Wayne Trace Bauer Tops at LCC
Wayne Trace wrestling competed this Friday and Saturday in the Thunderbird Invitational at LCC competing with 43 division three schools from across the state. A depleted roster with only six wrestlers competing finished fifteenth as a team in a loaded field.
Freshman 106 pounder Gabe Sutton squared off in a deep weight class. He pinned Swanton’s Derrick Cook to find himself advancing to Saturday. Dropping a hard fought and close match to Stroud of Mechanicsburg, 1-0, Sutton wrestled back in the consi’s besting Kleman of Bluffton, 6-2. He then dropped his next tilt with Nelsonville-York’s Yinger. He earned a seventh place finish by a 9-5 decision over Anderson from Covington.
The next Raider to get podium honors was Hunter Showalter. In a 170 pound weight class featuring five wrestlers ranked in the top fifteen for the state, Showalter battled it out for a sixth place finish. Showalter notched three wins with pins over Reed, West Liberty-Salem; Bill, Lincolnview; and McReynolds, Covington. He fell short against three state ranked wrestlers in Calvert’s Kwiatt and Ottawa Glandorf’s Rosales. He pushed state ranked Knapp in his last match to the distance and more. Showalter fell to Knapp in triple overtime by a 3-2 decision. Showalter finished the day sixth.
Tyler Bauer put forth his best showing and wrestling of the season. Seeded fourth in the 126-pound weight class, Bauer posted wins via pin in his first three contests over Bluffton’s Romick, Carlisle’s Artis, and number five seed Sandwisch of Woodmore. In the quarters, he posted a major decision 13-4 over Hernandez from Ottawa Glandorf.
The sole Raider to be competing for a Thunderbird invitational crown, Bauer faced number two seed Kaleb Nickels of Miami East. Nickels had no answer for Bauer’s underhook and mat wrestling. Bauer never trailed in the match and posted a major decision win of 13-4 over Nickels.
The junior found himself where few Raider wrestlers have, atop the podium as this year’s 126-pound Thunderbird Invitational champion. “Today sets Tyler up for sectionals and districts. This by far, is Tyler’s best performance from start to finish in a tournament of this caliber. He gained confidence by wrestling to his strengths and really solid the entire tournament. He beat some wrestlers he will have to face again to achieve his goal of going to the Schott this year,” stated Coach Clemens.
“Overall, I was really pleased with our wrestling today. Sutton wrestled really well in a strong 106-pound class. Like Bauer, he was able to overtake some wrestlers he will see again at the district level and he continues to gain valuable major match experience as a freshman. Showalter had a nasty weight class and took some of the best the state had to offer to the wire. He had the number fourth ranked wrestler on his back multiple times, but couldn’t catch a break and then lost to another ranked wrestler in triple overtime,” stated Clemens.
The Raiders will take the entire team to Swanton next Wednesday in the state duals tournament. They will follow that up with the GMC tournament hosted by Fairview, Saturday, February 3rd before preparing for the individual state tournament trail.
