Andrew E.Gasber 9/13/21
Wrestling has kicked off for the 6th-grade Team Ohio Wrestlers. This past weekend the team got started at the “Battle in The Burgh” Dual Tournament, hosted in Wheeling W.V. The event was put on by Tyrant Wrestling. The event was without a question, a very well ran tournament in every aspect. The 6th-grade team came out to wrestle and put forth their best effort. This was the first of five for the Team Ohio Schedule. I had the privilege of covering the event for both the 6th and 8th-grade teams. The venue in where the event was held was immaculate. This place was able to fit comfortably an extremely large crowd. The room in which the duals and tournament were being held was jammed packed with energy and excitement as the first event of the season finally kicked off.
To those members that have made the National Team for Ohio this season, understand that this is such an amazing opportunity. This is a chance to get to know your teammates and get the best exposure and competition you possibly can. Some of the wrestlers from other states competing were also just as experienced as our young team. Some of these youngin’s are out there scrambling better than some high school wrestlers are able to do so. One can tell by watching Ohio’s Team that they have received some of the absolute best training and technique. On day one Team Ohio went out and dominated their competition. Pins, Tech Falls, and just brutal takedowns and turns were executed to a T. The Team Ohio 6th grade team ended up going 4-0 on day one.
The first dual was against “Ace’s of Hearts” and our young group demolished this team by a score of 70-9! In the second round they faced a tough group of scrappers from “Scrapyard Wrestling Club”, which happens to be another Ohio club. The final score of this dual was 81-0! Not one single wrestler lost a match to Scrapyard. Scrapyard was however giving up a few weight classes since this is early on in the season. In round 3 Team Ohio went on to wrestle “Cimarron” and dominated again by a score of 49-23. To finish day one out Team Ohio would face a club by the name of “84”, they also outscored this team to win the dual by a finish of 80-4! After the competition was finished on day one, the Team Ohio Sixth Grade was 4-0. From the coaching to the athletes competing, there was so much professionalism on all levels. These kids are super coachable and all great kids. They competed incredibly hard. 4 matches in an intense environment to kick off the season and finishing 4-0 on day one is amazing!
Day two started off with a bye round for the 6th-grade team. They went through such a great warm-up by Coach Burnett. The parents and coaches absolutely loved the workout they got to take part in on Sunday Morning. The 1st dual of day 2 was against the “Mat Assassins” of PA was a very winnable Dual however the young Team Ohio squad happened to fall short of victory. The final score of the dual was 37-33! We needed a couple of key wins and a Pin and the dual would have been won. That is just the way things happen sometimes in our sport. The team moved on to the final match of the day and this was against another tough squad from PA called “Ace’s Of Diamonds”. This Team was super tough. However Ohio went out and battled to the best of their ability and in the end, we fell short again by a score of 51-22. Coach Rowlands addressed the team after the final dual and told them how they performed well for the first event. They are going to grow and gel as a team together. This was just the first event of many. He challenged them to continue to work on bottom wrestling.
When it comes to standouts from the Team Ohio 6th grade squad every single wrestler went out and did their best. However, there were a few that really stood out to me this weekend. The first wrestler that comes to mind is the only girl on either team Ohio.. Her name is “Lyric Hetzer”. Lyric went out and absolutely kicked butt. She finished with an undefeated record this weekend. She was aggressive in each of her matches. She was hitting slide-by’s off of the whistle when her opponent would tie-up. She was hitting Spladle’s and wrenching boys over with armbars. In fact, in one of her closer matches, she got merkled. When she freed herself from the position she then went and hit a merkled on the kid who just had her in danger. She ended up getting the fall too to win the match. She brings a ton of energy when she goes out and wrestles as she does. Lyric also was the wrestler who scored the most team points for the 6th-grade team this weekend with a total of 33 points. Another wrestler that comes to mind from this past weekend was “Urijah Lopez”. Urijah scored a total of 30 team points for Ohio. Urijah also had the most pins and tech falls in the least amount of time throughout the weekend with 4 falls in just 3:29! Between Lyric and Urijah leading the way this weekend with their performances. We also had Tommy Rowlands Jr. and Connor Bagdonas having the #1 and #2 for the “Single Most Match Points” with a total of 18 each! The fastest pin for the weekend was again done by “Lyric”, she pinned her opponent in a quick :17 seconds. Right behind her with the second-fastest pin was “Lorenzo Palfy” with a quick pin of :20 seconds.
Grady Moos also had the third-fastest pin of the weekend for Ohio with a :30 Second Pin!
Every wrestler from Team Ohio who stepped out there this weekend represented our state to their very best. We may not have won every single dual or every single match. This whole thing is about learning, and having fun at the same time whilst winning and losing. These wrestlers are going to all grow up together and one day be in high school and be able to talk about the days when they were all on the 6th-grade Team Ohio Squad together. These events create lasting memories for the athletes and also for the parents and coaches. These kids are crushing it for their age groups! I truly wish we had something similar to this when I was younger. Team Ohio has put out a great product and team and I truly feel that as time goes on it will only improve vastly over the years. Some of the kids on this team will look back when they are seniors and say “ Wow look how little I was” or “Wow I got pinned how?”. Like I said these are memories that will last a lifetime. I couldn’t be more proud to be a former wrestler and also able to cover this event over the past weekend to watch our youth in the sport. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for all of these young wrestlers.
Here are the results from the Dual’s over this past weekend at “Battle at The Burgh”
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