Trevor Schaller of Swanton stands atop the podium after winning at the Van Buren Invitational.
Photo courtesy of John Schaller
Dylan Cook of Swanton stands on the podium after placing second at the Van Buren Invitational.
Photo courtesy of John Schaller
Swanton’s J.D. Reisinger finished second at the Van Buren Invitational on Saturday.
Photo courtesy of John Schaller
VAN BUREN – Six of Swanton’s nine wrestlers placed on Saturday, as the Bulldogs finished in fifth place at the 29-team Van Buren Invitational.
Trevor Schaller led the way for Swanton, winning the championship at 106 pounds. Schaller started the tournament with a pin of Caleb Langhals of Columbus Grove in 1:21. He followed that with a quick, 37-second pin of Cody Kretzer of Allen East.
He put the finishing touches on the title when he got past Tyler Bauer of Wayne Trace, 4-3, in the championship final.
A pair of Bulldogs – Dylan Cook and J.D. Reisinger – finished as tournament runners-up.
Cook, who was not seeded, started the tournament with a 5-3 overtime victory over second seed Nate Vasquez of Fremont St. Joe. He then beat Jevyn Pratt of Carey 7-1 to advance to the final.
In the final, Ruger Goeltzenleuchter of Wayne Trace proved too much, topping Cook 12-1.
J.D. Reisinger opened up the tournament at 126 pounds with a pin of Daniel Mancha of St. Joe in 1:15. He then pinned Brice Spoon of McComb in 2:39.
In the semifinal, J.D. Reisinger defeated Daniel Price of Mohawk 10-4. But, in the final he was pinned by George Clemens of Wayne Trace in 1:53.
Zack Leahey of Swanton finished fourth at 145 pounds. He won his first two by pin before falling 1-0 to Damien Schmeltz of Gibsonburg.
Leahey then won three matches in the consolation bracket, defeating Dakota Kroeger of Lakota, Shawn Justus of Bluffton and Braxton Young of Hopewell-Loudon. This placed him in the consolation final, where he was pinned by Schmeltz to finish fourth.
Chase Moore was one of two sixth place finishers for Swanton. He won his first two matches by pin before falling to Wyatt Place of Delphos Jefferson 13-5.
Moore then forfeited his last two matches to finish sixth at 132 pounds.
Greg Wilson dropped his first match, but wrestled his way through the consolation bracket to place sixth. He earned two pins, then topped Jake Crouse of McComb 4-3. Wilson lost in his last two matches 3-1 and 2-1 to finish sixth.
Noah Saunders, Tyler Houston and Mitchell Reisinger each won one match for Swanton.
Elmwood won the team title with 193.5 points. They were followed by Eastwood with 166, Wayne Trace 162.5, Gibsonburg 144.5, and Swanton 120.
