Only half a point separated the Adams Central BAGUBAS from Jay County at the end of the night Friday at the ACAC Wrestling Championships in Monroe and the winner was not known until the very last moment of the final bout, as Gavin Rumple effectively won the title for the Jets by losing by decision to Alan Ortiz in the heavyweight title bout.
Ortiz needed a major decision or better to give Jay County the surprise title, but Rumple wrestled well, surviving the first period without yielding points and giving up just one takedown to the ranked Ortiz. That came in the second period and Ortiz never got close to the required eight-point lead.
The dynamics of the predicted final score changed greatly throughout the night. Jay County seemed to have done enough by the time the 215 final rolled around, knowing that Ortiz would be the favorite at 285, but Ethan Funk not only upset #1 seed Jake Boots of Bluffton in the final – he did it by fall, scoring six team points.
The Patriots were counting on a Funk loss in the finals to give them the lead as their Brice Coy took third with a pin. Instead, AC’s lead grew with the 215 results instead of shrinking.
Another hero in the late-night heroics for the Jets was Max Nussbaum. Wrestling AJ Myers from Jay, Nussbaum did everything he could to avoid a major decision, but a late takedown by Myers seemed to have given the Pats some momentum as it pushed the margin from an 11-5 decision to a 14-5 major. Looking back, however, Nussbaum did just enough and had he lost by fall or tech, the heroics from Rumple would not have been possible.
The Jets got their lead by claiming titles at four consecutive weights (for AC, at least). Those extra points helped them overcome the hole in their lineup – the forfeit at 144. Dylan Ogg, Brason Schortgen and Mav Dubach all won their weight classes with falls in the finals, but it was the fourth title of the night that was the most thrilling.
Max Byerly was seeded first for the Jets at 165 and met #2 seed Nathan Plattner in the finals for an Adams County showdown. Neither wrestler found a takedown in the opening period and Plattner deferred his choice, handing Byerly a point when Max chose down to start the second. The free point stood at the end of six minutes as the only point scored in the bout, giving Byerly an improbable route of victory, but a victory nonetheless. Plattner’s choice of neutral in the third was made in fear of the riding ability with the legs of Byerly and it ended up being the difference in that weight class.
Credit also goes to the Jets who did not make the finals but went unbeaten in the third-place bouts. Ezra Liechty, Myles Kaehr, Jackson Bingham, and Xander Schwartz added twelve collective points to AC’s team total on the consolation side of the bracket to give the guys in the finals a chance to retain the trophy.
For South Adams, Dakota Sprunger was the only champion in a rather disappointing round that saw them drop from third place to fourth place as the Starfires put eight in the finals but won just one title. Sprunger built a lead over Kale Beer with nearfall, dragging his opponent in both directions until he could get the turn. Sprunger sealed his title with a takedown in the third.
Titus Loshe (shown below) reached the finals with a big win in the semis over Sylas Wenk of Jay County with a tech fall at 120.
Along with Ortiz’s title at 285, Jay County claimed champions at 106 with Corbin Lothridge and Griffin Byrum at 113. AJ Heskett also won at 144.
Bluffton’s Levi Johns was the class of the 120 bracket, pinning Titus Loshe in just 37 seconds in the finals.
Southern Wells also had a champ, with Jarin Frauhiger building a 13-1 lead over SA’s Will Patterson before winning by fall at 132.
Jax Litchfield gave the Heritage Patriots their own conference champ at 175, taking advantage of the absence of AC’s Matt Heiser and moving to 33-3 on the year with a tech fall of Wes Summersett in the finals.
The five southern teams in the conference will compete at next week’s Jay County sectional, while Heritage and Woodlan will wrestle at New Haven.
Team Scores: Adams Central 256, Jay County 255.5, Bluffton 200, South Adams 196, Southern Wells 129, Heritage 103.5, Woodlan 53
Championship Bouts
106-Corbin Lothrdige (JC) d. Brock Sprunger (SA), 6-1
113-Griffin Byrum (JC) p. Max Adams (SA), 1:07
120-Levi Johns (B) p. Titus Loshe (SA), :37
126-Dakota Sprunger (SA) d. Kale Beer (AC), 8-1
132-Jarin Frauhiger (SW) p. Will Patterson (SA), 5:40
138-Dylan Ogg (AC) p. Parker Barnes (B), 2:59
144-AJ Heskett (JC) p. Parker Nash (B), 1:08
150-Brason Schortgen (AC) p. Braxtyn Hough (SA), 3:21
157-Mav Dubach (AC) p. Caleb Sibray (JC), :54
165-Max Byerly (AC) d. Nathan Plattner (SA), 1-0
175-Jax Litchfield (H) t.f. Wes Summersett (SA), 20-3
190-AJ Myers (JC) m.d. Max Nussbaum (AC), 14-5
215-Ethan Funk (AC) p. Jake Boots (B), 4:47
285-Alan Ortiz (JC) d. Gavin Rumple (AC), 4-3
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