Saturday was a big day for Karson Hill. Trenton’s 130-pound wrestler moved up a weight class, went 4-0 in what might have been the best pool of 135-pound wrestlers assembled in the state this year and, to top it all off, his first victory of the day was the 100th of his stellar career with the Black and Gold.
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Hill started off the tournament with a 14-6 major decision victory over a Lexington opponent who was a state qualifier at 140 last season and is ranked at a higher weight this year. Following win number 100, Hill scored wins 101 and 102 by regular decision, defeating the number-two ranked 135-pounder in the state, 4-3, and the number-three ranked 135-pounder in the state, 4-2. Hill wrapped up the weight-class title with a win by fall over an over-matched Plattsburg wrestler and was awarded one of two outstanding wrestler awards given out at the tournament.
“Karson has been wrestling up from 130 in order to get better competition and definitely found it at Brookfield,” Trenton Head Coach Bill Hill said. “He got his 100th THS career victory in his first match, coming away with a solid 14-6 major decision. Karson received one of two outstanding wrestler awards for the tournament and it is an honor to be chosen as an outstanding wrestler by a vote of all the coaches.”
Trenton’s Carlos Gonzalez was also undefeated on the day, going 2-0 at 103 pounds. Gonzalez scored wins by fall in both of his matches.
“Carlos is really starting to wrestle with confidence,” Hill said. “He was aggressive and used good technique to pick up his wins.”
Dakota Galvin (171) nearly went undefeated as well, winning four matches in a row, all by fall, before he fell by a 10-8 decision in his final match to finish 4-1 on the day.
“Dakota is not what I call polished, but he is improving and does seem to find a way to win a lot of matches,” Hill said.
Other Bulldogs earning multiple wins on the day included Clay Oneal (145), who was 3-2; Bruce Fair (119), who was 2-2; and Brandon Dolan (125), who was 2-2.
Oneal’s run saw him pick up three wins by regular decision in a very tough weight class.
“Clay held his own in a stacked weight that included the top three ranked kids from 145, along with three kids who had been ranked at 152, but had dropped to 145. Clay wrestled a couple of his career-best matches and earned some respect.”
Also in action for Trenton were Maria Stevenson (130), who was 1-2 at the tournament; Kody Westcott (140), who was 1-4 on the day; James Fairchild (189), who was 1-4 in his weight class; Alex Lovell (152), who was 0-4 at the tournament; and Layton Harkins (285), who was 0-5 on the day.
“With many weights having multiple top-10 ranked wrestlers, this was a great tournament for our kids,” Hill said. “Even in the state tournament, we don’t get the opportunity to wrestle this many top-ranked kids in the same day. The A pool, B pool format also gave our less-experienced kids great opportunities to compete.”
The Bulldogs will hit the mat again on Tuesday night as they host Chillicothe in dual action. The first match is scheduled for 6:30.