winless Civic Memorial with 16 points and Sam Buckley chipped in 14 points.
Highland (4-5, 2-1) will break for Christmas and resume action Monday, Dec. 27, in the Mater Dei Christmas Tournament with a pair of Pool A games against Breese Central at 1 p.m. and Wesclin at 8 p.m.
Highland Hockey
After a few days off, the Highland hockey club returned to the ice for Mississippi Valley Club Hockey Association action Monday, Dec. 20.
Highland struggled with a slow start and Columbia made the Bulldogs pay with five goals in the first two periods in a 5-1 loss at Granite City Ice Rink.
Jacob Noll scored the Bulldogs lone goal in the third period with Tyler Griesbaum assisting on it.
HHS finished off the holiday week with a better outing Tuesday, Dec. 21, against the Alton Redbirds at Granite City Ice Rink.
The Bulldogs skated to a 2-2 draw with Alton while improving to 4-8-2 overall.
Following Christmas, the two teams will meet again next week at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 30, at Granite City Ice Rink
This story was originally published December 21, 2021 at 1:20 AM.