Josh Ruble

The wrestling program at Tyler Consolidated is progressing well and has improved greatly since the beginning of the season, says head coach Chad Snider.

“We are improving and overcoming errors that we were making earlier in the year,” he said. “The athletes are progressing nicely, we have learned a considerable amount of new moves. Each competition brings wrestlers from different areas that also bring in different styles, techniques, and moves.”

“We are constantly introducing new moves so we can keep up with the variety of styles that each wrestler experiences. A wrestler has to be very well rounded to be competitive and that requires the knowledge of what to do in countless situations.”

Over the weekend the team participated in a tournament at Cameron, with every Knight wrestler competing, placing at the event.

At 106, freshman Zach Bonner was able to secure an overall second place, at 113 lbs.; Jerrod Longwell brought home the fourth place in his weight class; Chase Cooper was awarded second place at 126 lbs.; Joe Henthorn wrestled his way to third; Josh Ruble brought home second; senior Dustin Tawney was the champion at 182; Jay Earley came up with a fourth place at 195; and Austin Spencer received a second place in the 285 division.

Joe Henthorn (Photo by James Buck)

“I was pretty happy for the guys,” Snider said. “It’s nice to get rewarded for our hard work.”

“Some of our wrestlers are finally finding their “bread and butter”. It’s nice to see our wrestlers become individuals and pick up certain moves they’ve learned and make that move their own. We are looking forward to the rest of the season.”

On Jan. 2 the team traveled to Beallsville for a triangular with the home team and Barnesville.

“Beallsville has built a strong program and it showed from the little amount of points our athletes scored,” the coach said.

“We faired a bit better against Barnesville, but still weren’t able to secure a win as a team.”

The heavyweight competition turned out to be the highlight of the competition for the Silver Knights with Spencer securing 12 points. He won by forfeit against Beallsville and by points against Barnesville.

Knight wrestlers also scoring points against Barnesville were: Henthorn, Raphe Bailes, Billy Chichick, Tawney, and Earley.

Due to the cancellation of a scheduled dual later in the season, the Silver Knight wresters will host their senior night on Jan. 8.

The team will host Cameron and St. Marys high schools with wrestling scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Senior night ceremonies will take place before the action begins.