State-Bound New Lexington Hungry For Respect

The New Lexington Panthers have broken new ground in MVL wrestling. New Lex dispatched Sheridan and Licking Valley last Wednesday to become the first MVL team to qualify for the state dual tournament.

“At the beginning of the season we started out kind of slow. We were intense, but we had a couple new guys so we had to start out slower than usual,” said junior Andrew Spicer. “We’ve definitely improved a lot.”

Dave Ratliff’s squad needs to be at the top of its game this weekend. In the quarterfinals, they’re set to face St. Paris Graham Local, the #2-ranked team in the country.

“The thing of this is, you know, we can look at it as a negative thing or a positive,” Ratliff said. “We’re going to spin it and we’re going to make it a positive thing and we’re going to be ready to wrestle… We’re looking to change the perspective on how Southeast Ohio is looked at in wrestling.”

It’ll be all about respect for the Panthers come Saturday morning. At the end of the day– win or lose– their goal is to show the state that they’ve earned the right to wrestle with the best of the best.