By Staff
HILLSBORO – Thanks to a co-op agreement with Hillsboro, Canton/Galva senior Isaiah Patton has the opportunity to wrestle for Hillsboro his senior season and did so on Friday, December 16 when he made his Trojan debut at the 13th Annual Marion County Dual Tournament.
Patton had previously wrestled for Hillsboro as a freshman and sophomore but did not participate his junior season. Despite missing last season the Hillsboro coaches felt Patton had a positive opportunity to get some varsity wrestling in for 2022-23.
According to Hillsboro head coach Steve O’Hare in his pre-season reflections, “Isaiah (Patton) has previous wrestling experience which will help, but he does have some catching up to do after sitting out his junior season. He does have a tremendous upside as far as strength and athleticism for his size. We can help him find a wrestling style that matches his physical attributes.”
On Friday, December 16 Patton made his season debut by getting in five varsity matches wrestling at 144 pounds where he finished the day with a pair of wins to go with three losses.
Starting off strong, Patton pinned Hesston’s Canon Copeland in 1:25 in his first varsity match and first win of the season.
Despite strong performances, Patton suffered defeats by fall to each of his next two opponents, Sam Cole of Fredonia and Jaxon Roeder of Buhler before powering back with a 27 second pin of Declan McKinney of Rock Creek in his fourth match of the day.
Patton closed out the day battling 3:51 into a match with Ethan Bohl of Minneapolis/Bennington before succumbing to a fall.
Patton and the Hillsboro wrestlers will now be off until Thursday, January 5 when they will have a dual meet at Smoky Valley.
(The Staff covering McPherson County Activities can be reached by email at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)