West Holmes wrestling earns runner-up finish at Todd Day Memorial

The West Holmes varsity wrestling team opened some eyes Saturday, Jan. 24, earning a runner-up finish at the 15-team Todd Day Memorial Tournament inside The Dungeon at West Holmes High School.

The Knights were led by champions Louden Dixon (senior, 157, 4-0, two falls) and Easton Ross (sophomore, 215, 5-0, four). Seniors Camden McCluggage (190, 3-1, one) and Dylan Sours (heavyweight, 3-1, two) placed second; Liam Angle (sophomore, 120, 4-1, three), Gabe Umstead (senior, 132, 4-1, two) and Lincoln Goans (junior, 175, 3-1, two) placed third; Grady Hawkins (senior, 215 extra, 3-2, one) placed fourth; Wyatt Crabb (junior, 106, 3-1, two) and Colton Garver (freshman, 113, 3-1, two) placed fifth; and Noah Grassbaugh (sophomore, 150, 2-2), Finnigan McClintock (freshman, 165, 2-2, two) and Kaden Markley (sophomore, 190 extra, 3-2, three) placed sixth.

When asked about his team’s runner-up performance, Knights coach Scott Vaughn first wanted to express his thoughts about the presentation made to the Todd Day family prior to the beginning of the tournament. Day, a wrestling assistant coach at West Holmes for more than 30 years and a catalyst for building the tournament into what it is today, passed away Jan. 22, 2024, after a battle with leukemia.

“First, I want to mention how special of a moment it was to dedicate this outstanding tournament to Todd Day,” Vaughn said. “The amount of time and effort he put into not only the wrestling program but West Holmes was amazing. He was an incredible man, and we are very proud to honor the tournament in his name. It was great to have his family here at the start of the tournament to present them with the official dedication of the tournament.”

Vaughn then said of his team, “What a tournament by these guys today. If you want to look at projections, we weren't even supposed to finish in the top three. They took their great performance from the dual at Clear Fork (Jan. 22) and carried it over to the Todd Day Memorial Tournament. I think the entire team wrestled really well, not just the guys that placed.”

West Holmes scored a 50-26 dual meet victory over Clear Fork Jan. 22 at Clear Fork High School. The Knights jumped out to a 28-0 lead and never looked back. With the win West Holmes is now 5-4 in dual meets this season.

“I know what this team is capable of, and I have high expectations for them,” Vaughn said. “I was really happy with the guys tonight. Clear Fork is a team that should finish top 10 in the state tournament, and they went out there and battled. No one wrestled scared or not to lose, and because of that, we came out on top. This could be the win that gets them really believing in how good they can be.”

Earning wins for the Knights were Crabb (106, fall), Garver (113, forfeit), Umstead (132, tech fall), Grassbaugh (150, forfeit), Dixon (157, tech fall), McClintock (165, forfeit), Markley (190, fall), Ross (215, major decision) and Sours (heavyweight, fall).

Middle school

West Holmes saw its dual meet record fall to 2-1 after suffering a 50-30 loss to Clear Fork Jan. 22 at Clear Fork High School.

Earning wins for WH were Rowand Mathie (eighth grade, 104, fall), Carter Kick (eighth, 116, decision), Jake Lennington (eighth, 142, fall), Hudson Ross (seventh, 150, decision), Jett Justice (eighth, 172, forfeit) and Grantham Lovell (eighth, 205, fall).

“Clear Fork is a tough team,” Knights coach Justin Wilcox said. “They have a stand-up program, and it showed tonight. Simply put, they were better than us. Some of our wrestlers looked really good tonight. Some of our wrestlers didn’t look really good, trying to hit garbage moves. You wrestle like that, and the results are what happened tonight.”

In extra matches Weston Rogers (eighth, 104, fall) and Logan Johnson (eighth, 116, decision) earned wins.

Attack Team

Three members of the Holmes Area Wrestling Club Elementary Attack Team punched their tickets to the Ohio Athletic Committee Grade School State Tournament by earning a pair of championships and a third-place finish at the OAC Jackson District Qualifier Tournament Jan. 24 at Massillon Jackson High School.

Fletcher Hawkins (sixth, Division IV, 120, two) and Sawyer Hood (fifth, Div. III, 160, three) both went 3-0 to snare championships. Chansen Hart (sixth, Div. IV, 110, three) finished third with a 4-1 mark.