2012-2013 WRESTLING - VOLUME 1; ISSUE 1 November 2012 - Volume 1, Issue 1 - www.Inside-The-Circle.webs.com INSIDE THE CIRCLE The premier source for Central Ohio wrestling! Go INSIDE the CIRCLE... • 2012-2013 Conference Breakdown • Spotlight on Top Wrestlers • Returning State Place Winners and Qualifiers INSIDE THE CIRCLE - PAGE !1 2012-2013 WRESTLING - VOLUME 1; ISSUE 1 Central Ohio has had an amazing amount of success in terms of athletics as a whole. In regards to wrestling, a vast majority of area schools can claim at least one individual state champion, and a few can even claim a team state championship. A LETTER FROM THE Table of Contents EDITOR Central Catholic League...................................................... page 3 Columbus City League........................................................ page 5 • North........................................................................ page 6 • South........................................................................ page 7 Mid-State League................................................................. page 8 As the calendar turns to November, • Buckeye.................................................................... page 8 high school wrestlers across the entire • Cardinal................................................................... page 11 nation will begin a four-month routine of early morning jogs, intense • Ohio......................................................................... page 13 practices and extra technique Ohio Capital Conference................................................... page 16 sessions, all in hopes of extending their season one more week; • Capital..................................................................... page 16 culminating with a state tournament. • Cardinal................................................................... page 19 Within the borders of Ohio, it is no different. • Central..................................................................... page 22 In an effort to capture this process, as • Ohio......................................................................... page 25 well as inform the desiring public of Returning State Qualifiers and Place Winners.................. page 28 relevant information, and, ultimately, celebrate the student-athletes who Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.......................................... page 31 choose to undergo the rigors and demands of the oldest known sport • Blue.......................................................................... page 32 of the human race, a few Central • Red........................................................................... page 33 Ohio residents/fans decided to create Inside The Circle. INSIDE THE CIRCLE - PAGE !2 2012-2013 WRESTLING - VOLUME 1; ISSUE 1 Central Catholic League BISHOP READY SILVER KNIGHTS Dalton Scott Bishop Ready High School is one of Central Coach: James Yonushonis Ohio's more storied programs. And with the (year at school: 1st) 2012-2013 installment of the Silver Knights, there are two wrestlers who would like to add to that tradition; Dalton Scott and Patrik 12/08: Highland Invitational Garren. Both wrestlers qualified for the 12/15: North Canton OHSAA state tournament last year by Hoover winning the Heath district. 12/27, 28: The Ready Winter Classic Dalton Scott, who qualified at 120 pounds, was able to beat the eventual state champion 01/05: Olentangy Orange en route to his district championship. Unfortunately, while at the Schottenstein Invitational Center, Scott lost his first two matches and exited the tournament. 01/19, 20: Catholic Invitational Tournament Patrik Garren was able to qualify for the state tournament at the 285 pound 01/23: State Duals (location weight class on the strength of a pin, and three decisions at Heath. At "The Schott" TBD) Garren was the only sophomore in the 16-man field. He may have been one of the youngest, but on that weekend, 01/26: The Cruiser Invitational he was the 3rd best. The Patrik Garren placement will hopefully instill 02/02: Central Catholic Tournament enough confidence for a push to the finals this season! 02/05: Quad @ St. Charles The Silver Knights welcome new 02/07: Tri w/Hartley & Newark Catholic head coach James Yonushonis (yahn/ew/SHAH/nis). Coach Yonushonis most recently was an Ohio-RTC athlete in pursuit of the 2012 Olympics. Before that, he was a graduate assistant at University of Maryland. As a competitor, he earned NCAA All-American honors for Penn State University (7th in 2006). INSIDE THE CIRCLE - PAGE !3 2012-2013 WRESTLING - VOLUME 1; ISSUE 1 Central Catholic League BISHOP HARTLEY HAWKS BISHOP WATTERSON EAGLES Coach: Kevin Patrella (years at school: 4th) Coach: Brian Flynn Top Returners: Grant Rathburn (junior), Jack In the Nest: D-II district qualifier Nicky Zang (sophomore). DiCarllo returns for his senior year after chalking up one win at the Claymont Grant Rathburn was a state qualifier for the district tournament. Last season, DiCarllo Hawks last season, after placing 4th at the Heath was able tally 26 win at the 138 pound district tournament. Zang was a district qualifier weight class. but was eliminated after two rounds. ST. FRANCIS DeSALES STALLIONS ST. CHARLES CARDINALS Coach: Nick Preston (years at school: 1st) Coach: Joe Moyer (years at school: 6th) In the Stable: Senior Ian Ferguson returns Top Returners: Tim Rooney (sophomore), after placing 6th as the Claymont district Dustin Obergfell (senior), Andrew Kyser tournament. Ferguson was a sectional (senior). champion at 170 pounds, and reached the As a freshman last year, Rooney was able to district semifinals before losing 3 straight. qualify for the state tournament after placing 3rd at the Darby district tournament. Obergfell was able to win a match at Darby before bowing out, while Kyser, now a senior, went 0-2 at the district tournament. The Catholic Invitational Tournament will be hosted by Bishop Hartley but held at Olentangy Liberty High School on January 19th & 20th, 2013. The Central Catholic League Tournament will be held on February 2nd, 2013 at Columbus DeSales High School. INSIDE THE CIRCLE - PAGE !4 2012-2013 WRESTLING - VOLUME 1; ISSUE 1 Columbus City League NORTHLAND VIKINGS During the early portion of the 2011-12 season, word on the message boards was circulating about a star in the City League. A large portion of the talk circulated around Briggs' Wehseh Juty, as well as heavyweight Travis Gusan from Walnut Ridge. And then the second half of the season arrived and the name Anthony Alexander came to the forefront. One of the question marks concerning Alexander was the level of his competition. He silenced the critics with two pins en route to a sectional runner-up finish, losing to Marysville's Noah Forrider in the finals. At Darby, Alexander again made a statement by defeating his first two opponents via major and pin, and then outdoing a stout K. McDougle (Gahanna) in the semifinals by a close 8-6 margin. In the district finals, he met up with Forrider and for the second time in as many weeks, was a tournament runner-up. When asked what this season holds for Alexander, Coach Hawk said Alexander will be "better than ever... definitely on a mission with the mat time to prove it." With an endorsement like that, it is not hard to see that Alexander hopes to avenge those losses as well as do more than just qualify for the OHSAA state tournament. Alexander (top) cruises to a major victory in last year's district tournament. Coach: Toby Hawk (Years at school; 10th) Northland Vikings schedule: INSIDE THE CIRCLE - PAGE !5 2012-2013 WRESTLING - VOLUME 1; ISSUE 1 Columbus City League NORTH BEECHCROFT COUGARS Coach: Matt Glorioso Top Returners: Sophomore Tryee Dukes is the only Cougar who has post-season experience from last season. Dukes had 6 wins entering the Licking Heights sectional tournament. BROOKHAVEN BEARCATS Coach: Steve Ayers Top Returners: Juniors Righteous Bridges and Devonte Lewis, along with senior Jalen Bonner, are back after qualifying for the Claymont district tournament. All three wrestlers exceeded the 25 win mark. Look for all three to improve on last season's successes. CENTENNIAL STARS Coach: Mark Schaffer The Star: Senior Jeff Seymor is back for his senior season. After a first round loss to the eventual district champion (Warner; Indian Valley), Seymor rattled off two consecutive victories before falling to state qualifier Haynes (Buckeye Valley), ultimately finishing one win shy of placing. EAST TIGERS Coach: Shawn Connors Top Returners: The Tigers have a pair of returning district qualifiers in Bahsir Ali (junior) and Earl Milton (senior). Both finished with above .500 records last season, with the former winning a match at the Claymont district tournament and the latter tallying 20+ wins for the season. LINDEN McKINLEY PANTHERS Top Returner: Isaiah Turner (senior) was able to win 21 matches last year, 2 of which came en route to placing 5th at the Licking Heights sectional tournament. MIFFLIN PUNCHERS Top Returners: Senior Alec Mills was a district place winner last season for the Panthers. After dropping his quarterfinal match to the eventual district champion (Rohskopf; Holland), Mills won two straight, only to be upended in the "go-to" match. Add in D-I district qualifier Hannibal Tate, and the Punchers have a dynamic duo. Tate and Mills will hope to lead the march to "The Schott" for the Punchers. WHETSTONE BRAVES Coach: Tom Jones Top Returners: Coach Jones returns 13 of his 14 varsity wrestlers from last season. Seniors Anthony Lehnen,