182 POUND CHAMPION … Archbold’s Carson Meyer takes control against Dalton Hesselbart of Eastwood in their first-round match. Meyer went on to take title at 182lbs. (PHOTOS BY RICH HARDING, STAFF)
DIVISION III DISTRICTS
By: Nate Calvin
Rossford High School was the site of the Division III districts where the Delta Panthers finished as runners-up in the final team standings will send seven wrestlers to Columbus.
Sophomore Evan Hanefeld (106) placed fourth, Carson Chiesa (120) was also fourth as he dropped the third-place match 5-2 against Marcus Medina from Milan Edison.
Michigan bound Zack Mattin (132) added another district title and trip to Columbus to his resume as he defeated Gavin Owens of Eastwood 7-2 in the title match.
Gabe Meyer will be part of the Delta contingent in Columbus as he was fourth at 138lbs and Evan Perry (152) took third by winning his placement match 4-1 over Hayden Buhro from Oak Harbor.
At 195 pounds, Max Hoffman fell in the championship match 6-3 to finish as runner-up after getting a 2-1 sudden victory in the semifinals against Nathaniel DiRe of Liberty Benton.
Delta earned their second championship of the tournament as Austin Kohlhofer took the top spot at 220 pounds and became the seventh Panther to punch his ticket to state.
Archbold was ninth as a team and send two wrestlers to Columbus with Brodie Dominique finish second at 138lbs while Carson Meyer won the title at 182 pounds.
The final state qualifier from Williams and Fulton Counties came at 285 pounds as Swanton’s Brodie Stevens was the champion after a 4-3 win over Hayden Morse of Ashland Crestview.
The Division III State Tournament will take place this Saturday and Sunday at Marion Harding High School.
152 POUND WEIGHT CLASS … Evan Perry of Delta executes a move against Israel Ortiz of Hopewell-Loudon. Perry went on to finish third to qualify for state.
DIVISION II DISTRICTS
By: Mike Reeves
The Wauseon wrestling program continued a fine season bringing home a fourth-place finish from Norwalk High School. Placing in the top four and qualifying for a state tournament bid were Collin Twigg (106) with a 4th place finish losing to Brad Smith of Perkins 7-2.
At 120lbs, three-time state qualifier Damon Molina grappled to a second-place finish falling in the finals, dropping a tight match to Dieter of Bowling Green 5-2. Lawson Grime (132) punched his ticket to State pinning his way to a third-place spot on the podium taking just :30 sec to stop Adkins from Ashland.
Connor Twigg (152) lost his Championship Semifinal to the eventual champion then wrestled back through the consolation rounds to finish fourth losing a tight match 4-3 but still qualifying for State.
Zaiden Kessler (160) finished his strong weekend in fourth place and a spot in Columbus.
Freshman Austin Kovar pinned Price from Akron SVSM in 1:30 to earn himself some valuable experience at State by placing third.
Bryan’s Dylan McCandless had the best finish of the three Golden Bear wrestlers at Norwalk by placing 5th at 195lbs. McCandless won his first two matches before falling by major decision 12-1 to Trenton Osborne from Madison Comprehensive. After then losing 3-2 in the consolation semifinals, McCandless won the fifth-place match by fall.
The Division II State Tournament will take place this Saturday and Sunday at Marengo Highland High School.
DIVISION II TEAM STANDINGS
1.Buckeye 148.5; 2. Bellevue 144.5; 3. Akron SVSM 134.5; 4. Wauseon 132.0; 5. Aurora 125.0; 24. Bryan 17.0
DIVISION III TEAM STANDINGS
1.Milan Edison 241.0; 2. Delta 157.5; 9. Archbold 71.0; 23. Swanton 26.0 26. Evergreen 13.0; 28. Edgerton 11.5; 33. Montpelier 6.0
Nate can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com