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Celina's Luke Maxwell (C) tries to position Wapakoneta's Noah Bishop into a pinning sitauation during Tuesday's WBL match at Celina High School. Maxwell scored the pinfall, but Wapakoneta defeated Celina 48-27.
CELINA - Wapakoneta showed it is the team to beat in Western Buckeye League wrestling.
The Redskins held Celina to just three competitive wins on the night to complete an undefeated league record with a 48-27 victory on Tuesday night at Celina High School.
Wapak heads into Saturday's league tournament at 9-0. Celina drops to 6-3 in third place in the league.
"It was about what we expected, maybe a little better," said Celina coach James Miracle. "We knew coming in that (Wapak's) sophomore group - which won the middle school state tournament in eighth grade - and senior group are great. We're just beat up."
Celina's Luke Lazarich, right, tries to take down Wapakoneta's Reece Schnarre during Tuesday's wrestling match.
Celina moved a couple of wrestlers around, taking Luke Lazarich out of 175 pounds and avoiding a matchup with the top-ranked 175-pounder in the Lima area in Wyatt Buell. Buell faced Keene Rinderle in the opening bout, scoring the pin in 1:11.
The Redskins added two more pins as Brody Presar pinned Josh Sweeney in 3:18 at 190 pounds and Jace Knous pinned Carter Ly in 1:38 at 215. Celina gained six points when Wapak voided out at 285, with Celina returning the void at 106. At 113, Wapak's Zane Russel pinned Kaleb Krogman with 10 seconds remaining in the second period to move the Redskin lead to 30-6. The Bulldogs finally were able to score a point in a bout when Josiah King recorded an escape in the 120-pound bout, but Caden Mellot needed just 49 seconds to get the pinfall win.
Celina's Aaren King prepares to pin Wapakoneta's Elijah Burgoon in their 126-pound bout during Tuesday's wrestling matches.
Celina scored its first takedown in the 126-pound bout as Aaren King gave Celina its first competitive win with a pin in 2:42 over Eljiah Burgoon, but Wapakoneta came back with a pin at 132 as Gavin Ridenour scored the fall on Mason Homan.
The most exciting bout came at 138 pounds. Celina's Payten Staugler and Wapak's Zach Steinke were tied at 2-all after one period. In the second, Staugler got a takedown and three near-fall points to take a 7-3 lead, only to have Steinke get the escape followed by a takedown and three back-points to take a 9-7 lead into the final two minutes.
Staugler got an early reversal, but Steinke escaped to take a 10-9 lead. Staugler nearly had a takedown in the final 30 seconds, but Steinke countered and got the takedown of his own in the waning seconds for the 12-9 decision.
Luke Maxwell gave Celina six more points by pinning Noah Bishop in 2:49 at 144 pounds and the Bulldogs picked up another six with Wapak voided at 150. At 157, Celina's Carver Harris led 2-0 after one period, but Dawson Ware tied it in the second and got two three-point near falls to come away with the 8-4 decision.
Lazarich wrapped up the night for Celina at 165, winning a 9-4 decision over Reece Schnarre.
"There were a couple of close ones," said Miracle. "At 138, we had a freshman (Staugler) going against a senior. They're a better team than we are."
The WBL tournament starts Saturday at 10 a.m. at Kenton High School.
