Heavyweight victory leads Monarchs to fourth straight divisional wrestling crown

Marysville’s boys wrestling team claimed its fourth consecutive Cardinal Division title following a nerve-racking 33-32 triumph over Olentangy.

Coach Nate Andrews and his Monarchs knew the road to another Ohio Capital Conference divisional title would run through Braves Country. 

At one point Marysville trailed  27-0, but battled back with the heavyweight match being the ultimate deciding factor.

MHS trailed 32-31 before the heavyweights took the mat.

The tension was great as Gage Counts of Marysville and Daniel Stephens exhausted a trio of overtime periods.

Marysville’s Gage Counts (left) grapples with Olentangy’s Daniel Stephens (right) during the final period at 285 pounds. The Monarch road out Stephens in the final 30 seconds to secure the team’s fourth straight OCC divisional title.

(Journal-Tribune photo by Aleksei Pavloff)

Counts won to secure the team victory and Cardinal crown.

“In order for us to win this match, we had to flip two matches and we did not,” Andrews said. “We got the scripts flipped on us a little bit… it was a great battle and that’s a good team.” 

The Braves equaled Marysville heading into the match as both crews were undefeated (4-0) in conference duals.

Although the Monarchs defeated Olentangy during the state duals tournament, neither team was at full strength. The state duals match did not matter in the Cardinal Division standings.

Despite surpassing the Braves in the first match-up, Andrews knew his grapplers had to be ready to battle on Thursday.

Starting at 106 pounds, Olentangy’s Luke Mokros pinned Marysville’s Evan Beany in the first period for a 6-0 lead.

Kurt Mokros, Olentangy’s 113-pounder, followed with a second-period pin over Ben Jones, bumping the spread to 12-0.

The streak continued with Olentangy’s Preston Schuler (120) earning a 4-1 triumph over Gage Riley. That added three points for the Braves.

Olentangy’s Nolan Gregson (126) claimed another second-period pin over Trent Sharp as the Braves climbed to a 21-0 lead.

The Braves stayed in the driver’s seat at 132 pounds.

Nick Piontkowski secured a pin during the second period against MHS’ Brayden Shuster.

That pushed the Delaware County team up by its 27-0 advantage.

Erick Nelson (138) finally got the Monarchs on the board with a 3-1 verdict over Brandon Ault.

Olentangy was then penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct. That took away one team point and left the Braves up 26-3.

Olentangy’s Jake Piontkowski (144) overcame Boston Burkhardt for an 8-5 decision. That boosted the Braves’ upper hand at 29-3.

Nathan Semel (150) of Olentangy overtook Carter Shank in a 10-2 decision, bumping the Braves to a lopsided 32-3 spread.

The tide began to turn for the Monarchs during the 157-pound match.

MHS’ Cameron Taylor claimed a 13-4 major decision over Zach Zunic, which added four points for MHS.

Cole Clarridge followed at 165 by putting Olentangy’s Nick Burger to the mat in the second period.

MHS got into double-digit scoring, but still trailed 32-13.

The Monarchs earned another six points when Malachi Anderson won the 175-pound match with a forfeit.

Marysville’s Carson Mize made his long-awaited return from an injury in good fashion.

He pinned Olentangy’s 190-pounder Brennon Hoye in the first period.

The Monarchs pulled to within 32-25 with the pinfall.

Marysville’s 215-pounder James Lowe delivered another first-period pin. He toppled Aires Jones, narrowing MHS’ gap to 32-31 heading into the final match.

Everything culminated when Counts and Stephens took to the mat.

Stephens had defeated Counts twice before this season.

Thursday’s match went the distance in regulation.

The two grapplers exhausted three periods, tying at 2-2 before sudden victory.

“[Stephens] has a double-leg that’s out of left field, so we knew our hand level had to be down,” Andrews said after the match. “Gage was very well-coached tonight. but it falls on 14 guys.”

“I knew I was going to have a match like that,” Counts said, complimenting his team for setting up the finale. “I knew they (Olentangy) were a tough team and it was going to come down to me.”

The fierce battle saw Counts and Stephens go into three 30-second tie breakers.

“My strategy was just to win,” said Counts.

The Monarch wrestler held firm during the ultimate ride-out period.

He kept Stephens on bottom, which led to Marysville’s team triumph.

“At first I didn’t know that I won,” Counts said, adding he turned to the officials to confirm he in fact won the match. “I am just super-happy for everybody.”

“I was pretty grouchy during 144 and 150… there was a lot of unanswered points,” Andrews said.

The Monarchs concluded their OCC tour with a 5-0 record.

“It feels great really… I haven’t known anything else,” Counts said about being a part of his third OCC title team. “This is just something we do.”

With the regular season now at a close, the Monarchs are focused on the upcoming Division I postseason.

“I think we need to work on fighting off our back,” Counts said. “Those pins almost killed us today.”

“Like I told the team; what a great win and a great way to end the regular season,” Andrews said. “Now let’s focus on the postseason.”

In his initial year as the head coach, Andrews took home his first OCC title. While taking in the moment, he credited his predecessor for building the crew to what it is.

“I hope there are many more to come,” Andrews said. “I will say it was the momentum of a good program that was already established.”

Postseason preparations are already underway for the Monarchs, who will go back to the room to sharpen their skillsets.

“We have to be able to not get turned on bottom,” Andrews said. “All we have to do is fight through situations.”

The D-I sectional tournament will be held on MHS’ home mats on Saturday, Feb. 24.