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Boys Best of the Week: Highland wins a wrestling championship; River Valley takes second

rob mccurdy, marion star
·6 min read

MADISON TOWNSHIP — Over the weekend, Highland's boys wrestling team won the 10-team Tom Ellis Classic at Madison Comprehensive.

The Scots claimed six championships as Brady Byler (106 pounds), Brenden Lester (120), Cael Gilmore (150), Liam DeLaney (157), Remington Baker (165) and Hunter Taylor (190) all claimed weight classes. Getting runner-up spots were Konner Blaney (113), Kasey Clark (132) and Ethan Taylor (285). Bryden Bisbee was fourth at 106.

Cardington also competed at Madison and had five wrestlers get fourth place: Dillen Darst (190), Carter Sherman (175), Christopher Kinsey (165), Bryce Hartley (138) and Dylan Compton (113).

Wrestling Primer: Look at the area's 10 wrestling programs before the start of 2023-24

More: Vote for the best performers of the week and see who won previous polls at the Marion Star

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● River Valley finished in second place as a team at a wrestling tournament at Franklin. Winning titles for the Vikings were Aiden Jordan, Carter Creeden and Porter Rick, while Karson Jenkins, Owen Rogers and Adison Babb were runners-up Drew Goldberg was third and Jayden Bennett fourth.

● North Union competed at the Jimmy Mac at Bellefontaine and Ben Bonnell was second at 138 and Kannon Alvarado was third at 126. Finishing fourth were Kingston Alvarado, A.J. Leeson and Austin Cline.

● Northmor split a tri-match with Mansfield Senior and Ontario. Winning in both for the Golden Knights were Brady Carr (113/120), Cowin Becker (138) and Carson Campbell (157).

● Pleasant and Elgin both wrestled at the John Brown Invitational at Mount Vernon. Pleasant's Daxton Chase won at 150, while Sean Murphy at 120 and Skyler Wolf at 157 were runners-up. For Elgin, Quentin Harrison won at 157.

Highland's Brendan Lester, shown wrestling at last year's Mid Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament, won the Tom Ellis Classic at Madison in the 120-pound weight class.
Highland's Brendan Lester, shown wrestling at last year's Mid Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament, won the Tom Ellis Classic at Madison in the 120-pound weight class.

Swimming

● River Valley beat Mount Gilead and Marion Harding during a mid-week meet at the Marion Family YMCA. Scoring wins as individuals were RV's Chase Osborne (200-yard freestyle, 2:11.74; 500 free, 5:59.45) and Andrew Deem (50 free, 25.52), and Mount Gilead's Hayden McClelland (100 free, 1:01.44), Jaxon Tinch (100 backstroke, 1:11.76) and Luke Frazier (100 breaststroke, 1:15.32).

● The Vikings also won a Saturday meet with Pleasant and Marion Harding at the Marion Y. Individual winners were RV's Roy McCall (200 free, 2:19.85), Deem (100 free, 57.82; 100 breaststroke, 1:16.81), Reed McCall (500 free, 7:24.39) and Braden LeVois (100 back, 1:15.3), Harding's Cameron Williams (50 free, 26.27) and Pleasant's Joey Bradac (100 butterfly, 1:32.6).

Bowling

● Marion Harding's Gaven Stoll rolled games of 219 and 189 for a 408 series and Allan Eaches had a 353 series in a 2,034-1,722 win over Galion. Eaches went 195-259 454, while Stoll went 211-195 406 and Kaidn Saban had a 368 series in a 2,386-2,276 win over Lexington.

● Pleasant put together a massive 2,533 in victory over Elgin. Tucker Ludwig went 224-228 452 followed by Nolan Ludwig's 216-211 427, Dawson Hall's 170-244 414, Johnathan Maran's 205-192 397 and Carter Colby's 199-195 394. For ended with a 1,882 as Brody Johnson had a 341, Braydan Lowry a 340 and Jacob Walker a 338.

The Spartans also beat Northmor 2,181-1,944 behind a 380 from Colby and a 360 from Hall. Kaeson Ratcliff had a 392 and Ryan Diehl a 382 with a 234 game for Northmor.

● River Valley's Andrew Karrick threw a 212 and 206 for a 418 series to lead his team to a 1,915-1,412 win over Shelby. Karrick had a 246 game and Caleb Rowlinson a 442 series in a 2,063-1,760 win over Galion at Victory Lanes.

● Highland was down entering the Baker games, but took a lead after the first one. However, the Scots couldn't hang on in a 1,588-1,548 loss to Shelby.

● Mount Gilead topped Centerburg 1,758-1,600 with Wyatt Irwin shooting a 198-245 443 for the winners.

Elgin's Stephen Castillo-Carey is guarded by Ridgedale's Nathan Thiel during a boys basketball game Friday night at Ridgedale.
Elgin's Stephen Castillo-Carey is guarded by Ridgedale's Nathan Thiel during a boys basketball game Friday night at Ridgedale.

Basketball

● River Valley's Ayden Kenney put up a career-high 31 points and was backed by Carson Smith's 21, Chase Ebert's 12, Sawyer Weston's 11 and Chase Smith's eight in an 87-63 road win over Ontario.

● Cardington blasted East Knox 70-29 as A.J. Brehm scored 19, Warren Garrison 14 and Journey Williamson eight. The Pirates did the same to Elgin, winning 71-31 with Brayden Lackey putting up 22 points and 15 rebounds. Brehm and Williamson had 16 and 12 points each, while Donaven Stith and Nash Lust combined for 23 points for Elgin.

● Marquis Long Jr. and Braylyn Dyer led Marion Harding in scoring in a 63-43 win over Highland. Toby Rogers had 15 and Kadyn Reichenbach 10 for the Scots.

● Gilead Christian ran its record to 6-1 after a 51-38 win over Faith Christian. Talan Blankenship had 21 points, Aden Wagner 11 points and three steals and Denim Myers nine points and nine rebounds for the Eagles. During a 46-21 win over Warsaw, Blankenship had 13 points and Myers 11.

● North Union's Max Parish produced 26 points in a pair of games. The Wildcats beat KIPP 77-65 with Miles Hall getting 19 and Nolan Draper 11, while they beat Benjamin Logan 66-31 with Hall getting 14 and Max Bright eight.

● Pleasant downed Elgin 64-31 as 12 players scored for the Spartans led by Carson King's 12 and Trey Booker's 11. Stephen Castillo-Carey had 12 and Jacob Brown eight for Elgin. In a 55-29 win over Highland, Booker ended with 19 points, King with 11 points and three assists, Nick Blubaugh with nine points and six rebounds, and J.T. Snively with four steals. Rogers and Jace Brooks teamed for 21 points for the Scots.

● Ten Northmor players scored in a 66-22 win over Temple Christian. Grant Bentley had 14, Hunter Fulk 13 and Cole Cuffman nine for the Knights.

● Mount Gilead edged Grandview Heights 53-47 with Rowan Fitzpatrick ending with 16, Carson Trainer with 10 and Cam Vickers with eight. No one scored more than six points in a 58-22 loss to Lucas.

Coaches and statisticians are encouraged to send their results to the Marion Star's Rob McCurdy at rmccurdy@gannett.com, 419-610-0998, X formerly Twitter @McMotorsport and Instagram @rob_mccurdy_star.

Marion Star Boys Best of the Week Performer Poll, vote:

  • Voting in this week's boys and girls best of the week polls will continue through early Sunday morning at MarionStar.com and its app.

  • In the boys poll last week, Mount Gilead basketball's Rowan Fitzpatrick got 100 of 243 votes (41 percent) to win it after scoring 18 points in a victory over Loudonville. Other nominees were Pleasant bowler Nolan Ludwig, Northmor basketball's Grant Bentley, RV bowler Andrew Karrick and Ridgedale bowler Jayden Reynolds.

  • Boys nominees:

  • River Valley basketball's Ayden Kenney scored 31 points in a win over Ontario.

  • Gilead Christian basketball's Talan Blankenship tallied 21 points in a win over Faith Christian.

  • North Union basketball's Max Parish produced 26 points in each victory over KIPP and Benjamin Logan.

  • Cardington basketball's Brayden Lackey put up 22 points with 15 rebounds in a win over Elgin.

  • Pleasant wrestler Daxton Chase won the 150-pound class at the John Brown Invitational in Mount Vernon.

  • Elgin wrestler Quentin Harrison won the 157-pound class at the John Brown Invitational in Mount Vernon.

Rob McCurdy, Marion Star and USA Today Network-Ohio
Rob McCurdy, Marion Star and USA Today Network-Ohio

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Boys Best: Wrestlers start season, while bowlers on a roll early on