MT. ORAB — A pair of dominating performances on the mat sent the Western Brown Bronco wrestling squad to the regional semifinals.

The squad welcomed Carroll, Fenwick and Alter to Western Brown High School Wednesday night for the Region 15-B quarterfinal matchups.

Fenwick and Carroll battled throughout their match, with a pair of forfeits in the 220 and 285 pound classes giving the 39-27 victory to Fenwick.

One mat over, the Broncos were dominating Alter. Jed Marlow pinned sophomore Connor Rushing 2:44 into their match to give the Broncos the 6-0 lead. Seth Taylor then pinned freshman Jacob Scheidler just 47 seconds into their contest in the 113-pound weight class to increase the Broncos’ lead to 12-0.

Three straight forfiets pushed the Broncos’ lead to 30-0 before Alter’s Mike Osterfeld earned an 11-6 decision victory over Mason Kisor to put Alter on the board. Jake Henderson, Malachi Marlow and Eric Altman then proceeded to pin their opponents in the 145, 152 and 160-pound weight classes, respectively.

Alter’s Lane Harshbarger pinned Western Brown freshman Dylan Mosher and Sam Homan pinned Austin Terrill in the 220-pound class, but the Broncos won the other three bouts, including a pin by Zach Stacy in his first varsity match of the season, coming in the 285-pound class against Angus Crowley.

Head coach Wendell Donathan said Stacy performed well in his match.

“We figured tonight would be a good night to break him out and see how he does, and he did pretty good,” Donathan said.

The 66-15 win moved the Broncos to the sub-regional final against Fenwick. Three of the first five weight classes ended in forfeits, and the Broncos again jumped out to a 30-3 lead. Henderson, Marlow and Altman again pinned their opponents, and the Broncos’ lead jumped to 48-3.

Sophomore Kennedy Sizemore got in on the action for the Broncos, pinning Fenwick’s John Gillan, and Jacob Altman won his match against Aidan Dowers via a tech fall (18-3). The Broncos did lose via pins in the 220 and 285 pound classes, but the team still won the dual match 56-21 to advance to the regional quarterfinals.

Donathan that while the Broncos looked dominant, they still left far too many points on the mat.

“We’ve got to find a way to capitalize when we have the ability to score points,” Donathan said. “We still don’t take advantage of the situations as they’re occurring on the mat. We’re just going through the motions. The higher up we go, the longer the season goes on, those are the points that are going to cost the kids and the team some matches.”

The Broncos have a busy schedule ahead of them. In addition to the regional dual meets, the team still has other matches and tournaments to prepare for. The squad battled Glen Este in the “Battle of 32” dual Thursday night and has a tournament this weekend in New Lexington, Ohio.

Donathan said he hopes the team can get through these next few days healthy.

“At this point you just hope that between now and next Wednesday nobody gets hurt or sick,” Donathan said. “There’s a lot of variables.”

When the Broncos return to the mat, they’ll do it against the New Richmond Lions. New Richmond won their sub-regional by defeating Goshen 72-3 and Franklin 40-37. The Lions were a part of a tri-match the Broncos hosted earlier this season, but they were the sole team the Broncos didn’t wrestle against.

“We’ve seen them twice this year, [but] we didn’t compete against them,” Donathan said. “We saw them in the Hammer and Anvil, but tournament teams are different than dual teams. It’s going to be a good match. They’re a good program, they’ve always been a good program. If we look past them, we’ll be one-and-done.”

In addition to Western Brown and New Richmond, Washington Court House and Miami Trace will join the Broncos for the regional semifinal matches, which will be held at Western Brown High School on Wednesday, Feb. 3 at 5 p.m.

Western Brown sophomore Zach Stacy attempts to pin Alter’s Angus Crowley in the 285-pound weight class.
https://www.newsdemocrat.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_DSC_0074.jpgWestern Brown sophomore Zach Stacy attempts to pin Alter’s Angus Crowley in the 285-pound weight class. Garth Shanklin | News Democrat

Western Brown senior Malachi Marlow climbs on Fenwick’s Ethan Fessler in the match in the 152-pound weight class Wednesday night.
https://www.newsdemocrat.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_DSC_0127.jpgWestern Brown senior Malachi Marlow climbs on Fenwick’s Ethan Fessler in the match in the 152-pound weight class Wednesday night. Garth Shanklin | News Democrat
Wrestlers on to regional semifinals

By Garth Shanklin

gshanklin@civitasmedia.com

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