MANSFIELD — Josh Bever three-peated and so did his Ashland Arrows.
Bever won his third consecutive individual title, powering Ashland to its third straight team championship at the 57th J.C. Gorman Invitational at Pete Henry Gym on Saturday.
Ranked first at 220 pounds in Division I, Bever thundered into the championship with three pins before earning a workmanlike 8-2 decision over Caleb Wood of Fremont Ross in the finals. The victory was Bever’s third over Wood this season.
“We were all focused on winning our third straight as a team. That was definitely the most important to me coming in,” said Bever (27-1), who defended his 220-pound title after winning at 195 as a sophomore. “Once we started to get the job done I really focused in on just trying to three-peat myself.
“I’m definitely proud of the team. We had a hard week of practice and just got the job done.”
Bever was one of 11 Arrows to advance to Saturday’s finals. All 11 finished sixth or better as Ashland piled up 252.5 points, well ahead of runner-up Bellevue (144).
“We were pretty happy with this tournament,” Ashland coach Sean Seder said. “We didn’t quite wrestle the way we wanted to at (last week’s Brecksville Invitational). We challenged them … to see how they would respond. They responded really well.”
Ashland’s other individual champ was 152-pounder Austin McNamara, who beat Mapleton’s Beau Lefever 8-4 in the finals. McNamara was 0-2 at Brecksville last week with both losses coming to state champs.
“(Brecksville) was a tough draw,” McNamara said. “Coaches got on me for not doing very good at Brecksville. I was definitely on a mission here.”
The area’s only other individual champ was Crestview’s Dakota Blanton. The senior beat Manchester’s Jake White 4-1 in the finals after knocking off Ashland’s Jake Visintine 10-9 in the semifinals earlier in the day.
“I knew it was going to be a tough tournament,” said Blanton, who was sixth at the Gorman last year. “I had a tough (draw). I had Jake Visintine in the semis and he is one of the toughest kids I’ve wrestled all year.”
Lexington finished 14th in the team standings with 72.5 points. Mapleton (71) tied for 15th, while Ontario (67.5) was 18th. Madison (66.5) was 19th and Crestview (62) tied for 20th.
Other area teams included Shelby (25th place), Clear Fork (26th), Galion (28th), Mansfield Senior (31st), Bucyrus (32nd), Loudonville (35th) and Lucas (36th).
