photo by: Kim North

Linsly’s Malaki Washington has a grip on University’s Ryder Hastings during their 190-pound championship match during Saturday’s OVAC Ron Mauck Wrestling Championships inside WesBanco Arena. Washington won by technical fall for his second title. He also won two years ago.

WHEELING — It was quite a night Saturday inside WesBanco Arena as the 72nd annual OVAC Ron Mauck Wrestling Championships came to a conclusion after three days of action inside WesBanco Arena.

History was made on several levels — both individually and team-wise — while a set of brothers stood high atop the awards podium. Of the 14 individual champions, two were freshmen; five were sophomores and two were juniors. There were four senior titlists.

Individually, Beaver Local senior Robert Buchheit (150) joined an elite class when he became only the eighth wrestler to win four titles. He won at 120 as a freshman; 132 as a sophomore and 138 as a junior. He posted a narrow 1-0 victory over Cambridge’s Marshall Laishley, the only point coming on a second period escape.

“I feel a little tired, but it feels great. I just came off of ACL surgery and I cut three months off of my recovery time so I could wrestle here,” Buchheit said. “It was a goal, but everything is a goal. My No. 1 goal is to stand atop the podium in Columbus.”

A pair of schools — Linsly and Union Local — each crowned three individual titlists in the same year for the first time.

The Cadets included sophomores Brock Humphrey (120) and George Mamakos (138), along with senior Malaki Washington (190). The championships were the second for each. Humphrey jumped out to a 9-2 lead after two periods en route to a 15-5 major decision over University’s Jude Benson.

“This title feels amazing. I didn’t know if I was even going to wrestle,” Humphrey said. “I got the flu on Tuesday, but I gutted it out.”

With the win, Humphrey surpassed his father, and coach, Brian, in OVAC titles with his two. Brian won at 119 in 2004 as a member of the Wheeling Park team.

“That was my goal. I want to get two more.”

Mamakos earned his second title in exciting fashion with a 4-1 nod over Steubenville’s Julius Mullins. Tied at 1, Mamakos scored a takedown 12 seconds into overtime to prevail.

“This one feels better than last year. I wrestled one of my good friends last year and another one tonight,” Mamakos said. “Everyone in the (Ohio) Valley is good. It puts me to my best.”

Another thing that puts Mamakos to his best is his training partner, Humphrey.

“He put a little pressure on me by winning first, so I had to follow his lead.”

Washington took a 6-1 lead after one period and led 16-3 after two before recording a 20-3 technical fall over University’s Emeron Murphy.

“I wouldn’t say this title is more special than two years ago, but if you know what I mean, it means more,” Washington explained. “The first one is always going to be special to me and close to my heart, but this one felt like it was bound to happen after last year. I went through (knee) surgery and I didn’t place where I wanted to last year, but this year I felt a lot better and got it done.”

Linsly head coach Kevin Valentine was proud of his squad.

“It’s amazing for those three,” he said. “All of our kids competed hard this weekend. Brock and George work against each other every day, so they will only keep getting better. Malaki has been a great addition, not only to our team, but he is a great kid.”

Union Local’s three kingpins were the Gossett Brother combo of Gamble (126) and Gunnar (165), a sophomore and junior, respectively. They were joined atop the podium by junior Kolten Snyder (215).

Gamble repeated his championship from 2025 with a 23-8 technical fall over Caldwell’s Jesse Pemberton, who entered the match at 39-0.

Gunnar, a returning OHSAA state runnerup, had the most exciting finish of the night when he pulled out an improbable – not to him – victory over Cameron’s Eli Tedrow. The Dragons’ junior held a 7-4 advantage with time winding down as the two were tangled up. Gossett, somehow, rolled Tedrow to his back for the pin in 5:52.

“It doesn’t matter the score is or what the odds are, you’ve got to continue to wrestle,” Gossett explained. “This is an amazing feeling to be able to do this with my brother, and the great thing is, we get to try and do it again next year.”

Snyder capped the Jets night with a 10-6 decision over University’s Ryder Hastings. The match was deadlocked at 6 before Snyder escaped and then recorded a takedown in the last 30 seconds.

“To have three champions in one year is an amazing thing at this tournament,” Union Local head coach Nate Starkey said. “These kids work so hard every day in the (wrestling) room. As a team to place second (In Class 4A) is outstanding. Beaver Local is a strong team. I can’t be any happier.

University repeated as the overall and Class 5A champion with 316 points. That total fell two points shy of Parkersburg South’s all-time mark. The Hawks went 3-4 in the championship finals, but one of the victors was head coach Ken Maisel’s son, Nico at 144, as he posted a 14-10 decision over Barnesville’s Colt Carpenter.

“Winning back-to-back is nice and the individual winners, but we didn’t wrestle well in this round,” the coach said. “The awards and all are nice, but there is still work to do and the kids know that.”

Other individual champions were Beaver Local’s Jordan Bates (106); Martins Ferry’s Jayce Nixon (113); University’s Colton Gillespie (132); Beaver Local’s Jake Hughes (157); University’s Maximus Fortier (175) and Indian Creek’s Luke McMillion (285).

Hughes’ championship was his second and he was also named the Hercules Award winner with the most pins in the quickest time in the championship bracket. He had four in 6:33.

QUICK PINS

– The other seven four-time champions include Bridgeport’s Bobby Douglas, East Liverpool’s Mark Emmerling, Edison’s Kelly Shields, St. Clairsville’s Zack Schuller, Wheeling Park’s Abbie Rush, Martins Ferry’s Clay Tucker and Beaver Local’s Adam Hoppel.

– Bates, a freshman, won his title on the same night that his father, Jake, was honored as a member of the 25-anniversary team. He won at 106.

– Team champions were all repeat winners: University (Overall, Class 5A); Beaver Local (Class 4A); Barnesville (Class 3A); and Cameron (Class 1A/2A).

– The OVAC Bill Hinegardner Dual Meet Championships will take place on January 28 (Class 1A/2A and Class 4A) and January 29 (Class 3A and Class 5A) at Brooke and John Marshall, respectively.