MADISON COUNTY — A consistent stream of outstanding wrestlers entered the mats at Madison Plains High School on Saturday to compete at the 2008 South Central Ohio League Wrestling Championships.

The accomplishments of the participants to date have been numerous. There were previous league champions, many returning District qualifiers, several State placers and even a State Champion entered in the event that determines individual All-League honors and is the second part of the team championship race.

Whatever the previous accomplishment by a wrestler, he had better be on his game on Saturday if he wanted to win a coveted league championship.

Spencer Running of Clinton-Massie wrestles Tyler Fraley of Miami Trace at the 2008 SCOL championships at Madison Plains High School.

Members of the Miami Trace Panther wrestling team surround the scoreboard, many holding their championship brackets, after the team won the SCOL tournament and league titles for the fifth consecutive year Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008 at Madison Plains High School.

Miami Trace qualified nine of its 12 wrestlers into the finals to outdistance the field and win its fifth consecutive SCOL wrestling crown. They would finish with 194 points and having earned six weight class titles.

Clinton-Massie put seven in the finals, winning two weight classes, to finish in second place with 136 points.

Hillsboro was a close third with 134.5 points. The Indians had two champions.

Madison Plains had three champions and was within striking distance with 129 points.

Washington was fifth with 75 points.

London and McClain (one champion) completed the field in sixth and seventh place.

For the Panthers, Cody Neff (112), Jacob Garringer (119), Jon Reeser (125), Jordan Fraley (135), Dustin Fraley (145) and Travis McIntosh (189) won individual titles. It was Neff, Garringer and Reeser’s second league title. Dustin Fraley earned his third SCOL title. Jordan Fraley and McIntosh garnered their first such championship. Keaton Webb (103), Josey Neff (140) and Tyler Fraley (215) placed second in the tournament. Cody Snyder was fourth at 160 pounds as was Wes Keaton at 171 pounds. Dylan Clements did not place at heavyweight.

Head coach Dave Dietrick felt his team performed to expectations. “We have maintained a level of excellence expected of us. It’s always a concern after the seeding meeting to fullfill the expectations set. If we would have mapped out this tournament and where we would end up, I feel we met that.”

Keaton Webb, a freshman, won his semi finals match over Cameron Hines of Washington by fall in :35. The win put him in the finals against first seed, Dustin Carter of Hillsboro. Carter won his first two bouts by pin and decision to up his record to 31-1 on the season. His only loss is in overtime to the number one ranked 103-pound Division II wrestler in the state, Nick Brascetta, of Graham.

Carter, a senior, took the young Panther to task with a 12-5 decision. Webb is 21-10 entering the Sectional competition next week.

Cody Neff took control of the 112-pound class with two falls. The sophomore, wrestling for the first time this season at 112 pounds, defeated Derrick Alexander of Madison Plains in the semi finals by pin in 3:02 and then took care of Andrew Goolsby of Hillsboro in the finals with a pin in 2:45.

Neff placed seventh at the State Championships last season at 103 pounds and appears well adapted to the 112 class. Neff’s record stands at 26-7.

Jacob Garringer waltzed through the 119-pound class ending all of his three bouts early by scoring two falls and a technical fall 20-5 victory in the finals over Nolan Shelton of Clinton-Massie. The junior earned his second SCOL title in doing so. He is now 27-7 on the season.

Jon Reeser made the move down from 130 pounds to 125 pounds. The results were as expected. He continued to dominate league opponents. The senior returning State qualifier won all three matches by fall. His win in the finals against Tyler Borton of Clinton-Massie ended at the 2:42 mark. Reeser is now 23-7 on the year.

Jordan Fraley made the most of his opportunity to compete at the SCOL Championships. An illness by senior Jared Chaney put the Panther sophomore in the line up. Fraley nabbed a second seed due to his record this year and the fact he is a returning District qualifier.

Going on the attack on the feet in each of his three matches, Fraley won his first two matches which placed him in the finals against the number one seed, Jamison Morris of Washington. Fraley built a lead by taking the Blue Lion standout down several times before earning a pin late in the match in 5:48.

A vigorous debate on Thursday evening was waged in regard to who should be seeded first at 140 pounds.

The solution to the dilemma was made by vote amongst the head coaches with Miami Trace’s Josey Neff getting the first seed and Brandon Patton of Madison Plains, the second seed.

Neff, a two-time State qualifier and two-time league champion got the nod over the Golden Eagle wrestler who is a two-time District qualifier and winner of 34 matches this season against just two losses. Those losses came against Dustin Fraley of Miami Trace in dual match and Zach Toal, a Division III State Champion.

The matter was fully resolved on Mat No. 2 Saturday afternoon. Patton used superior strength to offset the speed and skill of Neff to win an exciting 8-4 decision. Neff exits the tournament with a 27-5 record.

The most anticipated match of the day would pit 145-pound greats Zach Nelson of Madison Plains and Dustin Fraley of Miami Trace. The two wrestlers dominated their opponents throughout the early rounds. Nelson pinned Paul Gryniuk of Washington in their semi finals match in a surprisingly quick :43.

Fraley pounded Ben Pence of Hillsboro 15-3 in the semi finals to set up the marquee match of the tournament.

Nelson, a three-time State placer and 2006 State Champion, entered with a record of 28-6.

Fraley came to the mat with a 37-2 record. A three-time State qualifier, he was third at 135 pounds in Division II in 2007.

The exceptional strength and quickness of Fraley was exhibited early as he used snatch single leg attacks and took his league counterpart down on several occasions. Nelson has great leverage as he uses his angular build well. He just could not counter the Panther wrestler’s offensive attacks effectively enough to stop him from scoring. The result was a 10-5 win for Fraley earning him his third SCOL title.

Cody Snyder placed fourth at 160 pounds. The freshman lost twice to senior London wrestler Austin Bauer. The first time was in round one by a 9-6 score. The second was in the consolation finals by an even closer, 3-2 score.

Snyder did defeat Justin Burns of Hillsboro by default and Ed Daniels of McClain by pin in the consolation rounds.

Wes Keaton earned a win at 171 pounds in the consolation rounds. The sophomore, wrestling varsity for the first time this season, defeated Winston Mickle of Washington in overtime by decision 8-6.

Brandon Gill of Madison Plains defeated Keaton in the consolation finals by fall in 2:12. Keaton finished in fourth place.

The number one seed at 189 pounds went to freshman Travis McIntosh of Miami Trace. He made good on the lofty ranking by pinning his first two opponents in the first period and then wrestling a very savvy and smart bout against Corby Running of Clinton-Massie in the finals.

McIntosh and Running are young talents in the league. Running is a sophomore who came into the finals match just having won the 33-team Athens Invitational and having a record of 34-5.

The match was tied with 20 seconds remaining when McIntosh executed a perfect head and arm throw that sent Running to the mat. The Massie wrestler had the presence to fight off any back points but the takedown was enough to seal the win for McIntosh and up his record to 34-8.

Tyler Fraley got to face the oldest of the Running brothers from Clinton-Massie. Spencer Running, a senior, took his first seed and 26-3 record to the mat against Fraley, a junior high State Champion from a year ago. Fraley reached the finals with a win by injury default to Caleb Cooper of McClain. Running would end the day for Fraley by pinning him in 3:24. Fraley is now 17-14.

Dylan Clements drew three-time league champion Oney Snyder of Hillsboro in round one. The senior Indian wrestler has been to the State Tournament twice. Clements lost by fall in 1:32. He would be defeated again in the consolations by Wade Barker of Madison Plains in 1:27.

“This year’s championship is just as unique and special as the others to the participants,” Dietrick said. “We had an exceptional tournament in 2007 but graduated seniors with hundreds of wins. I think the other SCOL teams thought we would be down a bit. Of our nine finalists this year, six are underclassmen. The season is long but the intestinal fortitude is great on this team. The readiness level and excitement we have for the upcoming tournaments are high.”

Miami Trace had six champions and a total of eleven place winners on the day. They continued their domination of the SCOL by winning yet another title. It sets the stage for what head coach Dave Dietrick and his staff have wanted all season long and that is to be absolutely fully prepared for a successful push through the Sectional, District and State Tournaments.

It looks promising for the Panthers to do just that.

Tournament Notes:

Hardly an Undercard Match - The 145-pound finals was thrilling but the 171-pound final had to be just as exciting to the crowd. The weight class featured three-time SCOL Champion Greg Rhoads of Hillsboro and Levi Schwab of Clinton-Massie who placed seventh at the State Tournament last season in Division III. Schwab utilized slick arm drag to inside trips on the feet repeatedly to take down Rhoads. Schwab built a comfortable lead and held on to win by decision 7-2 to capture his second SCOL weight class title.

A Perfect 10 and Sweet 16 - Ten is the number of consecutive league titles Miami Trace has competed in and won dating back to 1990. The Panthers won the last three SCOL titles contested before the league disbanded in 1992. The Panthers were independent through much of the 1990’s and into the new millennium. Miami Trace won two Buckeye Athletic Conference titles before they re-entered SCOL action in 2003. During the past two years, 16 Miami Trace wrestlers have won a league title.

Rising Above Expectations - McClain’s Dustin Osterloh and Adam Fletcher of Madison Plains were both seeded third. They rose well above expectations and won the 130 and 152-pound weight classes respectively. Osterloh defeated number two seed Nick Wilson of Washington in the semi finals by pin and then defeated Kevin Paus, the number one seed from Clinton-Massie, by a scant one point victory in the finals. It was his second SCOL title. Fletcher took a similar path by defeating number two seed Kyle Williams of Hillsboro in the semi finals with a 5-4 overtime win. He them upset Washinton’s Blaine Bailey, the number one seed, in the finals by a 4-2 score.

Team Scores: 1. Miami Trace 194.0 2. Clinton Massie 136.0 3. Hillsboro 134.5 4. Madison Plains 129.0 5. Washington 75.0 6. London 49.0 7. McClain 23.5

Final SCOL Wrestling Standings- Team finish based on dual meet results and tournament results. Each team defeated in dual meets and tournament earns a team one point. A 12 point total is possible. 1. Miami Trace 12 points 2.tie Clinton Massie 9 points 2.tie Hillsboro 9 points 4. Madison Plains 6 points 5.tie Washington 3 points 5.tie London 3 points 7. McClain 0 points

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