The Wayne Trace Wrestling Team spent two days competing in the Lima Central Catholic Invitational on January 26th and 27th. The Invitational sees wrestlers from 36 schools from all over Ohio. At the end of the weekend, Wayne Trace was represented by 3 placers. Corbin Kimmel finished the weekend in 3rd place, Nate Osborn in 5th place, and Graiden Troth in 7th place.
There were several notable milestones for the Wrestlers at the LCC Invitational as well. Corbin Kimmel, the 120-pound Junior ended the weekend in 3rd place on the podium. Kimmel’s record for the weekend was 5-1. Out of the top 100 wrestlers, Kimmel ended in 4th place for the most pins/tech falls in the least amount of time with his five wins occurring in a combined total of 8 minutes and 48 seconds. In the first round, the junior pinned his opponent Erik Cortinas in just 1:05, followed by a defeat over Bobby Tyas in just 15 seconds. Kimmel dominated the third round of championships with another pin in just 33 seconds. In the quarterfinals, Kimmel was defeated by Spencer Shore with a score of 5-0. Kimmel battled back and won by tech fall his opponent Ethan Beam with a score of 15-0. In the finals match, Kimmel dominated the entire match to pin Mason Kelsh in 4:42.
Nate Osborn, the 175-pound senior ended the weekend in 5th place with an overall record of 5-2. Osborn started the day with a pin in the first round in 3:11. In round two, the senior won by tech fall with a score of 19-2 before being defeated by Gabe Garlick of Lakota with a score of 9-1. Osborn followed his loss with a win over Jayden Schlabach of Waynedale, the final score being 5-4. Caldwell of Woodmore then defeated Osborn with a score of 9-0 to send Nate to the 5th place match where he defeated Ethan Kohli of Bluffton with a score of 7-3.
Graiden Troth, the 144-pound senior rounded out the results with a weekend record of 5-2. Troth started the day strong with a first round pin in 1:36 but was then defeated in round two by Layton Hughes with a score of 9-8. The senior then pinned his opponent in 1:57, followed by a win over Howard with a score of 7-3. Jordan Neal of Allen East then pinned Graiden Troth in 2:20, sending him to the match for 7th place. In the final match of the day, Troth dominated Slayde Merriman and finished the match by pin in 3:40.
Other wrestlers included Colton Kimmel with a record of 0-2, Kamryn Sutton with a record of 1-2, Asa Ames with a record of 1-2, and Blake Schultz with a record of 3-2. Blake Schultz stated that “Although it isn’t easy to be happy when things are hard, glory in the tribulations. Tribulations produce perseverance or endurance”. The Wayne Trace Wrestling Team continues to grow and improve each week and is determined to persevere until the ultimate success is achieved. Good luck to the Raider Wrestling team as they continue their season.
