Staff photo / Preston Byers. Hubbard’s Misail Smalios lifts Liberty’s Yousef Hajjawi for a slam during Wednesday’s match at Hubbard.

HUBBARD — His team did not give their best performance, wrestling coach Don Lehman admitted, but Hubbard managed to get the job done in its early-season dual vs. Liberty on Wednesday.

The Eagles clinched the home victory with the fourth of their five pinfall wins of the evening before capping off the 42-33 result with another quick pin.

“I think it was a great night,” Lehman said. “We’re not in the neighborhood of late-season form — a lot of guys are wrestling in weight classes they’re not used to as we’re getting ready to descend into the proper weight classes — so definitely got some work to do. But overall, I’m pleased with our progress to this point.”

Hubbard’s Logan Balla (126 pounds), Markel Hackwelder (138), Nolan Bentley (175), Zachary McGuire (190) and Mitchell Fink (285) each scored pinfall wins, while Mason Volk (120), Jared Merrick-Sierra, Nicholas Callihan (157) and D’Andre Davis (215) did the same for Liberty.

Only one match went the distance Wednesday; at 165 pounds, Hubbard’s Misail Smalios and Liberty’s Yousef Hajjawi (L) grinded out the full six minutes, with Hajjawi successfully defending a lead he established in the opening period for a 6-3 win.

The 165-pound match was one of just four matches on the night that escaped the first period, and Hackwelder’s decisive pinfall win, in which he was leading 16-1 at the time, was the only other match to reach the third and final period.

Despite the team loss, Leopards head coach Nick Kratsas, who said his team did not come to wrestle after a 60-18 dual loss to Hubbard last December, was much more pleased with Liberty’s effort vs. the Eagles this year.

“I thought we wrestled well,” Kratsas said. “We’re still trying to get to specific weight classes with certain people. I’m really happy how we looked against them this year compared to last year. Last year, I don’t think we were ready to wrestle, but it looks like we were today.”

Like Kratsas, who said conditioning and then technique are the areas of focus during the early dual meets, Lehman said there can be quite a lot to glean from matches like Wednesday’s.

“It’s really about seeing where our deficiencies are so we know where to plan, what to work on,” Lehman said.

“My biggest takeaway was that we were very aggressive on our feet,” he added. “We were the ones out there trying to score points; I think we got the majority of the takedowns tonight. So that’s a positive we can build on.”

Hubbard is set to compete in the Kooper McCabe Memorial tournament at Galion this weekend. Liberty is next scheduled for a dual at Grand Valley next Wednesday.

DUAL RESULTS

106 pounds: No match

113 pounds: A. Thomas (H) wins via forfeit

120 pounds: Mason Volk (L) def. Shayne Phillips (H) via pinfall 1:07 into first period

126 pounds: Logan Balla (H) def. Boburkhon Bakhtiyarov (L) via pinfall 1:40 into first period

132 pounds: Jared Merrick-Sierra (L) def. Seth Kuchmak (H) via pinfall 48 seconds into first period

138 pounds: Markel Hackwelder (H) def. Shakir Thomas (L) via pinfall 24 seconds into third period

144 pounds: Jonathan Adamson (H) wins via forfeit

150 pounds: Chase Burns (L) wins via forfeit

157 pounds: Nicholas Callihan (L) def. Landon Simpson (H) via pinfall 47 seconds into first period

165 pounds: Yousef Hajjawi (L) def. Misail Smalios (H) 6-3

175 pounds: Nolan Bentley (H) def. Carter Harris via pinfall 1:23 into first period

190 pounds: Zachary McGuire (H) def. Terrill Blackshear (L) via pinfall 1:13 into second period

215 pounds: D’Andre Davis (L) def. Louis Foley (H) via pinfall 42 seconds into third period

285 pounds: Mitchell Fink (H) def. Angelo Sorvillo (L) via pinfall 22 seconds into first period