(March 6th and 7th, 2015) – MANSFIELD: Taking part in Districts, the Indian Wrestling team enjoyed a great deal of success against strong competition from a wider region of the state. Wauseon finished the meet in second place overall, and will be sending six of their number to compete at the State level.
What’s more impressive is that three the qualifiers are freshmen.
One of those first year wrestlers is Sandro Ramirez. The freshman sensation won his weight class of 126 pounds in Mansfield, making him the District champion for that division. Fellow freshman Hunter Yackee took third place in the 132 pound division, while Mauricio Barajas, the third freshman to advance, claimed fourth place in the 113 pound class.
Coach Mike Ritter was impressed by his trio of youngsters.
“Our 3 freshman qualifiers showed the poise and mat sense of very seasoned seniors.” He praised.
Of course, they weren’t the only underclassmen to qualify. Tony Banister, a sophomore in the 195 pound class, took second in his division. In order to do so, Banister had to come a long way in a short amount of time.
“(I’m) very happy for sophomore Tony Banister for wrestling a great tournament and being a District finalist after not even qualifying last year.” Stated Ritter.
Junior Tre Campbell, competing in the 182 pound division, finished second in the class. Although he couldn’t quite lock down the title of District champion, this was his second year making the District finals.
The only senior wrestling for the Indians at Districts, Wade Hodges took home the label of District champion in the 145 pound class. The future Big Ten wrestler is continuing to get better each time he steps onto the mat.
“He is really on another level right now,” Ritter described Hodges, “and has set himself up very well for a state title run next weekend.”
Overall, despite how confident Coach Ritter was in his team, sending six of his wrestlers to State was a bit unexpected.
“I thought we could have a good weekend after coming off a fourth place finish as a team out of a tough sectional,” Ritter explained, “but never imagined taking all six kids to State and finishing as District Runners-Up as a team.”
