Five can’t miss matches
Dec. 17 – Battle for the Barrel – Franklin travels to Carlisle for their annual grudge match
Dec. 27-28 – GMVWA Holiday Tournament – The annual holiday tournament at Wright State’s Nutter Center will once again host the top teams in the area, including national power Graham.
Jan. 22 – State Duals – First-round action of the third year of the OHSAA state duals hit the mat as every team battles for a trip to Columbus for the team finals.
Jan. 25 – Battle of Far Hills - Centerville travels to Fairmont in one of the best big-school rivalries in the area.
Feb. 20 – GWOC Tournament at Fairmont - Will Centerville repeat as the king or will Springboro capture their second title? Expect the title to once again come down to who gets the most out of their non-champs with the conference being as wide open as it ever has been.
Five storylines to watch
1. Graham goes for 15: The Falcons are going for their 15th consecutive individual state title. Last year, Graham broke a tie with Lakewood St. Edward for consecutive state titles (13). This would mark the 16th overall title, moving them closer to the Eagles’ mark of 28.
2. Coaching Changes: With Willie Wineberg running Prodigy, Greg Pittroff takes over at Miamisburg, Nathan Carmack moves up to the head coaching job at Carlisle while Franklin alum Matt Franklin now takes over the Wildcats.
3. DC goes for state title: Dayton Christian looks to knock Delta off the DIII throne behind another loaded squad featuring state champ Logan Lacure, as well as transfer Andrew Hoskins and state placers Michael May and Hunter Bray.
4. Who will win the GWOC: Springboro looks to be the favorite this year, but Fairmont, Lebanon, Beavercreek, Miamisburg, Sidney, Centerville all could also walk away in the most wide open year the conference has witnessed.
5. Another class of freshman phenoms: Graham has a loaded freshman class led by Rocky Jordan, while Timmy Hoskins (Dayton Christian) leads a strong group of newcomers at Dayton Christian.
10 wrestlers to watch
Alex Marinelli – Graham, Jr., Iowa commit is two-time state champ
Logan Lacure – Dayton Christian, Jr., Claimed state title at Greeneview in 2013-14
Quinn May – Lebanon, Sr., Returning state qualifier
Jakob Ottoway – Springboro, Jr., Returning state qualifier
Hunter Bryant – Piqua, Jr., Returning state qualifier
Garrick Ginter – Sidney, Sr., Returning state qualifier
Cameron Kelly – Bellbrook, Sr., Ohio University signee has one state title and two state runner-ups
Michael Crockett – Franklin, Sr., Returning district champ and two-time state qualifier
Ben Sullivan – National Trail, So., Returning state runner-up
Jarrod Ganger – Covington, Sr., Two-time state champ, three-time finalist.
Fred Boulton stood back watching a recent Springboro Kids Club wrestling practice and couldn’t help but smile.
The smile wasn’t due to the swell of kids joining the program, but what the Panthers’ head wrestling coach witnessed in one area of the mat.
Two of his varsity wrestlers, Andrew Honious and Jakob Ottaway, were working with first-year wrestlers, both probably third graders, and the look from the youth took Boulton back.
“It really makes me smile,” Boulton said. “It is a great feeling to watch them work and see how they work with the little kids. How they show them the little things like head positioning and to see the little kids look up to them with no idea that they couldn’t win a match at that age. It is gratifying to watch it repeat itself.”
Honious, a district qualifier, and Ottaway, a state qualifier, both struggled their first year in kids wrestling. Honious didn’t win a match and Ottaway’s win total may not have extended past the first hand when counting and Boulton was there for all of it.
“Andrew has gone from not winning a match to being ranked in the top 10 in the state,” Boulton said. “Jakob might have won a couple of matches and that was in peewee when you schedule matches hoping to get everyone a win.”
From their days in kids wrestling through their high school careers, there has been one constant for a group that includes Honious, Ottaway, Fred’s son, Ryan, Kris Green and Chad Salzer among others and that is Boulton running their practices and being in their corner during matches.
Now, the group that has grown up together enters a season as the favorite to capture the school’s first Greater Western Ohio Conference title since 2005.
“We have not been on the top since 2005 and that is a long time,” Boulton said. “Don’t talk about winning the South (Division) because we don’t consider ourselves champs unless we win it all. We feel like we fell short last year and we still have a lot to prove.”
Springboro placed all 14 wrestlers at the GWOC tournament last year at Fairmont, but still fell short to Centerville by 7.5 points.
“It is hard to take when you place everyone and don’t win it,” Boulton said. “And it is hard to place everyone at the league tournament.”
And Boulton has enjoyed just about every second of it since taking over the kids program 10 years ago and changing the mindset with the group he know has at the high school.
“I treated it like high school and the kids took to it,” Boulton said. “I taught a lot of them how to get in their first stance, how to do their first knee slide and it is a really special group to me watching them grow up.”
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