O’Fallon, Civic Memorial handle Highland in triangular match

Being home on the mats for the first time since the season opened on Nov. 25, the Highland wrestling team was primed to show up and show out.

The good vibes were there early but by the time the evening ended, the feelings were not so rosy for the Bulldogs’ grapplers.

Highland fell to O’Fallon 37-34 and then got blasted by Mississippi Valley Conference rival Civic Memorial 63-17, losing to both schools in a tri-match at Highland High School.

“We felt pretty good about the kids after the O’Fallon match and then that CM match kind of took the wind out of our sails,” Highland coach Shorty Ohren said.

In the opener against O’Fallon, Highland had seven wrestlers post wins. Gavin Merkle won by pin at 113 pounds, and Dalton Ballint posted a 9-0 win at 126 pounds. Logan Hobbs won with a pin at 138 pounds, Tyson Rakers posted a victory at 150 pounds, Thomas Mitchell won by forfeit at 175 pounds, and Ashton Zobrist won his match by pin in the 190-pound class.

“I was really pleased with the kids showing in that (O’Fallon) match,” Ohren said. “They stepped up good in that one.”

Next came the downside of the night Highland fell behind early to CM and the Eagles left the Bulldogs completely beaten losing by 46 points.

“It wasn’t pretty,” Ohren said. “They just walked through us like we were nothing.”

Rakers, Merkle, and Zobrist were the few bright spots for the Bulldogs against Civic Memorial.

Rakers won by forfeit at 150 pounds, Merkle won with a forfeit at 113 pounds, and Zobrist posted a victory in his match at 190 pounds.

Highland will look to reset when they travel down to Mascoutah on Friday for the 32-team Mascoutah Tournament at Mascoutah High School.

Ohren is hoping his club can regroup with a solid showing there on Friday and Saturday. “I’ll be happy if we finish in the middle of the pack and that’s a pretty big tournament with 32 teams,” Ohren said. “If I can get for or five guys to place, that’s a pretty big accomplishment for us.”