The Marysville High School wrestling team concluded their year last week with a 9th place team finish during the state tournament. The team had five qualifiers with four of them placing including two seniors- Tyler Bates and Jake Marsh.
Bates and Marsh finished their careers as two time state placers.
Last week people continued to take notice of what had been a really good thing for Marysville and ask me why the wrestling team has been so good.
The easy answer is that the school (athletic teams) have not split in the last 20 years where other central Ohio schools that the Monarchs compete against have, in many cases three times.
One other factor in the programs success is a known lineage where the next generation had always watched with their own eyes those that have come befor them. This allowed them to realize they could set high goals and accomplish them.
Luke Wimmers started the trend in 1992 with the schools first state championship.
The story was furthered with Ben Rings as the first two time finalist wining a title in 2000. The trend continued over the next 10 years with two-time state placers Sean Lutz and Dallas Hucle ‘04, Ryan Hopkins ’06 and three-time state placers Jake McCombs, Nate Weeks and Caleb Marsh in 2010.
Then came Noah Forrider, the first Marysville wrestler to place as a freshmen. He also became the first four time state placer and the first undefeated state champ for Marysville his senior year, 2013.
Austin Pfarr, Taleb Rahmani and Alex Sepeda carried the torch with their own run in 2014 and 2015. In 2014 MHS finished 3rd at the state tournamnet resulting in the programs and Central District’s best team finish.
What they all had in common was they were pebbles in the programs pond and had a ripple effect making others on the team better. None was more evident to me than when I saw Jake Marsh taking mental notes as he watched Forrider and Pfarr’s accomplishments.
Not to mention becoming a student of Rahmani’s game during many of their one on one workouts, including Christmas Day last year.
Marsh had a huge will to win but probably a bigger will to prepare.
Those experiences carried over as Jake became the teacher and proffered new technique to underclassman on the team. He elevated their wrestling IQ to a level they couldn’t get from coaching and was a big reason for the teams success over the last four years.
His drive was so infectious that it drove me and others around him to push beyond our limits.
I remember clearing my schedule on a number of occasions for him, including when I got a phone call last year when he didn’t place as a junior.
That year he directly petitioned the school board and administration for the help he needed to win a state title but they turned their backs on him and told him good luck on the season.
Even though all of his goals weren’t met, it wasn’t for a lack of preparation.
He will continue his career at Princeton University with the likes of Kenny Monday’s (88 Olympic gold medalist) son, so his wrestling career may have another chapter to write. As far as the Monarch wrestling story it ends here because they don’t make them like him anymore.
Marsh is a rare find and will forever be remembered as the last of the wrestling legacy.