Steyer wins fourth WBL wrestling title

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

LIMA — Van Wert’s Gabe Steyer won his fourth Western Buckeye League wrestling title and the Cougars had two runner-up finishers and a third place winner at the WBL Championships at Bath High School on Saturday.

Wrestling at 147 pounds, Steyer earned a first round bye then pinned Elida’s Dalton Swickrath in the semifinals in 2:51, before pinning Shawnee’s Trent Fairburn in 1:08 in the championship match.

Steyer became just the second Cougar wrestler in school history to win four WBL titles, while going 40-0 in the league over his career. His season record now stands at 35-2 and his career record is 151-17.

“Gabe has had a great career that he is hoping to finish off with a very deep run into the tournament,” Van Wert wrestling coach Ben Collins said. “He is the winningest wrestler in Van Wert history and continues to work hard to perfect his craft.”

Macein Bigham (154) pinned Shawnee’s Damion Music in 3:32 in the opening round then pinned Wapakoneta’s Jacob Schlesselman in the semifinals in 4:44. In the finals, Bigham earned a second place finish after dropping a 12-5 decision to Defiance’s Dominic Tracy.

After a first round bye at 287, Eli Kline earned a hard fought 7-4 decision over Wapakoneta’s Carl Rostorfer, then dropped a 15-1 major decision to Bath’s Carter Butler in the championship match.

In addition, Killian Sudduth notched a third place finish at 122. After getting pinned in the semifinals (1:48) by eventual champion Trevor Hisey of St. Marys Memorial, Sudduth bounced back by pinning Elida’s Isaac Fredricks in just 30 seconds, followed by a pin in 2:11 over Shawnee’s Ethan Morgan.

“Killian finished the day wrestling very well and Macein getting into the finals as the No. 4 seed was a fantastic day for him, especially pinning the No. 1 seed,” Collins said. “Eli had a good weekend wrestling well in both matches.”

St. Marys Memorial won the team title with 151 points, while Celina finished as the runner up with 145.5 points. Van Wert finished sixth with 67 points.

“We wrestled pretty well,” Collins said. “The goal was to finish in the top half, which would have been really good for only having seven wrestlers.”

The Cougars will wrestle in the Division II district tournament February 28 and 29 at Defiance High School.