WILMINGTON — Four Clinton County wrestlers punched their tickets to the Division II state wrestling tournament at Saturday’s district tournament at Wilmington Middle School.

Clinton-Massie’s Robby Frederick and Colton Doyle will join Blanchester’s James Peters and Kadin Berwanger at the 83rd OHSAA state wrestling tournament beginning Friday at the Jerome Schottenstein Center at Ohio State.

It was a successful weekend for the Falcons as a team. Clinton-Massie finished fourth with 82 team points. Graham Local, one of the top wrestling programs in the nation, won the district with 242 points.

“It says a lot about this team,” CM head coach Spencer Running said. “The kids have really peaked at the right time. I’m really happy coming out with five placers, and some of our younger kids were right on the edge of being able to place.”

Frederick ran into the InterMat Ohio’s second-ranked Division II wrestler in the final, Graham Local’s Alek Martin. Martin won the district title by major decision, winning 21-7.

“Robby has really been set in his mindset since league tournament,” Running said. “He really got in the zone and did the extra work. He went out and executed. Didn’t get surprised by anyone, and got to the finals against a good Graham kid. We went right at him. It’s a good lesson for next weekend and the caliber of kids that we’ll be running into.”

Colton Doyle lost just one bout on the weekend, and it was a narrow 5-3 decision in the quarterfinals. He rallied with two pins and a 6-3 win over Jared Kremer of Franklin in the consolation final for a third-place finish.

“He has been wrestling a bit more conservatively lately,” Running said. “Ran into a quarterfinal match where we had trouble scoring. He came back this morning with a different mindset. He got a little bit more offensive. He wrestled his next three or four matches with a whole different mindset.”

In total, five Falcon wrestlers finished in the top six in their weight class.

For Blanchester’s James Peters, the top-ranked wrestler in Division II at 220 pounds awaited him in the final. Nolan Neves of Graham Local and Peters had a tight bout. It was 1-1 early in the third. Neves was able to get the only two takedowns of the match in the third to take a 5-2 decision.

“He had a good week of workouts,” BHS head coach Ryan Shafer said. “We had a lot of former wrestlers coming in. We’ll analyze that match and start working Monday to see where we can get that takedown next time.”

Kadin Berwanger won two narrow decisions in the consolation quarterfinals and semifinals to secure his spot in Columbus. He ended up fourth at 182 pounds, falling to Darian Huff of London by pin in the consolation final.

“Kadin has been getting second and third places at every big tournament,” Shafer said. “His first actual win was at sectionals. He’s been good.”

It was a tough weekend for the host Hurricane. Of the seven wrestlers, only three placed and none higher than fifth. Freshman Thane McCoy and senior Dominic Davidson will serve as alternates at the state meet after fifth-place finishes.

“We’ve never had a freshman go to state,” WHS assistant coach Isaac Bray said. “For him to go up to Columbus, maybe wrestle but certainly watch the tournament is going to be big for him.

“For Dom, this is heartbreaking. After he lost the go-to match, I told him this would be the hardest match he’s wrestled mentally. For him to come back and get that win is a testament to him as an athlete.”

Wrestling will begin in Columbus at 3 p.m. Friday with the championship preliminaries. Division II is scheduled to begin wrestling at approximately 4:10 p.m.

SUMMARY

Saturday, March 7, 2020

At Fred Summers Court, Wilmington Middle School

Division II District Wrestling Tournament

Team Scores (Top 20): 1. Graham Local 242.0; 2. Licking Valley 85.5; 3. London 84.5; 4. Clinton-Massie 82.0; 5. Cham. Julienne 81.0; 6. Hartley 72.5; 7. Wyoming 69.5; 8. Ross 69.0; 9. Granville 61.5; 10. Western Brown 58.0; 11. Cal. River Valley 54.5; 12. Batavia 51.0; 13. Blanchester 45.0; Franklin 45.0; Valley View 45.0; 16. Goshen 44.5; 17. Eaton 43.5; 18. Bellefontaine 41.0; 19. Greenville 40.5; 20. Wilmington 38.5.

Local Results

113: Grant Moorman (CM) pin AJ Kimble (Licking Valley) 3:32; was pinned by Nolan Gesser (Graham) 2:16; dec. Jacob Hamm (B) 3-0; was dec. by Thane McCoy (W) 10-4. Did not place.

113: Thane McCoy (W) dec. Xavier Pierce (J. Alder) 9-4; was dec. by Brandon Sauter (Batavia) 16-5; tech falled Michael Reyes (Goshen) 23-6; dec. Grant Moorman (CM) 10-4; was dec. by Drayk Kallenberg (Greenville) 13-4; dec. AJ Kimble (Licking Valley) 8-2. Finished fifth.

113: Jacob Hamm (B) was pinned by Justin Mills (Valley View) 3:24; pinned Cooper Campbell (Monroe) 1:40; was dec. by Grant Moorman (CM) 3-0. Did not place.

120: Carson Hibbs (W) was dec. by Caleb Kennington (Kenton Ridge) 7-6; dec. Eli Trbovich (J. Alder) 5-0; was dec. by Jacob Bryan (Wyoming) 8-6 OT. Did not place.

120: Ethan Johnson (CM) was tech falled by Roman Jones (CJ) 17-0; was tech falled by Conner Roback (Licking Valley) 17-2. Did not place.

126: Donovan Butler (W) pinned Josh Proper (J. Alder) 1:52; was dec. by Nick Hart (Graham) 12-5; dec. Nicholas Devlin (Milton-Union) 13-1; dec. Ethan Szanati (Buckeye Valley) 7-1; was dec. by Nathan Kulbe (Batavia) 4-1; was dec. by Tyler Woods (Franklin) 3-2. Finished sixth.

132: Gage Berwanger (B) was dec. by Crae Muzykoski (Licking Valley) 9-5; was pinned by Eric Bridegens (Bellbrook) 4:12. Did not place.

132: Blake Seaman (CM) was pinned by Peyton Brown (Milton-Union) 3:52; pinned Josh Morse (DeSales) 0:59; dec. Dominic Davis (London) 13-5; pinned Gage Daugherty (WB) 0:20; was pinned by Peyton Brown (Milton-Union) 3:17; was dec. by Amir Harris (Trotwood-Madison) 15-11. Finished sixth.

138: Dominic Davidson (W) dec. Dylan Thompson (Batavia) 6-4 OT; dec. Carter Brenner (Bexley) 7-6; was pinned by Nick Moore (Graham) 2:15; was dec. by Drew Gray (Kenton Ridge) 10-3; dec. AJ Lewandowski (Oakwood) 5-2. Finished fifth.

138: Andrew Frump (B) was dec. by AJ Lewandowski (Oakwood) 11-6; was dec. by Stephen Chang (Granville) 4-0. Did not place.

145: Robby Frederick (CM) dec. Zane Naegele (NR) 11-1; pinned Noah Yoesting (Bellefontaine) 1:11; pinned Nathan Bryan (Wyoming) 3:10; was dec. by Alek Martin (Graham) 21-7. Finished second.

145: Sam Eastes (W) dec. Spencer Mangialardo (IH) 12-5; was pinned by Alek Martin (Graham) 0:38; dec. Alex Pitsch (Monroe) 12-7; was pinned by Logan Miracle (Cal. River Valley) 2:45. Did not place.

152: Zane Panetta (B) dec. Blake Ballard (Tippecanoe) 13-10; was tech falled by Douglas Terry (Granville) 21-6; was dec. by Colten Jacobe (Milton-Union) 3-0. Did not place.

160: Kile Holland (W) dec. Trey Williams (Urbana) 13-11; was dec. by Dylan Newsome (Hartley) 19-5; was dec. by Gage Huston (B) 25-11. Did not place.

160: Gage Huston (B) was pinned by Cody Matthews (Mar. Highland) 5:17; dec. Cameron Lapthorm (Badin) 12-3; dec. Kile Holland (W) 25-11; was dec. by Zac Schmidt (Eaton) 21-7. Did not place.

170: Colt Conover (B) pinned Hayduke Hess (Ross) 1:19; was pinned by Carson Miller (Granville) 3:22; pinned Robert Taylor (Heb. Lakewood) 1:26; pinned Logan Chapin (Eaton) 3:54; was dec. by David Frederick (CJ) 11-3; was disqualified vs. Eric Thomas (Graham).

182: Kadin Berwanger (B) pinned Treston Hinkle (Mar. Highland) 0:49; was pinned by Jack Mefford (Graham) 1:54; pinned Sage Bowman (Eaton) 2:22; dec. Nicholas Machuca (CJ) 9-8; dec. Braxton Green (CM) 5-2; was pinned by Darian Huff (London) 0:31. Finished fourth.

182: Braxton Green (CM) dec. Sage Bowman (Eaton) 9-4; pinned Nathan Berger (IH) 0:27; was dec. by Trevor Stewart (Urbana) 11-4; was dec. by Kadin Berwanger (B) 5-2; was dec. by Jack Mefford (Graham) 11-6. Finished sixth.

195: Colton Doyle (CM) pinned Tony Thivener (Hartley) 1:32; was dec. by Noah Harrison (Valley View) 5-3; pinned Will Weinberg (Buckeye Valley) 1:47; pinned Michael Boggs (J. Alder) 2:35; pinned Sam Oaks (Monroe) 0:13; dec. Jared Kremer (Franklin) 6-3. Finished third.

195: Cody Kidd (B) was pinned by Tytan Grote (Greenville) 1:59; was pinned by Logan Current (W) 2:08. Did not place.

195: Logan Current (W) was dec. by Cooper Graham (Cal. River Valley) 10-7; pinned Cody Kidd (B) 2:08; was dec. by Jared Kremer (Franklin) 7-5. Did not place.

220: James Peters (B) pinned Marko Borenovic (Oakwood) 3:41; dec. Marquel Henry (CJ) 6-2; dec. Joe Baughman (CM) 11-7; was dec. by Nolan Neves (Graham) 5-2. Finished second.

220: Joe Baughman (CM) dec. Brady Stokes (Taylor) 10-4; pinned Jamen Hill (Carroll) 3:29; was dec. by James Peters (B) 11-7; was dec. by Antonio Burns (London) 10-4; was pinned by Gary Powell (Western Brown) 0:28. Finished sixth.

285: Lane Schulz (CM) was pinned by Cole Potts (DeSales) 1:04; pinned Garrett Walker (Carroll) 3:26; was dec. by Colton McCartney (Greenville) 14-13. Did not place.