GENOA — Eastwood finished third at the Northern Buckeye Conference wrestling meet on Saturday, scoring 112 points to finish behind champion Genoa (189) and runner-up Oak Harbor (187½). It is Genoa’s ninth league championship.

Lake was fourth at 101½, followed by Otsego (79), Fostoria (68), Maumee (62) and Rossford (36).

Otsego senior Trevor Wilcox (38-3) was named NBC Wrestler of the Year after winning a 12-1 major decision over Genoa senior Noah Tipton (37-8) to win the 126-pound title.

Wilcox is a repeat champion, finishing 40-6 as a junior, placed third at the state meet, and Otsego 12th-year coach Joe Gerwin says he will wrestle collegiately. He is ranked No. 1 in Ohio in Division III at 120 pounds by BoroFanOhio.net, and has wrestled at various weight classes throughout the season.

Gerwin was hoping Otsego could have a top three finish in the league standings, but some gaps at certain weight classes made that difficult. The team did show improvement in dual meets from last year’s 0-7 season.

“This is the most cohesive team that I have coached in a while,” Gerwin said. “I think this team has a lot of potential to grow. I love the mentality of our guys.

“Our team continues to struggle filling all of the weight classes due to low participation and several wrestlers stacked in the middle weights.”

Lake senior Vincent Barton (27-4), a returning state alternate ranked 13th in Ohio at D-III,, won a 132-pound championship by pinning Genoa senior Nate Tipton (31-8) in 3:20.

“He has put in a lot of offseason work which includes becoming an AAU All-American at the Orlando Duals, taking second place,” Lake second-year coach Mark Hummel said, adding that Barton will wrestle collegiately.

Hummel said Lake’s fourth place finish, but is in a rebuilding phase since winning an NBC team championship in 2021-22 when he was an assistant coach.

“The program is still in a building phase. This group of wrestlers are the foundation for future wrestlers,” Hummel said.

“They have an understanding that they need to trust the process and success and their goals will be achieved. This has been a fun and exciting year of wrestling for the Lake Flyers.”

Hummel says his wrestlers have a strategy on how to be successful.

“The strength of the team is conditioning,” Hummel said. “We will be ready to take the fight to our opponents in the first period but will out drive our opponents through all third periods.

“Our goal this year is to attack ever opponent for six minutes. We are working real hard on our feet with takedowns.”

Rossford senior Ayden Wilson (30-4) won a 175-pound title by pinning Oak Harbor junior Kairat Musaev (15-12) in 1:20. Wilson is ranked 21st in Ohio in D-II.

Otsego sophomore Aldolfo Martinez-Alba (13-6), a district qualifier last year, won a 285-pound title by pinning Eastwood junior and league runner-up Colton Oberhouse (20-9) in 3:10.

Other NBC runners-up were Eastwood freshman Gabriel Brough (29-7) at 106, Lake junior Mason Snyder (40-5) at 113, Eastwood junior Gavin Shropshire (29-8) at 138, Eastwood senior Caiden Maize (25-5) at 150, and Lake senior Walker Howell (31-6) at 190.

Placing third were Rossford freshman Brice Nusbaum (17-16) at 106, Eastwood freshman Logan McBride (29-11) at 113, Lake sophomore Brody Barton (28-16) at 120, Otsego junior Jake Limes (23-14) at 138, Eastwood senior Austin Maize (29-7) at 157, and Eastwood junior Logan Perry (10-13) at 175.

Placing fourth were Lake senior Dylan Keel (28-9) at 126, Otsego junior Owen Kasza (25-11) at 132, Lake sophomore Damion Penske (11-15) at 144, Lake freshman Gabrial Sarabia (30-15) at 157, Eastwood junior Connor Norton (24-12) at 165, Lake sophomore Delfino Garcia (0-2) at 175, and Otsego senior Diego Henderson (18-14) at 190.

There was no NBC girls meet this year, but Rossford’s Noel Reinhart is ranked 10th in the state at 110 pounds.