Bulldogs clinch at least
a share of first WBL title
By GARY R. RASBERRY
grasberry@dailystandard.com
OTTAWA — Neither rain nor sleet nor snow could keep the
Celina wrestling team away from a chance at making history.
The MatDogs made the trip to Putnam County to face Ottawa-Glandorf
and came away with an easy 65-12 win at Robert Hermiller Gymnasium.
The win puts Celina at 8-0 in the Western Buckeye League, securing
the team at least a share of its first-ever league regular season
title. A win on Monday at Defiance would give Celina its first
unbeaten duals season and put the team in good position to take
the overall title at the league meet at Elida on Feb. 7. The
Titans end their duals season at 0-9.
The MatDogs made sure that the match was in good hands in the
first three bouts of the night. Patrick Bailey got things rolling
with a pin over Trent Kuhlman with 40 seconds left in the 125-pound
bout. Nick Gray followed up by pinning Joe Eckman in 2:50. Cody
Wagner got the hat trick by pinning Jamison Siefker with 23
seconds left in the opening period.
Then a void at 140 pounds by O-G, made the score 24-0 in favor
of the Green and White. Garrett Gray tried his hardest to push
the pin party to four, but Joe Young kept his shoulders off
the mat long enough not to get pinned. Gray settled for the
next best thing, a 15-0 technical fall to make the score 29-0
for Celina.
The pin parade got back on track with Adam Gray, who needed
just 2:35 to down Bill Warnimont after racking up the points
with takedowns and back points. Jantzen Hinton kept things going
with a pin of Matt Tucker in 2:27.
Another Titan void at 171 made the score 47-0 before Trent Hellwarth
pinned Joe Recker at 2:31 in the 189-bout to make it 53-0. The
Titans finally were able to score thanks to Celina’s voids
at 215 and 275.
At 103, Patrick Williams got the upper hand early on Celina
freshman Andy Swain. Williams got the takedown and scored five
quick back points to go up 7-0. Swain not only avoided the pin
but scored the reversal and got three back points to only trail
7-5 at the end of two periods.
In the third, Swain scored the escape but Williams got the takedown
with 1:31 left to go. Swain was able to score the reverse with
60 seconds left and get six back points in the final 35 seconds
to come away with the 14-9 win.
“That 103 was supposed to be decent,” said Celina
coach Joel Zacharias. “Andy did a nice job with him. That
was good.”
The last contested bout at 112, 119 was a forfeit win for Celina,
also provided the most drama of the night. Early on Cody Koesters
had a 7-0 lead when William Laibe scored a reverse. Koesters
tried to get out of the hold but Laibe slammed Koesters back
down. A very audible pop sounded and Koesters groaned in pain.
Celina coaches and trainers from both schools rushed over to
check on Koesters, who was holding his left shoulder. After
90 seconds of injury time, Koesters was able to continue.
The remaining portion of the bout was a mix of takedowns and
reversals, but Koesters was able to hold on for the 19-13 win
with the sore shoulder.
Zacharias was very pleased.
“The guys wrestled well,” said Zacharias. “Sometimes
they get a little lax (on long road trips), but they did a nice
job.”
The MatDogs have a big week coming up. Monday brings up the
Battle of Bulldogs at Defiance with the undefeated season on
the line, which the MatDogs were denied last season. Saturday
is the WBL meet with the chance to wrap everything up before
the sectional.
Zacharias is not concerned with the league meet yet.
“One match at a time,” said Zacharias. “Now
we have Defiance.”
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