(Above, Ryan Weaver gets his hand raised after winning his match Thursday night during Fremont Ross’ 46-27 win over Findlay.)
FREMONT – Tied with rival Findlay through six weight classes Thursday night, someone needed to come up with a big win for the Fremont Ross wrestling team.
That’s where juniors Ryan Weaver and Dean Hetrick came in.
Weaver, who was wrestling a weight class up at 145 pounds, picked up a definitive 11-1 major decision to put the Little Giants ahead.
Dean Hetrick pins his opponent to help the Ross wrestling team defeat Findlay Thursday night.
Two matches later, with Findlay having re-taken a two-point with a pin at 152, Ross looked to Hetrick. Hetrick, wrestling in place of injured senior Jackson Weissinger, got off to an early deficit, but came up with a second period pin to pick up six big points for the Little Giants on their way to a 46-27 win over the Trojans.
“Ryan Weaver has been working really hard for us in the weight room and in the wrestling room,” said head coach Matt Guhn. “…He came in and wrestled for the team tonight. I asked them last night, ‘Who’s willing to bump up to ’45?’ and he was the first one to say, ‘I’ll do it for the team, coach.’ That’s how he is.
“(Hetrick) is filling in for Jackson Weissinger. Anytime you’ve got somebody filling in, sometimes you don’t know what to expect,” Guhn added. “To see him come out and compete like he did tonight and really fight – he’s another one, right there with Ryan Weaver, I’m very happy with. When you can call a guy up from a JV lineup to a varsity lineup and six points, you can’t ask for anything more than that.”
Following Hetrick’s pinfall victory, Ross picked up a pair of default victories at 170 and 182 pounds. When Xavier Urbina pinned his opponent at 195 pounds, the Little Giants clinched their first duel match victory of the season (1-1 record).
“I got goosebumps. That’s a good sign,” Guhn said. “I love seeing kids come out and get better each week. My training plan is a little bit different than a lot of peoples and now we’re starting to see our kids start to win those close matches we were losing at the beginning of the year. We’re focused more on cleaning things up instead of just going high-intensity, live wrestling. We’re getting into more of the details now – which some of the guys would have loved to have at the beginning of the year – but at the same time, we were trying to get their lungs full of oxygen. It’s a process.”
Brock Firstenberger (138) also picked up a win by pin while Bryce Moreland (132) and Ethan Green (285) won by decisions. Yuseef Atkins (113), Alejandro Melchor (170) and Brayden Guhn (182) won via defaults.
The Little Giants returns to action Wednesday, Jan. 29 with a match at Oak Harbor.
“I’m really proud of my whole team, to come out and show pride in Fremont Ross, keeping their cell phones away, coming out wanting to compete and show our community that we’re going to be here for a while,” Guhn said. “We’re going to be a good program to come watch.”
Fremont Ross 46, Findlay 27
106 – Hudson Goegel (F) def. Gage Ross, 5-1 dec.
113 – Yuseef Atkins (FR) via default
120 – Ethan Mitchell (F) via default
126 – Jimmy Phadphom (F) def. Michael Kirksey by pin
132 – Bryce Moreland (FR) def. Andres Cruz, 5-4 dec.
138 – Brock Firstenberger (FR) def. Kevin Strawbridge by pin
145 – Ryan Weaver (FR) def. Camden Warstein by pin
152 – Jonah Smith (F) def. Isaac Smith by pin
160 – Dean Hetrick (FR) def. Cayden Freyman by pin
170 – Alejandro Melchor (FR) via default
182 – Brayden Guhn (FR) via default
195 – Xavier Urbina (FR) def. Tyler Treft by pin
220 – Jake Noon (F) def. Osirus Johnson by pin
285 – Ethan Green (FR) def. Max Farmer, 8-2 dec.