Mount Vernon squads continue strong stretch on the lanes with winning performances across multiple meets

The Mount Vernon boys’ bowling team captured three wins in their last four matches.

On Jan. 6, MV cruised past Licking Heights, 2,179-1,575.

Griffin Beach shot a 431 (175-256) and Cooper Ferguson 332 (200-132) to lead the Jackets. James Coburn fired a 356 (199-157).

On Jan. 9, the Yellow Jackets fell in a tight match with Licking County League foe Heath, 2,235-2,210.

Beach led the Jackets with a 386 series (170-216). Ferguson was close behind at 383 (192-191), Andrew Primm fired a 371 (190-181) and Bryce Hollenbeck had a 222 game.

On Jan. 10, MV had four solid scores to beat Johnstown, 1,969-1,755.

Primm shot a team-high 361 (198-163), while Hollenbeck shot 336 (145-191). Ferguson came in at 321 (159-162) and James Coburn had 301 (134-167), and Griffin Beach had a 193 game.

The Jackets cruised past Licking Valley on Jan. 15, 2,058-1,521.

Hollenbeck fired games of 168-208 (376 series) to pace MV. Primm shot a 365 (177-188) and Ferguson 352 (168-184).

The girls’ team won a pair of matches.

MV slipped past Heath on Jan. 9, 1,551-1,472.

Dani Bumpus shot a 289 series (170-119) to lead the Jackets. Haylie Watts shot 269 (134-135), while Addyson Dusenberry (153-105) and Elena Culletto (120-138) both shot 258.

The Jackets cruised to victory over Johnstown on Jan. 14, 1,595-1,129.

Watts fired a 200 game to go along with a 146 (346 series) to lead MV. Dusenberry had identical games of 150 (300 series), while Bumpus shot 267 (145-122).

Boys’ basketball

The Mount Vernon boys’ basketball team faced a daunting task on Jan. 20.

The Yellow Jackets were facing Heath, one of the top teams in the Licking County League, and were coming off a disappointing loss to Licking Heights. But, the Jackets came through in a big way, stunning the Bulldogs, 59-58, in double overtime.

Justus Shaw hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 13 seconds left to pull the Jackets back to .500 on the season (7-7) and handing Heath just its second loss. Shaw finished with 19 points and six rebounds. Trenton Wells led the Jackets with 30 points and five assists, while Trace Beck had eight points and four rebounds.

The Jackets fell Jan. 16 to Licking County League foe Licking Heights, 74-56.

Beck led the Yellow Jackets with 24 points and five steals. Wells added 14 points, five assists and four rebounds, while Landon Dawson had 10 points.

Boys’ wrestling

Mavrik Gregory won his weight class, helping the Mount Vernon boys’ varsity black team to a 29th place finish at the Maumee Bay Classic on Jan. 16-17.

Gregory took home the gold trophy in the 157-pound weight class, cruising to five straight match victories. He started the tournament off with two straight technical fall victories, winning by scores of 21-6 and 19-4. He then won 4-2 and 8-3 decisions to advance to the championship match. Gregory got a second-period takedown to beat Kyle Jardine of Wadsworth, 4-2, and win the weight class title.

Luke Mullins also finished on the podium for the Jackets, placing eighth at 190. He won two matches by decision (10-4 and 10-3) before getting pinned in the quarterfinal match. The senior then won 7-0 to secure his spot on the podium before dropping the next two matches to place eighth.

Also faring well for the Jackets in the tournament were Gabe Thomas, who had two victories at 144; and Tye Thomas (one pin at 132), Carter Hill (a 9-7 decision at 175) and Trevor Jones (a pin at 215) each had one victory.

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The Mount Vernon Orange Varsity team finished as runner-up in the Northridge Invitational on Jan. 17.

The Yellow Jackets scored 158 points, edging Ridgewood (156) for the runner-up spot. Northmor won the event with 246.5 points.

Gabe Kiser led a parade of eight MV wrestlers to make it on the podium. The sophomore won the 106-pound weight class with five straight victories. Kiser won his first three matches via pin (2:22, 1:31 and 0:43), then won a 15-0 tech fall decision to advance to the championship match. There, he pinned Owen Hatfield of Ridgewood in 2:58 to capture the title.

Several other Jackets also captured a top spot. Fritz Johnson was second at 285; Kyler Beauchamp (138) was third; and Keagan Leasure (120), Brandon Jaynes (157), Zane Francis (165) and Tristan Gill (175) were all fourth; and Connor Davidson (175) was fifth.

Johnson had four pins (0:51, 0:19, 2:46 and 2:47) before falling by pin in 0:41 to Kam Lowry of host Northridge. Beauchamp won four of five matches, including a 17-14 decision in his final match to place third. Leasure won three of five matches; Jaynes won his first three before losing twice; Francis also won three of five; and Gill won two of four. Davidson won four of five matches to place fifth.

Liam Vicars won two matches at 144, while Austin Higgins (113), Zell Pastor (150) and Jace Scarbury (157) all had one victory.