Wapakoneta wrestlers poised for another postseason run

WAPAKONETA — To win a league title is an admirable accomplishment.

Every high school sports team strives to bring home the league championship trophy in its respective sport.

This past weekend, Wapakoneta’s wrestling team won the Western Buckeye League Championship for the third consecutive season, when it competed at the league tournament at Defiance on Saturday.

Wapakoneta had three wrestlers win titles in their respective weight classes on Saturday. John Martin, a two-time state qualifier, won the crown in the 106-pound weight class. Holden Hengstler won his championship match at 170, while Alec Brown took first at 182.

Seven other Wapakoneta wrestlers finished in the top four spots Saturday. Derick Dean finished fourth at 120; Dallas Ambos placed third at 126; Nate Valentine finished second at 138; Justin Dauch was fourth at 145; Colton Brown finished third at 195; Jarred Carpenter placed fourth at 220 and Nick Warner was third at 285.

Wapakoneta will next compete at the Division II sectional tournament at Shawnee on Friday and Saturday. The top four placers in each weight class will advance to the district tournament at Marion. Then, the top four placers at the district tournament will advance to the state tournament at Ohio State (March 1-3).

At the beginning of the season, Wapakoneta coach Jason Rostorfer said he wasn’t sure how good this year’s team would be. The Redskins lost seven key wrestlers from a team that not only won the league title last season, but also won the Division II sectional at Shawnee and went on to place 19th at the state tournament.

“Out of the 14 (weight classes), we have eight freshmen or sophomores,” Rostorfer said. “With the sophomores, they wrestled junior varsity last year. But, they wrestled behind some very good kids. So, they got some really good experience, going against really tough kids everyday at practice. Their practices were actually tougher than their matches.

“But, until you throw them into the fire, you’re not really sure how they will react. We didn’t start out the season very good at the Findlay Duals. But, they kept working hard. That (hard work) is what I attribute to winning the WBL.”

Rostorfer said the preseason goals were simple. He wanted his team to focus on the big picture.

“(Winning) the WBL is important for us, but it’s not our ultimate focus,” Rostorfer said. “We want to get as many kids as we can to state. I feel that if you don’t want to be the best, then you’re wasting your time.”

Wapakoneta has not lost a WBL dual for over three years. The Redskins are 27-0 against league opponents during the past three seasons (in duals).

Martin, who has now won three WBL titles, said he knew this year could be a challenge.

“We lost seven guys, who were all pretty good wrestlers,” Martin said. “We knew we had a lot of young guys that we had to work with. They’ve all worked hard and we did it.”

Brown said this season was a little different than the past couple. He said with losing so many letterwinners, it almost felt like this team was tabbed the underdog in the WBL.

“We knew it was going to be tough,” Brown said. “The coaches worked us really hard. It was motivation for us to go out and prove that we could win it.”

Hengstler, who notched his second consecutive WBL title on Saturday, said the team pulled together this season.

“We lost a lot of people, so we really had to work hard with the freshmen and get them ready,” Hengstler said.

This weekend, the Division II sectional at Shawnee will resemble the WBL tournament. There are eight WBL teams, including Wapakoneta; along with Bowling Green, Bryan, Toledo Central Catholic, Napoleon and Wauseon.

Rostorfer said his team will need to raise its intensity level another notch or two.

“I told them that the competition is going to get tougher, so we have to be tougher,” Rostorfer said. “I told them if you don’t match the intensity level, then the season will be over.”