MANSFIELD — Brent Rastetter has never been so happy to be wrong.
Lexington’s veteran wrestling coach, Rastetter miscalculated when figuring his team’s score as the 53rd J.C. Gorman Invitational wound down Saturday afternoon.
The Minutemen would win their fourth straight Gorman title — and eighth in nine years — but Rastetter was convinced Fremont Ross had halted the streak as he watched heavyweight Nate Temple fall in overtime to Galion’s Deaken McCoy.
“I did the math in my head as we were moving through this thing and somehow I lost a match,” Rastetter said. “I had us down a point-and-a-half going into the heavyweight match. I thought (Ross) had nipped us.”
The Minutemen accumulated 198 points. Ross (195.5) was second and Sandusky Perkins (166.5) was third.
“We lost to Clear Fork (in 2011) by two-and-a-half points, but this is by far the closest one we’ve won,” Rastetter said. “The Fremont Ross coach is a friend of mine and I told him they were going to be right there with us.”
Lexington’s Drew Kasper and Bailey Faust each won his third Gorman title. Kasper ran his record to 26-0 with a 17-3 major decision over Northmor’s Kyle Johnson in the 182-pound finals. Faust followed with a pin of Ashland’s Tristan Weirich at 195. The West Virginia-bound senior pinned his way to the title.
“I knew the team race was going to be close,” Faust said. “We were down by a minuscule amount coming into the finals.”
MVP: Like Kasper and Faust, Mansfield Senior’s Jesse Palser won his third Gorman title with a 19-7 win over Norwalk St. Paul’s Hayden Miller. The defending state runner-up at 170 pounds, Palser was the overwhelming choice as the tournament’s most valuable wrestler.
“I can’t even put it into words what this means to me,” said Palser, who signed with Division II Lake Erie College. “I’m my own biggest critic, but I’m pleased with the way things worked out this weekend.”
Palser, who flew largely under the radar last winter, is the projected Division I state champ at 170 pounds this year.
“There’s a huge target on my back this year,” he said. “It’s definitely different this year, but I’m just trying to wrestle the way I know I can.”
Local Champs: In addition to Palser, Kasper, Faust and McCoy, the area produced two other champions. Madison’s Alize Merrell made a pair of penalty points stand up in a 2-0 win over Massillon Washington’s Jake Donahue at 120. In a match-up of defending Gorman champs, Lexington’s Brandon Leynaud knocked off Fredericktown’s Carson Mills 9-3 at 132.
