Wrestling
Mayberry responds after loss
Kilbourne’s Mike Mayberry ended the regular season at 30-1. His only loss was to Pickerington North’s Matt Kitchen, 11-6 on Jan. 28. Buy This Photo
Mike Mayberry didn’t go undefeated during the regular season, and the senior for the Worthington Kilbourne High School wrestling team is fine with that.
“It’s never fun to lose, of course, but it can be beneficial,” he said after coming back from his only loss to pin Dublin Coffman’s Seth Yeack during an OCC-Central Division dual Feb. 2 and then capture the 182-pound title in the Nye Cardinal Classic on Feb. 4 at St. Charles. “It’s better now than later.”
Mayberry, who had missed practice last week because of illness, went 30-1 during the regular season. After winning his first 23 matches, he lost to Pickerington North’s Matt Kitchen 11-6 in a championship semifinal in the Cruiser Invitational on Jan. 28 at Groveport before regrouping to beat Olentangy Orange’s Lenn’s Kamba 4-1 in the third-place match.
The championship at St. Charles was Mayberry’s fourth in five tournaments this winter. Now he won’t face the additional pressure of taking an unblemished record into the Division I sectional tournament Feb. 18 at Westland and, hopefully for his sake, beyond.
“We’re happy it happened when it did and not later on,” coach Brett Shaut said. “The good thing is Mike’s not going to be wrestling against his record anymore.”
Mayberry, who missed his entire sophomore season because of a concussion, posted a 30-11 record at 171 a year ago and was a sectional runner-up. At district, he dropped his opening match before winning twice in the consolation bracket, which included a 6-1 victory over Thomas Worthington’s Andrew Shackelford. He then was eliminated with a 6-3 loss to Coffman’s Matt Muncrief.
With an extra year of seasoning, Mayberry’s goal now is to conclude his career at state. He said he believes the loss to Kitchen only can help.
“Adversity in sports is a good thing,” he said. “It forces you to correct your mistakes.”
Shaut isn’t surprised by the positive response shown by Mayberry, who carries a 4.08 grade-point-average and has applied to several top colleges, including Dartmouth.
“He’s a great kid who just happens to be a great wrestler,” Shaut said.
“He’s super smart and gives you no trouble at all. He’s solid in the classroom and on the mat.”
•Thomas made a good showing in its Cardinal Invitational on Feb. 4, with 11 individuals placing among the top four in their respective weight classes with Kasey Ackley (120), Shackelford (182) and Brooks Gilmore (heavyweight) all winning titles.
The Cardinals, who expect to return all 14 starters next season, totaled 230 points to finish third behind Hilliard Davidson (300) and Mount Vernon (260). Shackelford won his fifth tournament of the season while Ackley and Gilmore collected their first varsity championships.
“It was a good day,” coach Mark Gundling said. “That’s the most points we’ve scored this year, the past two years, in fact.”
Noah Messerall (126), Alex Good (145) and Phil McKinney (220) all finished second while placing fourth were Ben Truesdale (106), Will Coleman (113), Nick Gaston (138), Juan Cardenas (152) and Max King (195).
“Our kids are seeing that our conditioning and hard work are playing off,” Gundling said.
