Kirian hoping history on FHS side in TRAC meet

Dave Hanneman Ben Kirian has a plan. And he has a bit of historical precedent to back it up. "I joked with the wrestlers that I was an assistant coach here when we left the GLL (Great Lakes League, 2003) and we won the conference that year," Kirian said. "I was head coach here when we left the Greater Buckeye Conference (2011), and we won that league that year, too. "I said let's win the TRAC and keep the streak going that we win it on the way out." The eight Three Rivers Athletic Conference schools will meet for the 12th – and last – league meet Friday at Fremont Ross. At the end of this school, year, Findlay, Fremont Ross, Toledo Whitmer and Oregon Clay will realign with the seven Northern Lakes League schools. Also, Lima Senior will become a member of the Toledo City League, and the TRAC's parochial schools – Toledo Central Catholic, all-boys schools Toledo St. John's and Toledo St. Francis, and all-girls institutions St. Ursula and Notre Dame – will join up with 27 Detroit area schools and compete in the multi-level Detroit Catholic League. In the sport of wrestling, Oregon Clay has been the TRAC kingpin. A year ago, the Eagles won their fifth straight TRAC championship and tenth overall. Only Fremont Ross in 2017 has been able to break that streak. Though Findlay has never won a TRAC wrestling title, the Trojans have year-in and year-out been in upper division contention. And the return one weight class champion, two TRAC runners-up and four other wrestlers who placed fourth or better in last year's meet bodes well in Kirian's plans. "We've been focusing on this all year," Kirian said. "We have a lot of guys wrestling real well right now. We have some guys we feel can win (their weight class), we have good team depth, I feel we're in a good position this year and I think the kids are ready." Findlay will be without a key member of its team with Hudson Goebel out of action. A state qualifier as a freshman and a state runner-up a year later, Goebel missed his junior season due to an injury. Ranked as high as No. 3 in the state and a 100-win career wrestler who had signed a national letter of intent to wrestle collegiately for Illinois, Goebel was having another strong season when he re-injured a knee. "Originally, the doctors said, hopefully, it was just a meniscus tear," Goebel said earlier this season. "So I had an MRI done and it came back worse than I thought. "They sent me to Dr. (David) Flanigan down at Ohio State. I checked with him and, while no surgery is needed, he said it would take 6-to-12 weeks to heal. "It was tough at first. But stuff happens, and I'm going to go on because I still have a plan." Three wrestlers who reached last year's TRAC finals are expected to lead the Trojans. John Paul Smith, TRAC champion at 144 a year ago, brings a 29-7 record and No. 19 state ranking into competition in the 150-pound bracket. Ethan Mitchell, TRAC runner-up at 138 and 26-5 and ranked No. 8 in Division I, is at 144 this season. Sophomore Keegan Klotz returns at 175 after a second-place TRAC finish a year ago. He's 15-8. Austin Sertell, 19-3 and ranked No. 15 in Division I in the 165-pound class, heads a group of four wrestlers who all placed fourth a year ago, including Josh Strickland (15-15) at 106, Will Johnston (10-18) at 120 and Will Jolliff (12-6) at 126. Expected to round out Findlay's lineup for Friday league meet are Kaliber Brubaker (8-10) at 113, Ethan Klotz (11-15) at 132, either Kellen Bruni (10-4) or Elijah Gonyer (4-5) in Goebel's spot at 138, Cohen Shannon (12-13) at 157, Sam Jolliff (6-9) at 190, Ian Smith (9-10) at 215 and Logan Trinko (15-14) at 285. Kirian said a key in the league meet will not only be advancement, but advancement with … "Bonus points," Kirian said. "We need to get as many (wrestlers) to the championship round as possible. Even third- and fourth-place points are huge. If you can get a pin (6 points) that all helps, and we have a lot of guys who like to pin. "I think the weight class matchups are favorable for us. In a lot of them, we feel we have the stronger wrestler and can get a win. We've been trying to get the kids in the right frame of mind. We've been working on some little things the last few weeks, and we've seen a lot of improvement in how we've been wrestling. I think we're in a good spot heading in to the championship."