Avery Hines knew the situation going into his match. Mingus Union High School wrestling led Bradshaw Mountain 35-34, meaning that the team result of Friday night’s dual meet came down to the heavyweights.
Hines held his own against Bradshaw’s Peyton Hines for the first 15 seconds of the ultimate match, until he sharply pulled away from the clinch and showed off his left hand, which had a finger quite clearly dislocated
from the middle knuckle.
“I knew it felt a little weird so as my hand was on top, I looked at it and it was, like, bent at a 90-degree angle,” Avery Hines said following the match. “And I looked at the coaches and showed them but I didn’t really feel anything.”
The packed gym at Mingus Union was in-sync with its shrieks of shock and disgust, but no reactions
were louder than the cheers when Avery Hines returned to the match cool, calm and collected, with his fingers nonchalantly taped after he simply requested that the athletic trainer pop it back into position.
“We knew it was going to come down to the last match most likely, because we know our team and we know their team,” Mingus head coach Klint Mckean said. “We knew it was going to come down to heavyweight … He showed real toughness. Unfortunately the match didn’t go his way against a high state-ranked wrestler from Bradshaw.”
Although Hines would ultimately fall to pin in the second period, thus giving Bradshaw the win, nothing showed the heart and pride of the Mingus wrestling program quite like that moment. In front of about 40 former Mingus wrestlers, which included plenty of state champions and placers, Hines knew he had to give it everything he had.
“It inspired me seeing them come back,” Hines said. “Especially when they’re cheering and chanting for you when you’re out there on the mat. It gives you a pump and inspires you to do better.”
Mckean says that the alumni night, which was finally held after nearly two years of pandemic-related delays, gave his team the push it needed against a worthy opponent.
“I’m very proud of these kids,” Mckean said. “Coming into this dual what I told them was ‘you’re going to be wrestling
in front of five decades of Mingus wrestlers. I want more than anything to show your toughness,’ and they did. And that last really showed it.”
The Marauders’ team loss didn’t exactly feel like a loss. Due to a simple lack of wrestlers at certain weight classes, Mingus was forced to forfeit three matches throughout the meet. In essence, Mingus spotted Bradshaw 18 points and still fell by just 5.
After losing the first match of the meet, the Marauders pulled off a massive streak. They won the next seven matches of the meet, from the 113-pound class to 150 lbs. This streak included five-consecutive wins by pin, coming from 120-pounder Racer Uhler, 126-pounder Angel Casillas, 132-pounder Kai Miller, 138-pounder Hunter Robinson and 144-pounder Dathan Wimer. 150-pounder Isaac Mekean continued the winning streak with a 4-1 win using all three periods.
“We had some quick pins and we also had some close matches where our kids found pins at the very end,” Klint Mckean said. “We needed that. I’m glad that they fought to the very end, even when they’re winning. They didn’t just sit back and take their win by points but they fought for the pins so that’s something I was happy with.”
Throughout the meet and especially during that big streak, the presence of the 40+ Mingus wrestlers from years past was felt. This is a program that has produced more than 50 individual state champions, over 180 state placers and five team state championships.
The current generation of Mingus wrestlers put on a show for the alumni and that’s all Klint Mckean could’ve asked for.
“That’s what tonight was about. Honoring the past,” he said. “That was my priority for tonight.”
