The Big Walnut High School wrestling team is starting to get healthy and with the start of the postseason three weeks away, the timing couldn't be much better.

"I think we'll get just about everyone back (by the Division II sectional tournament Feb. 20), which is good because Division II is probably tougher than it's been in five or six years," coach Luke Moore said.

The latest wrestler to return after missing significant time because of injury is senior Matt Brown, a state qualifier last year at 215 pounds who was sidelined for the first half of this season with a hand injury.

Brown made his season debut in a 37-36 win over Hilliard Bradley on Jan. 21 in an OCC-Capital Division match. He earned a pin last Thursday during the Golden Eagles' 39-37 league victory over Delaware to push his record to 6-0 with four pins.

"He's just a tough kid and a tough competitor," Moore said. "We talk to the kids about going out and competing hard and he does that every time. He obviously has some things he has to work on, but he's still winning matches."

Others who recently have returned from injury include Nate Linnabary (112), Aaron Gase (130), Gene Hogg (215) and Zack White (119), who was a district qualifier last season. Hogg is Brown's backup.

Braden Hale (135), a district qualifier last season, likely will miss the remainder of the season because of a knee injury suffered in the Cambridge Invitational on Dec. 5. Jakob O'Brien (160) also may miss the rest of the season because of an elbow injury.

"Jakob was really flourishing," Moore said. "He was 10-4 when he got hurt. I'm not sure if he'll be back. I'd say it's 50-50 if he can get back before the postseason."

Big Walnut concludes its OCC-Capital dual schedule on Thursday at Mount Vernon before competing in a tournament at Watkins Memorial on Saturday. The Golden Eagles were 3-2 in the league before the match against Delaware.

Big Walnut lost to Olentangy Orange 48-23 and lost to New Albany 41-31 as part of a league tri-match last Monday. Two days earlier, the Golden Eagles lost to DeSales 36-34 and West Jefferson 55-21.

"It's hard when you're wrestling well and you're not seeing the results you want to see," Moore said. "It's kind of demoralizing for the guys because they're not seeing all their hard work pay off, but I couldn't be more proud of the way they're wrestling."

•The girls basketball team improved to 12-4 overall and 9-1 in the OCC-Capital with a 42-37 win over visiting Olentangy Orange last Tuesday.

Forward Jodie Jindra led the Golden Eagles with 12 points and guard Tabatha Piper scored 10.

Entering play last Friday, Big Walnut was tied with New Albany for first in the OCC-Capital, with Orange third at 7-3. The Golden Eagles, who played Hilliard Bradley last Friday, travel to Delaware on Tuesday before playing host to New Albany on Friday in a game that could decide the league champion.

New Albany, ranked seventh in the Division I area coaches poll, defeated the Golden Eagles 47-44 on Jan. 5.

Big Walnut trailed 19-8 after the first quarter but rallied to take a 25-22 lead into halftime. New Albany outscored the Golden Eagles 19-10 in the third quarter and led 41-35, but Big Walnut tied the game at 41 midway through the fourth quarter. However, New Albany outscored the Golden Eagles 6-3 in the final four minutes.

Jindra had 12 points and Piper scored 10. New Albany was led by twin sisters and Miami University-signees Haley and Hannah Robertson. Hannah had 16 points and Haley scored 15, including 11 in the first quarter.

"Obviously, we have to try to contain the Robertson girls as much as we can," said coach Bob Scott, whose team was ranked second behind Olentangy in the latest Division II area coaches poll. "That's the key."

Big Walnut, which won its only OCC championship in the 1997-98 season, defeated defending league champion Delaware 47-31 on Dec. 22 behind 15 points from Jindra and 11 from Piper. Caroline Welker had 11 points to lead the Pacers.

The Golden Eagles defeated host Watkins Memorial 56-28 on Jan. 22. Piper had 19 points and Jindra scored 15.

•Both the boys and girls bowling teams can wrap up Central Ohio Conference-White Division championships when they conclude league play Tuesday with a match against Hilliard Bradley at Ten Pin Alley.

The boys team enters the match 8-1 overall and 7-1 in the COC-White. Big Walnut is tied for first with Hartley, which defeated the Golden Eagles 2,329-2,279 on Jan. 4. However, coach Dave Dixon said his team holds the tiebreaker -- total pins -- over the Hawks. According to Dixon, the Golden Eagles enter the match with a total pin count of 12,624 to 10,632 for Hartley.

The girls team is 6-1 overall and 5-0 in the COC-White and is the only undefeated team in league play. Three schools in the league -- DeSales, Reynoldsburg and St. Charles -- do not have girls teams.

"The kids are real excited (about the possibility of winning league titles)," Dixon said. "They're trying to stay focused, and as a coaching staff, we're telling them to take it one match, one game and one frame at a time."

The boys team defeated Reynoldsburg 2,074-1,329 last Wednesday at Capri Lanes, beat Hilliard Davidson 1,905-1,864 last Tuesday at Ten Pin Alley and beat Watterson 2,187-1,542 on Jan. 22 at Capri Lanes.

Tyler Fifer leads the boys team with a 201 average, followed by Jon McClelland with a 186 average.

The girls team defeated Davidson 1,669-1,458 last Tuesday and beat Watterson 1,919-1,293 on Jan. 22. McClelland, who rolled a season-high 223 in a 1,846-1,630 loss to Gahanna on Jan. 15, leads the team with a 189 average. Kelly Dixon and Courtney Endres are second and third, averaging 159 and 154, respectively.

"The kids are putting everything forward to get ready for sectional," coach Dixon said. "I've never had a group of kids work as hard as they are."

Big Walnut competed in a tournament last Saturday at HP Lanes. The event featured 14 boys teams and 12 girls teams. After the match against Bradley, the Golden Eagles will not compete again until the sectional tournament Feb. 19.

•The swimming teams will spend the next two weeks preparing for the sectional meet Feb. 13 at Thomas Worthington. The boys team competes in Division II and the girls team competes in Division I.

The Golden Eagles competed in the OCC-Capital meet last Saturday at New Albany.

•The gymnastics team's next meet is a tri-meet Feb. 10 against host Westland and Central Crossing. The Golden Eagles then compete in the OCC-Capital meet Feb. 13 at Hilliard Bradley.

Big Walnut scored 119.85 points at the Worthington Kilbourne Invitational on Jan. 23 to finish eighth out of 13 teams, behind Mentor (134), DeSales (132.3), Kilbourne (130.25), West Chester Lakota West (126.275), Grove City (124.175), Painesville Riverside (122.575) and Dublin Jerome (121.3).

Willoughby South (119.225) finished ninth, followed by Liberty Township Lakota East (115.075), Buckeye Valley (114.9), Cincinnati Turpin (109) and Grandview (92.85).

Big Walnut scored 118.15 points in a quad-meet on Jan. 20, finishing behind Jerome (118.3) and ahead of Olentangy Orange (109.9) and Mount Vernon (100.05).