Rufenacht, Short Claim NWOAL Titles
by Scott Schultz Buckeye Sports Reporter

Chad Rufenacht, left, won a close 8-7 decision over Liberty Center's Sam Elling to claim the 145-pound NWOAL championship, Saturday, Feb. 9. It is Rufenacht's first league title.- photo by Scott Schultz

Northwest Ohio Athletic League wrestling teams converged at Patrick Henry, Saturday, Feb. 9 for the annual league wrestling meet, the final meet of the regular season.

Team titles were won and individual crowns were passed out. Archbold's Chad Rufenacht picked up his first NWOAL championship at 145 pounds, while 152-lb. teammate Tyler Short claimed his second title.

Delta, who crowned six champions, won the team championship with 214 points. Bryan finished second with 182.5, followed by Liberty Center 169.5, Archbold 156, Wauseon 140, Montpelier 102, Patrick Henry 89, Swanton 76.5, Evergreen 58.

Rufenacht, Short Garner Titles

Rufenacht was all business, pinning his way to the championship match.

After pinning PH's Michael Miller in his opening round, Rufenacht dropped Swanton's Tom Leahey in 17 seconds, which moved him into the championship round against Sam Elling, a stubborn Liberty Center Tiger.

Tyler Short pinned Bryan's Cody Gardner to win an NWOAL championship at 152 pounds. It was his second league title.- photo by Scott Schultz

Rufenacht had to work for this one, with Elling holding a 4-2 lead after the first period. Rufenacht scored first in the second with a takedown. He added two back points before Elling picked up a point on an escape.

Rufenacht added one more takedown in the period. That proved to be enough to pick up the title, but not before Elling closed the gap. Elling started down in the final period and scored on an escape but still trailed 8-6.

Elling was awarded a penalty point for an 8-7 final.

Short also pinned his way through to another title. Facing Swanton's Derek Eitner in the opening round, Short recorded a fall at 1:14.

Montpelier's Jake Keller went down at 1:42, putting Short into the championship match, where he faced Bryan's Cody Gardner. Gardner went down in 1:31 for Short's second title.

"Chad (Rufenacht), obviously, was pretty nervous going out there (in the championship match)," said Brian Becher, AHS head coach. "He didn't really get after the kid like I thought he would; he is better than the kid from Liberty.

"I am sure that win will give him some confidence going into the sectional tournament.

"Tyler just goes out there and battles hard. He is one kid who doesn't care what the score is; he is very comfortable out there, works hard, and stays with the basic stuff, and it works for him."

Redd, Britenriker Hit Milestones

While league titles and championships are on the minds of all wrestlers, a pair of Blue Streaks also hit wrestling milestones.

Seniors Ian Redd and Mickey Britenriker hit 150 and 100 career wins, respectively.

Redd, wrestling at 125 lbs., picked up his 150th on his way to a third-place finish. He defeated Montpelier's Cody Lamberson in the opening round, then was dropped down to the consolation round by Liberty Center's Justin Biddle.

Redd defeated Swanton's John Engelhart for his 150th win. The AHS senior pinned Bryan's Ricky Hernandez for third.

Britenriker (171 lbs.) earned his 100th win in the opening round, defeating Delta's Matt Wilhelm. Britenriker dropped down into the consolation bracket when LC's Jake Elling edged out a 5-4 win.

Britenriker pinned Montpelier's Kyle McCarty, then lost 4- 3 to Bryan's Jeremy Hageman in overtime for fourth.

"Mickey is hurting a little; he cut weight to get to 171 pretty hard," said Becher.

"We decided to get him down to 171 because 189 is pretty tough at sectional and district, so he can get adjusted to the weight and wrestle a little bit better next week.

"He is probably a little disappointed with his performance, but he cut that weight in the last two days."

Ian Redd's 150 wins "obviously is pretty big. There is not many guys at Archbold that have that," said Becher.

"I am sure he is not happy with his performance against the Biddle kid, but (he) wrestled tough at the end for third, so hopefully he can use that to springboard himself this week."

Top Placers

Matt Jacoby (103 lbs.) placed fourth. Losing to Bryan's Donny Ramos in the opening round, Jacoby kept Archbold fans on the edge of their seats with a thrilling overtime win over PH's Garrett Gerschutz.

The excitement did not stop there. The senior pulled off a takedown at the buzzer over Delta's CJ Reyes for a 12-10 win.

Jacoby then faced LC's Kyle Stacey and fell short, losing by a fall.

"Matt (Jacoby) had a big win against the Delta kid," said Becher. "He was down and hit a big move at the end. Hopefully that will help him get a seed at sectionals."

TJ Weirauch (112 lbs.) finished third. Defeating Evergreen's Cody Rade in the opening round, Weirauch dropped down into the consolation round with a loss to Bryan's Corey Apple.

Weirauch defeated Montpelier's Korbin Castillo and Swanton's Tyler Estes 9-6 for third.

"TJ Weirauch had a nice match for third place," said Becher. "That kid was getting real physical. That was a big match for him in the seeding as well."

Trevor Meyer (135 lbs.) placed fourth. Losing to Montpelier's Derek Jiminez in the opening round, Meyer battled his way back, defeating Swanton's Justin Bezeau and Bryan's Shayne Combs. Facing LC's Chris Rentschler for third, Meyer lost 6-1.

Jared Leininger (160 lbs.) placed fifth. After losing to Bryan's Levi Sidle in the opening round, Leininger defeated PH's Josh Miller but fell to Swanton's Austin Reiner.

Leininger bounced back and pinned Montpelier's Dylan Brown for fifth.

Also placing fifth was Shem Neuenschwander (189 lbs). Losing in the opening round to LC's Chad McClory, Neuenschwander defeated Montpelier's Ben Saddoris but was beaten by Wauseon's Nick Mc- Call.

Neuenschwander pinned Swanton's Dustin Arnold for fifth.

Jordan Gracia (215 lbs.) placed fourth. Losing in the opening round to Wauseon's Cory Norris, Gracia picked up wins over Montpelier's Matt Wells and Bryan's Jeremy Robinson.

Gracia lost to Swanton's Dan McNutt for fourth.

Wrestling at 285 lbs., freshman Brandon Dennie finished sixth. Losing to Delta's Kent Corthell in the opening round, Dennie defeated Swanton's Brian Smith before losing to Montpelier's Chase Howard.

Dennie lost to Wauseon's Jim Van Pelt for sixth.

"Brandon (Dennie) is going to be good," said Becher. "He is just a freshman wrestling those big upper-weight guys; you're not only mismatched in size, but the maturity value also.

"His opponents are a lot stronger than him, but Brandon has good hips, and if he learns a little more on body positioning he will be a really good heavyweight for us.

"If you compare him to Cody Ruffer (a past state participant and AHS graduate), when Cody was a freshman I am pretty sure I would put my money on Brandon Dennie, so hopefully Brandon will put the work into it between his freshman and sophomore year like Cody did.

"I am expecting big things out of him next year."

Other Streaks

Mike Perez (119 lbs.) lost his opening round to Delta's Ryan Rayfield, then fell to Evergreen's Matt Stasa.

Bobby Rodriguez (130 lbs.) fell to PH's Anthony Almanza and Montpelier's Stephen Dix.

Archbold was void at 140 lbs.

Div. III Sectional

Archbold High School hosts the Division III sectional tournament, Friday, Feb. 15 and Saturday, Feb. 16.

Thirteen schools will participate: Archbold, Ayersville, Delta, Edgerton, Fairview, Hicksville, Liberty Center, Montpelier, Patrick Henry, Paulding, Stryker, Swanton and Tinora.

Wrestling begins at 5 p.m. on Friday and continues at 11 a.m. on Saturday.