Problem was, the Butler girls basketball team was booked for a home game that day as well.
Peck asked Butler boys basketball coach DJ Wyrick — who schedules the gym time — one question.
Who are the girls playing?
“He said Tipp,” Peck said. “I said, ‘Well, heck, that’s who were are wrestling.’ ”
So Peck approached new AD Jordan Shumaker and girls basketball coach Molly Bardonaro and pitched the idea of what will be called “Brutes and Ballers.”
Peck pitched the idea to Tippecanoe, which was all in as well.
“Next season, we hope to do it at Tipp,” Peck said. “We are both in the Greater Western Ohio Conference and are border rivals.”
The wrestling match will begin at 5:30 p.m. with the girls basketball game tipping off at 7:30 at the SAC on Butler’s campus.
The special night will also be commemorated by “Brutes and Ballers” t-shirts designed by former Butler and Wittenberg basketball standout Kevin Longley, now a Butler art teacher.
The event will be the second marquee dual of the season for the Aviators, who opened the season at Northmont in a showdown of two of the top Division I teams in the area.
Butler claimed a 39-30 win in a dual that featured two state placers, five state qualifiers and eight different district qualifiers.
In the marquee match, Northmont returning state placer Chad Craft defeated Butler returning placer Ronnie Pietro 2-1.
The “Brutes and Ballers” night is also Butler’s Alumni Night with the Aviators’ first state qualifier, Glen Cox, and first coach, Ron Roth, serving as honorary captains.
Graham fourth: Despite missing two returning state placers, Graham battled to a fourth-place finish at the Walsh Ironman Tournament last weekend.
State placer Jordan Crace and state champ Rocky Jordan sat out the event that featured four of the top five teams in the country.
Blair Academy (N.J.) entered as the top-ranked team in the country and won the tournament while the Falcons were fourth behind St. Ed’s and Lake Highland Prep (Fla). The Falcons were two points behind Lake Highland Prep.
“I was pretty happy seeing that we were missing two wrestlers,” Graham coach Jeff Jordan said. “If those two would have been in the lineup I truly believe we would have finished second.
“Blair Academy’s team is very tough this year. They scored nearly 200 team points last weekend. We do not wrestle them this year but it is going to be a hard task for anyone to beat them with the team they put on the mat at the Ironman.”
The Falcons and Blair were unable to reach a date for their annual dual this year.
Mitch Moore was second at 132, Kavan Sarver third at 195 and Ryan Thomas fourth at 160. JD Stickley placed seventh at 138.
Fairmont had two invitations to wrestle at the Ironman. Senior Mark Kimbrell finished 3-2 at 182. Freshman Nevan Snodgrass (145) was also 3-2.
Fairmont hosts the Firebird Classic on Saturday with Graham, St. Xavier (Ky.), Hilliard Bradley, Eaton, Stebbins, Upper Arlington, Carroll and Wapakoneta in the field.
About the Author