Vikings dominant in fourth straight MSL win

by JOHN HOWLEY / sportingpumpkin.com

CARROLL — Teays Valley won eight weight classes on the way to a fourth straight Mid-State League Buckeye Division wrestling championship Friday night. 

The Vikings amassed 246 points while Logan Elm came in second with 140.5. Circleville was fourth with 88 points and Amanda-Clearcreek was fifth with 80. The league championship was also the 21st in program history.

A key part of all four Teays Valley championships were Gunner Havens and Joey Thurston. The seniors won individual titles all four seasons. 

Haven’s first two MSL-Buckeye titles came at 106 pounds and the last two at 113. He wasted little time claiming his fourth. He pinned Liberty Union’s Chase Hinton in 10 seconds, Fairfield Union’s Ayden McCafertey in 25 seconds and pinned Bloom-Carroll’s Ethan Moore in 78 seconds.

“It’s always been a goal of mine. It’s something I wanted to accomplish and it took a lot of work,” Havens said of the fourth championship. “This year we kind of dominated the team scores and that was very good with eight champs. 

“It was really nice to have some of the younger guys get out there and win some titles, like some sophomores. Aiden Kennedy, he wrestled really well this weekend, so shout him out. I think it’s really good exposure. I think that’s a lot of confidence for our younger guys who won this weekend and wrestled good.”

Thurston didn’t spend much time on the mat either in claiming his fourth heavyweight championship.

After advancing with a first-round bye, he pinned Logan Elm’s Conner Green in 17 seconds and pinned Circleville’s Trent Fulgham in 1:40 for the title. 

“It’s really exciting getting to come out and be with my friends, coming out and doing it for my family, doing it for my coaches, because they believe in me, and my teammates, because they believe in me, and just having the hard work I’ve put in pay off,” Thurston said. 

He hopes to ride Friday’s success into the post season in search of a third straight trip to the state tournament. 

“It has me going into practice the next two weeks with a win on my back and giving me more confidence to go,” Thurston said. “Regardless, you just have to take it one match at a time, no matter what the tournament is.”

(Click for more images from Friday’s championship matches)

Cam McDanel had a first-round bye, pinned Amanda-Clearcreek’s Brody Steinmetz in 1:14 and then won the 190-pound championship with a 24-9 technical fall over Bloom-Carroll’s Collin Willet. 

It was the third MSL-Buckeye title for Nebraska-bound senior as he was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Wrestler. 

Also claiming titles for the vikings were freshman Josh Zimmer at 120 pounds, sophomore Roman Younger (138), sophomore Aiden Kennedy (157), junior Austin Blackburn (165) and sophomore Ethan Schwalbauch (175).

Logan Elm claimed two individual titles as sophomore Dawson Hudson won by technical fall at 106 pounds over Circleville sophomore Andrew Siembida 18-3 and sophomore Gavin Hoover pinned Bloom-Carroll’s Camden Graves to claim the title at 126 pounds. LE sophomore Bryce Perkins was second at 175 pounds. 

Amanda-Clearcreek wrestlers took two titles as well. Freshman Bodie Martin pinned TV junior Wesley Henderson in 51 seconds for the 144-pound title and sophomore Peyton Beavers pinned Logan Elm sophomore Hunter Schoenborn in 3:15 at 150 pounds.

Along with Siembida and Fulgham, Circleville also picked up a second-place showing from junior Logan Holbrook at 157 pounds. 

Along with eight champions and a runner-up, Teays Valley got third-place showings from Ava Miller (106), Braxton Sheets (126), Owen Robinett (150) and Gavin Karshner (215).

“They put a lot of work in in the offseason. We had kids on this team that weren’t in the lineup last year and came out and got first place or second place,” TV coach Todd Nace said. “We put in a lot of time doing things right. Our schedule definitely prepares us for this tournament. We had kids who were seeded fifth that won it and kids seeded fourth or fifth and got third. The schedule, the offseason, our practices and our coaches really made a big difference in this tournament.

“Ava Miller almost made it to the finals, then gets third place. Last year, she got fourth at 106 and this year she got third. I just want to see her, next year, get first,” Nace said. “Weight class wise, I thought 120 was the toughest and we were seeded fifth. (Zimmer)  beat the (James) Worthington kid from Fairfield Union and then he beat (Jacob) Durr and I think he’s only lost two or three matches all year.”

The schools have two weeks now to prepare for sectional tournaments. Teays Valley will be in the Central District Division I event at Newark High School, Circleville and Logan Elm head to the Southeast Division II tournament at Gallia Academy and Amanda-Cleacreek will be at the Central District Division III tournament at Ridgedale.

Nace said his Vikings are going to try to have a little fun in the next week before final preparation for the tournament. 

“We’re going to have a little workout with a special forces lady, a recruiter coming in on Thursday to do a little workout with us. We’ll have some fun this week but continue to stay in shape and wrestle,” he said. “Then the following Monday, we’ll know what we need to do. 

“If they wrestle like this, we can take eight, nine, 10 kids to the district tournament.”

Click here for complete results.

(Click for more images from Friday’s championship matches)

Team scores: 1. Teays Valley 246.0; 2. Logan Elm 140.5; 3. Bloom-Carroll 115.0; 4. Circleville 88.0; 5. Amanda-Clearcreek 80.0; 6. Fairfield Union 71.5; 7. Hamilton Township 46.5; 8. Liberty Union 43.0; 

First Place 
106: Dawsen Hudson (Logan Elm) tech. fall Andrew Siembida (Circleville)  tf18-3; 
113: Gunner Havens (Teays Valley) pin Ethan Moore (Bloom-Carroll)   1:18; 
120: Josh Zimmer (Teays Valley) dec. Jacob Durr (Amanda-Clearcreek)   6-4; 
126: Gavin Hoover (Logan Elm) pin Camden Graves (Bloom-Carroll)   3:08; 
132: Coen Graves (Bloom-Carroll) pin Jacob Egger (Fairfield Union)   1:18; 
138: Roman Younger (Teays Valley) tech. fall Bobby Nolen (Hamilton Township)  tf15-0; 
144: Bodie Martin (Amanda-Clearcreek) pin Wesley Henderson (Teays Valley)   0:51; 
150: Peyton Beavers (Amanda-Clearcreek) pin Hunter Schoenborn (Logan Elm)   3:15; 
157: Aiden Kennedy (Teays Valley) tech. fall Logan Holbrook (Circleville)  tf16-0; 
165: Austin Blackburn (Teays Valley) dec. Vinson Haines (Liberty Union)   10-3; 
175: Ethan Schwalbauch (Teays Valley) pin Bryce Perkins (Logan Elm)   1:09; 
190: Camden McDanel (Teays Valley) tech. fall Collin Willet (Bloom-Carroll)  tf24-9; 
215: Justin Mossholder (Fairfield Union) dec. Tristan Britch (Bloom-Carroll)   6-4; 
285: Joey Thurston (Teays Valley) pin Trent Fulgham (Circleville)   1:40; 

Third Place 
106: Ava Miller (Teays Valley) pin Nolan Shaffer (Bloom-Carroll)   0:44; 
113: Hunter Huhn (Logan Elm) tech. fall Ayden McCafertey (Fairfield Union)  tf17-0; 
120: James Worthington (Fairfield Union) maj. dec. Landen Zarbaugh (Circleville)  md10-1; 
126: Braxton Sheets (Teays Valley) pin Jimmy Landis (Liberty Union)   0:31; 
132: Nehemiah Hess (Logan Elm) dec. Mason Grate (Liberty Union)   9-3; 
138: Brady Allen (Logan Elm) dec. Jacob Johnson (Circleville)   3-1; 
144: Mark Brunner (Circleville) dec. Wesley Entler (Logan Elm)   8-2; 
150: Owen Robinett (Teays Valley) maj. dec. Jesse Ferrell (Hamilton Township)  md13-4; 
157: Carter Ferrell (Hamilton Township) dec. Kyle Kougher (Amanda-Clearcreek)   5-0; 
165: Mitchell King (Fairfield Union) maj. dec. Austin Cordle (Logan Elm)  md9-0; 
175: Michael Moro (Hamilton Township) dec. Donovin Shultz (Bloom-Carroll)   13-7; 
190: Troy Myers (Liberty Union) pin  Brody Steinmetz (Amanda-Clearcreek)   1:26; 
215: Gavin Karshner (Teays Valley) dec. Noah Jones (Circleville)   5-0; 
285: Jackson Frazee (Bloom-Carroll) dec. Conner Green (Logan Elm)   5-2 OT;