Wrestler on a mat
Senior Guardian Miller has 10 pins already this season, and a 13-3 record. Credit: Submitted

Arrows shine at mat meet

The below article was first published Friday, prior to the start of the prestigious Medina Invitational Tournament, which this year had 53 teams represented.

On Saturday night, the Arrows captured the MIT team title, outlasting defending-champion Medina Buckeye, 175.5-170.5.

Top placers for the Arrows included runners-up Guardian Miller (144 pounds) and Talon Boyd (165), third-place finishers Max Ohl (113), Mason Bauer (126) and Drayston Martin (215), and fifth-place finisher Cooper Smith (190).

ASHLAND – The Arrows are heading into the grind.

One season after sweeping team titles in both the Ohio Cardinal Conference and its Division I sectional tournament at Avon Lake, the Ashland High School wrestling team will see its schedule ratchet up around the new year.

The Ashland wrestling team finished fourth at the University of Findlay in the Roughneck Duals.

The Arrows are appearing at the prestigious two-day Medina Invitational Tournament this weekend, then will kick off the 2025 portion of their schedule with action at the 62nd edition of the J.C. Gorman Invitational in Mansfield.

Second-year Ashland head coach Tommy Bauer said his squad will be looking to stack enough points at the Gorman to take a team title next weekend, and the Arrows certainly have gotten off to a positive start thus far.

As of Thursday, Ashland carried a 9-2 record in duals and featured wrestlers with winning records at all 14 weight classes for the season. Five of them rank in the Top 21 in Ohio of their respective classes in Division I, based on the breakdowns at borofanohio.net.

Ashland’s Mason Bauer raises his arm after a win.

That group includes a pair of sophomores and returning state qualifiers in Guardian Miller (No. 7 at 144 pounds, 13-1 record) and Mason Bauer (No. 8 at 126, 13-2). The two are 1-2 for AHS in both takedowns (Miller with 56, Bauer with 46) and technical falls (Miller with six, Bauer with five).

Bauer became the first-ever state-placing freshman for Ashland last season when he claimed fifth in Ohio at 106, but has bumped up three weight classes. Miller has done the same, sliding from 126 to 144.

Another underclassman, Tyson Mateo, is off to a flashy start as a freshman for the Arrows. He ranks eighth at 106, boasting a 15-0 record that includes 32 takedowns and 10 nearfalls.

Add in sophomore Max Ohl (ranked 21st at 113 with a 12-3 record) and Ashland is showing a ton of talented depth among its underclassmen.

In the upperweights, Ashland has leaned on a trio of upperclassmen to gather nearly 40 wins combined.

Junior Drayston Martin is 13-2 with nine pins at 215 and carries a No. 11 ranking. Seniors Cooper Smith (13-3, team-high 10 pins at 190) and Hayden DiPuccio (12-4 at 175) also are off to fast starts.

Cooper Smith has his arm raised after a win.

The Arrows opened tournament action this winter by claiming the team title at their Sarver Paving Invitational, getting individual championships from Mateo, Ohl, Bauer, Miller, Martin, junior Talon Boyd (11-5 at 165) and freshman Tuff Hutcheson (6-5 at 138).

Ashland followed that with a solid showing at the University of Findlay in the Roughneck Duals, placing fourth out of 24 teams with an 8-2 record.

The Arrows’ lone two losses at that event came against Perrysburg (No. 3-ranked Division I team in Ohio) and Lowell, a Michigan powerhouse with 14 state championships to its name.

Impressively, Mateo was a perfect 10-0 at that event.

Ashland hopes to build toward a strong late-season run. The Arrows have won six of the last nine OCC championships and seven of the last nine sectional titles.

The program has sent at least two wrestlers to the state tournament every year since 2016.

Doug Haidet is a 20-year resident of Ashland. He wrote sports in some capacity for the Ashland Times-Gazette from 2006 to 2018. He lives with his wife, Christy, and son, Murphy.