Madison's White, McCullough to remain teammates at Baldwin Wallace

Madison seniors Chase White and Jordan McCullough seemed to have done just about everything there is to experience with the sport of wrestling together.

From their days on the mats of Madison’s youth wrestling program to being key contributors for the Blue Streaks high school varsity team to becoming state placers a month ago.

Considering their past, it only made sense they’d both choose the same college program to continue their education and athletic careers.

Both White and McCullough have committed to wrestle for Baldwin Wallace University next year.

“Why not?” White, who took fourth at Division II 215 pounds in last month’s state tournament, said. “Wrestling is my favorite sport, so why not take it to the college level, go to college, get a degree and continue to wrestle?”

And taking a friend with him makes even more sense.

“We might even get to room together, we’ve been best friends for years,” White said.

White said wrestling in college is something that’s been on his mind for years.

McCullough, on the other hand, leaned towards going in a different direction.

A visit to the campus in Berea, though, made him reconsider.

“The biggest part of it was when I went on a visit, I got to meet a lot of the guys on the team,” he said. “That was a really big part of it. I knew if I went there, I wanted to at least enjoy the people I’m going to be around.”

White was the first to decide BW, a Division III wrestling school which competes in the Ohio Athletic Conference, was the place for him.

McCullough, who finished eighth at 113 in D-II in the recent state tournament, soon followed.

“I was steering towards BW anyway,” he said. “Once he committed, that kind of sealed the deal. Meeting the team helped a lot, seeing that they meshed our vibe really helped a lot.

“It’s really cool. I’m excited about it, our parents are excited about it, it’s just really cool.”

Aside from getting to stick together, both White and McCullough are excited about what the Yellow Jackets wrestling program has to offer.

“Coach [Jamie] Gibbs is one of the best D-III coaches around,” White said. “Not just in the state of Ohio, but anywhere. He’s really good and I can’t wait to wrestle for him.”

Madison wrestling coach Andrew Tomaso is happy to see two more Blue Streaks continue at the college level.

“I’m super excited for Jordan and Chase,” Tomaso said. “BW is an outstanding program, they’re like in the top 10 in the nation every year. They have an outstanding coach and they should do really well there.”

White and McCullough are two of three Madison wrestlers who are scheduled to wrestle in college next year

Sophia Pinney is headed Mount Union, which means there will be a total of seven Madison alumni wrestling for college programs next year.