http://nky.cincinnati.com/print/article/AB/20091219/SPT0302/912200378/Campbell-Simon-Kenton-clinch-spots-in-wrestling-duals
December 19, 2009
Campbell, Simon Kenton, clinch spots in wrestling duals
By Marc Hardin
Enquirer contributor
The Campbell County and Simon Kenton wrestling teams clinched spots in the state duals by finishing 1-2 at Saturday's Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference Championships.
Six Campbell County wrestlers and three from Simon Kenton accounted for nine of 14 weight-class champions at Newport High School.
The Camels repeated as conference champions with a total of 447 points in the final team standings.
"It's nice to win two in a row," Camels coach Mike Bankemper said. "But the best thing about it is this is a qualifier for the state duals, and it gives us a chance to win both the state tournament and the duals."
Heavyweight Mason Franck put an exclamation point on the Camels' performance by beating Cooper's Trey Beal 17-1 in the final match of the day.
"I thought we wrestled pretty well," Franck said. "We placed high in a lot of matches."
Also winning conference weight-class championships for the Camels were Garth Yenter (103 pounds), Sean Fausz (112), John Hale (135), Nick Meirose (160) and Nathan Ilg (189), who improved to 26-1 by pinning four of five opponents on Saturday.
Winning conference crowns for Simon Kenton were Jared Yocum (125), Kevin Cooper (130) and Alex Van Winkle (215). The Pioneers finished with 370 points.
The Campbell County and Simon Kenton wrestling programs are rich with tradition and each school has established feeder systems.
The Cooper wrestling program is in the middle of its second year of existence. There hasn't been enough time to establish a feeder system.
But the Jaguars are working on the tradition part in a hurry. They finished third in Saturday's team standings with 277 points. It was the second straight top-5 finish at the NKAC championships for the nascent Jaguars program.
Cooper is 6-1 in dual meets this season.
"We lost our first dual match on Wednesday against Mariemont, and we should have handled them. So it was nice to bounce back with a good showing here today," said first-year Cooper coach Dave Johnson.
Johnson, a Jaguars assistant last season, took over for Dave Barnes, who started the Cooper wrestling program but has since moved on to Walton-Verona. One of the first things Johnson did as the new coach was name Matt Brewer team captain.
"I told Matt I needed him to be an extension of the coach, and be like another coach for the team," Johnson said. "And he's carried that out."
Brewer won the 152-pound conference title by pinning Campbell County's Dan Zink in the second round. Lane Jones (140) and T.J. Bates (145) also won titles as the trio of Jaguars become the first conference champions in Cooper wrestling history.
"We finished fourth as a team last year and we wanted to do better this year, and we did because we're trying to put Cooper wrestling on the map," said Brewer, who improved his record to 15-2. "We may be new, but we want teams to be scared of us and not take us lightly."
Other weight-class champions crowned on Saturday were Scott's Ritchie Supe (119) and Zach Sowder (171).
Scott finished fourth in the team standings with 206 points. Ryle (201 points) finished fifth as most of the Raider wrestlers were competing at another event. Conner (105) finished sixth.
Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference Wrestling Championships final team standings: Campbell County 447, Simon Kenton 370, Cooper 277, Scott 206, Ryle 201, Conner 105, Dixie Heights 95, Newport 75, Boone County 72, Brossart 54, Holmes 53.
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http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/print/article/C2/20091222/SPT02/912220328/Pioneers-finish-2nd-in-conference-meet
December 22, 2009
Pioneers finish 2nd in conference meet
By James Weber
[email protected]
Nathan Gilbert said his first Simon Kenton High School wrestling team as a head coach in still a work in progress.
The Pioneers added another meet to their schedule to work on after finishing second in the Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference meet Dec. 19 at Newport High School.
By finishing second, the Pioneers grabbed a berth in the state dual meet championships in January.
"It's a great step in the right direction," said Gilbert, who took over for Jim Wilbers this season. "We worked hard; we never quit. We wrestled hard all the way through. We did a lot better today than we did last week."
The meet format was individual weight class pools. The Pioneers won three weight class titles. Kevin Cooper won at 130 pounds, Jared Yocum at 125 and Alex Van Winkle at 215. Four other Pioneers were runner-up.
Cooper had one of the day's more dramatic matches, beating Scott's Stephen Supe with a late takedown to win the 130-pound title.
"We worked hard and we did well in practice," Cooper said. "It's all about the mentality. We have to get out there and know we're going to win. That's all there is to it."
Said Yocum: "I feel pretty good. We've still got a lot of work to do, but our technique is coming along great."
Scott finished fourth. Ritchie Supe won at 119, and Zach Sowder beat top seed Jacob Lee of Campbell County to win at 171. Lee was state runner-up last year.
Dixie Heights was led by Alex Castellano's runner-up finish at 112.
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http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/print/article/C2/20091222/SPT02/912220336/Camels-repeat-as-conference-champs
December 22, 2009
Camels repeat as conference champs
By James Weber
[email protected]
The Campbell County wrestling team traditionally has a tough schedule.
The Camels added another challenge to their ledger after winning the Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference championship for the second straight year.
The win qualified Campbell for the state duals, a championship meet in late January.
"The big thing for us is we wanted to make sure we qualified for the state duals," head coach Mike Bankemper said.
Campbell scored 447 points to beat Simon Kenton (370). The meet format was individual weight class pools.
The Camels won six of the 14 weight classes, including Garth Yenter (103), Sean Fausz (112), John Hale (135), Nick Meirose (160), Nathan Ilg (189) and Mason Franck (285).
Fausz and Meirose were not the top seeds in their weights coming in.
"I was happy to win it," Meirose said. "I've beat all the kids before. (Winning the team title) feels great. It will help us at state."
Said Bankemper: "I saw a change in his demeanor today: a little more aggressive, a little more going out to dominate instead of being passive. That was a good sign, and that's what we're looking for as the year goes on."
Ilg, a medalist in 2008, missed last season with a dislocated elbow but is in top form this year.
"It feels great to be back on the mat," he said. "It's where I belong. If we do as well as we did today, we have a chance at winning state."
Senior Korey Shotwell, last year's third-place state finisher at 140, missed the NKAC meet to wrestle in the Beast of the East tourney in Delaware. He won four matches at the 145 class.
Bankemper believes Ryle, who sent its starters to a major Cincinnati meet instead of the NKAC meet last weekend, is the team to beat state-wide. Campbell is currently ranked third overall.
"Ryle is solid," he said. "We have to get better to have a shot in February."