ASHLAND — The Arrows have been stacking achievements all season.
The checklist of successes includes a first-ever title at the prestigious Medina Invitational Tournament, repeat crowns in the Ohio Cardinal Conference and sectional tournaments, and a third-place finish in a district tournament with two nationally-ranked programs at the top.
Now, the Arrows will send one of their most stacked groups of state tournament-qualifying wrestlers ever to Columbus for the season’s final weekend.
It’s a quartet that second-year coach Tommy Bauer believes has the potential to land Ashland in the Top 10 of the Division I team standings for the first time in program history.
All four of them — junior Budda Martin and sophomores Mason Bauer, Guardian Miller and Max Ohl — will hit the state mats with more than 40 wins apiece.
Only one other time in its more than six decades of existence (2021) has the program had four 40-win wrestlers qualify for state in the same season.
But don’t slap a nickname on this group. No Fantastic Four, no Quad Squad, no Fearsome Foursome.
They insist it’s more than just them hitting the mats Friday inside Ohio State’s Schottenstein Center.
“Just call us the Ashland Arrows,” Martin said. “There ain’t nothin’ special about us. … We wrestled our butts off (at districts) and felt good that day, but anyone else in that wrestling room can be just as good as us because they work just as hard as we do.”
It has been the theme for AHS all season: Team or nothing.
On Tuesday, more than 20 Arrows were on the practice mats helping their four state qualifiers gear up for what the team hopes can be a banner weekend.
They could have been relaxing at home, recovering from a long season of what many feel is the most taxing high school sport.
It was just three days after a grueling Perrysburg District that featured projected state champion St. Edward (ranked No. 12 in the nation) and Perrysburg (No. 16 nationally).
All 11 of the district-qualifying Ashland wrestlers scored points, but Bauer felt he could have had as many as eight of his guys make it out of the district.
Despite the team’s collective frustration with not qualifying more to Columbus, the Arrows were still practicing as a group.
“We can all lead, we can all be good people,” Miller said. “No one is above anyone else on this team and you don’t treat anyone else like they’re below you.
“When everyone around you is getting better, it makes you get better faster.”
Martin reiterated the selfless sentiment.
“Not everybody has the option to go home and have a good life at home, but when you come in here, everyone is willing to put the work in,” Martin said, “and the amount of respect everyone has for each other in the room is what makes us great — not just how we are athletically. … It’s not just about one single person, it’s about every single one of us.”
That’s the mojo the Arrows carry with them onto the state mats Friday, when they will not just be happy to be there.
A year ago, Miller (46-5, ranked No. 7 at 144 pounds) and Mason Bauer (47-6, ranked No. 5 at 126) made state as the first two Ashland freshmen ever to eclipse 40 wins in a season.
Bauer, Tommy Bauer’s son, went on to place fifth in Columbus at 106 — the first-ever AHS freshman to medal at state.
Both of them are on pace to break the Ashland record for career wins (state champion Josh Bever finished with 173 in 2019), and both would love to join 2023 graduate Jon Metzger as four-time state qualifiers for the program.
“We preach on this team that everybody has a different goal and everybody is in a different spot and you’re just trying to be the best version of yourself,” said Mason Bauer, the OCC Wrestler of the Year.
“If you dwell on the fact that there’s history that can be made, it gets kind of exhausting.
“We’re just focused on doing our best and not worrying about outcomes and statistics. What really makes you jump levels is when you’re just worrying about … being the best you can be.”
Bauer and Miller both already have two OCC and two sectional titles to their name. Both were team captains this season, alongside Martin and seniors Cooper Smith (39-12, two-time OCC champ and district qualifier) and Hayden DiPuccio (32-14, two-time district qualifier).
To be a team captain as a sophomore for a program that now has had multiple state qualifiers for 10 straight seasons says a lot.
Bauer and Miller wear it as a badge of honor. They said this year’s captains even read a book written by former U.S. Navy SEAL officers called “Extreme Ownership.”
It helped them raise the expectations they had for themselves and their teammates.
“As a leader of the team, you’re responsible for each and every failure of the team,” Bauer said, “and you need to take ownership of that.”
Miller is certainly one of the most active wrestlers the Arrows have ever had on the mat. He’s tied with Bauer for the team lead in near-falls (27) and is the runaway AHS leader in tech falls (22) and takedowns (220).
The latter number is more than 30 better than the previous Ashland record for single-season takedowns held by current assistant coach and two-time AHS state placer Sid Ohl.
“We’ve had a lot of success, but I feel like there were a lot of ups and downs this season, too,” Miller said. “Throughout the season, it’s always been about growth.”
Max Ohl joins Bauer and Miller to complete the state sophomore trifecta. Ranked No. 10 at 113, he was 27-15 a year ago at the same weight and didn’t get a win at the district tournament.
Now 41-10, Ohl said he was able to avenge a lot of his losses from a season ago. He added that entering this season with the same coaching staff for a second straight year helped everyone stay in rhythm.
“This season everybody came into the room knowing the basics and everything they needed to to have a great season,” Ohl said.
Coach Bauer echoed that. He said having a repeat staff with assistants Wade Miller, Jesse Palser and Brandon O’Neill, then bringing in Sid Ohl, has helped keep the Ashland machine running smoothly.
“You can’t do it without the coaching and we’ve got some of the best coaches,” coach Bauer said. “There are a lot of guys doing the extra work and putting in the time.”
It certainly was proven in the numbers.
In addition to their four state qualifiers — who have a combined record of 180-27 — the Arrows featured another eight wrestlers who had at least 25 wins. The majority were underclassmen.
Despite so much youth, Ashland never really had a team letdown in any tournaments or duals (17-2 record) this year.
“From a team standpoint, we were better than what we expected this year,” coach Bauer said.
“The message was always just that your high school career goes quick … and you’re not guaranteed tomorrow.”
Martin is one guy who seems to know that well.
He quit wrestling halfway through his freshman season at Madison, then was only eligible for half the season last year at AHS. Now a junior, he said Ashland’s coaches have ignited a passion in him for the sport in his first full season on the high school mats.
Ranked No. 13 at 215, Martin was an OCC and sectional champ and his 46-6 record features a team-high 28 pins.
Last spring, a video of him obliterating the Ashland school record on the bench press with a max-out of 420 pounds spread on social media.
Between his strength and his newfound love of the sport, Martin seems like the type of wild card that could turn some heads in Columbus.
“At the end of practice, when everybody’s dying and everybody’s on the verge of breaking,” Max Ohl said, “he’s always the guy with a smile yelling at us.”
Coach Bauer feels it’s the type of weekend that could set the stage for even bigger things for Ashland.
While competing in Division II, the program tied for 10th place at state in 2016 with three placers, then returned in 2017 to take 11th with another three placers.
Those are the only two seasons the Arrows have ever had three wrestlers reach the state podium.
This week marks the sixth time the program has had at least four state qualifiers in the same year. But it’s only the second time it has happened for AHS in Division I (1999 was the other).
“There are some good kids in D-II and D-III, but in D-I the depth is just unmatchable,” coach Bauer said. “We’re excited about it because we’ve got guys that want to wrestle in college and being in Division I helps you stand out a little bit more.”
The Arrows could fly under the radar as all eyes will be on powerhouses St. Edward’s, Perrysburg and Massillon Perry.
“There’s a big three-team race that everybody’s going to be paying attention to, so if we can just come in ready to go and control what we can control, we can make some noise,” Tommy Bauer said. “We’ve got a good opportunity to shock some people and win some matches maybe we shouldn’t win.”
The fact that none of the four Ashland state qualifiers will graduate this year adds to the excitement for this weekend. The only other season the Arrows ever had four non-senior wrestlers at state was in 2020, when the tournament was canceled due to COVID.
Coach Bauer said they feel good about their first-round draws, despite being underdogs in each one on paper.
“When you chase big goals, everything else falls in line,” Mason Bauer said. “Anything can happen. If you can make it out of the Perrysburg District, you’re gonna make some noise in Columbus.”