SCOTT BLUMENSTOCK - 285 POUND SENIOR
The final story of a Buccaneer wrestler who qualified for state is that of senior 285 pounder Scott Blumenstock, which is a true story of inspiration.
Nothing ever came easy for Blumenstock - going way back nearly a decade when he was in pee wee football where this year's junior and senior classes were third and fourth graders.
There was a game at Smith Field on a bright sunny day where Covington had a comfortable lead into the fourth quarter and to the end of the game. Throughout the contest a youngster followed the coaches up and down the sideline begging to get into the game. As the game wound down, the youngster eventually stood all by himself on one end of the sideline with tears in his eyes. The broken look on his face was so heartbreaking to where it seemed very important to ask his name.
That youngster was Scott Blumenstock.
What’s ironic is that pee wee football team at the time was loaded with athletes and had good numbers - almost enough for two teams. Eight years later in their senior year of football, there were just six seniors and five juniors on the high school roster. Scott Blumenstock wasn’t one of them, which is a shame because he is a big, coachable kid who likely would have helped the team and would have benefitted from football himself.
Instead, Blumenstock gravitated to the sport of wrestling - a one-on-one sport where HE controlled his destiny.
And boy, Scott Blumenstock made things happen for himself through hard work and perseverance. This past weekend he became just the second heavyweight in school history to qualify for state by taking fourth at the district meet. A week earlier he became the first heavyweight wrestler in the history of the program to become a three-time district qualifier.
It wasn't easy as Blumenstock went through a rough phase to where be ballooned up to 330 pounds as a freshman. In order to be eligible to wrestle, he had to get his weight at or below 285 pounds.
He worked his tail off by doing the offseason training implemented by Covington coach Eric Vanderhorst. Eventually Blumenstock made the maximum weight for a heavyweight (285) midway through his freshman year, but he didn't stop there. In all, Scott lost close to 100 pounds as he tips the scale around 240 pounds.
In the process, Blumenstock qualified for districts for the first time in 2020 as a sophomore by finishing fourth. He then made a return trip to districts in 2021 as a junior after upsetting a higher seeded wrestler in his go-to-district match.
Looking to make school history his senior year, Scott continued to grind in the wrestling room throughout the off-seasons and began his senior year with impressive showings. He took runner-up at the Dayton Christian Invitational, runner-up at the Jimmy Mac Invitational in Bellefontaine and runner-up at an extremely tough Versailles Invitational.
Blumenstock was hoping to make a huge impression at the GMVWA Holiday Tournament over the Christmas break, but never competed in the tournament because his father, Brian, fell ill and passed away on December 29th at the age of 57.
His father's passing gave Scott more motivation to excel on the mat and he gained momentum by taking third at the Troy Invitational and runner-up at the Three Rivers Conference Championships.
At sectionals, Blumenstock reached the semifinals, but fell into the consolation bracket with a loss to #2 seed Jeremiah Carter of Northridge. Needing to win his next match to qualify for districts for the third time, Blumenstock gutted out a 4-2 decision win over #5 seed James Baker of National Trail.
Then, this past weekend in the district meet at Hobart Arena in Troy, Blumenstock took the longest and most difficult path to state as he dropped his opening match to the top seeded wrestler in Ohio, unbeaten Eli Criblez of Allen East.
Undeterred, Blumenstock battled through the blood rounds where the stakes of every match is win or go home. He pinned Legacy Christian's Matthew Smith in 2:17 and then won a 4-3 overtime match against Logan Johnson of Spencerville.
His next match was against a wrestler who was highly favored in the Reading sectional champion, Patton Johnson of Reading. Blumenstock pulled off a major upset by pinning Johnson 59 seconds into the second period to set up a go-to-state match against the sectional champion out of the Covington sectional (where Blumenstock finished fourth), Austin Skinner of Middletown Madison.
The only break Blumenstock received throughout his entire athletic career materialized as Skinner was forced to injury default the match due to a knee injury he suffered a match earlier. This ensured Blumenstock a birth at state, an accomplishment above and beyond the expectations of anyone other than maybe Scott and his coaches, Eric Vanderhorst and Lance Miller.
Granted, Covington wrestling isn’t known for having heavyweight wrestlers excel at the state level in its 50 year history. The only heavyweight from Covington to qualify for state prior to Blumenstock was Dusty Hess is 2003.
Which makes what Scott Blumenstock has accomplished that much more special, especially for a young man who has had to overcome everything he has had to face in his young life.
It's no secret that the odds of Blumenstock getting on the podium at state are not in a betting man's favor. But if history is telling, don't count him out - because Scott Blumenstock won't be standing on the sideline. |
