By: Mike Reeves
METAMORA – The Indians had five league champions as they rolled to a seventh straight NWOAL championship at Evergreen High School on February 18.
The 120-pound weight class saw the first Indian champion of the day as senior Larry Moreno won 8-2 over Drew Matthews of Liberty Center. At 126, Collin Twigg won his third league title by way of a 20-7 major decision over Delta’s Evan Hanefeld.
Benicio Torres kept things rolling at 144 with a 7-0 win over Ian Grime (Archbold) followed by Kale Waxler (157) who scored a pinfall in 1:20 over Holden Barnes of Delta for his league title.
Wauseon’s final championship of the day came from Chance Snow (175) as he picked up a hard-fought 9-7 win over Liberty Center’s Xander Meyers. It was a balanced effort by the Indians who came in with 14 wrestlers and 13 would stand on podium.
Second-place Archbold had four wrestlers win championships starting with Gabe Chapa (132) knocked off Zaden Torres of Wauseon 3-1 and Brodie Dominique (152) won by fall in :51 over Max Mossing from Evergreen.
Capturing the final two titles on the day for the Bluestreaks was Wyat Ripke at 190 who defeated Wauseon’s Austin Kovar 5-2 and Dylan Aeschliman pinned (3:12) Camron Kirtz of Swanton at 215.
Third-place Delta had two champions on the day with Adam Mattin (106) pinning Braedy Tammarine of Liberty Center in 1:11 and Tyler Barnes defeated Zavian LaFountain from Wauseon 8-2 at 113 pounds.
Host school Evergreen had two wrestlers finish on top of the podium with Jack Stubelski (138) and Grant Richardson (165) winning titles.
Liberty Center’s Owen Box wrapped up the day with a win by fall (1:20) over Zain Bell of Bryan in the heavyweight division.
The individual state tournament begins this Saturday with sectional action as Bryan and Wauseon will be in Defiance for Division II while the other NWOAL schools will be at Archbold for Division III.
NWOAL Championships
TEAMS SCORES: 1. Wauseon 220; 2. Archbold 159.5; 3. Delta 135.0; 4. Liberty Center 99.0; 5. Swanton 91.0; 6. Evergreen 83.0; 7. Bryan 47.0; 8. Patrick Henry 15.0
CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES: 106 – Adam Mattin (D) p. Braedyn Tammarine (LC), 1:11; 113 – Tyler Barnes (D) dec. Zavian LaFountain (W), 8-2; 120 – Larry Moreno (W) dec. Drew Matthews (LC), 7-1; 126 – Collin Twigg (W) md. Evan Hanefeld (D), 20-7; 132 – Gabe Chapa (A) dec. Zaden Torres (W), 3-1; 138 – Jack Stubleski (E) dec. Jackson Bartels (LC), 5-2; 144 – Benicio Torres (W) dec. Ian Grime (A), 7-0; 150 – Brodie Dominique (A) p. Max Mossing (E), :51; 157 – Kale Waxler (W) p. Holden Barnes (D) 1:20; 165 – Grant Richardson (E) default over Zaidan Kessler (W); 175 – Chance Snow (W) dec. Xander Myers (LC), 9-7; 190 – Wyat Ripke (A) dec. Austin Kovar (W), 5-2; 215 – Dylan Aeschliman (A) p. Camron Kirtz (S), 3:12; 285 – Owen Box (LC) p. Zain Bell (B), 1:20
Click below for a free photo album of this event to view all the photos.