Talented sophomores, freshmen make up Archbold wrestling squad

ARCHBOLD - The Archbold High School wrestling team is loaded with youth primed to make noise now and in the future.

The Blue Streaks lineup is filled with talented sophomores and freshmen. Five sophomores, led by 135-pound stalwart Jordan Cowell, qualified for the Division III district tournament.

Cowell (54-4) earned a berth in the state meet last year as a freshman. He was joined in this year's district tournament by classmates Oliver Stuckey (130), Cody Kovnesky (152), Tyler Rufenacht (160), and Eli Urbina (171). Freshman Ben Eggers (103) also qualified for the district meet last weekend at Owens Community College.

"Going into the year I knew we were young and I was pretty optimistic," Archbold coach Brian Becher said. "But it was like Forrest Gump and that box of chocolates. I didn't know what I was going to get until things got rolling. Momentum is so huge to young kids."

But Cowell was a known commodity, the son of a former Archbold state champion, John Cowell. Jordan went 1-2 in Columbus last year in the 130-pound weight class.

"His whole family revolves around the sport," said Becher, who is in his eighth season at the helm of the Blue Streaks. "He puts in tons of time. There is no one on our team that has come close to putting in the time, including the offseason. He comes in to school at 7 a.m. almost every day to workout. It is phenomenal. He is a disciplined kid and he's always in a good mood."

Cowell won his second straight sectional championship Feb. 20. Stuckey (47-11) and senior Shem Neuenschwander (35-14 at 189) also claimed individual sectional crowns.

Juniors T.J. Weirauch (46-11 at 119) and Brandon Dennie (49-8 at 285) each placed second at the sectional meet.

From the 130-pound weight class up to 171, Becher has seven sophomores. Kovnesky (33-17), Rufenacht (27-7), and Urbina (27-22) also were district qualifiers.

The young grapplers helped lead the Blue Streaks to a third-place finish in the team standings. Archbold was just 14 points behind first-place Liberty Center.

Last weekend, Cowell fell in the district finals to South Central's Payton Oney by a 3-1 decision.

As runner-up in his weight class, Cowell will be the lone Blue Streak to advance to the state meet, which starts tomorrow at Schottenstein Center in Columbus.

Becher had lost five starters, including four district qualifiers, to graduation coming into the season.

But he said of his 12 sophomores, six either had a father or brother who was a state qualifier at Archbold.

"We have a wealth of experience in that one grade and that's really unusual at a school this size," Becher said.

"Those kids have been around wrestling their whole life and they put in the extra work."

Cowell is so dedicated that he knows both main styles of the sport, Greco-Roman and freestyle. He also is a certified official.

"He wanted to get his license just so he knew all the rules," Becher said. "He's a real student of the sport."

Cowell was one of nine sophomores who earned a varsity letter as a freshman last year.

"When they put on that Archbold singlet there is a lot of tradition behind it," Becher said.

"Other kids don't want to wrestle you because of it."

Archbold has had seven individual state champions with the last in 1999.

"I want our guys to not only expect to place, but to win at state," Becher said.

"Hopefully with this great sophomore class, we'll get those expectations up there. I hope to build on this year. We are to the point where only good things will happen."

Contact Mark Monroe at: mmonroe@theblade.com

or 419-724-6354.

41.5223 -84.30632

Jordan Cowell of Archbold, right, battles Payton Oney of South Central in the 135-pound division in Division III district finals. THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON Enlarge | Photo Reprints

The Archbold High School wrestling team is loaded with youth primed to make noise now and in the future.