Bethel-Tate Tigers
TEAM RECORD, LEAGUE FINISH IN 2016-17
13-8 and 6-1 in the SBAAC
HEAD COACH, YRS COACHING
Tom Donahue, 11th year as the head coach at Bethel-Tate
COACHES IN PROGRAM
Coaches – Brian Carter – junior high and hs assistant, Jason Hall and Graham Rose – high school assistants
NUMBER OF STARTERS RETURNING
We have 8 returning starters this season
NUMBER OF RETURNING LETTER WINNERS
We have 9 returning letter winners
KEY PLAYERS RETURNING
Senior, Matt Hall – 40-9 last year with 25 pins. He was an SBAAC champ and sectional runner-up and was also voted SBAAC National Division Co-wrestler of the year.
Senior, Owen Holtke – 34-8 with 13 pins was 2nd in the SBAAC, 1st in the sectional and placed 6th in the district tournament. Currently ranked 13th in the state at 182 in D3.
Junior, Trey Sander – 34-13 with 15 pins. Trey was placed 2nd in the SBAAC and 3rd in the sectional.
Senior, Bradley Lewis – 30-15 with 14 pins. Bradley was 3rd in the SBAAC and 3rd in the sectional.
Senior, Jonah Blankenship started off slow last year and only ended up with a 19-21 record but he had 13 pins and finished as and SBAAC runner-up and was 5th in the sectional tournament.
KEY PLAYERS LOST
We lost a lot of good seniors that led this team to a Regional Championship and a berth in the State Dual Tournament. Kermit Beckworth (43-9 with 30 pins) was an SBAAC and sectional runner up and also a former district placer. Wyatt O’Neil 43-8 with 30 pins last year was a league champ, a sectional champ and a state alternate placing 5th at the districts. He was also a National Division Co-Wrestler of the year. Jordan Newberry finished the season at 21-7 with 13 pins but missed half of the season with a dislocated elbow. He finished as SBAAC runner up and placed 3rd in the sectional. We also lost 3 other seniors that started for this team and brought a lot of leadership.
RIGHT NOW I LIKE …
Our team is very young overall with almost half of our roster being freshmen. The great thing is that we have some very good upper classmen that have already seen a good deal of success on the mat and are quickly showing the younger guys what it takes to do well in this sport. All of these kids are respectful, hard working young men and they are all eager to learn. The majority of the upper classmen are also great students as well and they epitomize what it means to be a successful student-athlete. Multiple guys are 4.0 students or better and this is a great example for our younger guys to see what it takes to be successful in everything they do, not just on the mat. This type of leadership makes my job a lot easier as a coach.
RIGHT NOW WE NEED TO IMPROVE …
We are just focusing on the basics right now. The first few weeks we lean heavy on the conditioning to get them into wrestling shape and right now we are trying to build good wrestling habits and good sound fundamentals. Its a long season and as long as they keep trying to improve everyday, this team can achieve all of their goals by the end of the season.
TEAM TO BEAT IN YOUR LEAGUE AND WHY
Western Brown brings a lot back so overall, they will be the team to beat but our league has a ton of quality wrestlers across the board. WB,Williamsburg, Goshen, Blanchester, New Richmond, Batavia, CNE all have “state caliber” kids that have either placed at, or qualified for the state tournament, or have the potential to do so this year. Adding in East Clinton, Wilmington and Clinton-Massie to this list and there are probably another half dozen quality wrestlers. In my 11 years here, I don’t think I’ve seen the quality of our league be this deep.
ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SAY ABOUT TEAM, SEASON
Well two seniors, Bradley Lewis and Owen Holtke were just selected as D5 All-State Honorable Mention in football. They’re hard work and dedication on the mat has carried over and brought them a lot of success on the gridiron. I’m very proud of those guys. Overall, I’m looking forward to seeing this team develop and hoping we can help them meet and exceed all of the goals they set for themselves, individually and as a team.
=====
Williamsburg Wildcats
HEAD COACH
Brandon Dean, 13 years
NUMBER OF STARTERS RETURNING
6
NUMBER OF RETURNING LETTER WINNERS
6
KEY PLAYERS RETURNING
Returning district qualifiers are Sam Patterson (junior) and Joey Groeber (senior).
KEY NEWCOMERS
We have 23 on the roster so a lot of new kids. Some key ones to watch would be freshman Derick Lay, sophomore Joey Springer, sophomore Albert Corey.
KEY PLAYERS LOST
Did not lose anyone
RIGHT NOW I LIKE …
I like the numbers and the young kids that have come in. Our room is becoming more and more competitive every day. We also have great leadership from our six returners. Sam Patterson, Joey Groeber, Tyler Conley (sophomore), David Pride (sophomore), and junior Luke Rayburn have stepped up as leaders and really push the younger kids to better people and wrestlers. They are great examples on and off the mat.
RIGHT NOW WE NEED TO IMPROVE …
Experience. We just need a lot of mat time
TEAM TO BEAT IN YOUR LEAGUE AND WHY
Western Brown and Bethel-Tate. Both represented the southwest for Ohio at the state duals for D2 and D3. That is pretty impressive for our league to have the 2 representatives for all of this area.
ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SAY ABOUT TEAM, SEASON
Just excited to see what these kids can do this year and what the future looks like for the program.
=====
Western Brown Broncos
17-18 Team Record
14-2, won fourth straight SBAAC championship
Head Coach
Wendel Donathan, 8th seasons as head coach, 28th overall
Head coaches record
At WB 68-45, Overall 152-113
7 coaches in program (7-12): Aaron Carnahan, Harmon Sizemore, Steve Swisher (HS), Aaron Chase, Justin Dillinger, Sam DiBello (JH)
Starters returning
12
Returning Letterman
12
Key Returners>
1. Jed Marlow (12) – state placer
2. Brandon Lucas (12) – 2x state placer
3. Tanner Donathan (11) – state qualifier
4. Seth Taylor (12) – state qualifier
5. Jordan Hamblin (12) – 2x State qualifier
6. Derek Spears (11) – State qualifier
7. Eric Altman (12) – 2x state qualifier
Key Newcomers
N/A
Key Players Lost
Jake Henderson (2x state placer) graduation
Right now I like…
Work ethic of our younger guys
Right now we need to improve…
leadership by our upperclassmen
Team to beat in league
Western Brown
