The Ottawa High School wrestling program brought home its first postseason championship since 1973 by beating rival La Salle-Peru, MyWebTimes.com reported recently.
The Pirates took the Plano Regional team title by scoring 180 team points on the strength of four individual champions and four runners-up. La Salle-Peru was second with 175 points, and Streator took third with 95 points.
"It's an incredible feeling and these kids set their expectations high at the beginning of the year," coach Pete Marx said. "We came in the first day and talked about winning a conference title and then winning a regional title. We shared our conference division championship with La Salle-Peru and we knew it was going to be close again with them today coming in here. It sure was, and it came down to five points and the kids pulled it out."
Ottawa wrestlers who won regional titles were Rafael Munoz at 113 pounds, Ethan Harsted at 126 pounds, Micah Krueger at 132 pounds and Chad Shreve at 220 pounds.
The Pirates last won a title 44 years ago when they took what was then known as a district championship under head coach Nanfred "Bud" Sand.
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