photo by: Kim North

Union Local’s Jaxon Lewis records a takedown against Oak Glen’s Kayden Spencer in their 138-pound bout during Friday night’s OVAC Bill Hinegardner Class 4A Dual Meet Championships inside the Brooke County Wellness Center at Brooke High School. Lewis prevailed by a major decision as the Jets defeated the Golden Bears and Indian Creek on their way to the team title.

WELLSBURG – For the first time in more than three decades Union Local is atop the OVAC Dual Meet championship podium.

Friday night inside the Brooke County Wellness Center at Brooke High School, the top-seeded Jets showed why they were the top dogs with wins over No. 3 Oak Glen (40-31) and second-seeded Indian Creek (61-17) to claim their first team title since the early 1990s. However, it was their first-ever OVAC Bill Hinegardner Class 4A Dual Meet crown.

“We wrestled well. We wrestled tough,” Union Local head coach Nate Starkey said. “We matched up kind of weird against Oak Glen, but the kids came to wrestle. The same thing against Indian Creek, they kids wrestled tough. They work really hard. I’m proud of them.”

The event was broken down into three separate dual meets as No. 4 East Liverpool had to withdraw due to sickness and injury.

In the Oak Glen dual, Union Local trailed 25-20 with five matches remaining, but four consecutive wins by the Jets allowed them to soar to the victory.

OVAC Ron Mauck champion Gunnar Gossett (165), a junior and returning OHSAA Division III state runnerup, got the ball rolling when he posted a technical fall.

Freshman Ethan Meyer followed with a pin and junior all-Ohioan Brody Perzanowski followed suit as the margin increased to 37-25. Junior Kolten Snyder (215) earned a 2-1 decision over Noah Schmidt to seal the deal.

The Golden Bears winners included Jordan Tomsic (106), Liam Flanegin (132), Wyatt Wolanski (144), Seth Witherow (150) and Parker Boyce (157).

“We knew they had a couple of really good kids at the end of their lineup,” Oak Glen head coach Josh Cornell said. “We were hoping to win a couple of the closer matches, which we didn’t, but, overall, I’m proud of the way they competed.”

Against Indian Creek, the Jets didn’t waste any time in asserting themselves, bolting to a 32-0 lead behind a pin by Max Dubiel (113), a last-second decision by Cole Rogers (120), a technical fall from George Groves (132) and a trio of forfeits to Luke Kildow (106), two-time OVAC Ron Mauck titlist Gamble Gossett (126) and Jaxon Lewis (138).

Leading 38-11, the Jets four hammers at the end of the lineup – Gunnar Gossett, Meyer, Perzanowski and Snyder – all picked up wins, with Meyer and Perzanowski registering falls.

The Redskins wins came from Ethan Starr (144), Ian Starkey (157) and Luke McMillion (285).

Oak Glen defeated Indian Creek 50-18 in the other dual.

“It was a tough day for us,” Indian Creek head coach Brandon Pendleton said. “We knew coming in that we had our work cut out for us. We’re more of a tournament team than a dual team.”