Waynedale wrestling dominates at Div. III Coshocton District
Robert McCrork casually glances up at the clock while manhandling another opponent at districts. McCrork was never threatened in helping to lead Waynedale to a Division III district crown at Coshocton.
After placing all 14 of its wrestlers into the Division III district wrestling meet at Coshocton High School on Feb. 28 and March 1, the Waynedale Golden Bears had a leg up on the competition in seeking a district title.
The Golden Bears didn’t disappoint, getting off to a monster start and rolling up 235.5 points to easily outdistance runner-up Garaway’s 145-point effort.
Waynedale had 12 sectional champions among its 14 qualifiers, and five of them emerged victorious as gold medal winners in the district tournament.
“We had some tough draws, but with 14 going, we felt we could push double digits going to state,” head coach Louie Stanley said. “Our big goal was to bust that out.”
The school record sent to state has been seven wrestlers for the past four decades, but not anymore, as the Golden Bears succeeded in sending eight this year.
The title trek for the Golden Bears began at 113 pounds, where Brock Beckler put his undefeated 43-0 record on the line. He left the gym at 47-0, simply wrecking the competition along the way, having never been closely challenged in any of his bouts.
Isaak Skelly (47-1) followed suit, cruising to victory at 120 pounds, putting the exclamation on his title with a win by fall at 1:29 in the finals over West Union’s Ethan Cantrell (38-5).
Sebastian Schmeltzer (46-5) grabbed the third of the Bears’ crowns with a punishing victory at 132 pounds that ended in a 6-5 victory over Ironton’s Nate Sloan (34-5).
No. 4 on the victor’s list was 150-pounder Dalton Oberly (45-6), who fended off a serious challenge in the finals from Crooksville’s Hunter Browning (45-6). In the end Oberly cashed in on an 8-6 victory in the title bout.
The hits kept coming for the Golden Bears at 190 pounds, where Robert McCrork (49-0) remained undefeated by destroying all challengers with relative ease. McCrork was never challenged throughout, winning 19-4 in the finals.
Stanley said McCrork wrestled at 150 and 157 the past two years, coming into his own this season.
“He is our poster child for work, attitude and doing everything right,” Stanley said. “He’s an attacker, and a lot of bigger kids aren’t used to seeing someone come at them as hard as he does.”
Aside from the five champions, there were plenty of other reasons why Waynedale ran away and hid from the competition to earn the district title.
The Golden Bears will have a large contingent at state as they compete for a state title.
At 138 pounds, previously undefeated Caden Schmeltzer (50-1) was upset in the semis by Garaway’s Braylon Books in heartbreaking fashion, but Schmeltzer quickly recovered and took out his anger on his next two opponents, winning 20-0 and by fall in 1:48 to grab third place.
Stanley said his star will be more focused than ever to make amends at state.
“He’s a fierce competitor,” Stanley said. “He was mad, and he showed his toughness by coming back and pinning his next two kids. Wrestling isn’t a forgiving sport, but he isn’t going to dwell on the loss. He’s going to keep coming on and work even harder.”
Riley Greathouse (144 pounds, 35-4) also took home the bronze, delivering a 3-2 win in his final match for third place over Phillip Hash (38-12) of River Valley.
Stephen Patterson (126, 46-5) joined those traveling to state by placing fourth, winning his wrestle-to-state match in convincing fashion, an 18-3 tech fall win.
Ethan Garrod (175, 34-13) wrestled to a 3-2 record but fell one spot shy of qualifying for state, placing fifth, where he will serve as an alternate to state. He dropped a heartbreaking 4-2 loss in his wrestle-to-state match.
At 165 pounds, Lane Troyer (28-21) fought his way to the podium, finishing sixth after going 3-2 over the weekend.
Branton Tapp (106 pounds, 36-13) and Maddox Kidd (157, 41-8) went 2-2 while Brandon Walters (285, 45-7) and Grady Posey (215, 25-19) both went 1-2 on the weekend.
Overall, everyone chipped in to help the Golden Bears surge to an early lead and never look back on the district championship.
“Every single one of our 14 wrestlers managed to win at least one match, and that’s something I’m very proud of,” Stanley said. “It shows the depth of this group.”
Moving eight on to state gives Waynedale a chance to compete at the highest level in Div. III, and Stanley said it’s always a goal to grab a spot on the big board’s top 10 at state. Although with this many wrestlers going, the team has some ambitious goals.
“State is crazy competitive, and perennial greats like Graham and Delta are loaded again, but we are hoping to have a big showing,” Stanley said. “We know this year we can hit the top five, but we have to wrestle well, and maybe we can grab a spot in the top three.”
Stanley said this program’s success combines kids, coaches and community, and together it has grown into something special.
“We’re so grateful for what we have, but at the same time, we want even more, and this is our opportunity to go after it,” Stanley said. “So we’ll keep working harder, and if we do that and don’t get what we want, that’s OK.”