Hillsboro wins first Missouri wrestling championship in school history
Hillsboro senior Griffin Ray won the Missouri Class 3
Ron Rigdon photo
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Hillsboro wrestling team’s championship coronation on Saturday night in winning its first wrestling state crown came with a caveat.
The Hawks aren’t done.
“The program is almost 30 years old now and for the first one, there’s been a lot of people that have had a part of it,” Hillsboro coach Matthew Mitchell said. “Our youth program started 14 years ago; they’ve done a great job. A lot of these kids have been wrestling since they were 5 or 6, so to see it all kind of come together this weekend was awesome.”
It seemed like everywhere you looked around the bowels of Mizzou Arena on Saturday was a Hillsboro wrestler carrying around a bracket given to the champions in their weight classes.
The Hawks had four individual champions, who fueled their 179.5 points to lead them past second-place Whitfield (144.5) and third-place Belton (94.5) for the Missouri Class 3 title. Hillsboro also leaned on its experience and depth.
“We’ve got a lot of kids that have a lot of experience here at this tournament, but at the same time when it comes to this weekend you still have to step up, you have to perform,” Mitchell said. “They had a great morning this morning and a great final round. I’m super proud of them.”
Freshman Carter Wallis (106), sophomore Jackson Tucker (132), junior Sam Richardson (157) and senior Griffin Ray (165) led the way with individual titles – each of the four was a first-time champion – while senior Gavin Alexander (126) finished second, sophomore Jordan Penick (120) was fourth and senior Evan Morris (150) placed fifth.
“Our team’s amazing,” Wallis said. “We come in the wrestling room every day. We just want to get better. One step at a time. We had a lot of seniors this year, we have seven, but even when we lose those kids this year we’re going to come out harder next year.”
Richardson, who previously had fourth- and third-place finishes at state, said the Hawks worked very hard and got what they deserved.
The 157-pounder is already looking forward to attempting to win another championship next year – both individually and as a team.
“I think it’s going to be same energy,” he said. “We’re going to go out there and get after it.”
That depth displayed by the Hawks was a huge factor.
“We had 14 qualifiers and 13 of those kids scored points and that’s what it was going to take,” Mitchell said. “We knew that. So everybody scored points.”
Hillsboro had been building to this point, with a second-place finish a year ago and a third third-place finish in 2021. The Hawks hadn’t earned any trophies in wrestling before this recent run.
The Hawks will lose some talent to graduation, but the foundation of the program has been set and is strong.
“We’ve got kids in our room that have been stuck behind some kids and now they get the opportunity with our seven seniors that are graduating,” Mitchell said. “I think we’ll be back next year with a really good group too.”
The Hillsboro Hawks are the 2023 Missouri Class 3 wrestling champions.
Ron Rigdon photo
MORE COVERAGE OF THE MISSOURI WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS:
Liberty boys, Lebanon girls continue Missouri wrestling championship streaks
Photos: Missouri wrestling championships (Boys Class 3-4, Girls Class 1) finals
Palmyra's Collin Arch captures fourth Missouri state wrestling championship
Photos: Missouri wrestling championships (Boys Class 1-2, Girls Class 1) finals
Missouri state wrestling championships preview (Boys Class 3-4, Girls Class 2)
Missouri state wrestling championships preview (Boys Class 1-2, Girls Class 1)
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