6 Highland County grapplers become SCOL champions
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
WASHINGTON C.H. — Highland County had a very successful day at the 2013 South Central Ohio League Wrestling Tournament, as four Hillsboro wrestlers and two from McClain left the Washington Senior High School gym with the title of league champion.
The four Hillsboro wrestlers earning the league champion status were Brandon Carter, Ryan Kelley, Craig Jackson and Kordell Ford.
The two from McClain were Coty Barnhart and Brandon Davis, as these were the first two MHS wrestlers to become league champions under head coach Shane Paul.
The Indians and Tigers both finished in the Top 4 in the overall team standings as the Indians finished tied for runner-up in the league with Washington, following the completion of the tournament, while the Tigers placed fourth overall out of eight teams.
In the regular season, the Indians were 5-2 and the Tigers were 3-4 in the dual league meets, but each moved up in the overall final rankings with their performances in the Saturday tournament.
As for the actual tournament scoring, MT led with 188.5 points. HHS followed with 169.5, and in third was Washington at 153 points. MHS totaled 96.5 points, while London was fifth at the tourney with 90 points. The rest of the scoring included: Clinton-Massie (65), Madison-Plains (49) and East Clinton (13).
Winning the SCOL was Miami Trace as they not only finished the league's regular season at 7-0 but had the most points compiled on Saturday in the tournament.
Both Coach Paul and Hillsboro head coach Nathan Horne were pleased with their teams' effort.
HHS and Miami Trace tied for the most league champions with four each. MHS and Washington each followed with two.
"It was a good day for us," Horne said. "We had league champions, and we wrestled well. I was pleased with the way we wrestled."
"Hopefully (with the success of Saturday), this means we can get more kids out, bottom line," Paul said. "It's great to have accomplished something like this. It's a long time coming, and a lot of hard work has been put forth. It's been a long time since we've had a league champion, we've had some runners-up, but it is good to finally get a couple of champions."
As for the league champions from Highland County, Carter, who repeated as SCOL champion and was the No. 1 seed, won the 106-pound weight class by winning three times on Saturday, defeating Kylee Stroud (MHS) by pin fall, Jerry Knapp (WCH) by pin fall and No. 2 seed Justin Gibbs (CM) in the finals by a 5-0 decision.
The wins by Carter, who qualified for the state tournament last season, put him at 36-2 on the season.
Kelley of HHS improved his overall record to 30-6 on the year, finishing the SCOL tourney at 3-0. In winning the 120-pound weight class, Kelley (a No. 2 seed) defeated Seth Thomas (WCH) by pin fall, Nathan Nagel (the No. 4 seed) by pin fall and the No. 1 seed Bryson Laytart, who was a state qualifier last year, in the finals by a 10-2 decision.
Carter repeats as league champion, while Kelley was an SCOL runner-up last year.
"Both Carter and Kelley wrestled well, and Kelley's win was big for us," Horne said. "Ryan had a big win over a state qualifier, that was a big win for us."
At 132 pounds, Barnhart became the first SCOL champion from McClain in a number of years, improving his overall record to 33-10 this season and along the way defending his No. 1 seed. Barnhart advanced in the first round with a win via forfeit, then defeated Caleb Williams (WCH) by a 10-3 decision. In the final, Barnhart won with an 8-1 decision over Miami Trace's Josh McKay.
"Coty has had a heck of a season and has come along real well," Paul said.
Hillsboro's third league champion of the day came at 138 pounds as Jackson continued his impressive season (he now stands at 36-4) by defending his No. 1 seed in the SCOL, as he first defeated Brody Price (MT) with a 5-2 decision, followed by a semifinal win over No. 4 seed Jake Badgley (MHS) by a pin fall. The final win by Jackson, in the final, came with a 5-2 decision over Clinton-Massie's Davey Tunon. Jackson was a runner-up last season.
"Jackson had a good match and wrestled hard," Horne said. "This is big for him."
Ford (37-2) evened out the league champions for the Indians, as he gained his third SCOL championship. The No. 1 seed at 152 pounds pinned his first two opponents in Charles Erdman (EC) and Alex Sheneman (LHS). His match in the final went the distance as the junior, who placed fourth in the state last season, won his league championship by an 8-1 decision over No. 2 seed Russell Miller of Miami Trace.
"Kordell wrestled hard and had a strong match in the finals," Horne said. "I'm just proud of the team."
Wrapping up the league champions from Highland County was McClain senior Brandon Davis, who now stands at 38-5 overall. Davis, the new league champion at 220 pounds, won his first match by pin fall over Hunter Coil, followed by a semifinal win by another pin fall over Devin Bainter of Miami Trace. In the finals, Davis pinned Washington's Tyler Riley (the No. 2 seed) with a pin at 2:15. Davis was a runner-up last season.
"Brandon is a Russian bear on top," Paul said. "If he gets on top, good luck getting away from him."
Paul then spoke about both Davis and Barnhart.[[In-content Ad]]
"Those guys aren't real vocal leaders, but they are captains that lead by example," Paul said. "They get out there, put the work in. When you think about a 220-pounders getting into a room, trying to outwork everyone … you know you have a lot of smaller guys in there that should be moving faster … nobody is outworking Brandon Davis.
"Wrestling isn't a sport where you can take time off and get good. You've got to put the work in … from the time you hit the practice mat until the time you leave for the day, you have to give everything you got. Those two guys do that. I'm really proud of them."
Also winning SCOL championships were Trent Duffy of Miami Trace (113), Kole Trigg of Washington (126), Jeff Litteral of MT (145), Owen Shoemaker of London (160), Wyatt Running of Clinton-Massie (170), Josh Teasley of MT (182), Cameron Shaw of Washington (195) and Hayden Bottorff of MT (285).
Not only did the Indians and Tigers each have league champions, they also finished with a league runner-up. Earning league runner-up honors for HHS was Connor Johnston at 160 pounds and for MHS was Dylan Trefz at 285 pounds.
Johnston, a state qualifier last season, avenged losses from earlier in the week, as he defeated Mason McCane of WCH in the first round by a 13-7 decision and No. 2 seed Travis Grooms of Miami Trace by a 10-8 decision. The No. 3 seed, Johnston, who now stands at 29-10 overall, lost in the final by pin fall in the third period to No. 1 seed Shoemaker.
"Connor beat two kids he lost to this week, so that is a good tournament, even though he didn't finish the way he wanted," Horne said.
Trefz, the No. 2 seed at 285 pounds, advanced in the first round with a bye and won in the semifinals with a pin fall of Hillsboro's Jesse Hale. Trefz fell in the finals after a tough match with No. 1 seed Bottorff by pin fall.
Matt West of HHS placed third at 113 pounds, winning his consolation final match with a major decision (16-1). West now stands at 19-12.
Hillsboro's Toby Warrington (18-9) placed third at the 126-pound weight class, winning his third-place match at 5-3, breaking a 3-3 tie in the third period by scoring two points.
Darian Shumacher (20-18) of HHS also placed third in the SCOL, winning his consolation final match by an 11-8 decision.
Brandon Goble (18-10) of McClain placed third in the SCOL at 195 pounds, winning by pin fall.
Hillsboro's Skylar Murphy (19-17) was third at 220 pounds, winning his consolation final match by a 3-1 decision.
Jesse Hale (HHS) was third in the league by winning his consolation final match by a pin fall.
Earning fourth-place finishes in the SCOL from Highland County were Cody Whaley (HHS) at 132 pounds, Isaac Savage (MHS) at 145 pounds, Roscoe East (MHS) at 170 pounds and Jordan Mosley (HHS) at 195 pounds. Overall, Whaley stands at 17-23, Savage moves to 8-9 overall, East has an overall mark of 33-12 and Mosley moves to 4-8.
Also wrestling in the event for HHS and MHS were: Kylee Stroud (106) of MHS, Jamaine Barnhart (113) of MHS, Kaleb Smith (120) of MHS, Jake Badgley (138) of MHS, Ethan Paul (152) of MHS, Brandon Nebbergall (160) of MHS, Drew Huffman (170) of HHS and Gable Smith (182) of MHS.
"I'm really proud of how the whole team wrestled," Paul said. "Nobody gave up, everyone put forth everything they had, and if you do that, what else is there? Fourth place as a team is huge for us. I'm really happy with that."
Horne spoke about what HHS needs to do to continue their success.
"We just need to continue what we did (Saturday)," Horne said. "We had five kids in the finals, so hopefully they keep wrestling at the level they did (Saturday), and we have a few others as well."
Before the sectionals in two weeks at Washington Senior High School, the Indians will wrestle in the State Dual Regional Finals as they travel to No. 1 seeded Ross.
"We're excited to have a chance to wrestle in the regional finals in the duals and to represent our region and our league," Horne said. "If we wrestle well enough there, next Saturday we'll be a part of the Top 8 teams in the state duals."
The four Hillsboro wrestlers earning the league champion status were Brandon Carter, Ryan Kelley, Craig Jackson and Kordell Ford.
The two from McClain were Coty Barnhart and Brandon Davis, as these were the first two MHS wrestlers to become league champions under head coach Shane Paul.
The Indians and Tigers both finished in the Top 4 in the overall team standings as the Indians finished tied for runner-up in the league with Washington, following the completion of the tournament, while the Tigers placed fourth overall out of eight teams.
In the regular season, the Indians were 5-2 and the Tigers were 3-4 in the dual league meets, but each moved up in the overall final rankings with their performances in the Saturday tournament.
As for the actual tournament scoring, MT led with 188.5 points. HHS followed with 169.5, and in third was Washington at 153 points. MHS totaled 96.5 points, while London was fifth at the tourney with 90 points. The rest of the scoring included: Clinton-Massie (65), Madison-Plains (49) and East Clinton (13).
Winning the SCOL was Miami Trace as they not only finished the league's regular season at 7-0 but had the most points compiled on Saturday in the tournament.
Both Coach Paul and Hillsboro head coach Nathan Horne were pleased with their teams' effort.
HHS and Miami Trace tied for the most league champions with four each. MHS and Washington each followed with two.
"It was a good day for us," Horne said. "We had league champions, and we wrestled well. I was pleased with the way we wrestled."
"Hopefully (with the success of Saturday), this means we can get more kids out, bottom line," Paul said. "It's great to have accomplished something like this. It's a long time coming, and a lot of hard work has been put forth. It's been a long time since we've had a league champion, we've had some runners-up, but it is good to finally get a couple of champions."
As for the league champions from Highland County, Carter, who repeated as SCOL champion and was the No. 1 seed, won the 106-pound weight class by winning three times on Saturday, defeating Kylee Stroud (MHS) by pin fall, Jerry Knapp (WCH) by pin fall and No. 2 seed Justin Gibbs (CM) in the finals by a 5-0 decision.
The wins by Carter, who qualified for the state tournament last season, put him at 36-2 on the season.
Kelley of HHS improved his overall record to 30-6 on the year, finishing the SCOL tourney at 3-0. In winning the 120-pound weight class, Kelley (a No. 2 seed) defeated Seth Thomas (WCH) by pin fall, Nathan Nagel (the No. 4 seed) by pin fall and the No. 1 seed Bryson Laytart, who was a state qualifier last year, in the finals by a 10-2 decision.
Carter repeats as league champion, while Kelley was an SCOL runner-up last year.
"Both Carter and Kelley wrestled well, and Kelley's win was big for us," Horne said. "Ryan had a big win over a state qualifier, that was a big win for us."
At 132 pounds, Barnhart became the first SCOL champion from McClain in a number of years, improving his overall record to 33-10 this season and along the way defending his No. 1 seed. Barnhart advanced in the first round with a win via forfeit, then defeated Caleb Williams (WCH) by a 10-3 decision. In the final, Barnhart won with an 8-1 decision over Miami Trace's Josh McKay.
"Coty has had a heck of a season and has come along real well," Paul said.
Hillsboro's third league champion of the day came at 138 pounds as Jackson continued his impressive season (he now stands at 36-4) by defending his No. 1 seed in the SCOL, as he first defeated Brody Price (MT) with a 5-2 decision, followed by a semifinal win over No. 4 seed Jake Badgley (MHS) by a pin fall. The final win by Jackson, in the final, came with a 5-2 decision over Clinton-Massie's Davey Tunon. Jackson was a runner-up last season.
"Jackson had a good match and wrestled hard," Horne said. "This is big for him."
Ford (37-2) evened out the league champions for the Indians, as he gained his third SCOL championship. The No. 1 seed at 152 pounds pinned his first two opponents in Charles Erdman (EC) and Alex Sheneman (LHS). His match in the final went the distance as the junior, who placed fourth in the state last season, won his league championship by an 8-1 decision over No. 2 seed Russell Miller of Miami Trace.
"Kordell wrestled hard and had a strong match in the finals," Horne said. "I'm just proud of the team."
Wrapping up the league champions from Highland County was McClain senior Brandon Davis, who now stands at 38-5 overall. Davis, the new league champion at 220 pounds, won his first match by pin fall over Hunter Coil, followed by a semifinal win by another pin fall over Devin Bainter of Miami Trace. In the finals, Davis pinned Washington's Tyler Riley (the No. 2 seed) with a pin at 2:15. Davis was a runner-up last season.
"Brandon is a Russian bear on top," Paul said. "If he gets on top, good luck getting away from him."
Paul then spoke about both Davis and Barnhart.[[In-content Ad]]
"Those guys aren't real vocal leaders, but they are captains that lead by example," Paul said. "They get out there, put the work in. When you think about a 220-pounders getting into a room, trying to outwork everyone … you know you have a lot of smaller guys in there that should be moving faster … nobody is outworking Brandon Davis.
"Wrestling isn't a sport where you can take time off and get good. You've got to put the work in … from the time you hit the practice mat until the time you leave for the day, you have to give everything you got. Those two guys do that. I'm really proud of them."
Also winning SCOL championships were Trent Duffy of Miami Trace (113), Kole Trigg of Washington (126), Jeff Litteral of MT (145), Owen Shoemaker of London (160), Wyatt Running of Clinton-Massie (170), Josh Teasley of MT (182), Cameron Shaw of Washington (195) and Hayden Bottorff of MT (285).
Not only did the Indians and Tigers each have league champions, they also finished with a league runner-up. Earning league runner-up honors for HHS was Connor Johnston at 160 pounds and for MHS was Dylan Trefz at 285 pounds.
Johnston, a state qualifier last season, avenged losses from earlier in the week, as he defeated Mason McCane of WCH in the first round by a 13-7 decision and No. 2 seed Travis Grooms of Miami Trace by a 10-8 decision. The No. 3 seed, Johnston, who now stands at 29-10 overall, lost in the final by pin fall in the third period to No. 1 seed Shoemaker.
"Connor beat two kids he lost to this week, so that is a good tournament, even though he didn't finish the way he wanted," Horne said.
Trefz, the No. 2 seed at 285 pounds, advanced in the first round with a bye and won in the semifinals with a pin fall of Hillsboro's Jesse Hale. Trefz fell in the finals after a tough match with No. 1 seed Bottorff by pin fall.
Matt West of HHS placed third at 113 pounds, winning his consolation final match with a major decision (16-1). West now stands at 19-12.
Hillsboro's Toby Warrington (18-9) placed third at the 126-pound weight class, winning his third-place match at 5-3, breaking a 3-3 tie in the third period by scoring two points.
Darian Shumacher (20-18) of HHS also placed third in the SCOL, winning his consolation final match by an 11-8 decision.
Brandon Goble (18-10) of McClain placed third in the SCOL at 195 pounds, winning by pin fall.
Hillsboro's Skylar Murphy (19-17) was third at 220 pounds, winning his consolation final match by a 3-1 decision.
Jesse Hale (HHS) was third in the league by winning his consolation final match by a pin fall.
Earning fourth-place finishes in the SCOL from Highland County were Cody Whaley (HHS) at 132 pounds, Isaac Savage (MHS) at 145 pounds, Roscoe East (MHS) at 170 pounds and Jordan Mosley (HHS) at 195 pounds. Overall, Whaley stands at 17-23, Savage moves to 8-9 overall, East has an overall mark of 33-12 and Mosley moves to 4-8.
Also wrestling in the event for HHS and MHS were: Kylee Stroud (106) of MHS, Jamaine Barnhart (113) of MHS, Kaleb Smith (120) of MHS, Jake Badgley (138) of MHS, Ethan Paul (152) of MHS, Brandon Nebbergall (160) of MHS, Drew Huffman (170) of HHS and Gable Smith (182) of MHS.
"I'm really proud of how the whole team wrestled," Paul said. "Nobody gave up, everyone put forth everything they had, and if you do that, what else is there? Fourth place as a team is huge for us. I'm really happy with that."
Horne spoke about what HHS needs to do to continue their success.
"We just need to continue what we did (Saturday)," Horne said. "We had five kids in the finals, so hopefully they keep wrestling at the level they did (Saturday), and we have a few others as well."
Before the sectionals in two weeks at Washington Senior High School, the Indians will wrestle in the State Dual Regional Finals as they travel to No. 1 seeded Ross.
"We're excited to have a chance to wrestle in the regional finals in the duals and to represent our region and our league," Horne said. "If we wrestle well enough there, next Saturday we'll be a part of the Top 8 teams in the state duals."