Sparked by individual championships from brothers Gunner and Cannon Endicott, Elmwood captured the Northern Buckeye Conference wrestling title at Rossford on Saturday.
Konner Logston also won an individual title for the Royals, which finished with 168 points to edge out defending champion Eastwood by just 11 points.
Gunner Endicott, a junior, repeated as champion by winning the championship bout in the 160-pound weight class. Cannon Endicott, a sophomore, won the title at 152 pounds.
Logston posted a 14-4 major decision over Weston Angel of Woodmore in the 195 final.
Elmwood captured the program's first league title since the Royals won the first NBC title in 2012.
Eastwood, which had seven competitors earn a spot in the championship round and had five individual winners, finished with 157 points. Otsego was third (142.5), followed by Woodmore (109), Lake (80), Rossford (80), Genoa (64), and Fostoria (47.5).
Elmwood had six wrestlers reach the championship round, while five others competed in the consolation finals.
“It means a lot,” Elmwood coach Nick Davis said. “These guys have worked really, really hard. They're having a lot of fun even with all the [coronavirus distractions] and being week to week. I'm very proud of them. They earned it.”
Eastwood senior Brandon Hahn won the most valuable wrestler award after winning the 126-pound title. Hahn, who repeated as an NBC champ, improved his record to 44-0 this season.
Bryce Maynard (120) and Xavier Escobedo (145) also successfully defended their 2020 NBC titles for Eastwood. The Eagles' other champs were Gavin Owens (138) and Jimmy Recknagel (170).
Lake junior Eli Guyton repeated as champion at 113.
Otsego senior Cade Limes also defended his title, winning at 220. The Knights also got titles from Trevor Wilcox at 106 and Micah May at 285.
Fostoria freshman James Simms won the championship at 132.
Rossford's Herbert Eckhart V won a title on his home mat as the senior took home the championship at 182.
Davis, who had wrestlers in six of the final seven championship matches, said every guy on his Royals team contributed.
“Every one of them either won a match or came through with placement points,” Davis said. “Eastwood is very good. They are very solid at their light and middleweights. That's a good team to beat. And Otsego is a great team, too.”
Last week, Elmwood officials voted to leave the NBC to go to the Blanchard Valley Conference. Davis said to perhaps bookend the NBC with titles is special.
“To win the first one and then to maybe win the last one … we came out and got better and had fun today,” Davis said.
Gunner Endicott improved to 32-4 with a fall over Eastwood's Bryce Hesselbart with 48 seconds left in the second period.
“It's pretty cool, especially since we are changing leagues and this may be our last year in the NBC,” Gunner Endicott said. “We're feeling good, and we're getting into a groove here.”
Gunner said he has a natural sibling rivalry with his brother.
“I've got to do better than him,” Gunner Endicott said, smiling. “But it's good to see him win and keep getting better.”
One weight class earlier, Cannon Endicott (22-6) dominated his match against Rossford's Nevan Hanthorn as he won by technical fall (16-1).
“This feels really good,” Cannon Endicott said. “I came out, and I was ready. My opponents were good, but I came out and performed better. It's great to have the opportunity to win with my brother.”
Davis said the Endicott brothers put countless hours into the sport. A third brother, sophomore Alex Endicott, placed third at 170 pounds.
“They are phenomenal. They are in the room every day,” he said. “They help each other get better.”
Entering the brothers’ key weight classes, Elmwood had trailed Eastwood 152-146.5 in the team standings. But Davis said he was not scoreboard watching.
“I'm just coaching the kids,” he said. “I caught it here and there. And Eastwood was up, and then we were up. It was back and forth during the finals. Then [Eastwood coach Joe] Wyant came up to me and said 'I don't think we can catch you.' That's how I found out that we had sealed it.”
Logston (32-14) put it completely out of reach for the Royals with a 14-4 major decision.
Otsego's Wilcox (35-4) opened the meet with a 16-2 major decision over Lake's Vince Barton at 106.
Guyton (14-2) then won by fall at 113 for Lake when he pinned Genoa's Noah Tipton.
“That felt really good, especially with everything going on this season. It's kind of hard to keep everything organized,” Guyton said. “It was amazing to put as many team points as I could on the board for my team. This gives me a lot of confidence knowing I can execute.”
Maynard (40-2) gave his Eastwood team early life with a pin of Woodmore's Lukus Schaub at 120.
“It's always good to win after working so hard all year and to get out here and show how we do it,” Maynard said. “Pins are more [team] points. He must have been worn out. He wasn't squirming as much.”
Hahn, who pinned his first two opponents of the meet, kept things rolling for Eastwood when he won by injury default after he was up 13-4 over Lake's Cristian Lecki.
Simms (29-4) won by technical fall (16-0) over Eastwood's Caiden Maize as the Fostoria freshman improved to 29-4.
Owens (41-3) got Eastwood going again with a 12-2 major decision over Landon Emch of Woodmore. The Eagles got another win when Escobedo (40-2) topped Otsego's Donovan Farley 3-1 at 145.
At 170, Recknagel (39-4) got another win for Eastwood with a 13-0 major decision over Rossford's Dominic Schuler.
Eckart (23-3) earned a 9-4 decision over Elmwood’s Mason Oliver to win at 182.
Limes (28-6) won both of his matches by fall, including a pin of Elmwood's Zane Hagemeyer in the third period at 220.
In the final match, Otsego's May (17-6) won by decision over Elmwood's Kaleb Loera 3-1.
“We are confident,” Davis said. “We should build a lot of this and take it into the sectional tournament.”
First Published February 14, 2021, 12:23 a.m.
