By Garth Shanklin
Sports Editor
The Bethel-Tate Tigers did a lot of things right on the mats last season. The team sent senior Jeffrey Botts to the podium at the state individual tournament, a performance that likely would have been much better had Botts not suffered an ankle injury during the district meet.
Bethel-Tate also posted success as a team last year. The squad finished second behind Williamsburg in the Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference, the sixth time in six years the team posted a top-two finish in their league. The Tigers won 10 of their final 11 dual matches last season, including a
victory over Amelia in the Tigers’ in-school dual.
Bethel-Tate had nine wrestlers post at least 20 wins on the season last year, according to head coach Tom Donahue. Botts was one of those wrestlers, and the impact he left on the program will be felt for a long time.
“Botts was a mainstay for our program for four years,” Donahue said in an email. “He is one of only 13 four-time CCL/SBAAC champs dating back to 1967. It’s hard to replace that kind of talent but like all good wrestlers, he made those around him better. Just like Jeffrey benefited from having Aric Peters in the room our current crop of wrestlers will hopefully take the torch from Jeffrey and continue to raise the bar on what is expected from our Bethel-Tate wrestlers.”
Two other seniors made marks on the Tigers last year. B.J. Ratcliff and Justin Hixson combined to total 111 wins for the team last season, with both of them finishing their careers as two-time SBAAC champions.
Several newcomers will hit the mat for the Tigers this season. Senior Ryan Peters could become the team’s top wrestler in the 152-pound weight class, according to Donahue. Peters hasn’t wrestled since his freshman year. Junior Cooper Dunn could see time in the middle weights, while Clermont Northeastern transfer Zack Gutnecht will compete at 106 pounds as soon as he is eligible. The sophomore must sit out the first half of the season.
Sophomore Noah Bruce and a trio of freshman, Donnie Harrison, Riley O’Neil and Jayce Glenn will fill out the roster.
The team returns several key wrestlers from last season. Sophomore Trey Sander (113), juniors Matt Hall (138), Owen Holtke (170) and Bradley Lewis (220) are joined by seniors Jordan Newberry (160), Wyatt O’Neil (195) and Kermit Beckworth (285) as players who should make an impact on the team this season.
Donahue said he believes the team will be “competitive” this season, citing last year’s success as one of the main reasons why. The Tigers advanced to the regional semifinals in 2015, falling to Williamsburg.
“We’re going to be competitive again this year,” Donahue said. “We were regional runners-up in 2015 and semi-finalists last year. If this team stays healthy and we can minimize the forfeits by filling a couple weight-classes, we’ll be right in the mix. There are a lot of good wrestlers/teams in our region so we’re going to focus on controlling what we can control by working to improve everyday. If we do that we’ll be satisfied with our results.”
The Tigers hope to contend in the SBAAC’s National Division as well as in the state tournament, but winning titles isn’t the only thing Donahue hopes the team is able to accomplish this season.
“Our team goals this year are obviously to compete for the league, sectional and regional titles but to have fun and make some lasting memories along the way,” Donahue said. “This is a great group of guys that work extremely hard. From an individual standpoint, the goal for them is to not have any regrets when its all said and done and to make the most of these next three months.”
The Tigers start the regular season on Saturday, Dec. 3 in Williamsburg for the Bob Guy Invitational. The event is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m.
