West Holmes Attack Team places 2 on OAC State podium
The Holmes Area Wrestling Club Elementary Attack Team saw first-grade wrestlers Jordan Vaughn and Graham Mathie stand on the medals podium at the Ohio Athletic Committee Grade School State Championships Sunday, March 26 at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown.
Their teammates and older brothers Jackson Vaughn and Rowand Mathie fell from the tournament in Sunday’s consolation rounds — Vaughn in the consolation fourth round or ‘blood round’ and Mathie in the second round of consolations.
“All four boys wrestled tough this weekend,” Attack Team volunteer coach Jarret Mathie said. “The stage is big with 12 mats and lots of people. It is easy to get caught up in the excitement and let the nerves take over. However, for the most part, the boys kept them away. In my opinion, only one of the four fell victim to the butterflies, and that was Rowand. The Vaughn brothers and Graham had fantastic tournaments. Not enough positive words can be spoken for what these dudes accomplished.”
Jordan Vaughn (Division I, 55 pounds), after a first-round bye, won three straight matches Sunday to start off his tournament, reaching the championship match, where he faced Grayson Eller of Newark. Eller went up 5-0 after the first period, but Vaughn came back in the second stanza, receiving two penalty points followed by an escape and a takedown to knot the score at 5-5.
Eller came back with a late takedown to close out the second period and retake the lead at 7-5. Starting neutral in the final period, Vaughn gave up a takedown with less than a minute remaining. Vaughn fought hard, but Eller eventually turned Vaughn to his back and got the pin call at 3:43.
“Jordan finishing as state runner-up is an unbelievable accomplishment for his first year of competitive wrestling,” coach Mathie said.
Vaughn (3-1, one fall) started his tournament with a fall win at 1:27 over Cashton Miller of Rising Kingz Wrestling Club before posting a 6-4 decision victory over Slade Hardesty of Cambridge and a 13-4 major decision win over Jackson Weyant of Carrollton in the championship semifinals.
Graham Mathie (D-I, 60) also won his first two matches after a first-round bye, scoring a 33-second pin over Braxton Musser of Forge Wrestling Club and a 9-4 decision win over Caleb Simon of Westerville North to reach the championship semifinals. Mathie (2-3, one fall) battled hard but came up short to Camden Poole of Carrollton, losing a 7-0 decision. Mathie then dropped the consolation semifinal bout to Jace Korb of Holland Springfield by fall at 34 seconds and lost the fifth-place match 9-5 to Mavric James of Burnett Trailed Wrestling Club.
“Graham wrestled, in my opinion, what was the best match of his year in the semis,” coach Mathie said of his youngest son. “He was down just 2-0 with time winding down in the third, and we gave up a five-point move working hard to tie the match. Graham would go on to finish in sixth place after dropping a tight match against an opponent we bested earlier in the day. Again, another incredible achievement for a first year of competitive wrestling.”
Jackson Vaughn (fourth grade, D-III) lost his first-round match Saturday, March 25 by a 5-2 decision to fall into the consolation rounds, where he mounted a furious comeback. Vaughn (3-2, one fall) stayed alive with a fall win at 2:33 over Luke Helberg of Napoleon Saturday afternoon.
Vaughn came back with two more wins Sunday morning — both 1-0 decision triumphs over Kasen Gates of Marlington and Jason Poths of Westerville North — but came up just one win shy of securing a podium finish, losing by fall (1:47) to Gabriel Lewis of Sandusky St. Mary Central Catholic.
“Jackson wrestled the best tournament of his career this weekend,” coach Mathie said. “After a very tough opening-round loss, he rallied mentally to reel off three straight Ws. I can’t speak highly enough of Jack’s mental toughness. Close matches such as (the two 1-0 decision wins) are so difficult. The tiniest of mistakes could have cost us the match, yet Jack found a way against the highest level of competition. Jackson’s season came to an end one win short of becoming an OAC All-Ohioan. Another incredible season, and being just a fourth grader, will have two more years to reach the podium.”
It was a rough weekend for Rowand Mathie (fifth, D-III, 75) as he dropped from the tournament Sunday morning after suffering a 4-2 decision loss in the consolation second round to Eli Walters of Pursuit Wrestling Club. Mathie (1-2) opened with a decisive 10-5 decision win Saturday over Neil Neitenbach of Buckeye, then ran into a buzzsaw in Bradley Bohaycyk of Donahue Wrestling Academy, falling by tech fall and into Sunday’s consolation rounds.
“As mentioned earlier, Rowand fell victim to the big stage,” coach Mathie said of his eldest son. “This definitely hindered his performance, and as a result, fell in his first match of day two. That closed out what was a wildly successful 22-23 campaign for him. I know he was disappointed in his performance, but the experience gained at his first OAC state tournament will be valuable. Without question, (it was) certainly a season to be proud of.”
Coach Mathie said his two “bigs” will be driven by not achieving what they were after.
“Knowing these two longtime drill partners, I am positive they will use this weekend’s experience as motivation to improve and come back next season with even more to prove,” coach Mathie said of Jackson Vaughn and Rowand Mathie. “They will continue to be some (of), if not the hardest, working leaders in our room.”
With the Attack Team season now officially completed, Coach Mathie didn’t know how to react.
“With the season finally coming to a close, I am not sure if I am relieved, or sad to see such a successful year end,” he said. “This Monday (March 27) was the first without wrestling practice since the first week of November. As fast as the season came and the anticipation built, it was over just as quickly.”