BETHEL — The Bethel-Tate Tigers wrestling squad welcomed Purcell Marian and Blanchester to Bethel-Tate High School for Region 23-A action Wednesday night.

After the withdrawal of Deer Park, the Tigers received a bye. Blanchester beat Purcell Marian 42-30, setting up a match with their Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference foe.

The Tigers’ Trey Sander won the 106-pound weight class by forfeit. Blanchester’s Kyle Denier then pinned Bethel sophomore Brad Young 2:36 into their match to tie the score at six. The next two matches went to the Wildcats, all via pin, as Breny Hopkins pined Justin Royer and Clayton Schirmer pinned Matt Hall.

Justin Hixson got the Tigers back on the winning side, pinning Blanchester freshman Dale Sturgill at the 3:19 mark of their bout in the 132-pound class.

Jonah Blankenship then tied the match at 18 apiece by pinning Blanchester’s Hayden Tedrick.

The Wildcats won the 145-pound class by forfiet, but Owen Holtke pinned another Blanchester freshman, Steven Latchford, to tie the match yet again.

Holtke’s pin started a Bethel run. Jordan Newberry won his match in the 160-pound class by pinning Dalton McMullen. B.J. Ratcliff and Jeffrey Botts won their respective weight classes by forfeit and Wyatt O’neil pinned Blanchester’s Austin Walker to put the Tigers ahead 48-24. After Blanchester’s Cade Huston pinned Bradley Lewis, Kermit Beckworth finished the dual by pinning Justin Lucas just 21 seconds into their 285-pound tilt to give the Tigers the 54-30 win.

Bethel-Tate now advances to the regional semifinals, where a bout with another SBAAC foe awaits them. The Williamsburg Wildcats earned the top-seed in region 23-A and showed why, dispatching North College Hill 69-6 before edging Preble Shawnee 42-6 to advance in the tournament.

Those two squads will head north to Versailles, Ohio, where Versailles High School will host the two regional matches on Wednesday, Feb. 3 at 6 p.m. Versailles will take on Covington on mat two while the Wildcats and Tigers battle on mat one.

Bethel-Tate sophomore Brad Young may have lost his match in the 113-pound weight class to Blanchester’s Kyle Denier, but his Tiger team will still advance to the regional semifinals after defeating the Wildcats 54-30.
https://www.newsdemocrat.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_DSC_9795.jpgBethel-Tate sophomore Brad Young may have lost his match in the 113-pound weight class to Blanchester’s Kyle Denier, but his Tiger team will still advance to the regional semifinals after defeating the Wildcats 54-30.

By Garth Shanklin

gshanklin@civitasmedia.com

Reach Garth Shanklin at 937-378-6161 or follow him on Twitter at @GNDShanklin.