Bulldogs have big day at Parkway invite

ROCKFORD - Celina wrestling coach James Miracle talked about the depth of his team in the preseason.

On Saturday, Miracle mixed several of regulars with reserves and came out of Panther Gymnasium as winners of the Parkway Holiday Tournament.

The Bulldogs finished with 215 points with the host Panthers close behind in second place with 200 points. Parkway's fellow Midwest Athletic Conference members Delphos St. John's and Versailles were third and fourth respectively.

Celina captured three championships and had a top six finisher in 11 of the 14 weight classes.

"With the exception of Versailles, Wayne Trace and us, it was all varsity (competitors) here today," said Miracle. "It speaks well for us that we were primarily freshmen here today."

Grant Grieshop captured Celina's first title in the 113-pound weight class by going 5-0 in the round-robin format.

"Grant wins another tournament. He's probably the best backup 113 in the area," said Miracle. "He's 15-2 and can't crack the starting lineup."

Aric Gallimore, who has battled injury in the past, won at 145 with a pin over Toledo Start's Hunter Schmoekel.

"He's wrestled better than I have ever seen him wrestle," said Miracle. "(Schmoekel) went 28-11 last year."

Seth Huston, a varsity regular that has battled the injury bug, won at 285 with a pin in just 35 seconds over Ada's Noah Arnett.

"Seth's here because he's been in and out of our lineup due to injury," said Miracle.

Celina's Kaiden Keller finished third at 113 as an unattached wrestler - not counting in the team scoring. Ethan Ly finished fourth at 160 after losing to Parkway's Chaz Neunenchwander 9-2 in the placement round. Also placing fourth were Jakob Poor (138) and Cory Fortkamp (220). Alek Tebbe was fifth at 120 as was Brice Lorea at 126.. Brenden Thees placed sixth at 195 as an unattached wrestler and Kyler Bowby placed sixth at 132.

Parkway was able to take two weight classes in the tournament. Abe Meyer won a 7-3 decision over Versailles' Noah Barga to win the 126-pound division and Graham Parker decisioned West Carrolton's Sean Garvey to win the 152 division.

Kaine Younker placed second at 170 after a 7-1 loss to St. John's Mark Wrasman. Preston Browning was runner-up at 132 after a pinfall loss to Versailles' Carson Bey. Parker Mihm went 4-1 to take second at 113.

Finishing third along with Neunenschwander for the Panthers was Isaac Grogg at 120. Hayden Ridenour was fourth at 182 while Bryson Younker (106) and Jordan Feldes (120) each placed sixth.

"My table helpers were keeping tabs on the score and weren't going to tell me (the updates)," said Parkway coach Kevin Browning. "We'd be up by two, then Celina would go up by five. They had a good run at the end.

"Oh my gosh! What a great day. You want to win your own tournament, but if you don't, second place feels pretty good. We weren't even in (the running for a team title) a couple years ago. We were just hosting."