NWC: Knights, Lancers earn honors

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

ADA — Crestview had one individual champion plus two top honors, while Lincolnview had an individual champion and a milestone accomplishment at the Northwest Conference wrestling tournament at Ada High School on Saturday.

Crestview’s Gavin Grubb finished as the 126 pound champion, his second straight NWC title. Grubb finished the day 5-0 with four pins, including an 8-second pin of Spencerville’s Tanner Braun in the semifinals. He did not have an opponent in the finals and won by forfeit, then was named the NWC’s Most Valuable Wrestler.

“I’m so happy to see Gavin’s hard work and effort over the past four years be recognized by the coaches across the conference as he was voted as the NWC Wrestler of the Year,” Crestview head coach Jake Sawmiller said. “That is such a deserving recognition for Gavin and a shining moment for our program.”

Teammate Evan Walls was the runner-up at 215 pounds, and the Knights had three third place finishers: Bobby Tyas (120) Levi Grace (150), and Ayden Martin (165).

Crestview had high hopes to win the title but finished fourth overall due in part to being shorthanded on Saturday.

“It was tough as a team to know how good we were all season long and to start today shorthanded with illness and injuries,” Sawmiller explained. “Then we lost Zayden Martin at 157 pounds in the first round due to injury. After starting the day short handed with four varsity kids out due to illness and injury to start, and then to lose Zayden out of the gate really took us out of any realistic contention.”

Even so, Crestview’s wrestling program made strides and it didn’t go unnoticed, as Sawmiller was named NWC Coach of the Year.

“I was really caught off-guard when they announced my name for the award,” Sawmiller said. To start, it’s an absolute honor to be recognized by your peers for this award. However, if it wasn’t for the group of kids that Aaron (LaTurner) and I are currently working with, my name would have never been mentioned. We have the absolute best bunch of kids to have started this first run of our program with. They have shown so much personal growth over the past four years, not just with their successes on the mat but with their maturity growth as well.”

“I think that is what stood out across the conference and I can’t thank these boys enough for trusting in Aaron and I as we try to shape them into not only good wrestlers but more importantly into hard working young men that will succeed later in life,” he added. “Aaron and I have been bringing this group of boys through since they were 8-10 years old so this is a bit of an emotional year for us seeing some of their careers winding down in front of our eyes over the next few weeks.”

Lincolnview’s Joey Sawyer was the 138 pound champion, winning the title with a 5-2 decision over Bluffton’s Micah Rehm in the finals. Sawyer went 4-0 on the day with a pair of pins. In addition, Cody Ricker finished second at 144 pounds and along the way earned his 100th career victory as a junior. He’s now the third Van Wert County wrestler to achieve the feat this year, with Grubb and Grace being the other two. Zayden Harter finished fourth at 120 pounds and Dylan Hensley finished fourth at 165 pounds. Jessi Adams placed eighth at 150 pounds. The Lancers finished seventh overall with 83 team points.

Columbus Grove won the team title for the second consecutive year with 286 points, followed by Allen East (263) and Bluffton (212.5). Crestview was fourth (142), followed by Spencerville (138), Ada (93), Lincolnview (83) and Delphos Jefferson (34).