LEXINGTON — Brent Rastetter might not know the exact date off the top of his head, but Lexington’s veteran coach can tell you the last time one of his 195-pound wrestlers lost a match.
Remarkably, it was more than two calendar years ago.
Recent history suggests it might be a while before it happens again.
Josh Lehner passed the torch to Bailey Faust after winning his second consecutive Division II state championship early last March and the Minutemen haven’t skipped a beat. Faust ran his record to 30-0 with an overwhelming performance at last weekend’s 52nd J.C. Gorman Invitational, helping the Minutemen rally for their seventh team title in eight years and becoming the fifth straight Lex wrestler to earn the Bill Flanagan Award as the tournament’s most valuable wrestler.
It was the culmination of an astounding two-week stretch for the the newly-crowned Richland Source Athlete of the Week.
A week earlier, Faust pinned all five of his opponents — including a pair of defending state placers — at the ultra-competitive Medina Invitational Tournament, claiming MVP honors. None of those matches lasted into the third period.
It was at the MIT two years ago — for the record, the date was Dec. 29, 2011 — that a Lex 195-pounder last suffered a defeat. Lehner, who is 6-5 as a true freshman at North Carolina, fell to eventual Division I state champion JoJo Tayse of Massillon Perry 5-4 in the championship match.
“After that Josh went 33-0 to end his junior year and he was 52-0 as a senior,” Rastetter said. “Bailey is 30-0 this year, so our 195-pounders are 115-0 since then.”
The Ohio High School Athletic Association adopted new weight classes before the 2011-12 season. Since then, Lexington’s 195-pounders are a combined 126-3.
“I guess 195 is my favorite weight class,” Rastetter joked.
A junior, Faust hasn’t been in a joking mood this season — not after last year’s abbreviated appearance in Columbus. He qualified for the state meet at 220 pounds and took a 47-2 record with him to Value City Arena only to lose back-to-back matches. He dropped a 6-1 decision to Jonathan Alder’s Troy Caldwell in the opener then came unglued in an 11-6 loss to Hamilton Ross’s Frank Heimkreiter.
“At the time I didn’t think I was nervous, but when I look back on it I didn’t handle the pressure very well,” said Faust, the younger brother of former Lexington state champ Jake Faust and the son of Lex assistant coach Brian Faust. “My wrestling was iffy. The lesson I learned from that experience is you have to stay calm and not let the moment get the best of you.”
Part of the problem was Faust was wrestling in the wrong weight class. Unseating Lehner was unlikely, but Rastetter couldn’t keep Faust out of the lineup.
“Last year he was wrestling 220 and he probably weighed 205,” Rastetter said. “As a freshman, we had him wrestling at 182. His natural weight class is definitely 195.”
Faust agreed.
“This is where I should be,” Faust said. “Last year, I was quicker than most of the other guys who wrestled at 220 so I had to rely on my quickness to make up for the size difference. At 195, I can use my strength and my technique.”
Of course, it didn’t hurt to wrestle against a two-time state champ. Faust and Lehner were drill partners.
“He was super strong,” Faust said. “He made me a better wrestler.”
All that work has paid off for Faust, who earned his 100th career win earlier this season. He is the 17th wrestler in Rastetter’s 11 seasons to join the Century Club and already owns Lexington’s single-season record for pins (39). That record may not last much longer as Faust already has 24 pins this year.
Jake Faust is the program’s career wins leader with 170 and was 119-21 after his junior year. The younger Faust is 112-13 midway through his junior season.
“Jake and Bailey are completely different types of wrestlers,” Rastetter said. “They are both good on top and they can both ride legs, but that is where the similarities stop.
“They even have different personalities. Jake takes after his mom and Bailey is more like his dad.”
The older Faust is a redshirt freshman at Duke, one of four former Minutemen on the Blue Devils’ roster (Brandon Gambucci, Calvin Campbell and Jacob Kasper are the others). After Bailey Faust’s eighth-place finish at the Flonationals last April and his overwhelming performance at the MIT, Division I programs have begun to inquire about his services.
“I’ve recently heard from Central Michigan and from Buffalo,” Faust said. “I would like to wrestle in college and I’m excited to go through the (recruiting) process.”
If all goes as planned, Rastetter expects some bigger programs to come sniffing around soon.
“I’ve said it before, but honestly, at this point, the only person who can beat Bailey is Bailey,” Rastetter said. “He has had one objective all along.”
That mission is to follow Lehner to the top of the podium in Columbus. In the process, he would carry on Lexington’s legacy at 195 pounds.
“I didn’t even think about it, but we have had a lot of success at the 195-pound weight class,” Faust said. “Hopefully, we can keep it going for a few more years.”
