Mt. Zion Kids Club Braves the Weather at the Clinton Challenge

The Mt. Zion Kids Club had another great turnout at the Clinton Challenge despite the wintery weather conditions.  Twenty-seven Mt. Zion wrestlers fought their way to another solid team finish with an overall record of 43-41 and 7 1st place finishes.

In the 5-6 year old division, Andrew Wike and Kooper Loehr led the team with 1st place finishes.  John Bowling and Reese Edwards each had great days finishing in 2nd place.  Brycen Benner and and Gavin Hicklin each had victories in their first tournament appearances.  Grafton Barrows continues to improve despite a tough day.

The Bantam wrestlers had a tough day facing some very tough opponents.  Grant Edwards and Jeric Longfellow ended the day in the second place.  Zach Lane, Logan Petro and Nate Bowling each wrestled well to 3rd place finishes.  Austin Cannon continues to have a good season with a 4th place finish and Gabriel Sphar fought hard through 3 very tough matches.  

The Midget Division wrestlers struggled most of the day, but finished with a 5-2 record in the final round.  Matthew Wike and Ryan Scharf each placed 1st in their brackets.  Jacob Morgan finished in a 3-way tie for 1st place, but was given 2nd place based on the tie-breaker rules.  First year wrestler, Connor Sphar had a great showing finish in 2nd place.  Connor has improved in every tournament this season.  Cole Geisler, Robert Bennett, Cody Riley, and Michael Lane each competed very well.  

The Novice Division wrestlers had a very good day with 3 of the 5 wrestlers finishing in 1st place.  Nathan Jozsa, PJ Riley and Ryan Scharf each finished in 1st place.  Jake Eckenrod and Cody Cannon each managed to find the toughest brackets in this division, but continue to make the club proud with their hard work.  

Our lone representative in the Senior Division was Timothee McElroy our wrestler/basketball player.  Timothee continued to improve with a 3rd place finish despite a bracket filled with state qualifiers.  Timothee's double-duty means that he usually only gets 1 practice each week.  What he misses in practice, he makes up for with heart.  The club is very pleased to have Timothee representing Mt. Zion in the Senior Division.      

Results 

Tots 

John Bowling–2nd, Andrew Wike-1st, Kooper Loehr-1st, Reese Edwards–2nd, Gavin Hicklin-3rd, Grafton Battows-4th, Brycen Brenner-3rd

Bantam 

Grant Edwards–2nd, Zachary Lane–3rd, Nate Bowling–3rd, Austin Cannon– 4th, Gabriel Sphar–4th, Logan Petro-3rd, Jeric Longfellow-2nd 

Midget 

Jacob Morgan–2nd, Ryan Scharf–1st, Robert Bennett–3rd, Connor Sphar-2nd, Cole Geisler–3rd, Michael Lane–4th, Cody Riley–3rd 

Novice 

Jake Eckenrod–3rd, Ryan Scharf-1st, Nathan Jozsa–1st, PJ Riley–1st, Cody Cannon–4th 

Senior 

Timmy McElroy – 3rd