The following are wrestling preview capsules with information returned to The Crescent-News:
Last season: 20-16, 3-1 GMC (2nd).
Head coach: Matt Lloyd (7th year, 18th total).
Lettermen lost: Trevor Johnson (126), Tyler Winzeler (132), James Zimmerman (150), Luke DeLano (157), Parker Sifuentes (215).
Returning lettermen: Shannon Hohenburger (144, Jr.), Gideon Fackler (157, So.), Kasen Wellman (165, Jr.), Owen Berner (175, Sr.), Abe DeLano (190, Jr.), Wydell McCoy (215, So.), Ethan Courtaway (285, Jr.).
Promising newcomers: Brodie Dockery (132, So.), Ryan Johnson (138, Fr.), Eli Berner (157, Fr.).
Strengths: “Two returning state placers.”
Weaknesses: “Low numbers and no lighter weights.”
Overall outlook: “Not going to be a very good dual team with only filling nine or 10 weight classes. But will do okay in individual tournaments with four very good wrestlers in Kasen Wellman, Owen Berner, Abe DeLano and Ethan Courtaway.”
League outlook: “Tinora will once again be the team to beat in the league race.”
Last season: GMC champions.
Head coach: Nick Siewert (ninth year).
Letterwinners lost: Vince Monnin (district qualifier); Hunter Grunden (district qualifier); Heidy Monnin (state qualifier); Bernie Friederickson.
Returning letterwinners: Jacob Bishop (So., GMC placer); Devon Luellen (So., GMC placer, district qualifier); Anden Ankney (Jr., GMC placer, state alternate); Dominic Graziani (So., GMC placer, district qualifier); Grayson Delarber (So.); Theo Ripke (So.); Kyan Ankney (Jr.); Dominic Mills (So.); Jason DeWyse (Jr.); Aiden Helmke (So., GMC placer, seventh at state); Dalton Wolfrum (Sr., GMC placer, state qualifier); Cameron Urivez (Jr., GMC placer, district qualifier); Gavin Bowers (Jr., GMC placer, district placer); Landon Newsom (Jr., GMC placer); Andrew Richardson; Javen Gaines (Sr., GMC placer, state qualifier); MaKenna Helmke (Sr., 2-time state placer); Carmella Castenada (Sr., 2-time state placer); Morgan Diaz (Jr.).
Strengths: “Returning a lot of district and state experience, the boys team will need to keep improving daily but they have a chance to be one of the most successful teams in school history. The girls team is returning two state placers as well as two freshmen in Bella Graziani and Ava Steffel, who will be bringing a lot of experience to the program. I feel like with our senior leadership, both the boys and girls programs are in for a great season.“
Weaknesses: “Currently on the boys side we have no one under 120 pounds, for the girls we have a large quantity of girls but most of them are first year girls and it will take some work to get them ready for Columbus in March.“
Overall outlook: “The coaching staff and myself are very excited for this season, we are returning one state placer, two state qualifiers, and five district placers. I feel with the work everyone has put in during the offseason we have the possibility of having a great and memorable season.”
League outlook: “Ayersville is returning good talent in their upper weights, and Wayne Trace is returning a state placer as well. It will be interesting to see how everyone has grown and where everyone comes in during the conference tournament, I believe Tinora has a great shot of winning conference again but I know the other teams will be working towards that as well.”
Last season: 38-9, 7 district qualifiers, 2 state qualifiers, 1 state placer
Head coach: Brian Becher (623-178-1)
Lettermen lost: Rusty Short, Spencer Simon, Bransin Ebersole
Returning letterwinners: Lydia Epling (105, Jr.), Trinity Lauber (110, So.) Mason Miller (113, Jr., state alternate), Julia Azua (120, So.). Jordan Rodriguez (120, Jr., district qualifier), Jack Buchhop (126, So.), Tristan Wyse (132, So.), Brennan Garrow (138, Jr.), Gabe Chapa (138, Sr., district placer), Ian Grime (144, Jr.), Brodie Dominique (144, Jr., state runner-up), Edward Yoder (So., 157), Hayden Dickman (175, Sr., state qualifier), Wyat Ripke (190, Jr., state alternate), Dylan Aeschliman (215, Sr., district placer), Kaitlin Wood (235, So.), Blake Grime (285, Jr.)
Strengths: “Our numbers are decent with 25 boys and 7 girls signed up. We have good post-season experience with six of our returning guys having placed at the district tournament and a seventh that was one match from placing.”
Weaknesses: “We will be counting on a couple of wrestlers without a lot of varsity experience to fill some spots in our lineup.”
Overall outlook: “Our best guys have the expectation of being state placers. We will be competitive in most dual meets.”
League outlook: “Delta, Liberty Center, and Wauseon all have great dual meet teams. I expect that the majority of teams in our league to have at least one state qualifier, and half of the teams to have multiple state qualifiers.”
Last season: 11-16, 2-3 NWOAL (4th)
Head coach: Troy Westhoven (8th year, 82-60)
Lettermen lost: Camern Foster (Four-year letterman, eighth at state), Kyle Huffman (Four-year letterman), Owen Johnson (Four-year letterman, seventh at state), Emmett Perry (Four-year letterman, District qualifier).
Returning lettermen: Kaden Bergstedt (Sr.), Owen Box (Sr., fifth at state), Alexus Shaneyfelt (Sr., third at girls state), Eli Bostelman (Jr.), Drew Matthews (Jr., sixth at districts), Xander Myers (Jr., fifth at state), Jackson Bartels (So., state qualifier), Colton Szezepanski (So., district alternate), Zander Zeiter (So.), Clayton Seel (So.), Landon Massie (So., district alternate), Tyler Ley (So.), Brady Giesge (So.).
Promising newcomers: Braedyn Tammarine (Fr.), Degan Schwaiger (Fr.), Logan Sifuentes (Fr.), Jack Zeiter (Fr.).
Strengths: “Our team is a hard-working group that is goal oriented.”
Weaknesses: “We have a wide range of experience in our room this year, which will be a challenge to keep the skill levels balanced in the room.”
Overall outlook: “We are looking to build on our successes from last year and grow as a team. We are looking to be competitive in every tournament and dual meet we are in. We are also looking to add to our returning district and state qualifiers and get our hard-working wrestlers on the state podium.”
League outlook: “Wauseon is the favorite for the league title again, with Delta, Archbold, Liberty, whoever can stay injury free and wrestle solid throughout the year are also in the hunt for the league title or runners-up this year.”
Last season: 39-5, NLL runner-up, third sectionals.
Head coach: Jason Seiler (20th season, 407-140).
Letterwinners returning: Javone Torres (Sr.); Brayden Hull (143, Sr., 3-time letterman, NLL runner-up); Payton Saputo (165, Jr., NLL runner-up); Isaac Lehman (285, Jr., third NLL); Austin Hopkins (138, Jr., 2-time letterman, NLL runner-up, 2-time district qualifier); Alex Gonzales (113, Jr., 2-time letterman, third NLL, state qualifier); Henry Eggers (190, Jr., 2-time letterman, third NLL, district qualifier); Roman Cordoba (106, Jr., 2-time letterman, third NLL, district placer); Harrison Bohls (120, Jr., 2-time letterman, NLL runner-up, district placer); Jacob Aguilar (157, Jr., 2-time letterman, third NLL, district qualifier); Evanie Shank (So., state qualifier); Alyssa Johnson (So., state qualifier); Susy Castro (So., eighth at state); Romeo Cordoba (126, So.); William Apple (150, Jr.).
Overall outlook: “We are coming off two very good years in a row but we are looking for this to be an extraordinary year. This team is loaded with talent and many guys with varsity experience. We have relied on this junior class for two years now and this year I predict we will have 10 of them in the varsity lineup. We have strengthened our schedule greatly to challenge this team and have them battle-tested for the postseason.
Head coach: Troy Roth (22nd year)
Returning lettermen: Ashtyn Mason (Sr.), Makaya Crisenbery (Sr.), Jacee Altaffer (Jr.), Hunter Beck (Jr.).
Promising newcomers: Ash Walz (Jr.), Brennen Friend (Jr.), Logan Pontious (Fr.).
Season outlook: We have many newcomers to the program so inexperience will also be a factor. The kids are practicing very hard and we will keep getting better as the year goes on. Very enjoyable group to coach and we return some female wrestlers. With low numbers this year, dual matches will be difficult for us to compete, but we’ll do our best. Being an independent team this year, there will be no league tournament at the end of the year for us to complete but we still have a full schedule of events.”
