Pantherontheporch
Well-known member
The Panther wrestling season is around the corner and just down the block. Practice officially starts two weeks from Friday on November 17 with the season commencing on Thursday, December 7. As of now, EHSports lists an 18 point varsity schedule (out of a permissible 20); it includes ten duals and five tournaments. No Elder Duals is listed on the schedule.
The Panthers are slated to host duals against Springboro (the season opener on Friday, December 8), East Central (IN), Colerain, Fairfield, Moeller, and Ryle. They will travel to LaSalle, Harrison, Oak Hills, and St. Xavier.
The tournaments are the same as last season: the Ryle Raider Rumble, SWOWCA Glen Sample Classic (Middletown), Brecksville Invitational Holiday Tournament, Catholic Invitational (Toledo St. John), and Rieman Invitational (Delaware Hayes).
The first day of the OHSWCA State Duals (which doesn’t count toward a team’s schedule point total) will be Saturday, February 3, at sites to be announced. If the Panthers do not advance to the second day the following Saturday, they will have three full weeks off until the sectional meet on February 24. In the past it seems that Coach Roush usually scheduled two weeks off before the sectional meet (presumably for any injuries to heal up), but I do not recall three weeks off (but of course I could be wrong). Who knows, if the Panthers don’t advance, since they will be two points to the good on schedule points, in order to help keep the Panthers sharp but still give them two weeks or more off before the sectional meet, maybe he could find a local team that also didn’t advance and has a half point to spare and whose head coach would like to schedule a dual sometime during the week of February 4.
Rule changes for this season include permitting a wrestler to wrestle six matches in a day (but no more than 10 matches in two consecutive days), requiring a wrestler to have 30 minutes of rest between two consecutive matches (down from 45 minutes), and permitting facial hair so long as skin check can still be conducted. (I presume Elder still prohibits facial hair during school hours but maybe we’ll see a Panther grappler or two sporting Elvis mutton chops as he steps onto the mat at Brecksville during Christmas break.) From what I’ve read none of these changes should prove to be controversial.
Here is the Panther lineup Coach Roush used at last season’s Middletown sectional minus the seniors (all classes mentioned in this and all subsequent paragraphs are as of this year):
106: Colin Broxterman (sophomore);
113: Konner Lambers (junior);
120: Joey Thamann (junior);
126: Ben Weigand (senior);
132: Brady Mentz (senior);
138: Joey DiTullio (junior);
144:
150: Phil Corcoran (senior);
157: Lucas Kurzhals (senior);
165:
175: Brayden Kuhling (senior);
190: Ian James (senior);
215: Carson Williams (junior);
285: Michael Yerian (senior).
Recall that last year, for the second year in a row, Lambers and Thamann both earned a trip to the Schott.
With a few exceptions, who knows what anyone weighs now. Assuming everyone is back, this year’s team is not a young team.
POTP Bold and Fearless Preseason Prediction #1: I predict that Broxterman will wrestle 106 and Yerian will man 285.
Lambers wrestled 123 last month at a tournament at Fort Wayne, so we’ll see if 113 stays in his rear view mirror all this season. Thamann and DiTullio have spent this fall playing football for Coach Ramsey, they’re listed at 145 and 160, respectively. Yerian was listed on the football roster at 275 at the start of the season but at some point his name ceased being listed (more on him later).
Those who could be in the hunt for a spot include seniors Brady Little and Phil Owens; juniors Connor Glassmeyer, Ben Kallini, Tyler Lorenzen, Jacob Mentz, Zack Ridner, and Jacob Schlachter; and sophomores Carson Adkins, Brandon Black, Joey Carter, Landon Casey, Seb Hignite, Andrew King, Nate Macmorine, Trevor Magness, Luke Peace, Grant Pope, Quinn Riechmann, and Isaiah Zerilla. (My apologies if I missed anyone or listed someone who is not wrestling this season.)
I’m given to understand that no freshman will claim a starting spot.
POTP Bold and Fearless Preseason Prediction #2: I predict that Black and Magness will duke it out for 113.
Last season Yerian finished fifth at Kettering (the only Panther to do so) and just missed earning a trip to the Schott. He finished with an impressive record of 40-16. For the upcoming season Yappi wrestling rankings guru Borofan has him fifth in D-I in the Kettering District (and #15 statewide) behind Lucas Stuerenberg (Moeller, junior, #1 in Kettering and #4 statewide, fourth last March at the Schott), Abel Ngoh (Miamisburg, senior, #2 in Kettering and #6 statewide, sixth last year at the Schott), Richard Thornton (Springboro, senior, #3 in Kettering and #10 statewide, ’23 state qualifier), and Dezmund Gayle (Walnut Hills, senior, #4 in Kettering and #14 statewide, ’23 district qualifer). Last season Yerian was 0-3 against Stuerenberg (3-1, 3-0, and 8-4), didn’t wrestle Ngoh, was 1-0 against Thornton (10-3), and 0-1 against Gayle (3-2). Of course it is a long season, and many things can happen between now and Kettering, but if they all are healthy there it would seem to be a safe bet that Stuerenberg and Ngoh will claim two of the four 285 tickets to the Schott, leaving Thornton, Gayle, and Yerian to battle for the other two. May the best men win.
As stated previously, when the Panther football season opened Yerian was listed on the roster as an offensive lineman (#52) at 275, but sometime during the season he was no longer listed on the roster. My first thought was that maybe the Yerians had moved (they had won the lottery and relocated to Malibu?). But then I noticed that Michael remained on Borofan’s D-I 285 list all these weeks. Since Borofan has all kinds of sources, I presume that sadly the Yerians did not win the lottery and have not relocated west, and therefore Michael still attends Elder and will be wrestling this season.
As for this year’s GCL-S, LaSalle once again will be trouble as they did not start a senior at the Middletown sectional. The Lancers will return their four ’23 state placers, Alijah Mohanna (sophomore, seventh at 106), Aiden Allen (senior, third at 120), Holden Huhn (junior, seventh at 132), and Carson Thomas (junior, second at 165); and three other ’23 state qualifiers, seniors Eli Marengo, Jack Willen, and Kam Harden. They also will return seniors Sebastian Vega and Will Cole, junior Jahmir Davis, and sophomore Colin Wooldridge.
Moeller will return their two ’23 state placers, Will Adkins (junior, sixth at 215) and Stuerenberg; their two other ’23 state qualifiers, Londen Murphy (junior, ’22 fifth at 126) and Stone Busler (senior); and seniors Jared Johnston (3x district qualifier) and Jet Sanchez (’23 district qualifier).
St. Xavier did not have any state qualifiers last season but will return one ’23 district qualifier, junior Owen Koerner. Their other ’23 district qualifier who was an underclassman last season, Carson Adkins, is a sophomore who now wrestles in the Panther wrestling room. The Bombers also have freshman Kane Shawger (’23 OAC champ at 120). Borofan ranks him second in D-I at 120 behind sophomore Karson Brown of LSE, last season’s D-I champ at 113, but ahead of wrestlers who placed last season, so you know Shawger has some talent.
Before last season’s state tournament the Elder Wrestling Wall of Champions had 51 entries representing 39 Elder wrestlers who have placed at the state tournament. Last March then-sophomore Lambers added his name to the Wall once again, becoming the eleventh Panther to place at the state tournament more than once and joining only Nick Spatola to have done so as a freshman and as a sophomore. Three Panthers placed three times: Spatola (’98, ’99, and ’01), Orlando Scales (’07, ’08, and ’09), and Ian Korb (’09, 10, and ’11). No Panther grappler has ever placed at the state tournament his first three years at Elder.
As of now I intend to cover the grapplers in the same manner as I have during the past almost seven seasons. So if you are an Elder parent and at a dual meet some guy in a flannel shirt (always a flannel shirt) asks you a question about Elder’s lineup, recent wrestle-offs, who is currently on the mat for Elder due to the lack of an announcer (I know only a few of the grapplers by sight), etc., it’s probably me. As for tournaments I’ll post results here as they’re posted online on Track or wherever.
If a Panther gets dinged in a match I am attending I will mention it since it happened in public but I will use the NHL injury report approach (“he had to be helped off the mat with what appeared to be a lower body injury” or “he came down hard and came off the mat with what appeared to be an upper body injury”) but I will not speculate as to the exact nature or extent of his injury. I think this is well in line with the rules of yappi. However, if I am informed by a coach or parent that he or she would rather I didn’t mention a particular injury incident I of course will not do so. If a Panther gets dinged in practice and I find out about it and it is the reason he isn’t wrestling in a meet I will not post anything about it as that would not be my place to do so since practices are not open to the public.
Please post any additions, clarifications, corrections, or deletions.
Best of luck and good health this season to the Panther grapplers!
The Panthers are slated to host duals against Springboro (the season opener on Friday, December 8), East Central (IN), Colerain, Fairfield, Moeller, and Ryle. They will travel to LaSalle, Harrison, Oak Hills, and St. Xavier.
The tournaments are the same as last season: the Ryle Raider Rumble, SWOWCA Glen Sample Classic (Middletown), Brecksville Invitational Holiday Tournament, Catholic Invitational (Toledo St. John), and Rieman Invitational (Delaware Hayes).
The first day of the OHSWCA State Duals (which doesn’t count toward a team’s schedule point total) will be Saturday, February 3, at sites to be announced. If the Panthers do not advance to the second day the following Saturday, they will have three full weeks off until the sectional meet on February 24. In the past it seems that Coach Roush usually scheduled two weeks off before the sectional meet (presumably for any injuries to heal up), but I do not recall three weeks off (but of course I could be wrong). Who knows, if the Panthers don’t advance, since they will be two points to the good on schedule points, in order to help keep the Panthers sharp but still give them two weeks or more off before the sectional meet, maybe he could find a local team that also didn’t advance and has a half point to spare and whose head coach would like to schedule a dual sometime during the week of February 4.
Rule changes for this season include permitting a wrestler to wrestle six matches in a day (but no more than 10 matches in two consecutive days), requiring a wrestler to have 30 minutes of rest between two consecutive matches (down from 45 minutes), and permitting facial hair so long as skin check can still be conducted. (I presume Elder still prohibits facial hair during school hours but maybe we’ll see a Panther grappler or two sporting Elvis mutton chops as he steps onto the mat at Brecksville during Christmas break.) From what I’ve read none of these changes should prove to be controversial.
Here is the Panther lineup Coach Roush used at last season’s Middletown sectional minus the seniors (all classes mentioned in this and all subsequent paragraphs are as of this year):
106: Colin Broxterman (sophomore);
113: Konner Lambers (junior);
120: Joey Thamann (junior);
126: Ben Weigand (senior);
132: Brady Mentz (senior);
138: Joey DiTullio (junior);
144:
150: Phil Corcoran (senior);
157: Lucas Kurzhals (senior);
165:
175: Brayden Kuhling (senior);
190: Ian James (senior);
215: Carson Williams (junior);
285: Michael Yerian (senior).
Recall that last year, for the second year in a row, Lambers and Thamann both earned a trip to the Schott.
With a few exceptions, who knows what anyone weighs now. Assuming everyone is back, this year’s team is not a young team.
POTP Bold and Fearless Preseason Prediction #1: I predict that Broxterman will wrestle 106 and Yerian will man 285.
Lambers wrestled 123 last month at a tournament at Fort Wayne, so we’ll see if 113 stays in his rear view mirror all this season. Thamann and DiTullio have spent this fall playing football for Coach Ramsey, they’re listed at 145 and 160, respectively. Yerian was listed on the football roster at 275 at the start of the season but at some point his name ceased being listed (more on him later).
Those who could be in the hunt for a spot include seniors Brady Little and Phil Owens; juniors Connor Glassmeyer, Ben Kallini, Tyler Lorenzen, Jacob Mentz, Zack Ridner, and Jacob Schlachter; and sophomores Carson Adkins, Brandon Black, Joey Carter, Landon Casey, Seb Hignite, Andrew King, Nate Macmorine, Trevor Magness, Luke Peace, Grant Pope, Quinn Riechmann, and Isaiah Zerilla. (My apologies if I missed anyone or listed someone who is not wrestling this season.)
I’m given to understand that no freshman will claim a starting spot.
POTP Bold and Fearless Preseason Prediction #2: I predict that Black and Magness will duke it out for 113.
Last season Yerian finished fifth at Kettering (the only Panther to do so) and just missed earning a trip to the Schott. He finished with an impressive record of 40-16. For the upcoming season Yappi wrestling rankings guru Borofan has him fifth in D-I in the Kettering District (and #15 statewide) behind Lucas Stuerenberg (Moeller, junior, #1 in Kettering and #4 statewide, fourth last March at the Schott), Abel Ngoh (Miamisburg, senior, #2 in Kettering and #6 statewide, sixth last year at the Schott), Richard Thornton (Springboro, senior, #3 in Kettering and #10 statewide, ’23 state qualifier), and Dezmund Gayle (Walnut Hills, senior, #4 in Kettering and #14 statewide, ’23 district qualifer). Last season Yerian was 0-3 against Stuerenberg (3-1, 3-0, and 8-4), didn’t wrestle Ngoh, was 1-0 against Thornton (10-3), and 0-1 against Gayle (3-2). Of course it is a long season, and many things can happen between now and Kettering, but if they all are healthy there it would seem to be a safe bet that Stuerenberg and Ngoh will claim two of the four 285 tickets to the Schott, leaving Thornton, Gayle, and Yerian to battle for the other two. May the best men win.
As stated previously, when the Panther football season opened Yerian was listed on the roster as an offensive lineman (#52) at 275, but sometime during the season he was no longer listed on the roster. My first thought was that maybe the Yerians had moved (they had won the lottery and relocated to Malibu?). But then I noticed that Michael remained on Borofan’s D-I 285 list all these weeks. Since Borofan has all kinds of sources, I presume that sadly the Yerians did not win the lottery and have not relocated west, and therefore Michael still attends Elder and will be wrestling this season.
As for this year’s GCL-S, LaSalle once again will be trouble as they did not start a senior at the Middletown sectional. The Lancers will return their four ’23 state placers, Alijah Mohanna (sophomore, seventh at 106), Aiden Allen (senior, third at 120), Holden Huhn (junior, seventh at 132), and Carson Thomas (junior, second at 165); and three other ’23 state qualifiers, seniors Eli Marengo, Jack Willen, and Kam Harden. They also will return seniors Sebastian Vega and Will Cole, junior Jahmir Davis, and sophomore Colin Wooldridge.
Moeller will return their two ’23 state placers, Will Adkins (junior, sixth at 215) and Stuerenberg; their two other ’23 state qualifiers, Londen Murphy (junior, ’22 fifth at 126) and Stone Busler (senior); and seniors Jared Johnston (3x district qualifier) and Jet Sanchez (’23 district qualifier).
St. Xavier did not have any state qualifiers last season but will return one ’23 district qualifier, junior Owen Koerner. Their other ’23 district qualifier who was an underclassman last season, Carson Adkins, is a sophomore who now wrestles in the Panther wrestling room. The Bombers also have freshman Kane Shawger (’23 OAC champ at 120). Borofan ranks him second in D-I at 120 behind sophomore Karson Brown of LSE, last season’s D-I champ at 113, but ahead of wrestlers who placed last season, so you know Shawger has some talent.
Before last season’s state tournament the Elder Wrestling Wall of Champions had 51 entries representing 39 Elder wrestlers who have placed at the state tournament. Last March then-sophomore Lambers added his name to the Wall once again, becoming the eleventh Panther to place at the state tournament more than once and joining only Nick Spatola to have done so as a freshman and as a sophomore. Three Panthers placed three times: Spatola (’98, ’99, and ’01), Orlando Scales (’07, ’08, and ’09), and Ian Korb (’09, 10, and ’11). No Panther grappler has ever placed at the state tournament his first three years at Elder.
As of now I intend to cover the grapplers in the same manner as I have during the past almost seven seasons. So if you are an Elder parent and at a dual meet some guy in a flannel shirt (always a flannel shirt) asks you a question about Elder’s lineup, recent wrestle-offs, who is currently on the mat for Elder due to the lack of an announcer (I know only a few of the grapplers by sight), etc., it’s probably me. As for tournaments I’ll post results here as they’re posted online on Track or wherever.
If a Panther gets dinged in a match I am attending I will mention it since it happened in public but I will use the NHL injury report approach (“he had to be helped off the mat with what appeared to be a lower body injury” or “he came down hard and came off the mat with what appeared to be an upper body injury”) but I will not speculate as to the exact nature or extent of his injury. I think this is well in line with the rules of yappi. However, if I am informed by a coach or parent that he or she would rather I didn’t mention a particular injury incident I of course will not do so. If a Panther gets dinged in practice and I find out about it and it is the reason he isn’t wrestling in a meet I will not post anything about it as that would not be my place to do so since practices are not open to the public.
Please post any additions, clarifications, corrections, or deletions.
Best of luck and good health this season to the Panther grapplers!
