Gallatin varsity wrestlers served notice early and often that the “rock” would not be leaving the GHS gym at the conclusion of Saturday’s Grand River Conference Wrestling Tournament.
This website brought to you in part by the following sponsor:
With a school record 8 individual champions and 11 medalists overall, the Bulldogs swept to the third straight conference title, in the process more than doubling the score of second place Trenton. Gallatin piled up 161 points in its repeat bid for a title, easily eclipsing the 68 points scored by Trenton.
Senior Graydee Rains, closing in on the school record for most career wins despite some lost matches recently due to bad weather, captured his fourth conference title after quick pins over his only 2 opponents on Saturday. Rains improved to 33-0 in the 220-pound weight class.
Junior Drayton Harris captured his third GRC title on Saturday, pinning 3 of 4 opponents in the 170-pound class, as well as winning a 9-4 decision over runnerup Mark Trump of Trenton. Harris improved to 35-0 after Saturday’s event.
Senior Ross Critten improved to 31-3 in the 120-pound class after pinning aopponents from Stanberry and Albany. Critten came away with his third GRC title in the last 3 seasons.
Senior Ayden Wayne, wrestling at 126 pounds, won all 4 matches on Saturday to claim his second GRC championship. He won a major decision over Dylon Pappert of Stanberry in the title match. Wayne claimed his 22nd win of the season on Saturday, against 6 losses.
Junior Tom Crouse exited Saturday with his second GRC title to go with a runnerup finish in 2017. Crouse pinned a pair of opponents and won a 9-3 decision over Polo’s Joseph Hilburn for the title of the 160-pound class. Crouse improved to 27-8 on the season.
First time conference champions for the Bulldogs are freshman Andon Allen, sophomore Jacob Maize and senior Owen Schweizer. Allen made short work of his 4 matches by pinning every opponent in the first period. He improved to 31-3 after the day’s competition in the 106-pound weight class. Maize won his first GRC title in the 145-pound class after a fourth place finish last season. He pinned 5 opponents to improve to 20-14. Schweizer claimed the conference title with 4 victories in the 152-pound class, improving to 12-3 in the process. Schweizer was runnerup last season in the 182-pound class.
Freshman Rodell Sperry wrestled as well as any Bulldog on Saturday put found himself up against unbeaten Wyatt Segar of Polo in the 132-pound title match. Sperry took a 6-1 lead early in the match but couldn’t hold on as Segar pulled out a 15-9 victory. Sperry’s runnerup finish nonetheless upped his season record to 28-8.
Senior Justice Fry placed third for the Bulldogs in the 195-pound class. Freshman Dyson Fry also earned a third place medal in the 295-pound class.
The Bulldogs defeated Hamilton on Tuesday, 43-33. Harris and Wayne won contested matches for Gallatin.
The Bulldogs travel to Albany High School on Saturday for the Albany Tournament.