Pirates ride wave of success to district runner-up
Garaway’s Mycah Schlabach works to get underneath an opponent during his time on the mat at districts. Schlabach ended the tournament 3-2 to grab a spot on the podium and helped Garaway earn its first district runner-up title.
The challenges of the Division III district wrestling tournament at Coshocton High School on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 28 and March 1 didn’t prove to be too big of a stage for a young and exciting group of Garaway Pirates.
Led by a pair of champions, Garaway claimed the runner-up spot for the first time in school history.
Waynedale built a dominant advantage on day one and cruised to victory with 235.5 points, but the Pirates scored 145 points to claw past Barnesville at 129.5 to grab the school’s first runner-up district trophy.
Individually, the Pirates saw plenty of success, placing four wrestlers in the finals.
Sophomore Braylon Books (138 pounds, 40-5 record) scored a comeback victory over formerly undefeated Caden Schmeltzer (49-1) of Waynedale in the semifinals with a fall victory at 3:09 after trailing 7-1. He then topped Barnesville’s Colt Carpenter (34-8) 7-3 in the finals to claim the crown.
Colton Domer (157, 38-8) also grabbed a title, having to battle through a trio of quality opponents until he claimed a 7-5 victory in the finals over Hayden Jones (42-8) of Waterford.
“In that semi I felt like I had such a great mental outlook, and I just felt like I knew I wasn’t going to lose because I really wanted to make the finals,” Domer said.
Lukas Miller (106, 34-10) made his way to the finals, highlighted by a nearly perfect 16-0 tech fall win in the semis over Brayden Reed (37-9), before falling by tech fall in the finals to Bodey Gibbs (40-2) of Columbia.
Mitchell Tetreault (144, 41-7) battled his way to the finals, earning a spot with a 9-4 win in the semis over Waynedale’s Riley Greathouse (35-4), before he settled for silver, falling to Gunnar Gossett (45-4) of Union Local by fall at 2:42.
Perhaps the most inspirational moment in the Pirates’ day belonged to Mat Frey (165, 33-12), who was an alternate to state last season. This time around he celebrated in style, claiming the fourth and final qualifying spot to state. His big moment came in the wrestle-in match to go to state, where he earned a 17-2 tech fall win over Waynedale’s Lane Troyer (27-22), then leapt directly into the arms of his coach and brother A.J. Frey in an emotional celebration.
My emotions are through the roof right now,” Frey said following the match. “Last year I didn’t make it, so I was determined not to let that happen again. I could really feel the support of my teammates and family and friends, and I can barely express how I’m feeling right now.”
Mycah Schlabach (132, 23-23) battled his way back through the consys to claim sixth place and grab a podium spot.
Other wrestlers also found victories to help the team take the runner-up spot.
Cole Westfall (190, 22-12), Bryce Books (113, 40-7), Wyatt Gordon (175, 29-16) and Dillon King (215, 9-4), who came back in the season late from an injury to grab a spot at districts, all went 2-2 for the tournament.
Bryce Johnson (126, 16-21) and Alex Hamsher (26-23) both went 0-2 for the tournament.
In all it was a strong day for a young group with just one senior who set the bar high heading into state and especially moving forward toward next season.
“We’ve got more years to do this again,” Frey said.
“We’ve got so much talent on this team, and the improvements we’ve made this year have been incredible,” Tetreault said. “We’ve got a young team full of guys who just keep getting better and better, and I don’t think we’ve come close to our peak yet.”
Domer said this is a band of brothers who love each other while pushing each other to excel at the same time.
“It’s every day,” Domer said. “If someone breaks, everyone comes in and picks him up and encourages him. We always know we can count on the next guy to pick us up, and we know we can expect every single guy to be in the corner screaming encouragement and getting us fired up.”
The runner-up finish was a terrific effort from a group that expects to come back bigger and stronger next year, but for now five Pirates will focus on the state tournament and all the joy and excitement it brings.