Hail to the Warriors (again)!: Ontario caps great season for the area atop wrestling poll
MANSFIELD – There’s fluid and then there’s the News Journal Wrestling Power Poll.
Only one of the top nine teams in the 12-team rankings occupies the same slot in this final poll that it filled in the last poll, released in mid-February before the various conference meets.
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All of the movement makes sense. So many of them jockeyed to have the strongest finish. It was that kind of year. Nine teams had state qualifiers. Three teams had multiple qualifiers. Two teams finished in the top 10 of the Division II standings.
Nineteen of the 23 area boys who made it to the state meet made it to the second day. In terms of sheer numbers and success rate, that might be unprecedented. The area boasted nine semifinalists, three finalists and one state champion.
And for the first time since the OHSAA began sanctioning a girls state tournament in 2023, the area had two qualifiers and one medalist.
Coaches say all the time that the regular season is practice for the post-season, and this power poll certainly reflects that thinking. How you finished, almost exclusively, is what matters in these rankings.
If a team happens to check all of the boxes, regular season and post-season, all the better. One program fits that bill much better than the rest and it happens to be the defending poll champion. So give it up for …
1. Ontario: Wes Turnbaugh’s Warriors were even better this season than last. They won their second Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title in three years, repeated as Division II sectional champion and finished sixth in the state, the third top 10 finish in program history.
Ontario had a record four medalists, led by sophomore runner-up Aiden Ohl at 106 pounds. His older brother, senior 112-pounder Jacob, finished third to become a three-time medalist, senior Landon Campbell (215) became a two-time medalist by finishing fifth and junior Mason Turnbaugh (138) earned his first podium spot, finishing third the hard way. He lost his first match, then reeled off five wins in a row.
Senior Cole Dille (157) rounded out the school’s record five qualifiers, overcoming two knee surgeries as a sophomore, along with a broken wrist and hand, to fall just one win short of a state medal this season. Had he done that he probably would have jumped 12 feet without a pole. Guess what he’s doing this spring?
2. Galion: The Tigers finished eighth, two spots behind Ontario, in the team standings at the state meet, marking the first top 10 showing in program history. There were a lot of firsts. They had three medalists for the first time, including the first four-time qualifier in third-place heavyweight Alex Griffith and the highest sophomore medalist ever in runner-up Gradey Harding (120). Carter Trukovich (113) became just the second freshman medalist – a feat first accomplished by Harding – with his fifth-place finish. And to top it off, the “father of Galion wrestling,” Jim Wegesin, was inducted into the coaches Hall of Fame during a ceremony before the finals in Ohio State’s Schottenstein Center.
3. Northmor: Wrestling fans tend to take the Golden Knights for granted, they’ve been so good for so long. This was the 21st consecutive year they’ve had multiple qualifiers for the state meet, truly remarkable given the size of the school.
Scott Carr, who has presided over the program for 16 years, had five qualifiers this year and three medalists: junior three-timer Cowin Becker (fourth at 132), sophomore Carson Campbell (fourth at 157) and sophomore Ethan Ammens (eighth at 120). Northmor has produced an area-high five state champs. Maybe one of them will be next because they should all be back next season, along with fellow qualifiers Brady Carr (sophomore, 113) and Carter Thomas (freshman, 106).
The Knights were third at sectionals, but came back to beat champion Elgin and runner-up Pleasant en route to second at districts behind state runner-up Barnesville. Norhmor finished tied for 15th in Division III at state.
4. Ashland: It was quite a debut season for new coach Tommy Bauer and his staff.. The Arrows won their first Ohio Cardinal Conference title since 2021, added a sectional title and, despite being one of the smallest Division I programs in Ohio, finished eighth at the Perrysburg district, arguably the toughest in the state.
Coming off great middle school careers, freshmen Mason Bauer (106) and Guardian Miller (126) both qualified for state and senior Cayden Spotts (215) made it for a third time. Bauer, son of the head coach, was a semifinalist and placed fifth, the highest finish ever by an Arrow ninth-grader. He, Miller and fellow frosh Max Ohl (113) and Isaak Wickham (132) bring back 144 victories next season and Ashland will be adding another strong freshman class to the mix.
5. Crestview: Not only did senior heavyweight Caleb Cunningham pull off the rare feat of pinning his way to a state title, but he made Nate Godsey the first coach from one of the 12 programs in these rankings to boast a state champion in his first year as a varsity head coach. Dave Riggs, who went on to a Hall of Fame career at Massillon Perry, had a state champ in Perry Ohl in 1986, his first year at Ontario, but he had already been a head coach elsewhere.
Cunningham, who pinned 10 of his 11 opponents in the post-season, became Crestview’s first state champ since Hunter Reed in 2007. He will be sorely missed, but Godsey had seven district qualifiers this season and five are set to return, including freshman state qualifier Qwintin Howard (126).
Crestview also had the distinction of giving the area its first medalist since the OHSAA began sanctioning the girls tournament in 2023. Those honors went to freshman Naomi Gearheart, fifth at 155 and the only ninth-grader in her weight class. After watching her for three days I’d be shocked if she’s not on top of the podium sooner than later.
6. Clear Fork: After winning the MOAC two of the past three years, the Colts slipped to third this year, but were only 29 points behind champion Ontario. They went on to finish runner-up at the Sandusky sectional and produced nine district qualifiers, six of whom should be back next year, including junior 175-pounder Blake Schlosser, a J.C. Gorman Invitational champ.
The big losses will be 2023 state qualifier Peyton Hoskins and 165-pounder Luke Schlosser, Blake's older brother. He became just the second two-time medalist in program history by finishing sixth. He was fourth last year but admits that he never made it all the way back, conditioning-wise, after missing the first half of this season with a football-related ankle injury.
7. Madison: The Rams almost doubled the combined point totals of the other two Richland County schools (Lexington, Mansfield Senior) in the Ohio Cardinal Conference meet and produced two state qualifiers in senior two-timer Mike Thomas (120) and Estella Koppert Smith (130) on the girls side.
It was hard not to root extra hard for Thomas, who battled and battled in a tough weight class after having eye surgery with just a few weeks to go in the season. Even though he graduates, there are at least two Rams ready for breakout seasons in freshman sectional runner-up Aiden Proctor (144) and sophomore OCC champ/sectional runner-up Jaxin Stancombe (285).
Koppert Smith, under the watchful eye of boys coach Bryan Mosier, improved from 4-8 to 48-12 in one season. If she continues to make great strides she could join Lyndsee Young as the second girls champ at Madison. If only Young had gotten the chance to win it in the Schott. Her title came in 2022, a year before the OHSAA began sanctioning the girls tourney and running it simultaneously with the boys.
8. Plymouth: The Big Red had two state qualifiers in Cameron Wagers (120) and Noah Robinson (215), giving coach Jeremiah Balkin five in the last three years. Despite a health scare that kept him away from his team during the districts, Balkin got the green light to be in the coaching chair at state. He’ll need heart surgery, but being on the arena floor was one of the biggest “wins” of the tournament.
Wagers leaves as a four-time district qualifier with over 100 victories. Returning next season with Robinson will be two other district qualifiers: sophomore Ben Trimmer (132), a sectional runner-up, and junior Jackson Kennison (175).
9. Lexington: The Minutemen had their first state qualifier since 2018 in unsung heavyweight Aedan Nicol, who came within one win of medaling after being inactive the last two years. His unexpected run and Lex’s fifth-place finish at the Clyde sectional provide optimism for a program that had recently fallen on hard times.
Second-year coach John Watkins saw the Minutemen score 123 points at sectionals, six more than Galion, which finished top 10 in the state. They had seven advance to districts and Nicol was the only senior in the bunch.
Keep an eye on the other qualifiers in 2024-25: sophomores Vincent Hardin (126), Brayden Vance (165), Cole Eichorn (175) and Nate Taylor (215), and juniors Owen Reamsnider (132) and David Biggers (190).
10. Shelby: It’s worth noting that the Whippets, another rebuilding program, finished fifth at the Sandusky sectional, two spots and seven points ahead of Madison. Among their five district qualifiers were three who should be coming back next year: juniors Arthur Cain (126) and Denny Lafon (144) and sophomore Blake Nixon (150).
11. Lucas: After his father, Billy, saved the season and the program by stepping in as head coach at the last minute, Rayden Caudill went out and won 35 matches in the 190 class. He just missed becoming a two-time district qualifier, but still has one year left. And reinforcements are coming from a strong junior high team led by former varsity head coach Ed Finley.
12. Mansfield Senior: Not sure what happened to Tygers over the course of a long season, but after a promising start – seven top-six placers at the Tom Ellis Invitational – they had only four wrestlers in the lineup at the Ohio Cardinal Conference meet and scored only 2 points. Senior 175-pounder Kayvon Smith finished 18-14 and sophomore 190-pounder Alijah Scott was 18-16.
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Hail to the Warriors (again)!: Ontario caps great season for the area atop wrestling poll
