MANSFIELD – It must be catching.
First, the Kansas City Chiefs are rebuffed in their bid to become a three peat Super Bowl champion. Then, the UConn men’s basketball team falls short in its quest for a three peat NCCA championship.
And, now, the Ontario Warriors wrestling team has fallen through the three peat trapdoor.
Not that the Warriors did anything wrong. Quite the contrary.
They made it very interesting, producing an area-high three medalists at the state meet in Columbus. But, in the end, they were overtaken by the Ashland Arrows – and their consistently strong performance this winter – in the News Journal’s final Wrestling Power Poll of the 2024-25 season, thus ending Ontario’s two-year reign.
It took one of the best seasons in program history for Ashland to stake claim to No. 1. And the Arrows might be just getting started.
They will return eight of their 11 district qualifiers next season and all four of their state participants, including sophomore medalists Mason Bauer (126 pounds) and Guardian Miller (144).
In fact, the 2025-26 outlook for area wrestling in general is terrific.
Eleven of the 13 state medalists and 16 of the 18 state qualifiers will be back after a season that saw seven of the 12 teams in this poll produce state qualifiers and five boast multiple medalists.
Here’s a more detailed breakdown of each team and their final ranking:
1. Ashland: All you need to know about the Arrows is that they finished third in their Division I regional meet behind two nationally-ranked teams, 2025 state champ Lakewood St. Edward and Perrysburg, which finished third in the state standings.
OK, that’s not all you need to know. The Arrows won the renowned Medina Invitational Tournament for the first time and went on to repeat as Ohio Cardinal Conference and sectional champion behind second-year coach Tommy Bauer.
Miller and Mason Bauer were joined at state by fellow sophomore Max Ohl (113) and junior Budda Martin (215). Bauer finished third at state and Miller was fourth. All four won 40-plus matches, only the second time in program history four qualifiers have put up those kind of numbers.
Bauer and Miller led the way at 51-7 and 50-7, respectively, followed by Martin (47-18) and Ohl (41-12).
Eight other Arrows won at least 25 matches each, with Bauer and Miller on pace to join 2023 grad Jon Metzer as four-time state qualifiers. They also have the best chance of eclipsing the school record for career victories (173), held by 2019 state champion heavyweight Josh Bever.
2. Ontario: The Warriors might have put a three-peat in their pocket had injuries not gotten in the way. Junior Aiden Ohl, ranked No. 1 all season at 113 in DII, suffered a high ...
