Bursting with potential: Acclaim comes early for some of the area’s best young wrestlers

MANSFIELD – Ontario wrestler Aiden Ohl earned a top six state ranking before he ever stepped on the mat for a varsity match.

So did Galion’s Gradey Harding.

And so did Northmor’s Carson Campbell.

You’d be hard pressed to find any other time when three such promising freshmen, in terms of rankings, have emerged on the area wrestling scene together.

They are at the forefront of an exciting youth movement that began to take hold, particularly at their schools, last season. And with another influx of ninth-graders this winter it’s even more impossible to ignore.

“I think it’s a testament to OAC (Ohio Athletic Committee youth wrestling) and grade school state and junior high state tournaments,” Northmor coach Scott Carr said. “Kids get interested in these things at a young age, and that’s the generation that’s showing up right now.”

Ohl, because of his family’s deep roots in wrestling, is an “old” freshman. He was exposed to the sport at an early age, with success practically becoming a birthright since his father, Monty, and uncle, Perry, both won state championships for Ontario.

Constantly feeding off the knowledge gleaned from his father, an Ontario assistant, and brother Jacob, a state runner-up last year as a sophomore, Aiden has grown up in a hurry.

You can tell simply by how polished and comfortable he is during media interviews. No monosyllabic responses from this kid.

“I don’t think of it as pressure,” he said of his No. 6 ranking at 106 pounds in Division II. “I think of it as having to meet these expectations. If I don’t, then I’m just disappointing myself.

“Everything I’ve learned from the sport is from my brother and my dad. How did you get on that shot? What set up did you use? I love observing (Jacob) … his footwork, his shots, everything.”

Jacob, the projected state champ at 120 in the borofanohio.net rankings, saw his younger brother become his shadow.

“Last year (Aiden) never missed one of my matches,” he said. “He could have missed them to go to a friend’s house, or whatever. But he watched every match.

“I remember a moment my freshman year. It wasn’t a good moment. I was getting beat. He was slapping the mat, telling me to get up. He has confidence in me and I have confidence in him. We’ve just made each other better.”

Early exposure to the sport is key

The 120 class should be fun to watch this year with the older Ohl and Harding, who is ranked No. 6 at that weight in DII. The only wrestlers ranked higher than Harding in that class are Ohl, three seniors and No. 5 Joseph Curry, a fellow freshman from Columbus Bishop Watterson.

“He’s a one-in-a-million type kid,” Galion coach Brent Tyrrell said of Harding. “He seeks work. He seeks out anyone who can help him improve.

“Last year as an eighth-grader he didn’t wrestle for the middle school. He traveled (with a club team) and did all of the national tournaments. He probably wrestled 50 national-level matches.”

Harding competed the last two offseasons at the Virginia Beach nationals, in the middle school division. He lost only two matches, both to nationally ranked opponents.

But Harding really served notice this past summer at the Ashland Duals, where he beat a state champ from Norwalk St. Paul and a state-runner-up from West Holmes.

“I really push the kids to join a (freestyle/Greco) club and go to open mats,” Tyrrell said. “I want them to get as much experience wrestling good wrestlers as they can.”

In addition to his high school duties, Tyrrell also runs the pre-Kindergarten through second grade team with the assistance of his high school kids. Galion high schoolers must perform 60 hours of community service over their four years to graduate. Helping out the biddy program is a way for the wrestlers to reach that total.

The Mat Cats program at Galion also had a team for kids in grades second through sixth with former Galion state champ Matt Clum overseeing the competitive youth squad.

The foundation laid at that level is paying huge dividends. Last year, the varsity had two sophomores make it to state. Heavyweight Alex Griffith qualified for the second time after becoming the first freshman in school history to make it to Columbus in 2021. Landon Campbell, older brother of Northmor’s Carson Campbell, was a state medalist. And a third soph, Aydan Reyes, was a state alternate.

This year, Griffith is a projected state champ, Landon Campbell is ranked No. 3 at 215 and Reyes is ranked No. 9 at 138. Add in Harding at No. 6, along with three other freshmen in the lineup — Ryder Alberty, a junior high state qualifier, Sam Evans and Davon Trukovich — and the future looks extremely bright for the Tigers.

Billy Schaefer, the statewide analyst who runs the borofanohio site, has had Galion ranked as high as No. 6 among Division II teams heading into this season. The Tigers have never finished on the big board (top 10) at the state meet. That could change in 2023.

A sophomore team captain?

Northmor, like Galion, has a roster bursting with potential. Seven freshmen or sophomores hold down seven of the 11 weight classes the Knights will fill. It will be challenging, may even seem daunting, but Cowin Becker — a state medalist last year as a freshman — believes this group could pave the way back to the top for a program that between 1981 and 2019 won 38 conference, sectional and district titles.

He may seem young to be the team’s lone captain, but Becker was built for this as the younger brother of a state champion (Conor) and state runner-up (Conan).

“I’ve been doing this my whole life,” said Becker, ranked No. 5 at 126 in DIII. “My brothers were captains and they led the way. I just followed in their footsteps. If I continue to do that I’ll continue to succeed and lead these younger kids coming up so we can build a strong team.”

Carson Campbell, ranked No. 5 at 138, was a junior high state champion last season. To put that in perspective, none of Northmor’s five high school state champs did that.

So Campbell already has an X on his back. Living up to his ranking and the exploits of his older brother at Galion could add to the pressure of making the transition to the varsity level, but he doesn’t see it that way.

“I use it as motivation,” he said. “(Landon and I) will wrestle around the house sometimes. He shows me how to wrestle. We’re pretty much the same (style of wrestler), but I’m probably not going to get as big as him.”

Carr said OAC youth wrestling and the junior high state tournament have exploded in the last 15 years and that’s why freshmen like Carson Campbell are more seasoned than freshmen in the past.

Ethan Ames, who had two older brothers compete for Northmor, is a ninth-grader ranked 16th at 113. Brady Carr (120), son of the head coach, is another freshman and “could be a sleeper,” according to his dad.

Becker leads the sophomores along with Ashton Clark (175), a returning district qualifier.

“I don’t look at myself as an older wrestler or captain,” Becker said. “I’m just pushing the guys; I’m not telling them what to do. I’m more of a quiet leader.

“I’ll put them in their place now and then, when they’re goofing off. I want them to work harder because I want the team to be solid. Northmor, we need to get to our old (success) where we were dominant. I feel we lost that a little bit the last couple of years, but I feel like we’re going to get it back because these kids coming up are really good.”

Other than Jacob Ohl, who won his first 36 matches before losing in the state finals, there wasn’t a hotter area wrestler down the stretch last season than Becker. He finished his freshman season with an 11-2 record in the postseason, including six pins (four in the first minute and another in 61 seconds), two technical falls and a 13-6 major decision in the district finals over an opponent who had beaten him twice.

“At the beginning of the season I was scared to lose, but then I adapted to high school wrestling,” Becker said. “I wrestled every match super hard and stuck to what I was good at, not going out of my way to do something special.

“Just wrestle every match like it’s my last because high school wrestling flies by.”

Older brothers rub off on siblings

Sibling success has been a big part of the winning culture at Northmor as well as Ontario. In addition to the Ohl brothers, the Turnbaugh name has made its mark with the Warriors, starting with the state title won by current coach Wes Turnbaugh.

Last year as a freshman, Mason Turnbaugh was 41-10 and a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champion as Ontario won its first league title in 11 years. He’s ranked No. 10 at 138 and would like to follow in the footsteps of brothers Ethan and Colton, both state qualifiers. Ethan was a state runner-up in 2021, but injuries last year ruined his bid to join his father as a state champ.

Obviously his two brothers have rubbed off on him, but Mason said no one has had a bigger influence than pops.

“He’s always coached me through everything, which makes us connect even more,” he said of their father-son relationship. “We’re really together all the time … at practice, at tournaments, at home. There’s really not a moment I don’t see him, which really connects us.”

Jacob and Aiden Ohl also benefit from having their dad in Ontario’s practice room. Imagine being a freshman like Aiden and soaking up the knowledge from two state champions on the staff and from a sparring partner who was one win away last season.

“You get a lot of technique and work ethic in the room and it really helps,” Aiden said. “It sets the energy.”

Monty Ohl loves coaching his kids, but he knows when to let Jacob take the wheel and steer Aiden.

“They both use a couple of moves I used, but when I showed them those moves a few years ago they were like, ‘Dad, that will never work.’” Monty Ohl said. “I’m like, yeah, it does work. And now they’re using those things.

“Hopefully, Aiden is picking up things from Jacob and Jacob might be able to pick things up from Aiden. I’ll let them go if they’re doing things the right way.”

These young guns in the area didn’t come this far this fast by doing things the wrong way.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Young wrestlers leading Ontario, Galion, Northmor to success