Wrestler honore
Fredericktown’s Trent Rook, a 165-pound grappler, was recognized for his 100th career victory. Credit: Dan Werner

IBERIA — Saturday’s Knox Morrow Athletic Conference Wrestling Championships had a little bit of everything.

The anticipated

Centerburg’s Chris Marshall squared off against Northmor’s Cowin Becker in the 144-pound finale. Becker entered the tournament with a 36-2 record while Marshall entered with a 16-2 mark for the season.

KMAC Wrestling Championships

  • Feb. 15 at Northmor

Team Score

  1. Elgin 286.5
  2. Northmor 252.5
  3. Centerburg 121.0
  4. Loudonville 115.5
  5. Cardington-Lincoln 112.5
  6. Mount Gilead 82.5
  7. Fredericktown 80.5
  8. Danville 30.0
  9. East Knox 25.5
    Lucas 25.5

The match did not disappoint, going the distance with Marshall outlasting Becker for a 6-5 win.

Centerburg coach Alec Szanati lauded Marshall’s achievement.

“He was  state runner-up last year and he is 16-2 coming in today,” Szanati said. “We’ve had some really good tournaments and have pushed him and he was hard at work in the off season.” 

Northmor assistant coach Scott Armrose is also pleased with the way Becker has performed throughout his career.

“Cowin is solid, he’s going to be a four-time state placer after the season,” Armrose said. “If you walk out there to the hallway you’ll see his picture there. He is an eight- or nine-time All-Ohioan in track, football and wrestling.”

The lengthy

Loudonville’s Trevor Dawson and Elgin’s Brendon Luikart battled for what must have seemed like an eternity. 

The match between the two 165-pounders in the first round went four, one-minute overtimes with Dawson finally winning by decision.

Northmoor’s Cowin Becker (top) positions himself for a  pin against Brady Smith of Loudonville in Saturday’s KMAC wrestling tournament at Northmoor High School. Credit: Dan Werner

The historic

Between matches, Fredericktown’s Trent Rook, a 165-pound grappler was recognized for his 100th career victory. Casey Hoeflich said that Rook’s record reflects well on the entire program.

“This is a good mile marker or Fredericktown,” the coach said, noting the record is even more impressive given the time in which it was set. “Trent has actually done this in three seasons. He didn’t wrestle his freshman year.

“He is always there to lead by example and to show his teammates the right way to go about sportsmanship and how to get the job done.”

The coach said there have been some college coaches interested, but he thinks Rook may stay close to home.

“I’m pretty sure he is going to enter the workforce,” the coach said.

The MOAC Tournament

After the last whistle blew ending the seventh and final round, Elgin took top honors with 279.5 points.

Northmor, the host school, finished second with 238.5 points. Centerburg was third, followed by Cardington, Loudonville, Mount Gilead, Fredericktown, Danville, East Knox and Lucas. 

Staging a tournament with 10 teams is not an overnight venture. Armrose, who, in addition to teaching and serving as assistant wrestling coach is the head football coach for the  Golden Knights.

“The toughest part is the set up, but we have a ton of guys to help with that, and you know many hands makes for light work,” Armrose said. “Once everything’s set and and put into the computer, we are ready to go.”

Results from Baum’s Page

These were the final-round results courtesy of Baum’s Page.

SEVENTH ROUND

106: 1×3 Rocco Castricone (Mount Gilead) pin Adney Pasma (Elgin) at 4:21.

113: 1×7 Cory Climer (Centerburg) tech. fall Aiden Cervantes (Elgin) 17-1. Wyatt Denslow (Loudonville) tech. fall Gavin Galbraith (Fredericktown) 16-1. Camden Horn (Danville) tech. fall Lillia Roskey-Grayem (Cardington-Lincoln) 22-4.

120: 1×6 Ethan Amens (Northmor) pin Noah Matthews (Centerburg) 2:21. Dylan Compton (Cardington-Lincoln) tech. fall John Willis (Elgin) 20-5. Josh Brown (Loudonville) tech. fall Jocelyn Ramey (Lucas) 19-3.

126: 1×4 Waylon Harris (Loudonville) maj. dec. Jacob McNicols (Cardington-Lincoln) 11-3. Cooper Schlaegel (Elgin) dec. Trent Rook (Fredericktown) 8-4.

132: 1×5 Tyler Reeder (Loudonville) dec. Braxton Vernon (Centerburg) 8-1. Landon Shrader (Elgin) pin Brady Carr (Northmor) 3:10.

138: 1×6 Colton Long (Elgin) pin Jonah Gribben (Centerburg) 1:24. Cooper Nelson (Mount Gilead) pin Jayce Beeman (Fredericktown) at 1:10. Drew Robinson (Loudonville) tech. fall Collin Beck (Northmor) 17-2.

144: 1×6 Christopher Marshall (Centerburg) dec. Cowin Becker (Northmor) 6-5. Gavin Luikart (Elgin) pin Brady Smith (Loudonville) at 5:24. Bentlee Stotts (Fredericktown) disq. Aiden Keller (Mount Gilead).

150: 1×7 Dalton Lang (Fredericktown) forfeit Ryan Parsons (Northmor). Logan Young (Cardington-Lincoln) maj. dec. Cooper Baldridge (Danville) 10-0. Braden Marotta (Loudonville) dec. Gavin Rhodes (Elgin) 18-17.

157: 1×5 Quinten Harrison (Elgin) pin Lucas Brook (Cardington-Lincoln) 2:29. Macen Sturgell (Fredericktown) pin Massilyn Ricketts (Danville) at 0:35.

165: 1×6 Carson Campbell (Northmor) pin Trevor Dawson (Loudonville) at 1:10. Wyatt Denney (Cardington-Lincoln) pin Brennan Luikart (Elgin) 0:15. Brice Hay (Fredericktown) forfeit Colten Stull (Lucas).

175: 1×4 Finn VanGundy (Elgin) pin Ethan Littleton (Northmor) at 2:46. Christopher Kinsey (Cardington-Lincoln) pin Landon King (Danville) at 0:58.

190: 1×4 Blake Elliott (East Knox) pin James Eichler (Northmor) at 1:43. Carter Sherman (Cardington-Lincoln) dec. Jack VanGundy (Elgin) 3-2.

215: 1×6 Jakob Baker (Loudonville) pin Zack Pickens (Cardington-Lincoln) at 1:27. Rayden Caudill (Lucas) pin Landon Shepard (Elgin) at 2:36. Ashton Clark (Northmor) dec. Devon Whitt (Fredericktown) 4-1.

285: 1×5 Cody Meimer (Mount Gilead) pin Henry Greenleaf (Elgin) at 3:33. Carter Wittel (Danville) pin Brody Andrews (Centerburg) at 2:57.