Edgewood, Hamilton starting a new tradition

Dual match between the two schools to debut tonight at HHS.

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1:09 AM Thursday, January 19, 2012

By Jay Morrison

Staff Writer

HAMILTON — While tournaments are beneficial for the wrestlers, enabling them to get in a lot of matches in just one or two days, duals are more fan and family friendly.

With that in mind, Hamilton High School coach Nick Hensley and Edgewood’s James Conniff got together to start what they hope will turn into a spirited rivalry, beginning tonight at the HHS Athletic Center.

“With a dual, the fans are in and out in a couple of hours versus a 10- to 12-hour tournament,” Hensley said.

“The tournaments are so long that usually your fans just come for the finals, and they only see one or two of your kids,” added Conniff. “With a dual you’re in and you’re out, you see all the kids in the lineup wrestle. It’s a good, intense atmosphere. The whole team is into it, and the fans are into it.”

While far shorter than a tournament, tonight’s action will last a little longer than a typical dual as the coaches have decided to turn it into a program vs. program event, with the kids club and middle school wrestlers competing on multiple mats at 5 p.m., followed by the junior varsity teams at  6 p.m. and the varsity squads on a single mat at 7 p.m.

“We wrestled them earlier in the season at the Harrison Duals and it was really close,” said Hensley, whose Big Blue squad prevailed by four points, although the Cougars ended up finishing higher in the tournament.

“We’re stronger in the lower weights while they have some really good upper weights,” Conniff said. “It should be quite a scrap.”

Tonight also will be Senior Night for Big Blue, and there will be a short ceremony prior to the start of the varsity match.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2193 or jmorrison@coxohio.com.

Today’s match

Who: Edgewood (6-5) at Hamilton (6-7)

Where: Hamilton High School Athletic Center, 1165 Eaton Ave., Hamilton

When: Kids club and junior high matches at 5 p.m; junior varsity at 6 p.m.; varsity at 7 p.m.

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