Knights top New Lex to win D-II Region 13 team duals title

Knights top New Lex to win D-II Region 13 team duals title
Sara Sponseller-Uhl

The Knights wrestling team, led by head coach Scott Vaughn, in jeans, come charging off the bench after a key win on the mats in their regional championship win over New Lexington.

                        

For the second-straight year, the West Holmes Knights wrestling team qualified for the Ohio High School Athletic Association Div. II Team Duals State Championship Tournament with a 39-24 victory over New Lexington in the championship dual of the OHSAA Div. II Team Duals Region 13 Championship Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 8 at Philo High School.

The Knights will battle for the Div. II state team duals title on Sunday, Feb. 16 at St. John Arena on the campus of the Ohio State University in Columbus. WHHS will battle an as of yet to be named opponent in a quarterfinal match-up at 11 a.m.

“What a day,” WHHS third-year wrestling head coach Scott Vaughn said following the trophy presentation. “I really challenged the kids this week to prepare to wrestle their best this weekend. Their performance clearly shows that they accepted that challenge. This was an entire team win. Every wrestler that wrestled a match won at least one match for their team. I was so excited for them. They really wanted to be the first team to ever make it to back-to-back state duals in the history of West Holmes wrestling.”

The one-seed Knights got wins from junior Jack Welsh at 106 pounds by decision, senior Cael Woods at 113 by fall and fellow senior Tyler Masters at 120 by decision to sprint out to a 12-0 lead over the Panthers in the championship bout. New Lexington, the three seed, came back with three-straight decision wins from 126-138 pounds to pull to within three points of WHHS.

Senior Hunter Bowling got the Knights back on track with a fall win at 145, but New Lexington would win at 152 by fall to make the score 18-15 in favor of WHHS. Senior Walker Uhl scored a fall win at 160 to give the Knights some breathing room. However, the Panthers scored a decision at 170 to make it 24-18 West Holmes with four matches remaining and the dual and trip to Columbus up for grabs.

Senior Josh Sayers got some momentum going for the Knights with a fall win at 182, and then junior Colt Cox nailed down the regional championship with a 7-4 decision victory at 195. Junior Skylar Anderson followed with a decision win at 220 for WHHS.

“New Lexington, that team is the total package,” Vaughn said of the Panthers. “They have talent all over their line-up. There were some really good battles. I was proud of how the kids handled the ups and downs of that dual.”

After an opening round bye, the Knights hammered nine-seed Uhrichsville Claymont 66-12 in the quarterfinal round, then topped St. Clairsville, the four seed, 60-19 in the semifinal match-up.

“There were quite a few really good teams out there,” Vaughn said of the competition his team faced. “Our first round, Claymont has some really good wrestlers. Our kids wrestled with a chip on their shoulder and took the match to them. Round two we faced a good and physical St. Clairsville team. I thought we came out the same way as the first round and really took it to them. We won almost every swing match and even some matches that, on paper, we were supposed to lose.”

The Knights finishing 3-0 on the day included Welsh, Woods, Masters, Bowling, Uhl and Sayers. Posting 2-1 records were sophomore Tucker Kaufman at 132, junior Gavin Greer at 152, senior Cruz Alexander at 170 and Anderson at 182.

Picking up one win for the Knights were senior Kendel Weber at 126, sophomore Dylan Strouse at 138, Cox, and freshman Collin Gardner at 285.

Vaughn was impressed with senior Josh Sayers, naming the “utility man” as the West Holmes Varsity Wrestling Knight of the Week award winner.

“Josh has been kind of a utility man for us this season,” Vaughn said of Sayers. “He has wrestled anywhere from 160-182. He is really coming on as of late and putting together a really nice season. He came through today with three clutch wins. For going undefeated on the day, he earns the honors of Knight of the Week.”

The Knights are now 12-1 in dual meets this season.

Roberts, Miller, McCluggage and Porter qualify for OAC Junior High state tourney

West Holmes Middle School seventh-grade wrestlers AAJ Roberts, Macin Miller, Hunter McCluggage and Cole Porter qualified for the Ohio Athletic Committee Junior High State Championship Tournament with top-six finishes on Sunday, Feb. 9 at the OAC District Qualifier held at Olentangy High School in Lewis Center, Ohio.

Roberts and Miller will make their first trip to the junior high state tournament while McCluggage and Porter will make their second trip after both qualified for the 2019 tournament as sixth-graders.

“Great day today getting four of eight wrestlers out of a tough Olentangy district,” Knights middle school wrestling head coach Jeremy Dombrady said following the tournament.

Miller (84) led the way with a fourth-place finish, scoring a 3-2 mark with two fall wins on the day. Miller scored two wins to reach the championship semifinals, where he lost by decision. Rebounding with his second fall win over Rowan Lucy (Dublin), who Miller had beaten in the first round by fall, the seventh-grader dropped a 4-2 decision in the third-place match.

Roberts (78) scored a fifth-place finish after a 3-2 day with three falls. Roberts also got to the championship semifinals, where he lost by decision to fall into the consolation semifinals, where he suffered a major decision loss. However, Roberts came back with a fall win in the fifth-place match, stopping Brady Creps at 2:34.

McCluggage (96) and Porter (146) both placed sixth to earn the final qualifying spot in their respective weight class.

McCluggage went 3-3, received an opening-round bye, then scored a fall win to reach the championship quarterfinals, where he lost by fall. Needing two wins to guarantee a state berth, McCluggage did just that, pocketing two decision wins to punch his ticket to state. McCluggage lost by fall in the consolation semifinals and then dropped a 9-1 major decision in the fifth-place match.

Porter was 2-3, scoring a fall win and decision win to reach the championship semifinals. From there it was a struggle as Porter lost the championship semifinals by decision, the consolation semifinals by major decision and the fifth-place match.

West Holmes Middle School seventh-grade wrestlers AAJ Roberts, Macin Miller, Hunter McCluggage and Cole Porter qualified for the Ohio Athletic Committee Junior High State Championship Tournament with top-six finishes on Sunday, Feb. 9 at the OAC District Qualifier held at Olentangy High School in Lewis Center, Ohio.

Roberts and Miller will make their first trip to the junior high state tournament while McCluggage and Porter will make their second trip after both qualified for the 2019 tournament as sixth-graders.

“Great day today getting four of eight wrestlers out of a tough Olentangy district,” Knights middle school wrestling head coach Jeremy Dombrady said following the tournament.

Miller (84) led the way with a fourth-place finish, scoring a 3-2 mark with two fall wins on the day. Miller scored two wins to reach the championship semifinals, where he lost by decision. Rebounding with his second fall win over Rowan Lucy (Dublin), who Miller had beaten in the first round by fall, the seventh-grader dropped a 4-2 decision in the third-place match.

Roberts (78) scored a fifth-place finish after a 3-2 day with three falls. Roberts also got to the championship semifinals, where he lost by decision to fall into the consolation semifinals, where he suffered a major decision loss. However, Roberts came back with a fall win in the fifth-place match, stopping Brady Creps at 2:34.

McCluggage (96) and Porter (146) both placed sixth to earn the final qualifying spot in their respective weight class.

McCluggage went 3-3, received an opening-round bye, then scored a fall win to reach the championship quarterfinals, where he lost by fall. Needing two wins to guarantee a state berth, McCluggage did just that, pocketing two decision wins to punch his ticket to state. McCluggage lost by fall in the consolation semifinals and then dropped a 9-1 major decision in the fifth-place match.

Porter was 2-3, scoring a fall win and decision win to reach the championship semifinals. From there it was a struggle as Porter lost the championship semifinals by decision, the consolation semifinals by major decision and the fifth-place match.

Also competing were Grady Toye and Mac Miller. Both competed at 90 and finished 1-2. Also finishing 1-2 was Jack Marmet, and Kalan Bowling-Cappadony finished 0-2.

Toye, Mac Miller, Marmet and Bowling-Cappadony can still make the state tournament by qualifying through another round of district qualifiers.


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