Rookie Edmond Ruth Steals Show at New Oxford Invitational

Think about big shoes to fill. You are the younger brother of Ed “The Truth” Ruth one of the most decorated college wrestlers of all time. A 3x NCAA Champion for Penn State Ed Ruth is now competing in the Freestyle circuit at 86 kg. and has already signed a MMA contract with Bellator.

Rookie Edmond Ruth begins his high school career the same way older brother Ed did back in 2005 at Susquehanna Township High School in Harrisburg, PA. Edmond was listed as Honorable Mention on PA Power Wrestling’s Top Incoming Freshmen of 2016 having competed for Team PA in both Freestyle and Greco-Roman in 2015. At the 2016 New Oxford Invitational Ruth made his season debut down at 145 lbs. entering with a season record of (16-6). Competing at both 152 lbs. and 160 lbs. this season Edmond had a quality win over fellow rookie Darien Roberts (East Stroudsburg Area North) who was listed as #7 on the TIF of 2016.

At the New Oxford Invitational Ruth was the most impressive wrestler in the deepest weight of the Tournament. With an 11th seed at 145 lbs. Ruth went through a gauntlet of State Ranked wrestlers to claim the Championship title. In round two Edmond took on conference opponent #25 Mahlon Chase (Central Dauphin East) and came away with a narrow decision (8-7) over the State ranked Chase. In the quarterfinals Ruth met the fourth ranked wrestler in the State #4 Eric Thomas (Interboro) who was a PIAA State Qualifier in 2015. Edmond came away with a (7-5) upset over the senior and found himself placed in the Championship semifinals where he would met his third State Ranked opponent in a row. Ruth only scored one point in the match but it was enough to get past #5 Dustin Stone (Harry S. Truman) who, like #4 Eric Thomas, is a senior and returning PIAA State Qualifier. After gaining a (1-0) victory over Stone in the semifinals it seemed there was no stopping Ruth. It would have been an impressive performance in of itself for the Rookie having entered the Tournament only ranked eighth in the South Central Regional at 145 lbs. and taking out three State Ranked opponents.

Ruth was not satisfied with just making the finals from the 11th seeded position he wanted to complete his epic run to win the Championship title. And that is exactly what he did. In the finals Edmond faced the top seed #12 Bryant Wise (Pottstown) who is a senior and 2x PIAA State Qualifier. Almost expectedly Ruth again disposed of his fourth straight State Ranked opponent to pick up a (6-3) decision over Wise claiming the Championship at 145 lbs. in dramatic fashion. What may be most impressive about Ruth’s Championship at 145 lbs. was that he finished ahead of a total of eight State Ranked opponents, all of which were seniors. If ever there was a time to start comparing younger brother Edmond to Ed it may be now.

The highly anticipated match-up between the State’s top ranked 160 lbs. wrestlers in Class AAA did not come to fruition. Undefeated senior #2 Jonathan Ross (Northern York) suffered a minor neck injury in the quarterfinal round and was forced to injury default in the semifinals to Southern Columbia’s #2 Blake Marks. In turn Marks himself injury defaulted in the finals to #1 Kaleb Young (Punxsutawney Area) for an unknown reason.

Full Results can be found at the Flo Arena here.

106 lbs.

138 lbs.

145 lbs.

160 lbs.

195 lbs.