By CHUCK MARTINEZ

martinez@crescent-news.com

A new innovation for Western Buckeye League wrestling finished with a familiar feel Thursday at the WBL pool tournament at Defiance High School.

With five league schools gathered for the dual-meet-scored event, it was Wapakoneta and Defiance standing atop the leaderboard with the Redskins going home a perfect 4-0 while Defiance wasn't far behind at 3-1. Rounding out the team finishes was St. Marys with a 2-2 finish, Ottawa-Glandorf at 1-3, and Lima Bath (0-4).

The Bulldogs lone loss came at the hands of the Redskins, who nipped the Bulldogs 44-30 with the help of three DHS voids. Despite the loss to their old nemesis, the Bulldogs and head coach Josh Neilson were pleased with the overall outcome of Thursday's action.

"I don't think I could be more happy, I was looking at the lineups a couple of days ago and I was a bit nervous," explained the DHS mentor, whose club is 4-2 in dual matches this season. "Everyone had a full lineup except us and O-G and they were just giving up one not three like we are and I was wondering if we'd be able to pick up the deficit.

"But our kids wrestled well," lauded Neilson. "And they're getting better every day. We all pulled off a two-win day today and this gives us some confidence and lets us know what we can do. We know we've got a deficit going into every match, but these kids know they can do it (win)."

A year ago at the inaugural event, the youthful DHS squad struggled and finished with a 1-3 record. This year, the Bulldogs not only flipped that record around to 3-1, but also had every wrestler bring back at least two victories. And one victory in particular let the Bulldogs head home with their heads held high.

With a 2-1 record heading into their final match, the Bulldogs were going toe-to-toe with the Roughriders, and with one bout left the teams were tied at 33.

DHS sophomore Clay Roehrig was holding off Roughrider Zane Ginter and didn't back down by getting the match's first takedown. A turn in the second period gave Roehrig a comfortable 5-0 lead heading down the stretch, but just to be safe Roehrig had Ginter on the brink of getting backed for the final 1:30 to seal the individual and team victory.

"Clay Roehrig really stepped it up at the end," said Neilson about Roehrig, who ended the day with two victories. "People didn't think he would (step it up), but he did and it was awesome."

Neilson also lauded junior Glenn Ward for his performance that included a pair of pins and a technical fall. Ward's pin in round four against Ottawa-Glandorf's Brandon Weller was DHS' fasted fall of the night at :21.

And while Ward was turning in a 3-1 personal performance, the DHS mighty mites at 112 and 119 were proving overpowering things can come in small packages.

Last year B.J. Miller and Jordan Gonzales each went a perfect 4-0 at the league pool tourney before going on to claim league tournament titles and on Thursday they showed they were well on their way to duplicating that feat.

After drawing voids in the opener against Lima Bath, both Miller and Gonzales cruised in their final three matches to finish with spotless 4-0 marks.

"I want to get back to state so I've been working hard," said Miller, who admitted he was expecting a dominating performance from himself. "I beat half the WBL right here and this is going to build my confidence (for the league tournament)."

At 112-pound action, Miller didn't let one opponent out of the first period while at 119, Gonzales had a pin of his own along with a technical fall and a not-as-close-as-it-looked 4-0 decision over St. Marys' Zach Hedrick.

"I knew there was going to be some tough matches here," admitted Gonzales. "But I was hoping to come out of here undefeated and keep my season record (9-0) unblemished."

Not to be outdone by his counterparts, junior Terry Wagenhauser also put on a pinning display.

Like Miller, Wagenhauser refused to let any one of his opponents get a glimpse of the second period as he recorded a team-best four pins. But Wagenhauser didn't take all the credit for his 24-point performance.

"I really was trying to get all pins," said Wagenhauser. "I think I found the right weight and practicing with (Desmond) Yarnell and (Glenn) Ward our 171 and 189 pounders has really helped. Since they're heavier than me it forces me to work on technique and that's really helped."

Now, the Bulldogs will look to take the momentum gained from their superlative performance on Thursday and build on it as they head to Norwalk for the Norwalk Holiday Invitational on Saturday.

"This is going to help get us some good seeds," Neilson said about what the league pool tourney will do for his kids the remainder of the season. "We've got some good records right now and the kids got some good competition here today. We've got PIT (Perrysburg Invitational Tournament) coming up after Christmas and this will definitely help prepare us for the likes of that."

Team Scores

Defiance 39, Lima Bath 23; St. Marys 44, Ottawa-Glandorf 35; Wapakoneta 44, Defiance 30; St. Marys 42, Lima Bath 35; Ottawa-Glandorf 46, Lima Bath 36; Wapakoneta 52, St. Marys 18; Defiance 54, Ottawa-Glandorf 24; Wapakoneta 48, Lima Bath 24; Defiance 36, St. Marys 33; Wapakoneta 58, Ottawa-Glandorf 24.

Defiance Individual Finishes

112 - B.J. Miller 4-0; 119 - Jordan Gonzales 4-0; 125 - Zach Hurst 3-1; 130 - Cody Manon 2-2; 135 - Cory Carnahan 2-2; 140 - Clay Roehrig 2-2; 145 - Terry Wagenhauser 4-0; 160 - Pat Millen 2-2; 171 - Desmond Yarnell 2-2; 189 - Glenn Ward 3-1; Nolan Bachellor 2-2.