Lions place 5 at district wrestling tournament and finish third!

The Lions took thirteen wrestlers to the Goshen District, aka "The Meat Grinder". Round one Friday night went close to expected with a 9-4 record. Round two proved to be a little more difficult with the Lions going 4-5. Round three finished the evening with a 2-2 record. After the dust settled the Lions still had eleven wrestlers battling for a state tournament berth but a casualty of Friday evening was senior Ryan Zawacki. Ryan lost a hard fought match to end his career as a Lion wrestler.

Saturday morning saw three more seniors strap on their headgear for the last time as a member of the Lions wrestling team. Tyler Loyd, Robbie Lemar and Cory English all lost gut wrenching matches. Young men you will be missed but not forgotten... .

Senior Brody Hooks was a terror all weekend. Brody finished as tournament champion and outscoring his opponents 31-9 with one pin! Brody is the first wrestling district champion from NR in about 30 years, congratulations to Brody and the Hooks family! This will be Brody's second trip to Columbus!

Senior Austin Skaggs won his first two matches and lost a nail bitter 4-2 in the semi-finals. Austin won his final match in convincing fashion 15-7 to finish third and earn his second berth to the state tournament next weekend! Congratulations Austin your hard work and determination has payed off. We look forward to seeing you and the Skaggs family in Columbus.

Senior Cody Gabelman won his first two matches also and then lost a tough decision in the semi-finals. Cody came back to avenge an earlier loss to an SBAAC opponent, winning 9-0. Cody finished the tournament in third place with a dominating performance in the finals. Cody will be making his first trip to the state tournament next weekend. I know the Gabelman family will not miss any of the action next weekend, see you in C-bus!

Junior JR Forsee will be joining our three seniors in Columbus next weekend. JR will be making his second appearance at the state tournament. JR won his first two matches and then had an unfortunate elbow injury that limited his ability to be at his best. JR finished in fourth defaulting two matches. I feel sorry for his first opponent at the state tournament, 285 lbs. of anger festering for a week, going to be ugly! I know the Forsee family already has their bags packed and Hotel booked in Columbus.

Junior James White saw the most action of any Lion wrestler. James wrestled six matches going 4-2 and finished in fifth place. James will be making his first trip to Columbus as an alternate. Watching James wrestles reminds you that all things are possible through hard work and the right attitude. Congratulations to James and the White family, see you at the Schott!

The team finished in third behind Washington Court House and Hillsboro. See you next weekend in Columbus. WE ARE NR!!

If you want to follow the action next weekend we will try to update the New Richmond Lions Wrestling facebook page as often as possible, follow along and post encouraging comments!