Three worthy champs: Crestview’s Kuhn, Plymouth pair put on a show at sectionals

PLYMOUTH – Here’s something wrestling fans don’t see every day.

Crestview senior Hayden Kuhn lived up to his No. 1 seed and pulled off a mild upset (how’s that for a paradox?) to win the first – yes, believe it or not, first – Division III sectional title of his celebrated career Saturday at Plymouth High School.

If you don’t know Kuhn’s back story, or if you treat the state rankings at borofanohio.net as gospel, then, yes, his 5-3 win over projected state champion Marcus Medina of Milan Edison in the 144-pound title bout was an upset.

But even analyst Billy Schaefer – the man behind the rankings and website – admitted in his recently published almanac, which serves as a state meet primer, that the third-ranked Kuhn is a “serious contender” for a state title.

Of course he is.

Last week, Kuhn became the first four-time MVP in the history of the Firelands Conference tournament. He has a chance to become Crestview’s first three-time state medalist, a boast that not even two-time state champ Reggie Johnson (1976-77) can make. He was seconds away from competing for a state title last year when he got reversed as time expired in overtime to eventual champ Hunter Long of Wayne Trace.

And with just a little more luck Kuhn would be heading to next week’s district tournament in Rossford as a four-time sectional champ.

He lost in the finals the last three years at Plymouth by a grand total of four points, including 1-0 last year at 132 and 2-1 in 2021 at 126 – both times to Monroeville’s Alec Homan.

So Kuhn was due.

“I’m aware of (the rankings), but I take the same approach every match,” he said. “I look at the rankings sometimes, just because it’s interesting to see where you’re at, but I try not to look at them a lot.

“I knew I had to wrestle (Medina) different. He’s really strong and I didn’t think Homan was real strong, so I had to take a different approach.”

Kuhn opened the scoring on a takedown with 55 seconds left in the first period and led 2-1 after one. In the second period he started from the down position, earned an escape and then was awarded a takedown on the edge of the match at the 1:11 mark to go up 5-1. Medina had dug himself too big a hole.

It was the first time Kuhn and Medina had ever met, but it probably won’t be the last. The three top-ranked wrestlers at 144 will be at the Rossford district, with Kuhn (34-2) and Medina (36-6) joined by Archbold’s No. 2 ranked Brodie Dominique (54-4), who pinned all four opponents for a sectional title at home Saturday.

Dominique beat Kuhn 3-1 in OT at the renowned Walsh Ironman and is 1-1 this season against Medina, having lost by pin in their most recent meeting.

“That’s a really good kid,” Crestview coach Steve Haverdill said of Medina, “but we set the pace and Hayden wrestled a very smart match. He didn’t put himself in any dangerous situations. It was a typical Hayden Kuhn match.

“He’s got a gas tank where he’s just go-go-go. He’s doing good things right now. He just needs to stay the course, stay focused. That’s a great win, but it’s not the ultimate one we want.”

Good luck picking the top storyline from this sectional. Kuhn would seem to be the obvious choice, but fans of the host school could make an argument for either of Plymouth’s two sectional champs.

Colton Sparks, ranked No. 3 in the state at 190, is well on his way to becoming the first four-time district placer in school history and is already the Big Red’s all-time pins leader. But what might have been most impressive about his performance Saturday is that proved he doesn’t need to pin to win by outlasting Mohawk’s 2022 district placer Braylan Mullholland 4-2 for a repeat title.

Sparring partner Noah Robinson followed Sparks on the mat at 215 and upstaged his more heralded teammate by pinning Crestview’s Caleb Cunningham in 2:34. Just seven days earlier Cunningham pinned Robinson in 1:16 for a Firelands Conference title.

And then there’s Bucyrus senior Grant Dowell. He didn’t win a title at 138, but his story might be the most inspiring of all.

Dowell moved to Bucyrus before last season to live with his 21-year-old brother after his mother was killed in a car accident while he was a sophomore at Springfield High School near Dayton. He lost twice as many matches as he won during his two years at Springfield and didn’t get out of the sectionals for the Redman last season, stuck in one of the toughest weight classes in the state with Kuhn and Alec Homan

But this year Dowell is 47-3, with 37 pins and three technical falls. He hung in pretty well against Monroeville’s projected state champ Ashton Homan before getting pinned with 20 seconds left in Saturday’s finals.

“It’s one of those heart-wrenching stories that nobody should ever have to go through. He’s here and we’re glad to have him,” said coach Shane Kokensparger, who became a father figure to Dowell when they both arrived in Bucyrus at the same time.

“He’s put in a lot of work and it’s benefitting him. We make sure he’s eating right. He’ll text me every night. Can I eat this? Can I have that? One more win and he’ll tie the school’s single-season record.”

Dowell said changing his mental approach has made all of the difference.

“I wanted to be better and I wanted to get to state,” he said. “It’s really just doing what I’ve got to do and not giving up points … working on what I know I’m good at. I just go out and wrestle everybody the same. I just go in, OK, this is just another guy trying to go to state, and I’m trying to do the same.”

The final tally showed 17 area wrestlers, including seven each from Crestview and Plymouth, advancing to districts from what is regarded as the toughest DIII sectional in Ohio.

Saturday’s meet featured two of the state’s top four programs, with No. 4 Monroeville winning the tournament with 178 points, ahead of Mohawk (175.5) and second-ranked Milan Edison (154.5). Plymouth (140), Seneca East (127) and Crestview (125) rounding out the top six.

At No. 3, Sparks has achieved the highest ranking ever by a Plymouth wrestler.

“It doesn’t mean much,” he said. “It’s the final score or placing that means the most. I wrestle every match the way I planned.”

Earlier this season, Sparks became the all-time pins leader at Plymouth, a number he stretched to 118 with a couple of 57-second pins Saturday. That total ranks him among the top 50 in OHSAA history and No. 1 among wrestlers from Richland County.

Ironically, the leader is Milan Edison’s Casey Barnett, a former Plymouth sectional alum, with 165.

“I’ve gone (the maximum) six minutes a few times, but I like to get it over as soon as possible,” Sparks said. “It avoids the risk of getting caught (pinned) or getting injured.

“I knew from the start (Mulholland) was going to be tough. Knowing I can keep going three periods with someone that strong does help.”

Sparks, 41-1 this winter, held his opponent scoreless until he got a meaningless takedown in the final seconds.

“At conference, he had a full match,” Plymouth coach Jeremiah Balkin said, referring to Sparks’ 10-1 win over Monroeville’s Levi Beard in the Firelands finals. “He’s been getting some matches that are longer late in the year, which tends to happen. The kids see what you do (over the course of a season) and try to stop it, and that makes it harder to pin people”

Sparks was more excited for Robinson and his revenge win over Cunningham.

“We’re all ecstatic about that,” he said. “He works so hard for a sophomore. He’s a great dude, a great workout buddy, a great everything.”

After Robinson lost by first period pin to Cunningham in their first meeting, he and Balkin tweaked some things in his arsenal, perhaps knowing they were destined to meet again.

“That ‘suck back’ Noah did we worked on a lot because it’s all about finding the balance,” Balkin said. “When the weight is shifted a certain way you can yank (the opponent) back. It’s a move I used a lot a long time ago. It’s the best one I’ve seen a kid hit.”

Robinson felt the real difference in his stunning rematch with Cunnigham was between his ears.

“Mindset change,” he said. “I wrestled as if it’s the last match I was ever going to wrestle. Especially him being such a tough opponent, thinking I’m the underdog, winning that match makes me feel so much better.”

He can’t imagine having a better practice partner than Sparks.

“I have to change my style to wrestle him,” Robinson said. “He definitely makes my defense better because he can hit anything. He doesn’t think about (his next move); he just does it.”

The Robinson-Cunningham match was the only Plymouth-Crestview showdown in the championship round, but there were three others in third-place matches.

At 113, Plymouth’s Cam Wagers outlasted Dylan Burge 14-10. At 138, Hayden Kuhn’s younger brother Liam nipped Plymouth’s Cayle Pope 7-5 in OT. And at 157, Crestview’s Brandt Goon pinned Zach Miller in 59 seconds.

Four of Crestview’s seven district qualifiers are freshmen: Burge, Liam Kuhn, Cole Hughes (fourth at 120) and Jack Stephens (fourth at 165).

Plymouth freshman Ben Trimmer reached the finals at 132, but defaulted for precautionary reasons to Monroeville’s Hunter Vogus.

Andrew Miller (third at 126) was Plymouth’s other district qualifier, while Lucas advanced a pair of third-place finishers in Rayden Caudill (190) and Damon Mauk (285).

Watching repeat Firelands champ Monroeville produce three sectional champs and nine district qualifiers helped put in perspective what an amazing achievement it was for Hayden Kuhn to be a four-time league MVP up against that kind of competition.

The Ashland University-bound star is still trying to wrap his head around it.

“I’m very grateful that the coaches (who voted) saw I was one of the best guys in the league,” Kuhn said. “There’s multiple guys who could have won. I’m just thankful the coaches saw all the work I put in.”

He’s taken the aggressive approach he’s always had in the practice room and transferred it to his matches this season.

“The last couple of years I would let it fly in the room and didn’t care what happened because I knew it didn’t really matter what happened in practice,” he said. “Then I’d go out in a match and wrestle tentative. This year my focus is to go out on the mat and let it fly like in the room.”

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Three worthy champs: Crestview’s Kuhn, Plymouth pair put on a show at sectionals