FHS wrestling teams open season with Ross

Findlay High's wrestling program lost two of its elite grapplers with the graduation of Hudson Goebel and Ethan Mitchell. But it's not the names but the numbers that have impressed FHS coach Ben Kirian heading into the 2023-24 season. "The team has huge numbers coming into this season," said Kirian, entering his 20th season at Findlay High. "On the boys side, we have 51 wrestlers – and we're at 17 on the girls side – and the competition level for spots has been great. There are only a few kids returning that are well known around the state, but the majority of the team spent the off-season training hard and there's been a lot of improvement in our developmental group." Findlay's boys and girls teams kick off their season today with a dual meet at Fremont Ross. Findlay will then host the 12-team Trojan Duals on Saturday, while the girls will be looking to defend their team title at Hamilton Township Tournament . Goebel, now competing for the University of Illinois, was a state runner-up in 2021 and compiled a 110-19 career record despite battling injuries his junior and senior seasons. Mitchell set a school record with 106 career pins and was a state qualifier last year. Seniors John Paul Smith and Austin Sertell were state alternates last season and are ranked this season by borofanohio.net, a web site that follows prep wrestling. Sertell is ranked 15th in the 165-pound weight class; Smith is 16th at 157. Junior Will Jolliff is also ranked, 20th at 132. Kirian prefers to focus on the depth of his roster, though. "We believe we have a very strong team this year" he said. "The focus is that we are one team, and while we are pretty young overall the kids are experienced and they work very hard." Many of Ohio's top wrestlers will be competing in the Ironman Tournament hosted by Walsh Jesuit this weekend. Two ranked teams and up to 40 state-ranked wrestlers will be hitting the mats at Findlay High, though. "I don't have all the lineups yet, so it's hard to say who the expected front-runner might be," Kirian said this week. "My gut feeling, though, is that Napoleon (ranked No. 10 in Division II) is the likely favorite. They do not have weak spot in their lineup, with Wauseon, Harrison and Aurora right up there with them." Rounding out the 12-school field will be Delaware Hayes, North Canton Hoover, Lakota East, Miami East (No. 12, Division III), Oak Harbor, Olmsted Falls and Tiffin Columbian. Two-time state qualifiers Laney Oliver and Kate Simmons will lead the FHS girls team. Oliver, a junior, is a two-time state runner-up at 190 pounds. Her only losses in state meet competition have been to Savannah Isaac, a senior at Toledo Whitmer who has not only won three straight OHSAA championships, but two-time national freestyle titles as well. Simmons placed sixth at state as a freshman and fourth at 170 last year. Rylee Touhalisky, a senior, is also a returning state qualifier for the Trojans. Findlay will once again host the FIGHT (Findlay Invitational Girls High (school) Tournament) on Dec. 21-22. Last year's inaugural event was bigger than the OHSAA girls state tournament, with prep wrestlers from schools across the country, many of them state champions in their regions, seeded into 32-girl brackets.