Ashland University's wrestling team hasn't completely run the Great Midwest Athletic Conference since joining the league – but the Eagles have come close.
On Saturday (Jan. 25) at Findlay, Ashland won the conference title for the fourth time in five years, basically going wire-to-wire at the 2025 Great Midwest Championship. The Eagles had three champions and 17 placers in earning 159.5 team points, 35.5 ahead of second-place Tiffin.
"I was very proud of the way the men competed," said Ashland head coach Colt Sponseller. "The team really stepped up through some adversity. We definitely have areas where we need to continue to improve to get better, but it was a great gauge of where we are at as a team. This is a goal of ours every year to be G-MAC champs, and gives us a lot to build off of going in to the back half of the year.
While Ashland has won four Great Midwest wrestling titles, no other league program has won more than one.
Ashland's three individual championships came from sophomore 149-pounder
Hayden Kuhn, junior 174-pounder
Sevriano Garza and sophomore 184-pounder
Peyton Lemon.
- Kuhn went 3-0 with a pin and major decision on Saturday, winning his title in a 10-3 decision over Findlay's Cade Cass.
- Garza also was 3-0 with a technical fall and major decision on the day. His championship came 5-1 over Tiffin's Jakob Hurley.
- Lemon's 4-0 day was highlighted by a tech fall and two major decisions, and he won his title bout in overtime, 8-5, over Lake Erie's Jordan Barnett.
The Eagles' team title was a complete squad effort:
SECOND PLACE – Sophomore
Luke Acuna at 125 pounds, freshman
Brock Durbin at 141 pounds, senior
Kaine Morris at 197 pounds and junior
Wyatt Bailey at 285 pounds.
THIRD PLACE – Freshman
Lance Overmyer at 157 pounds, junior
Nate Barrett at 165 pounds, sophomore
Braden Welch at 184 pounds and sophomore
Elisha Baldridge at 285 pounds.
FOURTH PLACE – Freshman
Rylen Campbell at 133 pounds and junior
Zander Graham at 157 pounds.
FIFTH PLACE – Sophomores
Kane Epperly at 165 pounds and
Hayden Flynn at 174 pounds.
SIXTH PLACE – Sophomores
Caleb Wetzel at 141 pounds and
Reese Redman at 197 pounds.
UP NEXT
Back to the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium on Friday (Jan. 31) at 7 p.m. for Youth Night vs. No. 9 Tiffin.
