Thursday night is the night for wrestling in the Frontier Athletic Conference and last night it was the McClain Tigers visiting Washington High School to take on the Blue Lions.
Washington dominated the match throughout, ending the evening with a 78-0 victory.
Washington won six matches by pin, five by forfeit and three by decision.
At 175 pounds, Trevor Crocker pinned Oris Snyder in :59.
At 190 pounds, Jaxon Osborn pinned Eathan Hill in 1:44.
At 285 pounds, Mason Mustain pinned Rocky Jeffers in 1:10.
At 120 pounds, Lyndyn Gibbs defeated Dayza Daugherty, 18-2.
Austin Cottrell won his 138-pound match 10-2 over Riley Pottorf.
At 144 pounds, Blayne Hurles pinned Jhett Watson in 1:45.
At 150 pounds, Tristan Vires beat Joshua Breakfield, 10-2.
Connor Day won by pin at 157 pounds over Caisen Swallow in 1:01.
At 165 pounds, Mack Parsley pinned Justin Legge in 1:49.
Charles Souther (215), Xayvion Johns (106), Talon Freese (113), Branton Dawes (126) and Ian Roush (132) all received forfeits for Washington.
Washington is now 3-0 in FAC dual matches. A match at Jackson on Jan. 6 was postponed and has been rescheduled for Thursday, Feb. 3.
Washington will wrestle at the Hammer and Anvil tournament at Western Brown High School Saturday.
“We’ve been wrestling a really tough schedule to help prepare all of our wrestlers,” Washington head coach Louis Reid said. “We have a really good squad. We’re really excited with the group we have, so we tried to toughen up the schedule.
“We expected a win today,” Reid said. “We wanted to go out and show all of the hard work we’ve put in and let everyone see just how hard we’ve been working. It showed in the matches.
“I thought our guys did a good job, dominating most of the matches,” Reid said. “There were still some matches where we have some things to improve on.
“We bumped our lineup around to get some other guys into the lineup because we have some sickness,” Reid said. “Overall, I was just really happy with our effort. What we’ve seen in the practice room came out on the mat today. That’s what the coaching staff has been hoping for. And when you see that, that makes for a good day of wrestling and that’s what we had today.
“Branton Dawes and Mason Mustain are two of our senior leaders,” Reid said. “Branton picked up a forfeit today and Mason beat his kid. Jenna Kuhn is our other senior. Tonight she didn’t have to step into the lineup. Our seniors have done a good job and that’s why our team has been pretty successful.
“It was a different lineup, but we looked really solid tonight,” Reid said. “I was really happy with the whole team effort.
“Austin Cottrell has been wrestling well of late and he picked up a big win,” Reid said. “He wrestled up a weight class. Mack Parsley, a freshman, wrestled up for us and picked up another big win. He’s had a pretty successful campaign. He’s in double digits in wins.
“Mason, Branton, Mack, Trevor Crocker, Lyndyn Gibbs — she’s ranked No. 2 on the girls’ side — last week she was fourth at a guy’s tournament in Nelsonville,” Reid said. “Tonight she wrestled a young lady from McClain and picked up a tech fall for us. Those people are in double figures in wins for the season.”
Earlier Thursday, the governing body of high school sports in Ohio, the Ohio High School Athletic Association, recognized girls wrestling as an emerging sport, beginning with the 2022-23 school year.
“I’m so excited for our girls and I’m sure they’re pretty excited, as well,” Reid said. “It’s been a long time coming. They should have recognized girls wrestling as an official sport three years ago. It shouldn’t have taken this long.
“We’ve been preparing for this moment for whenever it did happen,” Reid said. “We have a girls’ schedule. We have seven or eight girls. We had Jenna Kuhn and Amara Corsbie who were State qualifiers last year. They return. Lyndyn Gibbs is ranked No. 2 in the State.
“We have some new up and comers, like Mariah Campbell,” Reid said. “As of late, she’s won a lot of matches. If you could see the work these girls put in. All that work they put in, it makes it worth it because now they are being recognized, as they should.
“I know coach Wes Gibbs and coach Craig Snyder, they are ecstatic about this,” Reid said. “The school has been backing us. We have a complete girls schedule. As a matter of fact, they wrestle Sunday at Mechanicsburg. They’ll wrestle the following Sunday at Bellefontaine. Then they’ll have the District meet and then the State meet.
“We have the most girls in the league and we are very proud of that,” Reid said.
In the middle school match, Washington defeated Greenfield, 60-18.
Washington will host Miami Trace next Thursday at 6 p.m.
