Tigers place 2nd at Mark DePugh Holiday Classic
On Monday, Dec. 29, the McClain Tigers boys wrestling team placed second overall out of 12 teams at the 2025 Mark DePugh Holiday Classic at Huntington High School.
The team champion was Sheridan at 234.0, and McClain’s second-place team finish saw them have a score of 233.0. Fairfield Union was third place at 218, followed by Huntington in fourth place at 184.5, and fifth place went to Wellston at 128.5.
Sixth place through 12th place were: Manchester (112), Symmes Valley (103), Southeastern (88), Chillicothe (67), Nelsonville-York (47), Waverly (40) and West Union (33).
The Tigers had five wrestlers place in the Top 2 with two first-place winners and three second-place finishers.
Winning their respective weight classes were Zayne Knisley (132) and Hunter Skaggs (190). Earning runner-up finishes for McClain were Keegan Parker (106), Jacob Mick (132) and Dalton Rowland (144)
Knisley at 132 pounds began with a second-round win over Wyatt Sweeney of Sheridan with a pin at 2:42, then in the third round won with a pin over Ashten McCafferty of Fairfield Union at 2:41. In the sixth round, Knisley won with another pin fall over Ethan Wheeler of West Union at 3:07. In the seventh and championship round, Knisley defeated teammate Mick by pin at 0:54.
Skaggs at 132 pounds in the first round won with a pin over Huntington’s Jacob Hancock at 3:24. Next was a third-round win via pin against Gavin Dishong of Nelsonville-York at 1:53. In the sixth round, Skaggs defeated Caleb Mount of Symmes Valley at 2:29 with a pin. In the seventh and championship round, Skaggs defeated Derrick Mason of Nelsonville-York by pin at 3:48.
Parker in his 106-pound first-round match lost to Seth Johnson of Sheridan at 1:51, but rebounded with a third-round win against Dominick Dunkle of Chillicothe by pin at 3:35. Parker gained a sixth-round win against Hadley Knotts of Fairfield Union at 4:20 by pin, and in the seventh round won against Joshua Watts of Huntington at 0:44.
Mick began his tournament with a win in the 132-pound class by pin over Ethan Wheeler of West Union at 1:38. Next was a second-round win over Kaiden Wooten of Nelsonville-York at 1:05 by pin. Mick won his third-round match against Zeke Brown of Huntington by pin at 0:40. Mick earned a fourth win over Ashton McCafferty of Fairfield Union by pin at 1:55 in the sixth round. Mick then lost in the seventh round to teammate Knisley.
At 144 pounds, Rowland won in round one over Brayden Walls of Manchester at 3:19 by pin. The second round saw Rowland win by pin over Mason Costa of Nelsonville-York at 0:10. A third round match saw Rowland defeat Hoyt McClaskey of Sheridan by pin at 0:53. In the sixth round Rowland gained a win by pin over Maverick Hardesty of Huntington at 0:51. In the seventh round and championship match, Rowland lost to Colton Borah of Fairfield Union.
Carlos Gonzalez at 157 pounds wrestled five matches and went 3-2 overall for a fourth place overall finish. He began with a third-round win against Austin Drumm Fairfield Union by pin at 2:15. Gonzalez won in the fourth round over Cameron Smith of Southeastern by pin at 2:06. In the sixth round, he defeated Colton Manning of Chillicothe by pin at 0:20.
Isaac Morgan placed fourth overall at 138 pounds, where he was 2-2 in four matches. Morgan in the second round defeated Nicholas Beard of Southeastern by pin at 1:02. Next was a third-round win by pin against Gordon Cyrus of Huntington at 2:28.
Braydin Simmons (285) wrestled five times and earned a third-round win over Austin Shaman of Southeastern by pin at 3:43. Braylon Oyer (215) had four matches, where he won in the third round over Carson Brammer of Symmes Valley by pin at 2:54.
The Tigers saw Cameron Skaggs compete in four matches at 175 pounds, while Wyatt Hammond at 165 pounds also competed in four matches. Owen Sykes competed in three matches for the Tigers.
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