By Cort Reynolds

VAN BUREN - The youthful Bluffton High School wrestling team won the 17-team Div. III sectional team title Saturday at Van Buren as a whopping five Pirates finished first in their respective weight classes.

Three of the Pirate champions are freshmen, while the other two are sophomores.

Bluffton claimed the crown with 175.5 points. Mohawk was second with 166, followed by Columbus Grove (136) and Carey (132).

Freshman Ronald Kaufman won the 106 lbs. title., and fellow freshman Alex Nance took first in the 113 lbs. division. Sophomore Branden Cross captured the 120 lbs. class crown.
Freshman Hephaestion Weyer took first in the 126 lbs. division. Sophomore Mason Shank dominated his competition to win the heavyweight crown.

Junior Evan Grothause took second at the 190 lbs. bracket. Senior Jett Blackburn was fourth at 150. 

A top-four finish at sectionals in any weight class confers district qualification. Thus the seven aforementioned Pirates will compete in the Div. III district meet at Rossford February 28-March 1.

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Bluffton junior Micah Rehm ended up in sixth place at 144 lbs.

Kaufman was the top seed in the 106 lbs. division and lived up to his billing. He went 3-0 with wins by technical fall, pin and ultimately a 12-6 decision in the title round. Kaufman is 29-6 this season.

Nance was also the one seed at 113 lbs. He went 3-0 with two decision wins and a pin to improve to 25-13.

Cross was the first seed at 120 lbs. and also delivered with three straight wins, two by pin. In the title bout he triumphed by technical fall, 17-1. Cross improved to 31-12 on the season.

Second-seeded freshman Weyer completed a Pirate sweep of the four lightest weight classes by capturing the 126 lbs. crown. He won his first quarterfinal match by pin, then took the semifinals by decision. 

In the title bout, Weyer rolled to a 16-1 technical fall win over the top seed from Arcadia.

Shank was seeded second in the heavyweight class. He recorded two quick pins in under a minute to take his first two bouts. At the semifinal round, he pinned his opponent in 5:26.

In the championship bout, Shank pinned the top seed from Tiffin Calvert in 3:04. The perfect 4-0 day with four pins lifted his season record to 37-7.

Grothause was seeded third in the 190 lbs. bracket. He won his first two matches by decision to reach the title round. In the finals, he was pinned at 4:34 by the top seed from Patrick Henry. His season record is 30-9.

Blackburn was seeded sixth at 150 lbs. He won his first two matches by decision, then lost in the semifinals by pin. 

In the consolation bracket, he won the semis by 13-2 decision. But in the third-place bout, he lost by a 7-4 decision to end up fourth. His season record heading to districts is 31-15.

Sixth seed Rehm went 2-2 at the 144 lbs. bracket to finish his season with a solid 23-16 mark.

Team scores:

1. Bluffton 175.5 points

2. Mohawk 166

3. Columbus Grove 136

4. Carey 132

5. tie Elmwood 119 & Patrick Henry 119

7. Liberty-Benton 116.5

8. Cory-Rawson 92.5

9. Van Buren 92.0

10. Riverdale 67.5

11. Arcadia 62.5

12. Hopewell-Loudon 59.5

13. Calvert 40.5

14. McComb 36.5

15. New Riegel 25.0

16. Pandora-Gilboa 4

17. North Baltimore 0

Pirate placers by weight class:

Place, Wrestler, Year, School, (Season record), Finals outcome
106 Pound Placers
1st Ronald Kaufman 9, Bluffton (29-6), Dec. 12-6

113 Pound Placers
1st Alex Nance 9, Bluffton (25-13), md 11-3

120 Pound Placers
1st Branden Cross 10, Bluffton (31-12), tf 17-1

126 Pound Placers
1st Hephaestion Weyer 9, Bluffton (19-11), tf 16-1

144 Pound Placers
1st Peyton Schafer 12, Elmwood (35-4), Fall 2:54
6th Micah Rehm 11, Bluffton (23-17)

150 Pound Placers
1st Jordan Hertel 10, Carey (39-6), md 10-1
4th Jett Blackburn 12, Bluffton (31-15)

190 Pound Placers
1st Trent Johnson 11, Patrick Henry (40-7), Fall 4:34
2nd Evan Grothause 11, Bluffton (30-9)

285 Pound Placers
1st Mason Shank 10, Bluffton (37-7), Fall 3:04