Wrestling in the same gym they called home as eighth graders when they went undefeated in every tournament and every dual match, seven Ross High School seniors helped send the Rams into the regional championship match of the team state duals tournament.

Top-seeded Ross dominated No. 5 Monroe 75-6 and beat No. 2 New Richmond 54-16 Wednesday night at Ross Middle School to advance to host Wednesday’s regional final against Hillsboro, which upset Miami Trace, the No. 1 seed in the other subregion.

“Definitely a lot of memories walking back into this place,” said senior 145-pounder Joseph Jones, one of nine Ross wrestlers who went 2-0 on the night.

The regional matches were moved to the middle school because of a girls basketball game at the high school. New Richmond beat Eaton 45-29 in the other quarterfinal to earn a shot at Ross, the No. 1-ranked Division II team in Cincinnati.

But the Rams won the first nine matches for a 45-0 lead to eliminate any drama.

“It’s all about matchups,” Ross coach Rich Dunn said. “We knew New Richmond and Eaton would be a heck of a match, and nothing against New Richmond, but Eaton probably would’ve been a little closer match with us. Because Eaton has some really strong kids down below, and we’ve got our studs up above.”

In addition to Jones, who improved his school record win total to 144, other Ross wrestlers who won a pair of matches were Alex Cox (106), Brendan Williams (113), Joey Yerace (120), Austin Russell (126), Cordell Byrd (138), Andrew Dunn (152), Tyler Bridwell (195) and Frank Heimkreiter (220).

“We’ve got (the Southwest Ohio Conference championships) this weekend (at Ross), so we’ve got two practices before that,” Jones said. “Then we’ll come in Monday and focus on winning the first regional title and getting to the state tournament.”

This is the first year for the team state tournament. The eight regional champions in each division advance to the state tournament at St. John’s Arena in Columbus on Feb. 9.

The lone winner for Monroe against Ross was 170-pounder Chris Wilson. Despite the lopsided score, Hornets coach Jim Williams said he was encouoraged.

“This was a big step for us as a young team just to make it this far and be in the same round as Eaton, New Richmond and Ross,” he said. “That says a lot for how far we’ve come in the last couple of years. Two years ago when I got here, we only had eight guys come out.”