Hornet Holiday Invitational kicks off wrestling season

Southern Local claimed the team title and host Malvern earned the runner-up spot at the Malvern Holiday Invitational held Dec. 9 in the Hornet gym.
The Indians tallied 207 points with Hornets at 194.5 in the 26-team field. Waterloo was third 179, Liberty fourth 151, Carrollton B fifth 140, United Local sixth 131, Louisville seventh 116 and Carrollton C eighth 80. The Malvern B team finished 17th, Southern Local B 20 and Conotton Valley 23.
Two Hornets claimed two championships, Tyson Clear and Zach Babiczuk, and three runners-up.
Clear pinned his way through the 175 lb. bracket and was named the MVP for the third consecutive year. The junior pinned W. Mills Western Reserve (2:37) in the opening match, A. Brown of Southern Local (1:48) and J. Watson of. Liberty (1:12) in the title match.
Babiczuk, a 215-pound senior, pinned Jake Bead of Louisville (1:46), Isaac Ray of Canton Central Catholic (1:10) and Kenneth Frishkom of Southern Local (:44) in the title match.

Placing second were Van Steele (138), Gabe Campbell (144) and Tommy Kidder (157).
“The kids did an outstanding job today,” said Malvern Coach Robbie Wilson. “Having five kids in the finals is a new record for us and placing 11 wrestlers shows the depth we are building as a program.”
He had words of praise for his champions.
“Tyson and Zach both had a great day. Tyson pinned his way through the tournament and was named tournament MVP for the 3rd year in a row. Zach also wrestled well and finished strong with a pin in the finals”
Other placers for Malvern included: Dalton Pennington (120) and Matt Pucci (150) third; Dante Passio (165) fifth; and Noah White (113), Darrin Wade (120) and David Baughman (132) sixth.
Carrollton
The Warriors crowned two champions: freshman Sawyer Broadwater at 106 lbs. and sophomore John Childs at 138.
Broadwater won his first two matches by pin: Pierre Castino of Louisville (:20) and junior Dublin Porter of Waterloo (3:34) before posting a 9-2 win over Shakir Thomas of Liberty in the title bout. Childs pinned his way through the bracket after a bye in the opening round. He pinned Hayden Driver of Louisville (3:30), Gage Smith of Southern Local (1:09) and Steele of Malvern (3:48) in the championship.
Teammate Cohen Little, also a freshman, placed fourth at 106.
Another pair of freshmen, Ozzy Roybal, placed second at 113 and Nic Peebles fourth at 120.
Junior Jon Byler placed second at 126 and freshman Brody Gonda was third in the same weight class. Sophomore Hayden Thomas placed second and sophomore Gavin Slutz rounded out the scoring in 4th at 190 lbs.