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St. Marys' Tate Hisey breaks free from Wapakoneta's Caden Mellott in the WBL 113-pound championship bout.
ELIDA - St. Marys' path to another Western Buckeye League title was clear.
The battle for second place was a bit closer.
The Roughriders won titles in five weight classes to secure the program's fourth-straight outright title - and fifth all-time - by pairing the undefeated regular season title with a victory at the league tournament on Saturday at Elida High School.
St. Marys, which went 9-0 in league duals, finished with 187 points to become the first team to win four straight titles since Wapakoneta did so from 2016 to 2019.
"It hasn't been easy," said St. Marys coach Larry Gruber, who earned his fourth straight Coach of the Year award for leading the Riders to the title again. "We didn't know what was going to happen when we came in, but we kept plugging away."
The battle for second place was much closer as Wapakoneta, which entered at 8-1 after beating Celina on Tuesday in the league dual finale, held off the Bulldogs down the stretch to finish with 154 ½ points to Celina's 152 points to take second overall with Celina (7-2 in duals) finishing third overall.
The winning started early for the Roughriders as Tate Hisey won his second WBL title after finishing first at 106 pounds last season. Hisey overcame giving up several points on violations early to decision Wapakoneta's Caden Mellott 9-4 for the 113-pound title.
At 120, Michael Crites battled Van Wert's Xavier Leal before getting the pinfall win at 3:41 to secure a title after finishing second last year at 113 pounds.
St. Marys' Bo Hertenstein, top, and Celina's Zack King look at the official during the 144-pound championshhip bout at the WBL wrestling tournament.
The next title for St. Marys came at 144 as Bo Hertenstein faced cross-lake rival Zack King of Celina. Hertenstein, third at 132 last season, made quick work of King, who was looking to add a title after winning at 132 last season. Hertenstein got the pin in 1:01.
The final two St. Marys titles came at the heavyweight spots as Jace Schaefer, last season's 190 champ, pinned Elida's Dejaun Jones in 57 seconds to win the 215 title. In the last final of the night, Braden Saeler moved up a spot on the podium after finishing runner-up at 285 last season to win the heavyweight title with a pin of Shawnee's Champ Keysor with 16 seconds remaining in the contest.
Keegan Sharpe finished as runner-up at 150 as Wapak's Wyatt Buell pinned him in 5:34. Isaac Torsell was pinned by Wapakoneta's Corbin Mitchell in 66 seconds at 157 pounds. Cole Donovan was decisioned by Wapak's Jace Knous 10-7 in the 190 final.
Caleb Turner was the only other Roughrider to compete in the championship round, losing 8-5 to Wapak's Nate Buell in the third-place bout at 165 points.
Celina's Tyler Carlin lifts Shawnee's Preston Coppler during the 175-pound final at the WBL wrestling tournament.
Celina brought home one champion on the day. Tyler Carlin, who lost in the 175 final last season in overtime, brought home gold this season in the weight class with a pin of Shawnee's Preston Coppler in 2:48.
Kaleb Krogman was runner-up at 106 pounds after being pinned in 3:33 by Van Wert's Joaquin Estrada. Gavin Brown took home second at 165 in dropping a 6-2 decision to Bath's Nolan Deppe.
Aaren King defeated Shawnee's Donavyn Campbell via 9-0 major decision to take third at 120. Colin Fokine added a third-place finish at 126 with a 10-3 decision over Van Wert's Renson Spear. Carver Harris took third at 157 with a 4-3 decision over Shawnee's Ben Bullock. Rece Rutledge pinned Kenton's Matthew Handell in 2:25 to take third at 215.
Zach Greber finished fourth after losing 7-5 in overtime to Kenton's Anthony Hunt in the 150 third-place match. Keene Rinderle was pinned by Bath's Kyle Slaught in the 285 third-place bout to take fourth.
The teams have a break before getting postseason action underway. Celina and St. Marys travel to Defiance on Feb. 25 for the Division II sectional.
