Athlete of the Week: Ben Kaiser, Versailles
Mar. 20—The experience was a bit overwhelming at first for Ben Kaiser when he stepped onto the mat in Columbus at the OHSAA State Wrestling Tournament. By the end of the three-day competition, it was Kaiser who overwhelmed his opponents.
Kaiser is a freshman wrestler at Versailles. At the Division III state tournament, he created Ohio history by becoming the first freshman to win the individual championship in the 285-pound heavyweight division. For his efforts, Kaiser was named the Dayton Daily News Athlete of the Week for March 9 through March 15, earning the honor through reader voting at DaytonDailyNews.
com . "It was pretty cool to hear that I got nominated and that a lot of my friends and people from our area are voting for me," Kaiser said. He was not aware of his chance to create history and only learned of the feat after his accomplishment.
"I'm kind of glad they didn't tell me until afterwards. If I knew going into that match, I would just have put more pressure on me," Kaiser said. The road was challenging for Kaiser.
And he had a flare for dramatics that made several more memories along the way. He won his first round and quarterfinal matches both by one-point decisions. He got a takedown with one second remaining to win 6-5 and advance into the quarterfinals, where he also got a 2-1 win.