Mount Vernon crowns two champions, takes third at John Brown Memorial

The opening tournament of any wrestling season is one filled with optimism, hope and a desire to see where you stand as an individual and as a team.

The John Brown Memorial provided that and more for the Mount Vernon boys’ wrestling team.

The Yellow Jackets got two individual champions and finished third as a team in its own tournament but also found out there is still plenty to work on as the season progresses.

“We did ok. We have a lot of work to do. You kind of get exposed that first weekend. It’s a different intensity when you actually have an official, you have a crowd and have a kid from the other team that’s wanting to beat you. The intensity is different,” said Mount Vernon coach Corey Firebaugh. “Overall, we learned a lot, but at the end of the day, I still feel we have a lot of work to do. The good news is it’s the first weekend. I think some of the kids on the team got a little awakening, as far as what needs to be done in the practice room — Doing what we preach and keep working hard. We were shooting for the top two, obviously, but in the end what we really want is to keep improving week to week.”

Olentangy Liberty won the fifth annual tournament at Energy Field House in Mount Vernon with 209 points. Westerville Central placed second at 185.5, followed by Mount Vernon at 159.5.

The Yellow Jackets got some expected results, as well as a couple of pleasant surprises during the 16-team tournament. Senior Alex Taylor, the defending state heavyweight champion, kicked off the season just like he finished last year, winning the Outstanding Wrestler title with three impressive pinfall victories.

“I thought I did pretty well. I was working on getting to some leg attacks early and opening my offense,” Taylor said. “I would have liked to score a little bit more in the finals, but he’s a great opponent (Daniel Stephens of Olentangy) and hard to score on. When you get the pin, you can’t complain about that. Wrestling the No. 2 kid in the state, I’ll always be happy getting the pin.”

Taylor needed just over three minutes to record three pins on the day (1:30, 0:46 and 0:57 in the finals). The senior was able to bear hug Stephens, the No. 2 ranked heavyweight in the state, throw him and get the pin in quick fashion in the finals.

“With a kid of that caliber, you always try to finish the match. But at the same time, the game plan always going in is to score points,” Taylor said. “I’m a more offensive wrestler than I was last year. I think I showed that throughout the tournament. I could have showed it a little better there, but at the same time, three-point takedown and maybe four back points would have been the result of that move without the pin. I think my offense still showed there.”

The Jackets also got a pleasant, while not totally unexpected, result at 215 pounds. Freshman Trevor Jones, fresh off a runner-up finish in the state middle school tournament last winter, also won a memorial sword for winning his weight class. Jones also recorded three pins on the day, including one on Isaiah Bowling of Chillicothe (3:08) in the finals.

“It feels amazing, really. I’ve just got to keep on working. I’m not going to stop here. I’m still hungry. I’m going to keep on winning tournaments. I’m going to keep on going,” Jones said. “There is some improvement that needs to be done. He took me down, he reversaled me. I just worked my way up. I got the reversal back and then to finish it, was a simple half nelson. Got him on his back.”

“It's great. Obviously, Trevor has a great background. He was middle school heavyweight runner up last year, so he’s got the skills,” Firebaugh said. “But it’s always a big jump going from middle school wrestling to high school wrestling and how you respond to that. Some of your flaws, sometimes get exposed, and I know the first match, he kind of got taken down. Before the tournament, the message was how are you going to deal with adversity. Not everything is going to go according to what we think in our head and how it’s going to go, so how are we going to deal with it when I get taken down? He did a good job coming back from that. You could see the confidence grow as the day went along.”

While happy with his first high school tournament victory, Jones knows this is only the first step toward the ultimate prize — qualifying for and making the podium at the state tournament. It’s why he’s been soaking up every lesson he can from seniors like Taylor.

“It’s everything. Upperclassmen like Alex have just pushed me to the limit. In certain practices, he just makes me dead. He works me so hard. But it will lead to things like this. He keeps on setting the standard, and I’m going to have to do that when I’m an upperclassman too,” Jones said. “We’ve got to keep on working hard in practice. No breaks. Then we’re going to keep on moving on from there. Total goal — at the end of the season, I want to qualify for state.”

The Jackets had two others finish as runners-up in the tournament. Gabe Kiser finished second at 106 pounds, while Mavrik Gregory took home the silver at 150. Kiser lost his first match decisively but followed that up with two impressive victories to grab second. Gregory started the tournament on fire, winning his first two matches by technical falls. After a tough semifinal win, he fell in a tough final, 13-12, to Aidan Milam of Olentangy Liberty.

Senior Preston Hempfield came through with a fourth-place finish for MV at 157 pounds, while Gabe Thomas (144), Jude Kirk (165) and Carter Hill (175) all finished fifth in their respective weight classes.

The Jackets were able to get some huge points down the stretch to hold off Olentangy and win the bronze. Kiser, Thomas and Hill each got a pin in their final match, while Kirk got an impressive 10-1 victory in his to secure the third spot.

“We didn’t really want to slip to fourth. To get those points, anything in the consolation is huge for the team. Getting bonus points, even Gabe Kiser got a pin for us. Those types of points are good for the team, as well,” Firebaugh said. “Before the final round we said, not everything is going to go according to plan, so how are you going to respond? If you want to feel good about your day, then you need to go out and do well.”

The Jackets will next wrestle as a team in the North Canton Hoover Invitational on Dec. 19-20. Taylor will be in action this weekend when he participates in the prestigious Ironman Wrestling Tournament on Dec. 12-13 at Walsh Jesuit High School in Cuyahoga Falls. More than 800 wrestlers from over 200 schools will participate in both the boys’ and girls’ tournaments.