LEXINGTON, Ohio — He has coached three state champions, 21 state placers and 45 state qualifiers. He has piloted Lexington to nine conference and seven sectional championships and a state runner-up finish in 2012.
Brent Rastetter has sat mat-side for some of the most exciting moments in program history, but nothing compares to that night late last January when his Minutemen punched their ticket to the 2014 Ohio High School Athletic Association dual meet state tournament for a second straight year.
Lex earned its spot in Columbus with an edge-of-your-seat 30-24 win over Sandusky Perkins in the regional finals. The victory wasn’t secured until heavyweight Nate Temple pinned Perkins’ Josh Rohrbacher in the final match of the night.
“In 24 years of coaching it was probably the most intense dual match I have ever been a part of,” Rastetter said. “It all came down to that last match. Their heavyweight was a returning (individual) state tournament qualifier and he had beaten Nate at the J.C. Gorman Invitational.
“Nate pulled off the pin and I’ve never seen a group of boys so excited in my life.”
The Minutemen will be in search of their third straight trip to the dual meet state tournament Wednesday when they host the four-team Region 14 tournament.
The Minutemen will face River Valley on one mat, while Washington Court House meets Miami Trace on the other. The two winners will square off for a trip to the eight-team state tournament Feb. 14 at Ohio State’s St. John Arena.
Lex earned its spot in the regional semifinals with wins over Bexley (83-0) and Highland (58-16) in last week’s regional quarterfinals. River Valley advanced with victories over Buckeye Valley (48-15) and Whitehall-Yearling (56-15).
“We wrestled them two years ago,” Rastetter said. “They knocked off a very good Whitehall-Yearling team to get here. They have a solid program and they are wrestling very well.”
The same can be said for the Minutemen.
Buoyed by five returning individual state tournament qualifiers, Lex has steam-rolled through the regular season. The Minutemen opened the season with three dual wins over elite competition at the Blackstone Insurance Kick-off Klassic and won their fourth consecutive Gorman title in January.
“We have finally got our full lineup together and we’re wrestling well,” Rastetter said. “On paper, I like our chances.”
Lexington is one of five Division II teams that has qualified for the dual meet state tournament in each of the two years the OHSAA has sponsored the event. Two-time defending dual meet champ St. Paris Graham, along with Toledo Central Catholic, Perry and Claymont are the others. All five are still alive.
“Personally, I really like the dual meet format. I think it adds something special to the sport in terms of building team unity,” Rastetter said. “We have some very good wrestlers who may never qualify for the (individual) state tournament. This is an opportunity for those unsung heros to go out and show how valuable they are to our program.”
