Mount Vernon News

Jackets declaw Tigers

MOUNT VERNON — The Mount Vernon High School wrestling team celebrated Senior Night in winning fashion on Thursday night. Hosting the Pickerington Central Tigers, the Yellow Jackets romped to a 43-30 victory. With the win, Mount Vernon improved to 4-0 in the Ohio Capital Conference Cardinal Division, which sets up a showdown at Olentangy on Thursday for the title. The Braves beat Worthington Kilbourne, 60-10, to remain undefeated as well.

“This is real nice,” said Mount Vernon senior Michael Lybarger. “We came out and wrestled like we talked about all week in practice. Sometimes, it seems like when we get up against tougher competition, we back down. Tonight, we didn’t do that and we came out and performed well.”

Starting at 215, Mount Vernon jumped on the Tigers. Jacket Dane Cullen led all three periods over Cory Crosby, posting a 6-4 win. Pickerington Central’s Mike Williams knocked off heavyweight Marshall Cramer by a pin in 1:45 to give the Tigers their only lead of the night, 6-3.

From there, Mount Vernon rattled off four wins in a row. 103-pounder Matt Belcher jumped out to a 10-0 lead after one period and finished off the match in the third period with a tech fall in 4:26. At 112, Mount Vernon’s Charlie Hill gave Aaron Williams little breathing room as he rolled to a 13-1 lead after one period. Hill finished the match at the 3:13 mark with a tech fall, giving the Jackets a 14-6 advantage. Brent Kramp (119 pounds) added to that lead with a pin of Pickerington Central’s David Lee in 1:22. Brody Fletcher won at 125 pounds by pinning Pickerington Central’s Tyler Knepper in 3:13.

Mount Vernon senior Jordan Berry led early in his match at 130 pounds, but Pickerington Central’s Chaz Hager rolled over and caught Berry on his back. Hager, on his back as well, recorded a defensive fall in 2:28. Corey Sheller put the Jackets back on the winning track at 135 pounds. Sheller came from behind to beat Marc Smith, 5-3.

At 140 pounds, Lybarger put his 46-3 record to the test against the Tigers’ Patrick Terry. Terry offered little resistance for Lybarger, who led 12-2 in the first period. Lybarger continued his assault in the second period and tech falled Terry in 3:53. Lybarger recorded five near falls in the match. The win gave Mount Vernon a 34-12 advantage.

“Everyone is going to come out and wrestle you different — their own style,” said Lybarger. “I knew I had the match under control. I got a couple of takedowns and it just went from there.”

Pickerington Central’s Ron Rhodes handed Andy Barber a defeat at 145 pounds, winning by pin in 3:02. Mount Vernon’s J.J. Maglott returned the favor at 152 by pinning Max Gowins in just 1:10. Maglott’s victory guaranteed the Jackets an overall match victory.

Jacket senior Derek Hudson then stepped up to face Ryan Williams at 160 pounds. Hudson and Ryan Williams battled for the first two minutes with neither being able to record a point. Hudson chose to start on the mat in the second period and escaped for what turned out to be the only point of the match. In the third period, Hudson held his opponent down to seal the win.

“It is nice to go out here and get a win,” said Hudson. “We talked in practice about getting up quick, but it was tough. I was trying some tilts, but I wasn’t feeling real comfortable with that. ... I was trying to turn him and I actually had him a couple of times, but he was a good wrestler.”

The final two matches of the night (171 and 189 pounds) each went the same way, but unfortunately, not the way of the Jackets. The Tigers’ J.D. Cecil and Nick England recorded win in their weight classes, respectively. Cecil pinned Trevor Boyd in 2:11, and England got a fall of Rex Little in 5:32.

“This is a hard place to come into and wrestle, especially when you start attacking right off the bat,” said Mount Vernon coach John Brown. “We had a nice stretch with out lighter kids. I was disappointed with the outcome of Berry’s match — the defensive fall. It’s a bummer because he was wrestling a good match. They did a real nice job tonight. I hate to lose five matches all by pin, but all in all, I thought we wrestled well.”

Heading into Thursday’s match, the Jackets will be facing the fourth-ranked team in the Central District. It is nothing new for Mount Vernon, which has faced some of the best teams in the state.

“We’ve wrestled some tough teams this year,” said Brown. “We’ve wrestled the best the Central Ohio area has to offer, but this will be a challenge. So far against the tougher teams, I don’t think we’ve stepped up to that challenge yet. I want to see the guys go out, wrestle and rise up to the challenge. If we do that, I think it is going to be an interesting match. We have our shots.”

“We are always underrated,” said Lybarger. “We are going to go down there and go after them. We are wrestling to win. Hopefully, it goes well.”

First up, however, is a weekend tournament. The Jackets will take part in the Thomas Worthington Cardinal Invitational on Saturday.

“It is real important for us to wrestle well this weekend to get our confidence up,” said Hudson. “We will, hopefully, get a lot of good wrestling in and prove our ability out there. A lot of people said we couldn’t do it (win the OCC), but we want to show them we can.”

“I want to see us wrestle through the match,” Brown said. “Win or lose, I want to see improvement.”