The Williamsburg Wildcats finished second overall, but first in the Southern Buckeye Conference National Division, earning their first conference title since 2006. They had 12 placers and one conference champion on Feb. 5.

The Williamsburg Wildcats finished second overall, but first in the Southern Buckeye Conference National Division, earning their first conference title since 2006. They had 12 placers and one conference champion on Feb. 5.
By Chris Chaney
Sports Editor

Batavia High School played host to the Southern Buckeye Conference’s Varsity Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 5, one of the area wrestling teams’ last primers for the Feb. 19 sectional tournament also hosted on the school’s grounds.

Western Brown emerged victorious as both the American Division and overall champions, tallying a score of 229.0 to best second-place overall and National Division champions Williamsburg by 65 points.

Bethel-Tate, New Richmond, Batavia, Norwood, Blanchester, Goshen, Amelia and Clermont Northeastern rounded out the overall rankings.

Western Brown and Williamsburg led the way in terms of wrestlers on the podium with 12 each.

The Broncos had six conference champions, Bethel-Tate had three, Norwood had two and both Williamsburg and New Richmond had one.

At 106 pounds, Western Brown’s Jedidiah Marlow pinned Bethel-Tate’s Trey Sander in 2:10 to win the weight class. Zach Gutknecht of CNE was third and Seth Herndon of Williamsburg was fourth.

Brandon Lucas of Western Brown tech falled Brad Young of Bethel-Tate, 8-1, at 113 pounds to take home top honors. Elijah Worley of New Richmond and Caleb Nipper of Williamsburg came in third and fourth place, respectively.

Seth Taylor of Western Brown defeated Brent Hopkins of Blanchester at 120 pounds, 7-0, to win the league title. Burg’s Ezra Wallace beat Vinny Gabriele of Amelia by forfeit for third place.

Norwood’s Casey Ragle beat Western Brown’s Jordan Hamblin at 126 pounds, 5-2, to win. Dontae Tallarigo of Batavia beat Clayton Schirmer of Blanchester, 13-7, in the third-place match.

At 132 pounds, Derek Spears of Western Brown was the champion, defeating Justin Hixson of Bethel-Tate, 10-2. Ryan Wolf of New Richmond was third and Toron Brown of Norwood was fourth.

Jake Henderson of Western Brown pinned Jordan Cahall of Batavia in the 145 pound finals in 1:24 to win. Wyatt Lefker of Williamsburg was third and Ramiro Torres of Blanchester was fourth.

Western Brown’s Malachi Marlow defeated Randy Thornberry of Williamsburg in the 152-pound championship, pinning Thornberry in 1:06. Marlow was also named Wrestler of the Year in the American. Trey Atwood of Goshen pinned Kobe Stepp of Batavia in the third-place match.

Eric Altman of Western Brown won the 160-pound title by forfeit. Andrew Truske of Batavia was second, Nate Golden of Burg was third and Owen Holtke of Bethel-Tate was fourth.

Williamsburg’s Dawson Davis was the 170-pound champion, beating Shavez Jackson of Norwood, 4-2, in the championship match. Trent Felts of New Richmond and Jordan Newberry of Bethel-Tate were third and fourth, respectively.

At 182 pounds, Bethel-Tate’s BJ Ratcliff took first place by forfeit. Davey Stamper of Western Brown was second, Spencer Clowery of Williamsburg was third and Austin Walker of Blanchester was fourth.

Jeffrey Botts of Bethel-Tate was the champion at 195 pounds as well as the Wrestler of the Year in the National Division. Botts defeated Jacob Altman of Western Brown in the championship match, 17-7. Trevor Berry of Williamsburg was third and Gavin Kirschner of New Richmond was fourth.

Mikey Addis of Norwood was the 220-pound champion, pinning Bethel-Tate’s Wyatt O’Neil after 2:29. Dylan Bailey of Williamsburg pinned Cade Huston of Blanchester in 1:38 in the third-place match.

And finally, at 285 pounds, Kermit Beckworth of Bethel-Tate defeated Brian Stears of Williamsburg, 4-2, to claim first place. Jake Pugh of Batavia was third and Zach Stacy of Western Brown was fourth.

Batavia will host the Batavia Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 12 and then the Division II sectional the following week for the majority of the SBC schools.

Complete sectional tournament information can be found at swdab.org.