A Magnificent 7 for L-B

McCOMB — Liberty-Benton brought home seven individual titles and the team championship as well on Saturday when the Eagles dominated the Blanchard Valley Conference wrestling tournament held at McComb. By finishing first or second in 11 of the 14 weight classes, Liberty-Benton piled up 287.5 points and ended Van Buren's five-year reign top the BVC wrestling standings. Van Buren finished third (171) on Saturday, one point behind Arcadia (172). McComb was fourth (95), followed by North Baltimore (31), Riverdale (29), Cory-Rawson (26) and Pandora-Gilboa (17). L-B's Nathaniel DiRe won a third BVC title and was named the tournament MVP. Ranked 16th among Ohio's Division III wrestlers in the 195-pound division, DiRe pinned Van Buren's Gavin Schroer in 1:51 in his first match, and was awarded a forfeit victory in the final. The No. 1 seed in his weight class and now 31-4 on the season, DiRe was BVC runner-up at 182 as a freshman, then won league titles at 182 in 2019 and 195 in 2020 and 2021. Also winning BVC titles for Liberty-Benton were RJ Coldren (106), Zach Ponx (113), Carter Oswalt (120), Greg Musselman (126), Mason Richards (160) and Matthew Berger (285). Coldren, 19-7 on the year, was a repeat BVC champion at 106, while Ponx used a 9-1 major decision over Arcadia's Adrien Tolento, 2020 BVC runner-up 106, to claim his finals victory. As the only 120-pounder in the field, Oswalt had the smoothest journey through the bracket. Musselman went 3-0 in winning the 126-pound division, including a finals round pin over Arcadia's Isaac Tolento, the defending 113-pound BVC champion. Richards pinned his first three opponents and was 4-0 in winning the title at 160. In a matchup of state-ranked heavyweights, Berger (No. 25) went overtime to beat McComb's Tyler Bowman (No. 7) to cap off a 5-0 run through the BVC tournament. Bowman, now 25-9, and Bowman (18-5) both pinned their way to the finals. After finishing third in the BVC tournament the past three years, two individual champions powered Arcadia to second place in Saturday's meet. Chase Distel, last year's champion in the 138-pound division, moved up two weight classes to earn another title. Distel was 3-0 with two pins and a 9-4 decision over Van Buren's Collin Wagner in the 152-pound final. Sophomore Ryland Ernest also won an individual title for Arcadia, taking the 220 division via a pin and forfeit win in the finals. Van Buren's Dino Donaldson, state-ranked in the 145-pound division, upped his season record to 24-5 in winning his weight class for the second straight year. Donaldson used two pins and a 4-1 decision over Liberty-Benton's Will Chiow in the final to earn his title. Van Buren's Grant Young, BVC runner-up at 152 a year ago, went 3-0 to take home the 170-pound BVC title, and Owen Burge, seeded fourth at 182, used a close 9-8 decision in his first match, then three straight pins to top his division. McComb had two individual champions in Montana Pierce, who went from BVC runner-up to BVC champion at 132, and freshman Wilson Grubb, who pinned four of the five opponents he faced in his drive to the 138-pound tittle. BVC WRESTLING TEAM STANDINGS — 1, Liberty-Benton 287.5. 2, Arcadia 172. 3, Van Buren 171. 4, McComb 95. 5, North Baltimore 31. 6, Riverdale 29. 7, Cory-Rawson 26. 8, Pandora-Gilboa 17. WEIGHT-CLASS PLACERS 106 — 1, RJ Coldren, Liberty-Benton; 2, Zach Livingston, North Baltimore. 3, Blaze Wickman, Van Buren. 113 — 1, Zach Ponx, Liberty-Benton; 2, Adrien Tolento, Arcadia. 120 — 1, Carter Oswalt, Liberty-Benton. 126 — 1, Greg Musselman, Liberty-Benton; 2, Isaac Tolento, Arcadia; 3, Landyn Lowery, Van Buren; 4, Zac Stoodt, Cory-Rawson. 132 — 1, Montana Pierce, McComb; 2 Bryan Harrison, Arcadia; 3 Aiden Mowrey, Van Buren; 4 Luke Broerman, Liberty-Benton. 138 — 1, Wilson Grubb, McComb; 2, Dru Baker, Liberty-Benton; 3, Darrian Zitzelberger, North Baltimore; 4, Savoux McNeil, Cory-Rawson. 145 — 1, Dino Donaldson, Van Buren; 2, Will Chiow, Liberty-Benton; 3, Brady Womack, McComb; 4, Nick Thompson, Cory-Rawson. 152 — 1, Chase Distel, Arcadia; 2, Keadon Settlemire, Liberty-Benton; 3, Collin Wagner, Van Buren; 4, Jared Thompson, Cory-Rawson. 160 — 1, Mason Richards, Liberty-Benton; 2, Kaidn Scott, Arcadia; 3, Mitchell Blank, Pandora-Gilboa; 4, Cody Snyder, Van Buren. 170 — 1, Grant Young, Van Buren; 2, Brady Conine, Arcadia; 3, Gavin Gillig, Liberty-Benton; 4, Cale Parkins, Cory-Rawson. 182 — 1, Owen Burge, Van Buren; 2, Ethan Smarr, Arcadia; 3, Nathaniel Smielewski, Liberty-Benton; 4, Samuel Spade, Riverdale. 195 — 1, Nathaniel DiRe, Liberty-Benton; 2, Gavin Schroer, Van Buren; 3, Joseph Tardibuone, Arcadia. 220 — 1, Ryland Ernest, Arcadia; 2, Jake Dukes, Liberty-Benton; 3, Blake Jones, Van Buren. 285 — 1, Matthew Berger, Liberty-Benton; 2, Tyler Bowman, McComb; 3, Konrad Shane, Riverdale; 4, Ethan Johnson, Van Buren. (14-sub head) N10 wrestling ATTICA — Carey's Gage Summit, Jeremiah Patton, and Drew Steen all brought home championships at the N10 Championships on Saturday. Summit, wrestling in the 160-pound weight class, and Sten (285) both scored two pins to win their individual league titles. Patton (195) had a pin and a 12-9 decision in his two matches. Noah Black (182) placed second in the meet, Layne Brager (170) was third, and Brayden Frederick (152) and Lance Rickle (145) were fourth. (14-sub head) NWC wrestling BLUFFTON — Bluffton won individual championships in three of the four lightest weight classes and finished fourth in the team standings at the Northwest Conference Wrestling Tournament held at Bluffton High School on Friday. Thayne Kleman in the 106-pound division, Tayton Kleman at 120 and Jeremy Sturgeon at 126 all won their finals matches by pin. Thayne Kleman floored Convoy Crestview's Gavin Grubb in 1:58, Tayton Kleman stopped Spencerville's Carder Miller in 1:39 and Sturgeon pinned Spencerville's Ean Martinez in just 30 seconds. Bluffton's Kaden Basil (160) was second, Trent Howard (195) was third and Isaiah Mikesell finished fifth. Allen East edged Columbus Grove by half a point — 264.5 to 264.0 — to win the NWC title. Spencerville was third (239.5), followed by Bluffton (150), Delphos Jefferson (114), Paulding (111), Crestview (104) and Lincolnview (62).