Bulldogs claim GRC wrestling title with five individual champions

Gallatin’s dominant performance in Saturday’s Grand River Conference Wrestling Tournament  at Trenton cemented the team’s standing as one of the best in GHS history.

Ross Critten

The Bulldogs finished with nine wrestlers in the running for championships and came home with five individual titles on their way to a 182.5 to 119.5 victory over runner up and two-time defending league champion Maysville. Gallatin’s only previous league wrestling title came in 2007.

Gallatin’s five champions combined to win 21 matches in the round robin format. Ross Critten, Drayton Harris, Wyatt Bird, Declan Schweizer and Graydee Rains each came home with GRC crowns. Keegan Allen, Caleb Boyd, Tom Crouse and Michael McLey each lost only one match to finish with second place medals.

Ayden Wayne was a third place finisher for the Bulldogs. Dalton Swalley and Dakota Martin each placed fourth for Gallatin.

Critten, who remains the #1 Class 1 wrestler in the 106-pound class, drew a first round

Drayton Harris

bye, then defeated both Jeremy Wimer of Albany and Gaige Sherer of South Harrison.

Allen defeated Stanberry’s Mateo Messner and South Harrison’s Nick Williams before dropping a 7-2 decision to Maysville’s Connor Berry in the 113-pound weight class.

Wayne’s lone win in three matches in the 120-pound class came by pin over Jaren Van Meter of South Harrison.

Harris won all five of his matches by fall to claim the conference title in the 132-pound class, defeating Trenton’s Zane Rottman, Maysville’s Jared Eads, Stanberry’s Mark Donaldson, South Harrison’s Griffin Jennings and Albany’s Will Engel.

Wyatt Bird

Boyd pinned Polo’s Gunner Keller and North Andrew’s Brody Herbert, decisioned Trenton’s Eric Lovett, 8-4, and lost to Maysville’s #1 Kaleb Popplewell in the 138-pound class.

Bird also went 5-0 in the 145-pound class with pins of Alex Scott of Polo, Rueben Gage of Stanberry, Trent Strong of Maysville, Noah Lewis of Trenton and Kaden Ehrhardt of North Andrew.

Schweizer won all three of his matches in the 152-pound class, including pins of Trenton’s Nick Wattenbarger and Maysville’s Jakob Wade, and a win by 7-2 decision over Patrick Covey of Polo.

Crouse won two close decisions against South Harrison’s Gavin Johns (3-0) and Stanberry’s John Shanks (2-0), pinned Polo’s Joseph Hilburn, but lost, 11-4, to Trenton’s Drew Rorebeck.

Swalley placed fourth in the 170-pound class and Martin took fourth in the 182-pound division.

Graydee Rains

Rains, now the #3 ranked wrestler in Class 1, 195 pounds, won all five of his matches by pin, taking down Maysville’s Bryndan Vessar, Albany’s Trevor O’Neal, Polo’s Luke Cory, Stanberry’s Zach Oldham and Trenton’s Whitney Jadan.

McLey’s only loss came against Stanberry’s Elory Anderson. McLey pinned South Harrison’s Lane Fuston, Maysville’s Michael Saucedo, Polo’s Earl Cory and Trenton’s Cole Little.

Gallatin defeated Mid-Buchanan, 57-18, and beat West Platte, 70-6, last Thursday on Senior Night at GHS. The Bulldogs defeated Wentworth and Hamilton, 58-9, Tuesday night. Jared Williams and Gaven Gray each won exhibition matches for Gallatin.

Declan Schweizer

The Bulldogs currently have eight varsity wrestlers with at least 25 wins and ten with single digit losses.

Gallatin wrestlers travel to Stanberry on Thursday for their final dual competition before the district tournament, which will be held Feb. 10-11 at Richmond High School.