Senior wrestler Adam Ruby became only the third person in Talawanda school history to record 100 career wins when he pinned an opponent Feb. 9 during an invitational meet at Batavia High School.

It was a hard-fought match in which he earned a pin while behind on points late in the second period. The fact that it was a tough match made the win all the more meaningful for him.

“To get a forfeit for the 100th win, there would be no pride in that,” Ruby said. The milestone win came over a Clermont Northeastern wrestler. “He was the second seed. I was third. I thought he would be a pretty tough challenge. We were 0-0 going into the second period and he scored. He got a reversal but I pinned him with just three seconds to go. I knew I had very little time left. I had him on his back and it felt like I was holding him forever.”

It was his third win on a day in which he scored four victories—all by pins—to give him 101 wins heading into this weekend’s sectional tournament.

His father, Brian, is the Talawanda wrestling coach, so he got to see the milestone win up close.

“Adam joined an elite group,” Brian Ruby said. “It was cool that he got to do that. It’s cool that I’m his father. He was stressed, but he dealt with the stress and he capitalized on a mistake.”

Adam Ruby is now one of only three wrestlers in the 50-year history of the sport at Talawanda to break 100 career wins. Talawanda was one of the early high school wrestling programs in the county, started by Marvin Wilhelm 50 years ago. The only wrestlers with more wins are Matt McGuire, with 103, and Patrick Truster, with 119.

Adam Ruby entered the 2012-13 season needing 25 wins and confident he could reach 100 but might have challenged Truster’s career record if not for an injury that cost him time his junior year.

Ruby, who started wrestling in seventh grade, missed much of last year with an arm injury but came back in time to add to his win total. He finished with 18 wins last year, though, and ran his career total to 75. His most wins in a season was his sophomore year, when he amassed a 37-9 record. He had 20 wins his freshman year.

“I came into the season with 75. I thought I can get a hundred. My sophomore year, I got 37. I have not gotten as many wins as I would like, but I got a hundred. I like to be able to say I’m one of the very few to get a hundred,” then senior said.

Ruby has been accepted at Miami and plans to enroll in the pre-med program and concentrate on his studies with no sports, so his wrestling days will be over after this season ends.

“It’s sectionals. I know this could be the end but I’m not worrying about it. I’ll take it as it comes. I know I had a good year,” he said.

Talawanda was sixth in the SWOC wrestling championships Feb. 2. Ross won the title by a wide margin over Harrison, 237 points to 185. Talawanda had no first-place finishers but Adam Ruby took second at 126 pounds, earning second-team all-SWOC honors.

The Braves had four fourth-place finishes — Gavin Pierson, at 106; James Hatfield, at 132; Carson Johnson, at 182; and Cameron Fox, at 220. Johnson was honorable mention all-SWOC.