By Mike Finn

Ed Ruth’s 9-3 victory over Ethen Lofthouse in the 171-pound finals of the NHSCA Senior Nationals in Virginia Beach, April 5, wasn’t the first time these highly-ranked high school wrestlers have faced each other.

            It most likely won’t be the last time either.

            “If he stays around my weight, I’ll come across him again,” said Ruth, WIN’s No. 1-ranked wrestler at his weight. The Blair Academy wrestler also expects to compete at either 184 pounds or 197 at Penn State, where he signed last November.

            Lofthouse, a senior from Mountain Crest High School in Hyram, Utah,  meanwhile, is heading for the University of Iowa; leading one to speculate on future meetings between the future Big Ten wrestlers.

            This was just one of many championship matches between highly-ranked wrestlers:

            • At 119, No. 3 Sean Boyle of Blair Academy defeated No. 10 Tyler Cox of Campbell County in Gillette, Wyom.;

            • At 135, No. 8 C.J. Napier of Columbus (Kan.) High School edged No. 5 Ian Paddock of Warsaw, N.Y.;

            • At 140, No. 9 Kyle Dake of Lansing, N.Y., defeated No. 12 Max Ortega of Rio Rancho, N.M..

            All of these wrestlers already have Division I homes so they didn’t need to capture the attention of the many college coaches in attendance. So why did these wrestlers head to the Virginia Beach Convention Center to compete in this national event? While many seniors said it was the need to win their first NHSCA national championship, both Lofthouse (160) and Ruth (171) had already won NHSCA titles as juniors in 2008.

            “I just come out to wrestle the best,” said Lofthouse, WIN’s No. 3-ranked 171-pounder. “It happened that I was wrestling in one of the tougher weight classes. I like to wrestle the best and continue to get better.”

            Lofthouse actually jumped on top of Ruth with a first-period takedown before Ruth tied the match with a reversal, then took the lead when he caught Lofthouse in a cradle.

            “The cradle has been my ace in the hole for a long time,” Ruth said. 

            “It’s a move that I’m really comfortable with performing out on the mat.”

            But there are some things that Ruth, who also defeated Lofthouse in this season’s Ironman in December, believes he needs to continue to improve; something he has done drastically since transferring from Harrisburg (Pa.) High School to Blair last fall.

            For many of the seniors competing in Virginia — as much as six weeks since they competed in their state tournaments — there are championship dreams on a higher level.

            “He wants to win a national championship,” said Blair coach Jeff Buxton. “This is all training for the NCAAs. I’m trying to teach him to be a better competitor. It will help him learn to focus for a big tournament. It’s all the process of becoming an NCAA champion.”

            Buxton apparently has pushed Ruth harder than anyone in his past.

            “Coach Buxton has given me good guidance,” said Ruth. “He gives me a heck of a workout. Every time I go to practice, he’s always on me.”

            “He came in with a lot of innate abilities and natural skills,” Buxton said. “We got him to push more on top and we got him to move his feet. But what’s he’s really developed is a passion for wrestling so look out college wrestlers.

            “He has uncanny athletic ability and he also has a gas tank that will last all day.

            “If you combine both his athletic ability and gas tank, he’s an incredible, incredible wrestler.”

            Ruth said he will honor his commitment to Penn State, which is looking to replace Troy Sunderland as its head coach.

            “As long as he’s a good coach and I feel comfortable there and it feels like home,” said Ruth.

            Like many of the seniors competing for the last time as high school wrestlers in Virginia Beach, their future homes in college will present a much steeper challenge in terms of the day-to-day training and in what it takes to win. n