Competition was fierce at the annual Raider Rumble, a two-day wrestling extravaganza at Ryle High School in Union. A total of 24 teams, some of the best in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana, converged on the Ryle gymnasium. Varsity action at the area’s early-season marquee wrestling event came fast and furious on Saturday. The junior varsity meet was held Friday.
“Lot of good teams so I’m happy with how we did. We had four champs,” host coach Tim Ruschell said. “One thing I learned though is we’re not in condition enough yet, but it’s early.”
The Raiders are this year’s Rumble runner-up by a mere five points. They were taken down by Cincinnati power Elder, 200-195, in the meet’s final match.
“We were ahead by one point going into the last match, but we didn’t have a guy in it,” Ruschell said. “Elder had a guy and he won and that moved them ahead of us.”
Not bad for a team that’s yet to round into peak form.
“I guess, but we have a big meet coming up with the S.W.O.C.A. Coaches Classic in Middletown. So we have to stay on it,” Ruschell said. “We need to work on take downs and pins. I think Elder had twice as many pins as we did. Points-wise that’s like having an extra guy out there.”
Ryle had Elder on the brink of defeat thanks in part to the Brinkman brothers. Bryant Brinkman won the 106-pound weight-class. Aiden Brinkman came in fifth at 113 pounds.
“The Brinkman boys are real assets,” Ruschell said.
The three other Ryle individual champs include Luke Cornwell at 126 pounds. Landon Evans won at 132 pounds and Rider Trumble was triumphant at 157.
Other Raiders scorers include two third-place finishers, Callen Schimdt at 165 pounds and Travis Steiber at 190. Keagan Reisenbeck came in fourth at 175 pounds and Jagger Irvin was fifth at 144.
“Every guy scored a point except two guys,” said Ruschell, who had nine placers.
A spirited battle erupted for the next three spots to round out the top five. Another Cincinnati stalwart, Moeller, came up with a third-place finish with 136 points. Behind Moeller was East Central with 124.5. That allowed the Indiana power to slip past Harrison County (OH) by a single point.
Among northern Kentucky participants, Walton-Verona was the only other team cracking the top 10 with a 10th-place finish and 87 points. The Bearcats boast a pair of runners-up, TJ Meyer at 144 pounds and Luke Hyden at 215.
Next among locals was 15th-place Conner. Cougars coach Zack Fisher said his wrestlers, including sixth-placers Chase Bailey (215 pounds) and heavyweight Bryce Sizemore, showed some grit.
“We learned we have a team full of tough kids that have a great deal of potential that’s yet to be realized,” Fisher said. “The Rumble is always a good measuring stick and this season we came up short. We have a team full of coachable kids that want to get better and make efforts to do so each day.”
Next among area squads was Highlands in 16th place. Campbell County and Covington Catholic tied for 18th and Scott was 20th.
Highlands had three placers. Travis Votel came in fourth at 138 pounds. TJ Hicks was fifth at 157 and Parker Wilkins was sixth at 106. Highlands coach Colin Roth said he learned a great deal about his squad.
“We’re wrestling a lot of tougher competition this year. And our first run-in with that was this past weekend at Ryle,” Roth said. “Ryle hosts a really great tournament. And we believe we have the team to send guys out and compete with some of the best. We’re really early into the season. So, we have a lot of kinks to work out within our overall wrestling ability. But I was pleased to see how a lot of our guys handled matches on their feet.”
Deacon Heisler led Campbell County with a runner-up finish at 138 pounds. Teammate Brayden Allender was fifth at 215.
Camels coach Samuel Steele said the Raider Rumble was exactly the kind of competition his youthful team needs. His squad is gaining valuable tournament experience against top-notch opponents.
“We have a very young team this year. We have a bunch of kids that love to scrap every day,” Steele said. “This tournament told us that we have to keep gaining experience, and we have mistakes that we need to fix. However, our leaders wrestled well and led by example. I’m very proud of our effort.”
Other local individual performances of note include a runner-up finish at 132 pounds by Scott’s Michael Smith. Boone County’s Jayden Pointer came in third in the heavyweight division. The Rebels finished 23rd in the team standings.