Spencer's Wrestling Scribbles: Get caught up on all of the latest area wrestling news

MANSFIELD — They love Tom Ellis as a father, which, essentially, he has been for decade upon decade for the Madison High School wrestling program.

But another father figure is resonating right now with the Rams because of their championship performance in last Saturday’s 10-team Paul Hackett Classic at Hamilton Township HS in Columbus.

The tourney was renamed in Hackett’s honor after he passed away earlier this year. He was the school’s first state placer and organized the youth wrestling program for many years.

One week after a strong showing while hosting their own 12-team Tom Ellis Classic, the Rams did their best to honor Hackett’s memory in the largely Central District field at Hamilton Township by racking up 218 points to out-distance Columbus Bishop Ready (188.5) and Hilliard Davidson (184.5). Ohio Cardinal Conference rival Mount Vernon was sixth (129.5).

Winning titles for Madison were freshmen Jase Braden (106) and Drayston Martin (215), junior Mike Thomas (120) and senior Hunter Hutcheson (190).

Other than forfeits, Martin and Hutcheson pinned everyone in their path. The other two champs recorded pins in their final match. Braden won with a 65-second fall over Davidson’s Jute Marihugh and Thomas beat the second-period buzzer with a 3:57 pin of Central Crossing’s Caleb Eads.

Other placers for the team champs were freshmen runners-up Ashton McGlasson (113) and Gavin Cupp (150) and senior runners-up Dominik Whitesel (165) and Evan Davis (285).

In the season-opening Tom Ellis Classic, the Rams finished fourth behind 10 placers, five of them freshmen.

Hutcheson, a Division II projected state finalist at 190, certainly looked the part with three pins and two major decisions en route to a weight-class title. One of his pins took seven seconds.

Thomas (120) and Whitesel (165) were runners-up. Thomas lost 4-3 to Loudonville’s Drew Spreng in the final round and Whitesel fell 3-2 to Sandusky’s Jayvion Johnson.

Other placers for the Rams were Braden and fellow freshman Ashton Mcglasson, fourth and fifth, respectively, at 113; Cupp (third at 157), sophomore Lucas Stollings (sixth at 190), Martin (third at 215) and, at 285, freshman Jaxin Stancombe (fourth) and Davis (fifth).

Here’s an update on other teams around north central Ohio, now that the first two weeks of the season are in the bag:

Hess dominates at Ellis Classic: Mansfield Senior’s Leo Hess showed why he’s ranked ninth in the state at 190 with his performance at the Ellis Classic. He had three pins, a technical fall and a major decision en route to winning the 215 title. His three pins took a combined 2:15, his fastest in 13 seconds.

Also placing in the top six for the Tygers, who finished eighth in the field, were James Davis (sixth at 138), Chase Cole (sixth at 144), Zyion Brown (sixth at 150), Noel Ward (sixth at 165) and Alijah Scott (fourth at 175).

Big start for Big Red: Plymouth kick-started its season by winning the Hillsdale Invitational for the second year in a row.

The final team tally looked like this: Plymouth 214.5, Field 196, Wooster 120, Lexington 119, Smithville 111.5, Dalton 109, Lucas 65.5, Mapleton 40.5 and Hillsdale 20.

Leading the way for the Big Red were three champs: Cameron Wagers (113), Zach Miller (144) and Colton Sparks (175). Wagers had three pins and a technical fall, Miller rallied in the finals for his title and Sparks, ranked fourth in the state, did not give up a point in the entire tournament, registering three pins and a 7-0 win over a state qualifier from Field.

Finishing second for Plymouth were Thomas Winegardner (103), Andrew Miller (132), Ben Trimmer (138), Hunter McClure (165) and Noah Robinson (215). Fourths went to Jackson Kennison (157) and Carter Gordon (175). Weston Lyons (150) was fifth and Gunner Huston (175) was sixth.

“We have a plethora of young kids in the lineup this year and I’m proud of how they performed,” coach Jeremiah Balkin said. “Not everyone is at their weight, but we will fill them in the next few weeks.”

The Big Red followed up that title performance by taking sixth in the 18-team Clear Fork Invitational. Wagers (113) and Sparks (190) were champions again. Wagers was a 2-1 winner in the final round over South Central’s Diton Farnsworth and Sparks pinned Seneca East’s Alex Young in :33.

Others finishing in the top six for Plymouth were Cayle Pope (fifth at 138), Zach Miller (sixth at 144), Kennison (fourth at 157) and Riley Huston (fourth at 190).

Other area placers included Lexington’s Brandon Reeves (sixth at 138) and Brayden Vance (fourth at 150) and Lucas’ Rayden Caudill (sixth at 190). Lex and Lucas are programs rebuilding under new head coaches.

Two champs for Colts: On their opening day, the Colts out-dueled Madison 57-16 in front of a student assembly and followed that up by amassing 196.5 points to just miss winning its own invite. Canton South claimed the title with 205.5 points.

The Colts had eight finish in the top six, including two champs: Champ Delancy won the 138 title with an 8-3 win over Vermilion’s Aiden Kyser and Luke Schlosser claimed the 165 class with a 14-6 decision over Canton South’s Tyler Pugh.

Also scoring some big points for the hosts were Colton Wenger (third at 106), Peyton Hoskins (third at 126), Jaxon Swank (second at 132), Cody Jackson (fifth at 150), Kaiden Schlosser (fourth at 175) and Eric Hicks (fourth at 285).

Kuhn competes at Ironman: Crestview is getting off to a late start, opening this week, because of its lengthy run in the football playoffs, but its All-Ohio quarterback, Hayden Kuhn, is already making noise.

Kuhn, a two-time state medalist and the projected DIII state champ at 144, represented the Cougars at the renowned Walsh Ironman, where he went 2-2.

He beat opponents from Marmion Academy in Illinois and Wheeling Park, West Virginia, fell 12-5 to the No. 9 seed from University, Washington, and went to overtime before dropping a 3-1 decision to Archbold’s Brodie Dominique, ranked No. 2 in DIII at 150.

If Dominique stays at 144, their match at the Ironman could have been a preview of the state finals in March.

Becker a champ at Big Walnut: In its first tournament action, Northmor had five placers at the Big Walnut Invitational, led by champion Cowin Becker (126). Ashton Clark (175) was second, Carson Campbell (138) was third and fourths went to Cohan Hurst (106) and Brady Carr (120).

Becker has picked up where he left off last season, when he went 11-2 in the postseason en route to a state medal. He’s 9-0 with six pins. Campbell, ranked fourth in the state as a freshman, is 7-1 with five pins. Clark is 6-3, all of his wins by pin.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Spencer's Wrestling Scribbles: Madison leaves Columbus with a title