PHOTOS BY RACHEL NAGEL / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
106LBS … Archbold’s Brenden Bosco (right) wrestles Gabe Brough of Eastwood in the third-place match. Bosco fell 5-1 to finish fourth but still qualified for the state tournament. VIEW PHOTOS OF THIS CONTEST FOR FREE AT WWW.THEVILLAGEREPORTER.COM
132LBS … Archbold’s Issac Brown (on top) pins Evergreen’s AJ Gleckler in a third-place match on Saturday at the Division III districts in Rossford.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
ROSSFORD (March 7, 2026) – What a difference one year makes for the Archbold High School wrestling team after sending just two wrestlers – Lars Soles and Parker Bixler – to the state tournament out of the Division III district wrestling tournament.
One year later, the Bluestreaks put together a performance for the ages, capturing the district title and qualifying a school-record seven wrestlers to the state tournament, which gets underway Friday afternoon at Value City Arena in Columbus.
Soles and Bixler will be making a return trip to Columbus, but they’ll be joined by five first-timers with four of them being freshmen.
Archbold finished with 177 points to win the title, holding off defending district champion Delta at 161 points. Liberty Center was third with 104 points, as the Northwest Ohio Athletic League showed its own dominance on the mats.
“We had a really good weekend with seven qualifiers, a school record and I’m really super proud of these guys,” said Archbold head coach Cody Ruffer.
“We brought 14 wrestlers; everybody battled and brought back 12 wrestlers today (Saturday). They all worked super hard and it’s a reflection of their hard work.”
The Bluestreaks managed just one individual title with freshman Ty Bosco winning the 120-pound crown with a 9-0 major decision over Joseph Springer of Northwood in the final. Bosco earlier had decisioned Brayden Barker of Milan Edison, 6-2, in the semifinals.
Also getting their ticket stamped to Columbus for Archbold were Isaac Brown (132), Kayden Wellman (144) and Ethan Bowman (175), all of whom finished third. Brenden Bosco (106), Lars Soles (126) and Parker Bixler (285) all placed fourth. Brooks Miller (113) and Layne Miller (150) both placed fifth and earned the district alternate berth. Ashton Stuckey was sixth at 165 pounds.
“We had a bad semifinal round, but I’m proud of the younger guys who battled back and there’s a lot of pressure in those ‘go to’ matches,” said Ruffer. “We just talked about keeping your chin up and focusing on the next one. Honestly, that’s what they did.”
Delta advanced five of its wrestlers to Columbus with four of them being district champions in Tyler Barnes (126), Lane Lopez (157), Gunner Taylor (165) and Brady Smith (285).
Barnes, who will be making his fourth consecutive trip to state after finishing as runner-up a year ago, upset projected state champion Scotty Fuller of Genoa with a late takedown to capture a thrilling 4-2 decision.
Lopez, who is a three-time qualifier and returning state placer, decisioned Trace Johnson of Eastwood, 4-1, after posting a pair of major decisions in his previous two matches.
Taylor squeaked out a 4-3 victory over third-ranked Rafael Gross of Norwalk St. Paul in his finals match.
Smith, who didn’t even make it out of the second round of consolations after being pinned by Logan Pontious of Montpelier in 59 seconds last year, avenged a pair of recent setbacks to NWOAL archrival Logan Sifuentes of Liberty Center with a 3-1 overtime victory. Smith scored a takedown five seconds into the overtime period after the match was tied at 1-1 in regulation.
“Last year, I was in a pretty bad mental state by this time,” admitted Smith. “That failure was my main motivation to put in all the work in the off-season and extra time after practice just to get better.
“It feels honestly amazing because I get to go to state with some of the guys on the team for the first time. I was like held back from that last year, and now I’m finally there.”
Also advancing to state for the Panthers was Marcus Nagel, who unfortunately dropped a tough 4-1 overtime decision to Kaden Bish of Mohawk in the 175-pound final. The sophomore previously had pinned all three of his opponents prior to the finals.
“I thought our effort was great, and that’s what we talked about all the time, attitude and effort and we definitely didn’t lack in that department,” said Delta head coach Mark Nagel.
“We went four for five in the finals and that’s a pretty good day, so we’ll take it. Now we got to keep the guys sharp mentally and the pieces together.”
Other place finishers for Delta were Luke Spiess, who earned the state alternate berth at 132 pounds, and Emilio Arroyo, who was sixth at 215.
Swanton’s Chase Godwin (150) earned his second consecutive ticket to state with an impressive third-place finish despite losing his opening round match on Friday.
Godwin then faced the ultimate task of successfully going through the consolation bracket, capturing five straight matches including a 4-1 decision over Gavin Cornell of Port Clinton in the third-place final.
“He’s earned it and has worked for it all year and nobody more deserving than Chase (Godwin),” said Swanton head coach Greg Hallett. “We’ve been there before and got the experience and looking to get on the podium now.”
His senior teammate Gabe Stevens earned the state alternate berth at 120 pounds, decisioning Ronald Kaufman of Bluffton, 5-0.
Also moving on to Columbus is Evergreen’s A.J. Gleckler, who placed fourth at 132 pounds.
The Vikings’ freshman, who was pinned in his opening match, reeled off four consecutive victories – three of those were via major decision and the other was a second-period fall. He was then pinned by Archbold’s Isaac Brown in 55 seconds in the third-place match.
Montpelier’s Logan Pontious finished sixth at 285 pounds after he forfeited in the fifth-place match.
Other area wrestlers advancing were Braedyn Tammarine (113), district champion Daine Bayer (138) and Logan Sifuentes (285) of Liberty Center. Patrick Henry’s Trent Johnson (190) was third.
Also competing at districts but unable to advance were Exzander Borstelman of Swanton (106), Landon Keifer of Evergreen (113), Braxton Pennington of Delta (120), Trey Weirauch of Archbold and Thomas Hernandez of Delta (138), Hazen Smith of Montpelier and Andrew Druschel of Delta (144), Wade Stubleski of Evergreen (150), Geoffrey Yoder of Archbold and Hayes Studenka of Evergreen (157), Brady Kimple of Evergreen (175), Jackson Flower of Edgerton and Hunter Warner of Archbold (190) and Isidro Hernandez of Archbold and Anthony Fletcher of Montpelier (215).
Area Results
First-Place Matches
120- Ty Bosco (Archbold) major dec. Joseph Springer (Northwood), 9-0.
126- Tyler Barnes (Delta) dec. Scotty Fuller (Genoa), 4-2.
157- Lane Lopez (Delta) dec. Trace Johnson (Eastwood), 4-1.
165- Gunner Taylor (Delta) dec. Rafael Gross (Norwalk St. Paul), 4-3.
175- Kaden Bish (Mohawk) dec. Marcus Nagel (Delta), 4-1, OT.
285- Brady Smith (Delta) dec. Logan Sifuentes (Liberty Center), 3-1 OT.
Third-Place Matches
106- Gabe Brough (Eastwood) dec. Brenden Bosco (Archbold), 5-1.
126- Camden Redmon (Bucyrus) major dec. Lars Soles (Archbold), 13-4.
132- Isaac Brown (Archbold) pinned A.J. Gleckler (Evergreen), :55.
144- Kayden Wellman (Archbold) pinned Eliot Laird (Port Clinton), :53.
150- Chase Godwin (Swanton) dec. Gavin Cornell (Port Clinton), 4-1.
175- Ethan Bowman (Archbold) dec. Landon Rich (Woodmore), 8-4.
285- Brycen Dunlap (Monroeville) pinned Parker Bixler (Archbold), 2:59.