LEXINGTON, Ohio — While the Lexington Minutemen won the team title, Drew Kasper won his third Ohio Cardinal Conference championship on one leg and the Lexington senior did it against his doctor’s orders.
A returning state qualifier at 182 pounds, Kasper had surgery two weeks ago to remove part of the meniscus in his left knee. He sat out the Ohio Dual regional semifinal and final matches Wednesday at Lexington, but didn’t show any signs of rust as he rumbled to a 12-4 major decision over Ashland’s Trent Newlan in the finals Saturday afternoon, helping Lexington to its eighth straight OCC crown.
“The doctor said, ‘I would recommend you not (wrestle),’ and the therapist said, ‘Do what you can do,’ ” Kasper said. “It kind of feels like if you have a bruised bone and you hit it on a hard surface. I took some ibuprofen and that made it so much better.”
Lexington produced seven champs Saturday and cruised to the team title with 238 points. West Holmes was second with 177 points, while Ashland was third with 144. Madison (123), Clear Fork (93.5), Mansfield Senior (69.5), Wooster (63) and Orville (50) rounded out the field.
“We’ve been wrestling really, really well,” Lex coach Brent Rastetter said. “The whole point was to peak at the end when it mattered most and I think that we’re really working toward that.
“I don’t think that we’ve wrestled our best yet. I think we still got some better wrestling in us.”
The OCC Coach of the Year, Rastetter was blown away by Kasper’s performance.
“Two weeks and a day after having knee surgery to have half his meniscus taken out, he wins a conference title,” Rastetter said. “I’d say that is pretty phenomenal.”
What’s more, Kasper did it without taking a shot Saturday. The knee injury was in his shooting leg.
“I did not shoot once,” Kasper said. “It’s hard to defend, too, when they shoot a single leg. It’s hard to get out of that.”
Mansfield Senior’s Jesse Palser was selected the OCC tournament Most Valuable Wrestler after rolling to a 14-5 win over Lexington’s T.J. Gerhardt in the finals. Palser was selected the J.C. Gorman Invitational MVP last month.
“It’s only my second conference championship,” Palser said. “I got hurt freshman and sophomore year. It’s really special to be named MVP.”
Other local champions included Madison’s Alize Merrell at 120, Lexington’s Brandon Leynaud at 132, Clear Fork’s Drew Kinzel at 138, Lexington’s Jon Watkins at 145, Lexington’s Xavier White at 152, Lexington’s Michael Kahoun at 195, Lexington’s Bailey Faust at 220 and Lexington’s Nate Temple at 285. Faust and Leynaud are four-time OCC champs.
“When you have that many seniors in the lineup, it makes a big difference,” Rastetter said. “The’ve been there and done that.”
The Minutemen will prepare for next week’s OHSAA Team Dual Tournament at St. John Arena. Fifth-seeded Lex takes on No. 4 seed Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary in the quarterfinals at 11 a.m. Feb. 14.
“This is a neat thing, wrestling at St. John Arena in the state duals,” Rastetter said. “It’s a fun experience.”
