MARION — Over a two-day span last weekend, hundreds of wrestlers gathered at Pleasant High School to take part in the 40th Sally George Wrestling Invitational.
Among them were the wrestlers representing the Northmor Golden Knights. When all was said and done for the invitational, the Knights would earn a fifth place overall finish with 142 points. London claimed the team title, picking up 226.5 points.
Of the roster on the mats for head coach Scott Carr and Northmor, seven would earn a top-six placement in their respective weight classes with two of the six earning championships.
Gavin Ramos earned the title in the 126-pound weight class, defeating Antonio Lecki of Millbury Lake in the championship match via a 5-1 decision. Ramos’ run began with a 1:43 pin over Harding’s Chris Thompson. In his second matchup of the day, Ramos needed just 24 seconds to pin Grandview Heights’ Tazio Pintor. In the semifinals, Gavin edged Carter Chase by a 4-3 margin to advance, and eventually win, the championship in his weight class.
Over in the 170-pound weight class, Conor Becker continued his dominate season, wrestling his way to the title via four pinfalls. Becker’s first round opponent, Keani Bright of Linden McKinley, found himself pinned in a matter of 50 seconds. In round two, Becker needed just 47 seconds to pin University School’s Dylan Laurianti. Match three saw Conor advancing to the finals thanks to a 1:01 pinfall victory over Madison’s Hunter Borden. In the finals, Becker also took down a member of the Millbury Lake squad, pinning Justin Cole in 1:22 to pick up another championship for the Knights on the weekend.
Austin Amens finished as the runner-up in the 132-pound weight class while Tony Martinez took third over in the 145-pound class. Dale Brocwell and Niko Christo both wrestled to fifth place finishes at 106 and 138, respectively. Hunter Brookover rounded out the placements for the Golden Knights, earning sixth overall in the 285-pound class.
Amens- 1. W, 6-2 decision over Tracen Cooper (Marysville); 2. W, default over Adam Cook (Madison); 3. L, 9-0 Major Decision to Emery Pahl (Upper Sandusky).
Martinez- 1. W, :15 pin of Bill Miller (Marysville); 2. W, 1:40 pin of Christopher Stanford (Columbus South); 3 L, 17-5 Major Decision to Antwaun Burns (London); 4. W, 3:13 pin of Miller; 5. W, 15-2 Major Decision over Ashton Shepherd (Upper Sandusky).
Brocwell- 1. W, 1:57 pin of Cory Fricke (Mount Gilead); 2. L, 6-4 decision to Gage Ebert (Upper Sandusky); 3. W, 4:28 pin of Abdalla Hussein (Columbus South); 4. W, 5:08 pin of Kaden Stewart (Ridgedale); 5. L, 8-6 decision to Toran Schroyer (Millbury Lake); 6. W, 6-2 decision over Ebert.
Christo- 1. W, 8-3 decision over Linclon Heard (Marysville); 2. W, 2:18 pin of Jeremiah Yearout (London); 3. L, pinned in 3:46 by Joe Averill (University School); 4. L, 11-7 decision to CJ Smith (Pleasant); 5. W, 14-4 Major Decision over Alex Rodriguez (Whitehall).
Brookover- 1. W, :22 pin of Brandon Paul (Ada); 2. L, pinned in 3:06 by Jack Wallace (Grandview Heights); 3. W, 1:35 pin of Tony Souvnhly (Columbus South); 4. L, pinned in 1:24 by Hunter Dotson (Millbury Lake); 5. L, pinned in 2:30 by Chris Pumphrey (East Knox).
Also wrestling for Northmor at the Sally George but not placing were: 120- Marcus Cortez (0-2); 152- Eli Davis (1-2); 182- Jordan Haines (0-2) and 195- Gavin Whited (1-2).
Next up for the Golden Knights will be the Knox-Morrow Athletic Conference championships, set to be held at East Knox High School on Saturday, February 16.
