SPARTA — It was a mixed bag for local schools at the Highland Invitational wrestling tournament on Saturday.
This was the first meet of the year for Fredericktown. But if they had any dust to shake off, it didn’t show.
“I’m pleased with our result,” Fredericktown wrestling coach Barry Fluty said. “We did about as well as we could expect.”
The Freddies’ biggest success on Saturday came from Dilts, who won all five of his matches by pinfall.
“He’s a smart junior,” Fluty said of Dilts. “It’s what’s expected from him. We’ll see big things this year.”
Fredericktown’s Wyatt Owens won four of five matches to finish third in the 152-pound category. Cody McGuire also finished third, losing only one match as well.
The bad news for Fredericktown is the loss of Josh Neff to a shoulder injury, suffered in his last opening round match.
“He actually injured his shoulder during football season,” Fluty said. “It finally became too much. Hopefully, there isn’t too much damage there.”
Neff had won his first three matches. But it was obvious he was in pain in his fourth match, and had lost strength in one arm. He finally fell to Lexington’s Erick Bachelder, grabbing his shoulder as he left the mat.
Neff is scheduled to see a doctor today. He isn’t expected back for at least six weeks.
