Two of the premier wrestling programs in the Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference met on the mat Friday, December 20.
Bethel-Tate’s wrestlers traveled north to Mount Orab to take on Western Brown in a battle of Division II opponents. By the final whistle, Western Brown had rolled to a 61-18 victory in the dual.
In the 106-pound match, Western Brown’s Aiden Kyle pinned Bethel-Tate’s Trinity Donahue in 2:44, putting the hosts on top 6-0 in the dual.
Another Bronco got the win at 113, with A.J. Hurt pinning Bethel-Tate’s Jacob Webb in 3:58. The Broncos led 12-0 at that point.
Bethel-Tate’s first win came at 120, as Joe Reinert quickly dispatched Western Brown’s Corbyn Cunningham with a seven-second pin.
The Broncos quickly answered as Drake Batista pinned Donnie Harrison in 3:20 in the 126-pound match, putting the Broncos ahead 18-6.
Owen Bingaman won another match for the Broncos, pinning Trent Grigsby in 53 seconds at 132. Gage Daugherty followed with a 13-3 decision win over Trent Riley, giving the Broncos a 27-6 advantage.
Western Brown won the next four bouts that followed, starting with a pin by Ezra Marlow at 145. Marlow pinned Bethel-Tate’s Brayden Hicks in the bout that lasted 1:31.
Anthony Wright then pinned Bethel-Tate’s Alex Whittington in 2:24, giving the Broncos a 39-6 lead.
Bethel-Tate’s Hank Williams and Western Brown’s Kris Darlington had a battle at 160, with Darlington emerging victorious 16-12.
Bethel-Tate’s second win of the dual came at 170, with Bubba Darnell pinning Western Brown’s Chad Robinson in 4:44.
Christian Whisner returned the Broncos to the team’s winning ways with a pin of Mikey Molloy in one minute.
Bethel-Tate’s final win of the dual came via forfeit at 195.
Gary Powell pinned Noah Iker in 17 seconds to win the match at 220, and Eric Brewer won his heavyweight bout against Ethan Molloy with a pin at 2:55 to close out the varsity dual.
Three matches were wrestled at the junior varsity level, with Bethel-Tate winning two of them. Benjamin Donathan defeated Hunter Darnell in the first match at 160, pinning his opponent in 45 seconds.
Bethel-Tate won the next two bouts, both heavyweight matches, as Landen Rutledge pinned Western Brown’s Nathaniel Royse in 1:06 and Caleb Lanigan pinned Noah Brown in 1:14.
Wrestlers from Bethel-Tate were scheduled to compete at the Southwest Ohio Wrestling Coaches Association Coaches Classic. Due to an earlier print deadline because of the holidays, the results of that tournament were not available before press time.
