Plymouth takes second at Mapleton Classic
Jan. 23—ORANGE TWP. — The Plymouth wrestling team led four area teams at the Dave Rohr Classic on Saturday at Mapleton High School.
The Big Red scored 199 points, which was second to New Philadelphia (204) in the 17-team field. Willard (100) tied for ninth place, while Western Reserve (40) was 13th and South Central (30) was 17th.
Plymouth had eight placers total, including three individual champions. Winning their respective weight classes on Saturday for the Big Red was sophomore Cameron Wagers (106 pounds), senior Nick Roberts (120), senior Jacob Robinson and junior Colton Sparks (175).
Roberts — ranked No. 12 in the state for Division III at his weight by borofanohio.net — had the most notable day for Plymouth. Not only did he finish 5-0 with four pins, he also surpassed the 100-career win mark in the process.
After a 3-2 win over Willard's Edwin Lara, Roberts (24-5) pinned opponents in 1:30, 53 seconds, 1:20 and 5:26. He now has 103 wins at Plymouth.
"I am extremely proud of Nick and how he wrestled today," Plymouth coach Jeremiah Balkin said. "He has had a great year and has been a leader to the wrestlers. He has been a positive role model."
Wagers (20-4) — ranked No. 23 at 106 — went 4-0 with four pins in 1:22, 1:17, 1:12 and 1:44 to cruise to first place.
"Cam wrestled well and did not have a match out of the first period," Balkin said.
At 175, the No. 15-ranked Sparks (21-1) opened with four straight pins in 1:10, 44 seconds, 49 seconds and 1:54. In the finals, he defeated Chippewa's Neil Miller with an 8-1 decision.
The No. 24-ranked wrestler in Div. III at 157, Robinson went 5-0 with four pins as well. Along with a win by forfeit, Robinson (23-3) pinned his opponents in times of 48 seconds, 1:53, 1:04 — and in 1:24 over Lucas' John Vetter in the finals.
"Jacob is getting close to 100 wins and has worked hard and a great leader, too," Balkin said. "And Colton dominated his weight class."
Also placing for the Big Red on Saturday was Andrew Miller (126), Zach Miller (144) and Shae Sparks (150), who each finished in fourth at their weights. Noah Robinson took fifth at 285.
Willard had five placers, led by one of the top wrestlers in the state at 165 pounds. Senior Shadrick Slone — a state finalist in Div. II last season who has been No. 1-ranked all of this season — was barely on the mat for the Crimson Flashes on Saturday.
Aside from a 16-0 technical fall win over Chippewa's Trent Zollinger in the semifinals, Slone (28-1) won by pin with times of 24 seconds, 33 seconds, 24 seconds and 58 seconds in the finals over New Philadelphia's Thad VanArsdalen.
Also for Willard, senior Connor Robbins (13-5) — ranked No. 15 in the state — was third at 126, while Edwin Lara (120) and Caden Barnett (132) each placed fifth, and Aidan Bates (150) was sixth.
Western Reserve's Kelsey Lasch (113) placed fourth and Dominic Rueting (126) was fifth.
South Central freshman Diton Farnsworth improved to 19-8 with three wins by pin in 1:09, 56 seconds and 37 seconds to win the 113-pound weight class.
