Perrysburg repeats as league champions

Perrysburg went into the Northern Lakes League tournament finals Saturday at Southview in a solid position to repeat as champion.

Ten of the 13 weight division championship matches included a Yellow Jacket, and Perrysburg owned a 32.5-point lead over the next closest team.

Only a complete collapse would prevent Perrysburg from becoming the first team to repeat as champions since Maumee won in 2008 and 2009.

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Luke Boff, a 195-pounder, and J.P. Newton at 152 recorded pins in their respective finals as six Yellow Jackets won crowns, and Perrysburg finished a resounding victory with 213 points.

Southview was runner-up with 165.5 points, followed by Maumee (130.5), Springfield (108), Anthony Wayne (90), Bowling Green (69), Northview (51.5), and Napoleon (23.5).

Ryan Roth (138), Jake Fleming (145), Connor Hoffman (160), and Micah Carter (220) also collected individual NLL titles for Perrysburg.

"This is huge," said Perrysburg coach Sam Cotterman.

With plenty of returners back from last year's league-title winning group, the Yellow Jackets expected to repeat.

"We want to make that our goal every year," said Cotterman, who is in his second year at Perrysburg.

Boff stopped Maumee's Johnny Arroyo in one minute, 27 seconds to claim his second straight championship.

"We all came out here and wanted to repeat what we did last year," Boff said. "We worked hard all week for this."

Newton, a sophomore, allowed his finals match to last 3:17 before he put Springfield's Kyle Ruiz on his back.

Cotterman said Newton's win was most impressive considering he moved him up two weight classes for the league meet.

"Asking a sophomore to do that, he really stepped up," Cotterman said.

Roth started a string of four straight Yellow Jackets winning individual titles when he scored a 5-4 overtime decision over Southview's Luke Zastrow.

Fleming outlasted Southview's Brendan Mulvaney to score a 10-8 win at 145. Hoffman followed Newton's victory by scoring a 2-0 decision over Northview's Logan Funchion at 160 pounds.

Carter also became a league champion for the third year in a row after coming away with a 7-4 decision over Maumee's Nick Grzegorzewski at 220 for the Yellow Jackets' last individual win of the day.

AW's Vince Schneider opened the championship matches by outlasting Southview's Tanner Ruiz to score a 5-1 victory at 106, followed by Generals teammate Christian Yates pinning Southview's Spencer Boyer at the 3:21 mark at 113 pounds.

Yates, a junior, won a league title as a freshman, but missed the competition last year after being ruled ineligible. He returned this season quite motivated.

"I set my goals in the summertime, and you work hard for this," Yates said.

Southview's Bryce Ibarra collected the 120-pound title by scoring an 11-3 win over AW's Tommy Irwin. Northview's 126-pound senior Todd Enis stopped Perrysburg's Alec Herhold with a 10-5 decision.

"I wanted to bring it home for Northview," said Enis, who owns a 29-3 record for the season. "Every kid I wrestled was tough, and I didn't want to overlook anybody."

Springfield's Alex Gearig (132) was in total control in defeating Perrysburg's Jamie Waltermeyer by a decisive 11-0 count. The Blue Devils senior claimed his third title.

"I hadn't been wrestling well but I knew I could win," Gearig said.

Maumee's Rocco Caywood defeated BG's Sawyer Shull, 7-3, at 170-pounds.

"I could've done better, but I got the job done," Caywood said.

Springfield's Ross Lonsway won the 182-pound title by outlasting Perrysburg's Alex Morse for a 3-1 victory.

Southview's Kyle Stout pinned Perrysburg's Cale Bonner at the 4:54 mark of the 285-pound match to complete the tournament.

Contact Donald Emmons at: demmons@theblade.com, 419-724-6302, or on Twitter @DemmonsBlade