With Clinton County well represented, 224 wrestlers from around Ohio will converge on Wilmington’s Middle School gym Friday for competition in the Division Southwest District tournament.
With a berth in the state tournament to the top four in each of the 14 weight classes, there’s a lot riding on the outcome of matches. A total of 23 wrestlers from Wilmington, Blanchester and Clinton-Massie as well as wrestlers from Graham and Ross will vie for one more week of high school wrestling.
A school record five East Clinton wrestlers will compete at the Division III Southwest District at Troy’s Hobart Arena Friday and Saturday.
Wrestling at Troy begins 3 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday.
At Wilmington, wrestling begins 2 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday.
Admission prices are $12 for both sessions Friday, $6 for Session 3 on Saturday and $7 for finals on Saturday. An all-session pass is $22.
For East Clinton, Cooper Rack is 15-18 and wrestles at 106. He is one of 12 freshmen in the weight class.
Michael Horn, a sophomore who is 19-11, has projected state champion (by Boro Fan Almanac) Hayden Pummel of Indian Lake in the opening round.
Jon Cline is 33-5 and won the district last week at 170 pounds. He is projected No. 18 in the state at 170. For what it’s worth, none of the wrestlers in Cline’s half of the bracket are ranked above him.
In the bottom half are No. 3 Steele Boysel of Ben Logan and No. 7 Devin Oligee of Madison.
Nathan Vest is 3-24 and has 10th ranked Craig Montgomery of Troy Christian in his opening 182-pound match.
Jayson Edison is 5-23 and will face Nolan Tobe of Coldwater in his first match at 220 pounds.
At Wilmington, a look at each weight class based on county wrestlers and the Boro Fan Almanac by Bill Schaefer.
• 106: No county wrestlers. Top ranked are Caleb Thomas of Monroe (7) and AJ Hurt of Western Brown (13).
• 113: Grant Moorman (CM) is 26-9. Thane McCoy (WHS) is 26-12. Jacob Hamm (BHS) is 32-13. Moorman would get Nolan Gessler of Graham in second round. Gessler is projected state runnerup.
• 120: Carson Hibbs (WHS) is 24-17. Ethan Johnson (CM) is 23-14. Chase Huff of Goshen is 30-0 and could meet Hibbs in second round. Michael Petrella of Columbus Bishop Hartley is No. 3 projected in state.
• 126: Donovan Butler (WHS) is 26-9. He could meet projected state runnerup Nick Hart of Graham in second round. Tyler Harkins of Norwood and Josh Dunn of Goshen are ranked 7-8.
• 132: Gage Berwanger (BHS) is 27-10 and Blake Seaman (CM) is 28-5. Berwanger could see Chris Kelly of Graham in second round. Kelly is No. 6 in state. Isaiah Wortham of Chaminade-Julienne is projected No. 3 at 138 but has moved to 132.
• 138: Dom Davidson (WHS) is 27-12. Andrew Frump (BHS) is 25-18. Projected state champ Nick Moore of Graham is in Davidson’s half of bracket.
• 145: Robby Frederick (CM) is 39-6. Sam Eastes (WHS) is 35-10. Frederick is No. 26 a 152 while Eastes is 25 at 145. Eastes could face projected state champ Alek Martin of Graham in second round.
• 152: Zane Panetta (BHS) is 24-12. Douglas Terry of Granville is 39-1 and projected No. 3 and could be Panetta’s second round foe.
• 160: Kile Holland (WHS) is 29-12. Gage Huston (BHS) is 36-5. Dylan Dodson of Licking Valley is 43-0 and leads a strong contingent in this tough weight class. Huston meets No. 11 Cody Matthews of Marengo Highland in first round then could face Camden McDaniel of Graham in the second round. Dodson awaits for a possible semifinal match. Holland has a much easier road if there is such a thing at this level.
• 170: Colt Conover (BHS) is 37-5. Graham’s Eric Thomas is possible second round match. Hadyn Danals of Caledonia River Valley is 47-0 and projected No. 3.
• 182: Kadin Berwanger (BHS) is 36-7. Braxton Green (CM) is 24-14. In opposite brackets, locals could get No. 5 Trevor Stewart of Urbana (Green) and No. 6 Joey Petrella of Bishop Hartley (Berwanger) in semifinals.
• 195: Colton Doyle (CM) is 32-4. Logan Current (WHS) is 23-11. Current has Cooper Graham of Caledonia River Valley in opening round. He is projected No. 6. Doyle-Graham is possible semifinal match.
• 220: James Peters (BHS) 40-2. Joe Baughman (CM) is 31-6. The two could meet in semis. Winner would get Nolan Neves of Graham, the projected state champ, in finals.
• 285: Lane Schulz (CM) is 27-9 and gets projected No. 3 Cole Potts of Columbus DeSales (34-2) in first round. Projected state champ Alex Coleman of Hamilton Ross is 37-1 and is in Schulz’s side of bracket.
