ONTARIO — Nothing came easy for Ontario’s Aiden Ohl or Galion’s Gradey Harding during Saturday’s Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference Championships.

Both Ohl and Harding won their fourth MOAC wrestling titles. But two of north central Ohio’s most decorated lightweights had to scratch and claw their way to the top of the podium inside the O-Rena.

The Ohio University-bound Ohl beat fellow senior and longtime nemesis Colton Wenger of Clear Fork 2-1 in the 120-pound finals.

Harding earned a hard-fought 4-3 win over Ontario’s Tyler Turnbaugh at 132.

“I don’t think winning four (MOAC championships) has been done a lot at Ontario and it’s not like it was a super-easy weight class,” said Ohl, ranked second in the state at 120. “Wenger had a tough (semifinal) match, but I figured I would see him in the finals.”

The seventh-ranked Wenger held off No. 12 Brady Byler of Highland 6-5 in the semifinals to set up a rematch of last year’s 113-pound final. Ohl won that match, 4-0.

“It’s always a tough match with him,” Ohl said. “It shows me what I need to work on going into the postseason.”

The top-ranked Harding became Galion’s first-ever four-time MOAC champ, earning his 150th career win in the process.

“It’s alright, but I’m chasing bigger things at the moment,” the University of Buffalo-bound Harding said of the milestone victory. “I saw some holes today that I definitely need to work on.”

Galion junior returns to form

Galion junior Carter Trukovich, the projected state champ at 126, had little trouble in dispatching Highland’s Luke Clark in the finals. Trukovich won 21-5 for his third MOAC title.

Trukovich missed significant time early in the season with what was believed to be a torn ACL. Further testing showed no serious damage and he was able to return in mid-January.

“I wouldn’t say I’m making up for lost time because I never really stopped training,” Trukovich said. “I was working out the whole time staying ready.”

Several area wrestlers claim individual titles

North central Ohio wrestlers acquitted themselves well Saturday. 

Galion’s Ryder Alberty won at 138, giving the Tigers three consecutive weight-class champs. 

In addition to Ohl, Ontario boasted two other champs. Julian McGinty claimed a title at 150 and Gavin Miller won at 157.

Clear Fork had two champs in Anthony Oscar (144) and Alex Schlosser (190). 

Shelby freshman Sebastian Cain won a title at 106.

Clear Fork second and Ontario third in team competition

Highland won the team title with 190 points. Clear Fork (173) was second and Ontario (148) was third.

The short-handed Colts took runner-up honors despite being down four regulars.

“We were missing our 106, our 113, our 165 and our 215,” Clear Fork coach Nick Allerding said. “We knew we were thin coming in but the guys were still gunning for it.”

(Below are photos from Saturday’s Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference wrestling meet at Ontario High School.)