190 POUNDS … Delta’s Connor Sintobin (on top) pinned Harry Ross of Bryan in their opening round bout. Sintobin would advance to the title match where he fell 3-0 to Xander Meyers of Liberty Center. VIEW ALL PHOTOS OF THIS CONTEST FOR FREE AT WWW.THEVILLAGEREPORTER.COM
By: Mike Reeves
LIBERTY CENTER (February 17, 2024) – The NWOAL wrestling tournament was contested at Liberty Center High School with eight teams seeking NWOAL glory but the championship would come down to Delta and Wauseon.
Delta had nine wrestlers in the final bouts under the lights and Wauseon had seven with three being head-to-head matches with the Panthers.
The Panthers would capture the team title with 195.5 points to Wauseon’s 191.5, thus ending the Indians run of consecutive league titles at seven.
The 106-pound contest would see Carter Stuckey of Wauseon against Braedyne Tammerine of Liberty Center and it was an insight into what was about to come as Stuckey took the title with a 4-2 decision.
The 113-pound match would see the first battle of Delta vs. Wauseon. The Indians’ Joseph Lugabihl would face the Panthers’ Adam Mattin and Mattin would score a tech fall for the Panthers and extra team points closing the gap on the leaderboard.
At 120, Tyler Barnes of Delta would secure a first-place finish for the Panthers with a pin of Archbold’s Mason Miller.
In the finals at 126, Wauseon’s Zavian LaFountain would get a 4-0 decision over Brodie Setmire of Evergreen and at 138, Evergreen’s Jack Stubleski took home the championship with a 9-5 decision over Jordan Cook from Wauseon.
The 144-pound championship match had returning state champion from Archbold, Brodie Dominque, and he grabbed another NWOAL title as his opponent would forfeit.
At 150, Indians’ senior Benicio Torres garnered a league title by defeating Jackson Bartels of Liberty Center 5-3 to keep Wauseon on top of the team standings.
Wauseon and Delta would square off again at 157 pounds as Kahle Albright of Wauseon would go up against Lane Lopez of Delta. The Delta freshman would come through with a 6-1 win and that was followed by another Delta first-place finish at 165 as Daniel Thatcher pinned Kale Waxler from Wauseon.
At 175 pounds, Evergreen would get their second individual title of the day as senior Grant Richardson beat Dameon Wolfe of Bryan, 4-2.
The 190-pound division was probably the toughest weight class of the tournament as it featured state champion Xander Meyers (Liberty Center), Delta state placer Connor Sintobin and state placer Austin Kovar from Wauseon.
Kovar would fall 4-3 in a tight bout to Meyers in the semis and finished third while Meyers would take the title defeating Sintobin 3-0 in the finals.
Archbold would get their second league champion of the day at 215 as senior Wyat Ripke picked up a major decision (20-7) over Cass Chiesa of Delta.
The heavyweight division ended the tournament and Swanton junior Evan Smigelski took home the hardware after knocking off Delta’s Brady Smith 3-1.
The journey to the Schottenstein Center for the state tournament begins on Saturday, February 24 with sectionals as Bryan and Wauseon will compete in Division II at Defiance while the rest of the NWOAL teams will be at Archbold for Division III.
TEAM SCORES: 1. Delta 195.5; 2. Wauseon 191.5; 3. Liberty Center 152; 4. Archbold 110; 5. Evergreen 64; 6. Swanton 61; 7. Bryan 30; 8. Patrick Henry 22
FIRST PLACE
106 – Carter Stuckey (W) dec. Braedyn Tammerine (LC), 3-2; 113 – Adam Mattin (D) TF 5:14 over Joseph Lugabihl (W); 120 – Tyler Barnes (D) p. Mason Miller (A), 2:45; 126 – Zavian LaFountain (W) dec. Brodie Setmire (E), 4-0; 132 – Drew Matthews (LC) dec. Anthony Hernandez (D), 4-1; 138 – Jack Stubleski (E) dec. Jordan Cook (W), 9-5; 144 – Brodie Dominique (A) won by forfeit over Landon Lintermoot (D); 150 – Benicio Torres (W) dec. Jackson Bartels (LC), 5-3; 157 – Lane Lopez (D) dec. Kahle Albright (W), 6-1; 165 – Daniel Thatcher (D) p. Kale Waxler (W), 1:12; 175 – Grant Richardson (E) dec. Dameon Wolfe (B), 4-2; 190 – Xander Myers (LC) dec. Connor Sintobin (D), 3-0; 215 – Wyat Ripke (A) dec. Cass Chiesa (D), 20-7 MD; 285 – Evan Smigelski (S) dec. Brady Smith (D), 3-1
THIRD PLACE
106 – Lars Soles (A) def. Thomas Hernandez (D), 7-5; 113 – Adam Foster (LC) wins by default; 120 – Brady Badenhop (LC) def. Mykale Schneider (W) by forfeit; 126 – Richard Flores (D) def. Landon Massie (LC), 5-0; 132 – Tristan Wyse (W) dec. Braylon Miller (W), 4-3; 138 – Donnell Bush (B) def. Eli Farbrother (A), 8-0 MD; 144 – AC Torres (W) p. Eli Borstelman (LC), 2:18; 150 – Parker Cone (D) dec. Mazin Rukieh (S), 1-0; 157 – Ian Grime (A) p. Colton Szcezpanski (LC), 2:07; 165 – Michael Holtsberry (S) dec. Degan Schwaiger (LC), 3-0; 175 – Trent Johnson (PH) dec. Ian Martin (W), 4-0; 190 – Austin Kovar (W) p. Luke Bostelaman (PH), :56; 215 – Cam’ron Kirtz (S) dec. Logan Sifuentes (LC), 8-7; 285 – Braden Like (LC) p. John Flores (W), 1:50
