Benjamin Logan’s wrestling team saw its regular season culminate with an impressive second place overall finish at the Central Buckeye Conference tournament Saturday in Urbana.
The Raiders, who wrestled at the Division III state dual finals last Sunday, were second out of 12 teams and runner-up in the Mad River division with 10 placers, including two champions and five finalists.
“Obviously our league is very competitive, not only with Graham, but with Jonathan Alder and London,” said BL head coach Kyle Seeley. “There are a few other schools that have solid kids mixed in throughout. I expected to be where we finished and we did. We wanted some guys to place a little higher, but it goes to show how tough our conference is.”
Four local wrestlers won individual CBC championships. That included Ben Logan’s Jayden Sturgell (120) and Steele Boysel (170), who was also named the Mad River division wrestler of the year. Also winning CBC titles were Bellefontaine’s Garrett Gross (195) and Indian Lake’s Hayden Pummel (160).
Graham was first overall and won the Mad River title with 275.5 points. The Falcons had eight individual champions and placed all 12 wrestlers. Ben Logan was second overall with 154.5 points. Jonathan Alder took third overall and won the Kenton Trail championship with 143 points.
Bellefontaine finished sixth overall and fourth in the Kenton Trail with 87 points and Indian Lake was ninth overall and fourth in the Mad River with 57.5 points.
Leading the Raiders on the mat were Sturgell and Boysel with their individual CBC championships. In the finals, Sturgell edged Jonathan Alder state qualifier Josh Proper 4-3, while Boysel handled Graham’s Eric Thomas with a 16-7 major decision.
“Both of those guys wrestled extremely well,” said Seeley. “Jayden is peaking at the right time and is doing extremely well as far as his competitiveness. Steele had a rough week (after losing at the state duals), but it helped him and he got his focus back on track. He dominated at the CBC meet.”
A trio of Raiders finished as league runner-up. That group included Owen O’Brien (113), Joel Abbott (152) and Cadman Roose (285). O’Brien was pinned by Graham state placer Nolan Gessler in 1:41, Abbott lost to Graham state qualifier Trace Braun 11-5 and Roose lost on a late takedown to Graham’s Zack Burroughs 3-1.
Taking third for the Raiders were Kade Thomas (106) and Matthew Creamer (220), while sixth-place finishes came from Levi Hunter (126), Henry Myers (138) and Matthew Beikman (145).
“Everyone else that placed, they wrestled well enough to be where they placed,” said Seeley. “That’s all I can ask for. You earn what you get and they earned that.”
Bellefontaine was powered by Gross with his 195-pound CBC championship. He recorded a pin in the semifinals and rallied to beat Jonathan Alder standout Michael Boggs by a 10-7 decision in the finals.
“Garrett is a competitor and he fought is way back to earn that one,” said BHS assistant coach Aaron LaBatt. “He wasn’t happy with how he wrestled, but he has bigger goals and is heading in the right direction. A match like that will help him later down the road. We’re really proud of him and excited to keep competing.”
Placing fourth for the Chiefs were Tucker Newland (132), Noah Yoesting (145) and Zayne Reed (170). Coming in fifth was Josh Steiner (220), while sixth-place efforts came from Blayden Hurley (152) and Ryan Stuhlemmer (182).
“It was nice to see everyone we brought place,” said LaBatt. “Zayne had a nice tournament. He was unseeded, but placed fourth. Josh has been working hard and is starting to see a pay off.”
Pummel highlighted the Lakers by winning his CBC championship at 160 pounds. He went 3-0 on the day with a tech fall, a major decision and a first-period pin over Northwestern’s Evan Hager in the finals (1:35).
Also for Indian Lake, Lane Mefford (170) finished a strong third, Gage Lowery (182) came in fifth and Joe Scarberry (195) finished sixth.
“I thought Hayden wrestled tough and did a nice job to win league,” said IL head coach Ryan Dickson. “Lane had a good tourney and placed third. I was happy to see Gage get on the podium too. We’re excited to move forward and prepare for the part of the season that matters.”
Benjamin Logan and Indian Lake begin the Division III postseason on Friday and Saturday. The Raiders compete at the Lehman Catholic sectional, while the Lakers compete at the Covington sectional. Bellefontaine wrestles in the Division II sectional at Graham.
“Some of our guys need to get refocused,” said Seeley. “Moving forward, you lose two times and your season is over, or even your career. Some of our guys know how to be competitive and they need to get that edge back if they want to move on.”
CBC TEAM SCORES
1) Graham 275.5 (MR); 2) Ben Logan 154.5 (MR); 3) Jonathan Alder 143 (KT); 4) London 137.5 (KT); 5) Tecumseh 133.5 (KT); 6) Bellefontaine 87 (KT); 7) Kenton Ridge 78.5 (KT); 8) North Union 66 (MR); 9) Indian Lake 57.5 (MR); 10) Urbana 50 (MR); 11) Northwestern 36 (MR); 12) Spring. Shawnee 33 (KT).