Knights put 9 wrestlers on podium at home tournament
Knights junior Elisha Baldridge captured a third-place podium finish in the 215-pound division, helping West Holmes to take third in what was a difficult field at the Knights Varsity Invitational Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 22 inside The Dungeon at West Holmes High School.
The West Holmes High School wrestling team ran into a juggernaut known as the Knights Varsity Invitational Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 22 inside The Dungeon at West Holmes High School.
With a state-caliber field entered for the event, the Knights were challenged at every turn, ending up third in the 15-team field with 157.5 points. Medina Highland easily won the tournament, topping rival Medina Buckeye by a 271 to 215.5 count.
“We certainly got challenged this weekend,” Knights head wrestling coach Scott Vaughn said following the tournament. “There was some awesome competition, and every one of our kids ended the tournament with at least one loss. The way I see it, that is a lot of learning experiences. The takeaway is that we all have things to improve on, and we still have some time to do that.”
Individually, the Knights were led by runners-up Brady Smith (senior, 106 pounds) and Mason Taylor (junior, 113). Smith finished his day 4-1 with three falls, the only blemish a 5-2 decision loss to eventual champion sophomore Colyn Limbert of Medina Buckeye. Taylor also was undefeated until his final match of the day, where he fell to eventual champion Billy Smith of Sandusky Perkins by a 5-2 count. Taylor finished his day 3-1 with three falls.
“Knight of the Week goes to Brady and Mason for their runner-up finishes.” Vaughn said. “They ran into some kids in the finals that they certainly will see down in Columbus (at the state tournament) later this season.”
Taking home third-place finishes were Tucker Kaufman (senior, 144) and Elisha Baldridge (junior, 215). Kaufman downed freshman Ayden King of Barnesville by an 11-8 decision in his third-place match to finish 4-1 with two falls. Baldridge ended his day with a 4-1 mark including four fall wins and pinned senior Zach Zoellner of Sandusky Perkins in 45 seconds for his bronze medal.
Conner Varnes (senior, 144), wrestling as an extra, placed fifth with a 4-1 mark and three falls, and Collin Gardner (junior, heavyweight) also earned fifth place with a 3-2 record and two falls. Varnes topped senior Luke Norman of Medina Highland, also wrestling as an extra, by a 3-2 score while Gardner dropped his final match to sophomore Austin Dye of Grafton Midview by fall at 1:43.
Sixth-place finishes were turned in by AAJ Roberts (freshman, 106), who wrestled as an extra and went 2-3 with one fall, as well as Grady Toye (sophomore, 120), who went 2-3 with two falls, and Noah Tish (senior, 126), who finished 3-2 with a pair of falls.
Vaughn expressed his thanks to the volunteers who helped with the tournament. “I want to thank everyone that helped us, not only for the varsity invite, but for all our tournaments that we run. We are well known for running great events, and that starts with our wrestling community that is always willing to help. Without them we would really struggle to be so efficient with these events.”
Former Knight Uhl helps power Ashland University to conference crown
Two former West Holmes High School wrestling standouts had a great weekend on the college mats, helping power the NCAA Div. II 12th-ranked Ashland University Eagles to their second-straight Great Midwest Athletic Conference tournament championship.
WHHS 2020 graduate and current AU sophomore Walker Uhl posted a perfect 4-0 mark over the weekend to claim the 197-pound individual title, pushing his season record to 14-6 with four fall wins. Uhl opened with a forfeit win in the duals tournament and then scored two fall wins before earning a critical 6-0 decision win. That final victory pushed the Eagles into the lead in their championship dual against Lake Erie College and eventually the team championship.
The duals tournament, held Friday and Saturday, Jan. 21-22 at Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio saw the Eagles receive an opening round bye before a 44-6 pounding of Kentucky Wesleyan University. Ashland advanced to the championship dual after downing Tiffin University 32-12 and the University of Findlay 25-18.
The Eagles, battling injuries in their lineup throughout the tournament, trailed host Lake Erie College 17-9 with four bouts to go and mounted a furious comeback. With a pair of decisions and a fall win including Uhl’s decision win, the Eagles pulled ahead 21-14. LEC would win at heavyweight by major decision to knot the score at 21-21, but the Eagles would win 22-21 on criteria to sew up their second GMAC crown.
The team conference title was directed by 2007 Knights wrestling legend Colt Sponseller, now in his second season as the head coach of the Ashland program.
“It was a huge team effort this weekend,” Sponseller said in an AU Athletic Department press release. “Guys had to step up and fill the lineup and get wins, and they did. Bonus points are key, and we had guys go get them.”