Mapleton wrestlers have strong showing at Dave Rohr Memorial Classic
NANKIN — Winning an individual title at your home tournament is special.
Doing so on your 18th birthday is icing on the cake.
That’s what Mapleton’s Sean Gast accomplished at the Dave Rohr Memorial Classic Saturday at Mapleton High School.
The senior won the title at 190 pounds, pinning New Philadelphia’s Steven Jimenez-Pascual in the first period (1:12) of their championship match. Gast had never previously won a Classic title.
Gast reached the championship bout by pinning all four of his opponents in pool play.
“It means so much to me,” he said. “All of the other years I’ve come kind of close. This year, I’ve just really cracked down on all of the form and the drilling and the cardio. I really worked hard in the offseason with lifting and all of that.
“Since it was the last home tournament of the year, it made it really special.”
Gast was one of three champions for the Mounties, who finished third in the 17-team field with 196 points. New Philadelphia won the title with 204 points, while Plymouth was second with 199.
Mapleton 126-pounder Brock Durbin dominated his way to his second consecutive Classic title. The sophomore, who finished eighth at 120 at last year’s Division III state tournament, pinned Start’s William Zaborski in the third period (4:36) of their championship match.
“I just wanted to keep getting takedowns and tire him out,” said Durbin, who was named Most Outstanding Wrestler of the lower weights. “He kind of fell into the pin, and I finished him.”
Durbin started his day with a 15-0 technical fall before pinning his next two opponents. He then won via a 15-0 tech fall again in the semifinals.
“I thought I wrestled pretty solid,” Durbin said. “I could fix a couple mistakes. I was trying to keep it simple.”
Mapleton’s Andrew Sas didn’t face many challenges on his way to the title at 138. The senior pinned Buckeye’s Nick Brunst in the first period (1:17) to secure his third Classic championship.
“I’ve worked really hard,” Sas said. “It’s really rewarding [to win three Classic titles]. I’ve put in a lot of work. I’m just glad it paid off.
“I love winning in front of my home crowd. It feels great. It’s a big accomplishment.”
Sas went 3-0 in pool play to reach the title bout. He pinned his first two opponents in the first period and earned a 15-0 tech fall in his third match.
“I feel like I wrestled really good,” Sas said. “There was decent competition, but I overcame it.”
It was a solid day overall for Mapleton, which had five other wrestlers earn top-five finishes. Heavyweight Joe Shoup placed second, while Chase Sword finished third at 113. Landen Sword fourth at 215, and Seth Case (157) and Grady Kline (175) both placed fifth.
“I thought we wrestled pretty well,” Mapleton coach Corey Kline said. “I would have liked to maybe score a few more points and have a few more guys in the lineup. We only had eight scorers entered today. That’s tough as far as the team score goes. For these guys, I wanted to see them finish high as a team.
“We wrestled well today. We showed up. You can tell some of the things that we’ve been targeting in practice are finally starting to show up, and some of the guys are wrestling tough.”
Kline said his wrestlers look forward to competing at the Classic.
“It’s the one big tournament that’s been here for years,” he said. “Everybody in the community comes to see these guys wrestle. ... Dave Rohr was a state champ here, and he had an untimely death, so we named the tournament after him. The Rohr family has been supporters of the wrestling team since I’ve ever known them.”
Northwestern finishes eighth behind four placers
With Anthony Huber leading the way, Northwestern finished eighth with 100 points.
The junior placed second at 150, while Collin Good finished third at 165. Rylee Dawson (120) and heavyweight Isaac Ott both added fourth-place finishes.
“We did pretty well overall,” Northwestern coach Brent Cherry said. “We’re pretty young. We only have five kids who have a lot of experience. ... Our juniors and seniors all placed in the top four. That’s what we like to see. They wrestled hard today.”
South Central’s Diton Farnsworth grabs gold
South Central freshman Diton Farnsworth won all three of his pool matches via pin to win the title at 113.
“He did pretty well today,” SC coach Ken Johnson said. “We had three other guys in his weight class. The competition was OK. He’s been wrestling solid all year long. [Plymouth’s Nick] Roberts bumped up to 120, which opened the door for us to be able to do well, and he took advantage of that.
“He’s wrestling pretty good on his feet and does well on top.”
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This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Mapleton wrestlers perform well at home invitational
