By ROB HAMILTON
Northmor claimed their fourth consecutive Blue Division wrestling time at the league championship meet, which was hosted by Cardington on Saturday.
The Knights finished with 146.5 points to finish third overall. Highland was second in the Blue with 111.5. The top overall team was Red champion River Valley, who finished with 217. While head coach Scott Carr thought his team started slow, he was pleased with how they finished.
“We got off to a slow start this morning,” he said. “I think we were still reeling from Wednesday. We had a meeting with them after the first round or two and told them they have a choice: keep pouting over Wednesday or regroup.”
Northmor had two champions in the meet. Jake Neer had three pins in as many matches to win at 106 pounds and improve to 32-5 on the year. He opened with two pins in a total of 47 seconds before topping Tarren Riffle of North Union (36-4) in the second period after opening a commanding lead.
“Neer’s been on a good tear the last couple months,” said Carr. “To beat a kid like that from North Union — he just dominated him from the first whistle to the pin.”
At 132 pounds, Conan Becker (36-3) also claimed a title, pinning Pleasant’s Preston Smith at the 2:18 mark. Carr noted that Becker had a lot of motivation coming into that match. After losing a few to Smith earlier in his career, Becker finally defeated him recently at the Sally George Invitational, but was still seeded below him entering the MOAC meet.
“Conan wrestled Smith last week and beat him 10-0 and I think a lot of people thought it was a fluke,” said Carr. “I told him that and he looked me in the eye and said ‘we’ll see’. I think to get over that hump and beat that kid, I think it was more mental than anything. He’s now beaten him two straight weeks in dominating fashion.”
Northmor had eight more place-winners in the meet. Griffin Jenkins (28-12) finished third at 120 pounds, with his only blemish being a close decision to champion Ryan Matthews of Fredericktown in the quarterfinals. At 126 pounds, Aaron Kitts bounced back from a semifinal loss to take third and improve to 18-7 on the year.
Both Matthew Ross (145 pounds, 25-11) and Nathan Price (220, 19-19) were fourth in the meet, while Wyatt Collier (113, 12-9) and Mason Burger (195, 16-7) took fifth and Brad Baker (152, 23-17) and D.J. Christo (182, 12-13) both were sixth.
Carr noted that his team’s action this week, competing in the state dual meet tournament and the MOAC championships, were great training for the upcoming postseason.
“We preach this all the time,” he said. “Everything we do from November to now is practice for this three-week tournament. It was good to get out here and get back on the horse after getting knocked off Wednesday.”
The Galion wrestling team took seventh place with 103 points, which was good for fifth in the Red Division.
The Tigers were paced by Drake Barnett, who won the 160-pound weight class to improve to 10-1. Barnett earned three pins in four matches, including one in 5:49 over Colton Householder of North Union to take the title.
Austin Reyes (26-13) placed second at 138, getting two pins and a win via decision before falling 4-1 to Highland’s Dakota Bunting in the finals. At 220 pounds, Nick McDaniel (37-8) had three pins in placing third.
Finishing fifth were Ryan Talbott (145, 17-17) and Mason Weldon (285, 10-8); while Brenden Ganshorn (106, 10-10) and Kade Dyer (170, 13-20) both finished sixth.
Rob Hamilton can be reached at 419-946-3010, ext. 1807. Connect with him on Twitter at @SportsMCS
