Handell and Laubis Start the Season Off with Dominant Wins in Wrestling Home Opener; Kenton Falls to Shawnee 55-16

The Kenton wrestling team opened the season with a home dual meet against Lima Shawnee on Thursday night.  Despite nice wins from Senior, Matthew Handell and Sophomore, Brison Laubis at heavyweight; Shawnee won five of the seven contested matches defeating the Wildcats 55-16.

Handell took on Senior, Gabriel Jamison in the 215 weight class.  The match was scoreless in the first period; but Handell was able to secure the pin late in the second (3:25) after Jamison chose to start in the bottom decision. 

Brison Laubis followed with a dominant win over Xhaidan Coleman in the heavyweight matchup. Laubis was able to score five takedowns and nearly pinned Coleman at the end of the match, but ran out of time.  Laubis defeated Coleman by a major decision 21-8 only giving up one early reversal, some penalty points and escapes.

Junior, Harrison Brien came up just short in an exciting back and forth match at 132 lbs with Kestahn Jones. Brien scored a late takedown in the third period to tie up the match, but then gave up an escape with very little time remaining and the match ended with Jones up by only 1 point with a final score of 13-12.

Sierra Vansky, wrestling for the Wildcats at 113 lbs, accepted a forfeit for six team points, but the Wildcats returned the favor at 106, 138, 150, 157, and 165 lbs. Kapanka, Davis, Poland and Elliott dropped their matches to some very tough competion at 126, 144, 175 and 190.

The Wildcats look to rebound as a team when they face Ottawa-Glandorf at home next Thursday before competing at the Bucyrus Tournament next weekend.

Match Results:

      0-6 | 150 – Ryan Music (LS) by Forfeit

    0-12 | 157 – Skylar Whitaker (LS) by Forfeit

    0-18 | 165  – Josh Parish (LS) by Forfeit

    0-24 | 175 – Drew Neidemire (LS) over I. Poland by Fall (1:28)

    0-30 | 190 – Zach Kreider (LS) over E. Elliott by Fall (3:06)

    6-30 | 215  – Mathew Handell (K) over G. Jamison by Fall (3:25)

  10-30 | 285 – Brison Laubis (K) over X. Coleman by Maj. Dec. (21-8)

  10-36 | 106 – Dylan Melson (LS) by Forfeit

  16-36 | 113 – Sierra Vansky (K) by Forfeit

  16-36 | 120 – Double Void

  16-42 | 126 – Tate Ditto (LS) over L. Kapanks by Fall (1:12)

  16-45 | 132 – Kestahn Jones (LS) over H. Brien by Dec. (13-12)

  16-51 | 138 – Peter Dwyer (LS) by Forfeit

  16-55 | 144 – Alejandro Reyes (LS) over K. Davis by Maj. Dec. (16-2)