Note: A look at Ashland’s boys wrestling season – including a preview on the Ohio Cardinal Conference Championships taking place Saturday at Arrow Arena – will publish Friday.
The Ashland area has never been without talent on the wrestling mats, and locals from four different schools will put their talent to the test this week during their respective conference tournaments.
Crestview will be the host Saturday for the Firelands Conference Championships, where Mapleton also will be in action.
That same day, Loudonville will hit the mats at Northmor for its Knox Morrow Athletic Conference Championships.
On Friday, meanwhile, area squad Hillsdale will hope to continue its resurgence during the Wayne County Athletic League Championships at Norwayne.
Below is a breakdown of what to look for at all three sites.
Firelands Conference
Crestview gets to host the action Saturday and if the Cougars have been one thing in their league race each year, they have been a consistent threat.
The last time CHS didn’t finish in the Top 3 in the FC standings was 2013-14, and last year’s squad claimed runner-up, just 20 points behind Western Reserve (143.5-123.5).
The Cougars have been solid yet again in their first season under head coach Trent Hovis, featuring eight wrestlers with at least 15 wins so far this winter.
As a team, Crestview has turned in second-place finishes in events at Maple Heights and Centerburg, fourth at the Independence Duals and Marion Elgin Invitational, and sixth at the Lima Central Catholic Thunderbird Invitational.
Individually, the squad’s headliner is senior Jack Stephens. He’s ranked seventh in Division III at 175 pounds at BorofanOhio.net, carrying a 31-5 record that features 21 pins.
Stephens, who picked up his 100th career win earlier this season at the J.C. Gorman Invitational, took the FC title last year at 165 and is joined by fellow returning league champ Brayden Parrigan.
A junior, Parrigan is 19-8 and ranked 14th at 138.
Others noted in the Borofan rankings for the Cougars are junior and returning FC runner-up Bronson Rose (25-9, 18 pins at 215), and freshman Max Whitesel (21-10 at 132).
Crestview features another returning FC runner-up in senior Dylan Burge (15-10 at 126), while additional Cougars with winning records are Kenneth McGregor (22-12 with 17 pins at 113), Jayce Hinton (17-15 at 120) and Sean Nolen (16-10 at 106).
Mapleton, meanwhile, is poised to climb up the FC standings after last season’s last-place finish.
The Mounties and second-year head coach Grady Kline will hit the mats Saturday with an all-underclassmen lineup, but they don’t lack in talent.
Returning FC runner-up and sophomore Lukus Jenkins has been on a roll at heavyweight, compiling a 33-6 record with 25 pins. He’s got individual titles this year from events at Coldwater and Smithville.
Jenkins is noted as a state tournament threat by Borofan and sophomore Cooper Gaus (16-9 at 144) also is mentioned in the rankings following his recent win in a tournament at Lucas.
Another sophomore, Landon Jenkins placed third at the FC Championships a year ago, and he’ll enter this week’s tournament with a 17-13 mark at 165.
The rest of Kline’s lineup this week should feature sophomore Kyler Leiby (157) and freshmen Preston Becker (120), Austin Dudte (138) and Jagger Jackson (150).
As for guys to look out for in the rest of the FC pack, Monroeville has a pair of projected Division III state placers in junior Owen Patchen (ranked fourth at 132) and senior Brycen Dunlap (fourth at heavyweight).
St. Paul junior Rafael Gross also is ranked fourth at 165.
Knox Morrow Athletic Conference
Elgin collected its fourth consecutive KMAC crown a year ago, when Loudonville came away with a fourth-place effort.
This time around, the Redbirds will be leaning on a very talented senior trio to do a lot of their damage.
Trevor Dawson has had a huge year thus far at 165. The senior is 28-5 with 17 pins and has captured tournament titles at Plymouth, Utica and Lucas (also MVP of the event).
Senior Brayden Marotta has been equally solid, going 27-5 with 21 pins at 157 while putting together first-place outings at both Utica and Lucas. His runner-up finish at 150 during last year’s KMAC Championships was Loudonville’s top performance.
Meanwhile, senior Brady Smith recently captured the 100th win of his career while in action at Northwestern. He’s 23-11 with 17 pins at 150.
Other Redbirds who will hit the KMAC mats with winning records are junior Luke Heichel (11-8 with 10 pins at 144) and freshmen Brayden Fenton (15-14 at 138) and Harrison Ross Patrick (13-10 with 10 pins at 132).
Loudonville has finished in the top half of the league every year since 2023.
Northmor has a pair of projected state placers in Carson Campbell (fifth at 165) and Ethan Amens (seventh at 120).
Elgin is led by Cooper Schlaegel (fifth at 132).
Wayne County Athletic League
Superpower Waynedale is looking for its 15th consecutive title during Friday’s WCAL Championships at Norwayne.
The Golden Bears are ranked third in Division III and had nine guys on top of the league podium a year ago. They’re also coming off their first-ever title in the state duals while featuring just four seniors in the lineup.
Despite all that, another big chunk of the league’s intrigue will land on Hillsdale.
The Falcons and head coach Dan Mager broke a rough stretch of four straight last-place finishes in the league last season when they landed in fifth.
Their 69.5 points as a squad marked the first time they had posted more than 30 in a half-decade.
This year, Hillsdale has been turning up the volume even more.
The Falcons won the 13-team Plymouth Invitational and also took the crown in a 10-team event at Lucas.
While senior heavyweight Garrett Furr has returned from injury to post a 15-7 record, it has been a batch of underclassmen doing a lot of the damage for Hillsdale this winter.
Sophomore Reed Mager is 23-8 at 165 while freshman Bentley Denny (126) also is 23-8, and freshman Cam McCoy (106) is 13-3.
Junior Colt McCoy (215) also checks in at 15-9 for the Falcons.
Coach Mager said the rest of this lineup should feature Ethan Myers (113), Tyler Coleman (120), Jason McClure (132), Landon Despot (138), Brayden Denny (144), Jase Plice (150), Mike Shenberger (157) and either Colten Hollar or Rodrigo Solis at 175.
For those curious about Waynedale, the squad will go into action with Top 10-ranked matmen including Riley Greathouse (third at 144), Brock Beckler (fourth at 120), Isaak Skelly (fourth at 126), Stephen Patterson (fifth at 138), Dalton Oberly (sixth at 150), Sebastian Schmeltzer (seventh at 132) and Maddox Kidd (seventh at 165).
Northwestern is led by fifth-ranked Reed Hamey at 106 while Chippewa has a high-ranked contender at 126 in Grady Lambdin (seventh at 126).