Photo by Kim North Union Local’s Brody Perzanowski has control of Waynesburg’s Brock Evans during their championship match at 157 pounds Saturday at the 24th annual Rick Link Union Local Invitational wrestling tournament inside ‘The Hangar.’ The Jets freshman won 3-1.

MORRISTOWN — With five individual champions — including three repeat titlists — University ran away from the 21-team field Saturday at the 24th annual Rick Link Union Local Invitational wrestling tournament inside a toasty ‘Hangar.’

The Hawks accumulated 264 points which was far ahead of second-place Steubenville’s 185. Barnesville was a close third with 176. All three teams were missing some standouts that competed at the Ironman.

Winning titles were Brodie Emery (120), Carter Pauley (132), Emerson Murphy (175), Ryder Hastings (215) and Brock Kehler (285). Pauley, Hastings and Kehler all repeated, but the latter two switched weight classes.

“When you’ve got two guys who can get you bonus points and wins in the last two matches, you kind of feel comfortable,” University assistant coach Robbie Paugh said of Hastings and Kehler. “We’ve got those two on the back end and we’ve got some good guys in the lower weights and in the middle.

“We took some lumps earlier in the week but we didn’t mope about it and had a good week of practice to get better, and we got the job done today.”

Four local wrestlers stood atop the podium after winning their weight classes.

They included Barnesville senior and Ohio State signee Dakota King (138); Steubenville senior Cal Beadling (144); Union Local freshman Brody Perzanowski (157); and Linsly senior Nathaniel Berhalter (165).

This was King’s third title. He didn’t compete as a junior due to the Ironman. He was voted the Most Outstanding Wrestler by tournament coaches.

“Dakota is Dakota. He just goes out and wins,” Barnesville head coach Jayson Stephen said.

King recorded 14 points in the first period on his way to a 17-2 technical fall. Beadling earned a major decision, 10-1, over Union Local’s Gunnar Gossett. Perzanowski used a late reversal for a 3-1 victory; and Berhalter blanked Martins Ferry’s Andrew Leiffer, 3-0.

In addition to second-place finishes by the aforementioned Gossett and Leiffer, other local runner ups were the Jets’ Gavin Bolock (113); Bellaire’s Grant Vasey (120); Steubenville’s Charlie Abbott (132); Barnesville’s Hines Ford (175); and the Linsly trio of Brody Cottrill (190), Landon Taylor (215) and Anderson Palion (285).

Linsly head coach Brian Valentine was pleased with his team’s performance, although he would’ve liked a couple more individual titles.

“We wrestled well. We came here to see some good competition, and we did,” Valentine said. “We can work on some things to get better, and we will.”

Valentine praised the effort of Berhalter.

“He’s a great kid. This only his fourth year of wrestling.”

Likewise, Union Local head coach Nate Starkey liked what he saw from his Jets.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had three guys in the finals. We’re getting there,” Starkey said. “Brody is a tough kid. He does everything you asked. He comes to practice every day and works hard.”

Perzanowski won Ohio State junior high state titles as a sixth- and eighth-grader.

Other champions were the Huntington duo of Trevor Morgan (106) and Joe Riggs (150); and the Waynesburg tandem of Ky Szewczyk (126) and Jacon Stephenson (190).