ASHLAND — The Ashland area graduated two of the most successful wrestlers in its history in 2024, losing Crestview state champ Caleb Cunningham and Mapleton two-time runner-up and four-time state placer Brock Durbin.
With the 2025 postseason quickly approaching, some rising locals are looking to take up the mantle as the best around.
The area boasts six returning state qualifiers, three boys and a trio of girls. Ashland sophomores Mason Bauer and Guardian Miller and Crestview sophomore Qwintin Howard made the trip to Columbus as freshmen last year. On the girls side, Mapleton senior Taren Kramer and junior Skylar Hopstetter and Crestview sophomore Naomi Gearheart all qualified for state.
Along with that core group, there also is a wave of other grapplers at all five area schools who seem poised to turn up their talent as the season hits its make-or-break stretch.
Here’s a look at who has been doing what locally since the start of 2025:
Ashland Boys
The Arrows are beginning to tip-toe their way toward one of the most overall impressive seasons in program history.
After closing out the 2024 portion of their schedule with a team title at the Medina Invitational Tournament, they collected four individual champs and second place as a squad at the J.C. Gorman Invitational.
In January, Ashland nabbed sixth place out of 57 teams in the two-day Maumee Bay Classic, putting five individuals on the podium.
Then on Saturday, they wrapped up a 5-0, event-winning performance at the Ben Vitron Memorial Duals, bumping their dual record to 17-2 this season after a 53-21 rout of Canfield for first place.
In the final Division I individual rankings of 2024, the Arrows had five wrestlers named inside the Top 25 of their respective weight classes. In the latest release, there were eight AHS matmen on that same list, and the team is ranked No. 12.
It has been a month-plus of big movement for the Arrows and second-year head coach Tommy Bauer, who said the aim is to finish in the Top 10 in Division I this year. The program’s best-ever placement at state was a tie for 10th in Division II in 2016.
If Ashland is to get there, it will need to continue to lean on its roster of ranked wrestlers for big moments.
That group (with stats from before the Ben Vitron Duals) includes freshman Tyson Mateo (18-3, ranked third at 106); sophomores Max Ohl (28-8, 13 pins, 10th at 113), Mason Bauer (30-5, fifth at 126), Isaak Wickham (21-12, 16 pins, 25th at 132) and Guardian Miller (29-4, team-high 141 takedowns, seventh at 144); juniors Talon Boyd (26-9, 15th at 165) and Drayston Martin (29-5, 16 pins, 13th at 215); and senior Cooper Smith (25-9, team-high 17 pins, 19th at 190).
Others with consistent outputs thus far have been seniors Hayden DiPuccio (21-10 at 175) and Dylan Wodzisz (16-12, 15 pins at heavyweight), and freshman Tristan Gibson (19-12 at 157).
Now the postseason sits on the horizon.
Ashland cruised to the Ohio Cardinal Conference title by more than 30 points over Mount Vernon last year and is aiming to capture its seventh OCC crown in the last 10 years this Saturday at Madison.
Bauer, Miller and Smith all are returning league champs, while Ohl and Wickham were runners-up.
A week later at their Avon Lake sectional tournament, the Arrows will be hoping to snag an eighth team title in nine years. Last winter, they were a 178.5-160.5 winner over Avon Lake while sending 10 wrestlers on to the district tournament.
Ashland Girls
While the boys have been steamrolling much of their competition, the Arrow girls are having a groundbreaking first season as a unit.
Ashland had its first-ever home dual Jan. 29 when Strongsville came to town. Rowan Varnes (13-9 sophomore at 105), Isla McFrederick (10-8 junior at 145) and Gracen Brockett (7-10 sophomore at 125) all collected pins in front of the home crowd.
That same trio performed well for Ashland at the Orrville Invitational, with Varnes taking runner-up and Brockett and McFrederick both placing fifth.
The AHS girls have been led by coaches Jon Varnes and Frankie Mateo, and they also will have senior Aby Spotts returning from injury at 155 when they hit their first-ever sectional tournament Feb. 21 at Clyde.
Crestview
The Cougars and second-year head coach Nate Godsey are heading toward Saturday’s Firelands Conference Championships at Western Reserve with plenty of budding experience.
As always, Crestview has some extremely talented individuals to guide its wrestling room. Junior Jack Stephens (27-8, team-high 41 takedowns and 15 pins) and sophomore Qwintin Howard (16-7, 11 pins) both have moved up in their respective rankings in the past month – Howard to No. 9 at 132 (the deepest weight in Division III) and Stephens up to No. 11 at 165.
Recently, the Cougars placed 10th out of 36 teams at the Lima Central Catholic Thunderbird Invitational, where Howard was second and Stephens third. Another four Crestview grapplers lost in matches that would have clinched placements there.
Among its boys, Crestview has another four with double-digit wins so far this season, including Bronson Rose (16-12, nine pins at 215), Brayden Parrigan (16-13, eight pins at 138), Dylan Burge (12-12, nine pins at 132) and Andrew Mitchell (12-13 at 144).
The Cougars haven’t finished below third place at the FC Championships since 2017. Monroeville currently is riding a three-peat into this weekend’s action.
Howard is the only returner who made a title match at the league tournament last year for the Cougars, who placed third with 108 points. He took the 126-pound title at that time.
The Crestview boys will follow the conference meet with their Division III sectional Feb. 22 at Plymouth.
Meanwhile, Naomi Gearheart continues to keep Crestview on the map among female wrestlers. One year after placing fifth at state, she was No. 3 at 155 in the preseason rankings.
The sophomore has been the champion at her last two tournaments and carries a 16-2 record that includes 13 pins and 31 takedowns.
Hillsdale
The Falcons have built up their roster from three wrestlers two years ago to 16 now and can nearly put a full lineup onto the mats.
With 14 underclassmen and a pair of juniors, Hillsdale and head coach Dan Mager are taking baby steps toward more winning as well.
Junior Garrett Furr (10-4 at heavyweight), sophomore Jason McClure (12-7 at 120) and freshman Reed Mager (9-5 at 150) all have put together Top 3 finishes in events so far this season and should be leaders as the Falcons head into the Wayne County Athletic League Championships this Friday.
Coach Mager said he feels the team is headed in the right direction and also is looking to junior Landon Thomas (4-3 at 215), sophomore Colt McCoy (7-5 at 190) and returning 106-pound freshman Ethan Myers to help balance the squad.
Hillsdale doesn’t have a returning district qualifier, but the team is growing up quickly and could threaten to take that step later this month.
Loudonville
The Redbirds are competing in their fifth season as members of the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference and will carry seven wrestlers with double-digit wins into the KMAC Championships on Saturday at Northmor.
Senior Tyler Reeder has been a name to know for a few seasons. He collected Loudonville’s lone league crown last year, going 4-0 at 126, and has blasted off to another big start in 2024-25 at the same weight.
The Redbirds opened February with a 2-2 record in their home duals, topping Triway and Danville, and Reeder (24-8, 14 pins prior to this past weekend) was a perfect 4-0 while nabbing his 100th career victory.
Loudonville also received a 4-0 outing that day from senior Jacob Baker (18-9, 13 pins at 215), who was fourth in the KMAC a year ago.
Juniors Brady Smith (24-10, 13 pins at 144) and Trevor Dawson (15-16, seven pins at 165) both placed third at the KMAC tournament last year.
The Redbirds and head coach Ryan Thatcher were third in the KMAC with 156 points a year ago. Many of those points came from matmen who have graduated, so Loudonville will be looking to junior Brayden Marotta (16-9, 12 pins at 150), freshman Waylon Harris (13-11, seven pins at 132) and junior Drew Robinson (12-15, five pins at 138) to step into those shoes.
Reeder, Baker and Smith all placed in the top four of their classes when LHS took seventh out of 18 at the Northwestern Husky Invitational in January.
This past weekend, the Redbirds took home the title in the Damon Mauk Invitational behind a quartet of individual champs — Robinson, Smith, Marotta and Dawson. Harris and Reeder were both runner-up.
The squad will have its sectional tournament Feb. 22.
Loudonville’s lone female wrestler, Zoey Eades, has been collecting wins at essentially every stop this season after kicking off her career last year. She was 4-1 while placing second at January’s Orrville Invitational and currently carries a 23-6 mark with 18 pins at 155.
She competes in Carrollton this Saturday before kicking off sectional action Feb. 23.
Mapleton Boys
The Mounties and first-year head coach Grady Kline had plenty of question marks entering this season, with four of their six wrestlers coming in as freshmen.
But with the FC Championships looming this Saturday at Western Reserve, the squad has definitely begun to formulate an identity behind leadership from senior twin brothers Chase and Mason Sword.
Ranked No. 16 at 126 in Division III, Chase Sword is 17-6 with eight pins. He claimed a runner-up finish at Mapleton’s recent Dave Rohr Classic and will head into the home stretch looking to improve on last year’s runner-up spots in the FC and sectional tournaments.
Mason Sword, meanwhile, has a team-best 23-11 record at 138 (seven pins, team-high nine tech falls).
The Mounties collected a pair of additional Top 3 finishes at their home tournament with Lukus Jenkins (22-12, 20 pins at heavyweight) and Landon Jenkins (12-15, nine pins at 157).
Freshman Cooper Gaus also has kicked off his high school career nicely, carrying a 19-11 record with 13 pins at 120. He was a runner-up at the Northwestern Husky Invitational.
Mapleton Girls
The Mounties and head coach Carly Sue Stevens set new standards a year ago when Taren Kramer and Skylar Hopstetter blazed a trail to the state tournament — the first girls to qualify to Columbus from MHS.
This year, they’re looking for their first wins at state, and they seem to be on the right track.
Hopstetter, a junior at 155, has placed in the Top 3 of every event Mapleton has appeared in this season, earning titles in three straight events at Fostoria, Fremont Ross and Gibsonburg. She entered the weekend with a 29-4 record, 10 pins and just two technical falls away from a new school record.
The junior also was a runner-up at the 31-team Columbia tournament.
Kramer, a senior at 145, has missed some time due to injury this season, but still has been Top 3 at all of her events as well. She carried a 13-6 record into the weekend.
A senior classmate of Kramer, Zoe Hunt is giving the Mounties a triumvirate of impressive talent this winter. She has been a Top 5 performer at all of Mapleton’s tournaments, including a runner-up finish at Gibsonburg and a third-place showing at Fremont Ross.
Hunt is 23-11 at 110, with a team-high 16 of her wins coming by pin.
Competing under a postseason format last year that went from pre-regionals to regionals to state, Kramer, Hopstetter and Hunt all advanced to regionals, claiming finishes of first place, third place and fourth place, respectively.
This year, the format is sectional-district-state, just like the boys’ postseason path. The Mounties will begin their tournament action at Avon Lake.