COLUMBUS — Four area wrestlers, including three underclassmen, made it to the podium at this weekend’s OHSAA state wrestling tournament at the Jerome Schottenstein Center on the Ohio State University campus.
· Freshman standout Gradey Harding of Galion (120) took fifth place.
· Junior Nathan Parks of Seneca East (126) also secured a fifth-place spot.
· Mohawk senior Jace Margraf (150) earned sixth place.
· Cowin Becker, Northmor sophomore, placed sixth at 120.
Harding made his debut with an easy 17-5 decision over Grady Toye of West Holmes on Friday.
“I was just trying to score points,” he said. “That’s what we work on a lot.”
“Gradey can take down with the best of them,” said Tigers coach Matt Tyrrell. “He’s got great endurance and as long as he’s able to do that he puts the other guys in a world of hurt. That’s what we plan on doing. He executed very, very well.”
Winning and resting is the best formula.
“The best schedule you can have down here at the state tournament is to keep winning. You got big breaks and lots of time to relax,” Tyrrell said. “It takes some of that pressure off.”
Harding says he’s been more aggressive as the season has progressed.
“Constantly scoring points, not waiting … just try to keep going.”
Harding then topped Jimmy Lalezas of Taylor 5-3 in the quarterfinals to push his record to 40-7.
“Gradey doesn’t know how good he is. In a way that’s a good thing because it helps him stay humble. But the challenge is to wrestle to your potential and not just hang on,” Tyrrell said. “As the season’s worn on, he’s really been able to do a great job of that.”
Harding faced Noah Moreland of Butler in the semifinals. Moreland scored the pinfall at the 3:59 mark. Harding (39-9) wrestled Sunday morning, losing 3-1 to Larry Moreno of Wauseon.
Next up was a rematch with Lalezas for fifth place and Harding got the victory by default.
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Parks won via pin in overtime despite injuring his finger.
“We were tied up and he peeled back my finger. I knew if it was going to go into overtime and I had to try to get two back points and it was super close. I took a shot, and he came, put his head down and I just bull-rushed him forward.”
The match was tied 6-6 and went into overtime where Parks got the pin at 6:18 in the extra period over a three-time state qualifier, Crestwood’s J.P. Wrobel.
“I got him in a double grapevine. I need to listen to dad more and take bottom rather than top,” Parks said.
This marked Parks’ second year at the state tourney. Last year as a sophomore Parks lost his two matches and posted a 41-8 overall record.
“It feels a lot better coming back healthy. I wasn’t really healthy last year. I was ready for it this time. I had an OK draw, not a great draw.”
Parks won his quarterfinal bout, 6-0, over Drake Kanyuch of Shenandoah. Next, he faced Dillon Campbell of Legacy Christian (42-2) in the semifinals.
Campbell picked up a 9-1 major decision putting Parks (48-7) back on the mats vying for third place.
He lost to Jason Shaffer of Troy Christian 12-1 and took on Robby Bennett of Sherwood Fairview. Parks prevailed in an ultimate tie-breaker, 8-7.
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Jace Margraf, a returning competitor, won 8-0 over Peyton Beavers of Amanda-Clearcreek to open his tournament run.
“Got a take down in the first period and he tried to scramble and got a near-fall. Then once they wrestled on the mat, Jace got his ties,” said assistant coach Drew Desjardins. “He then controlled on top and got some more takedowns.”
Margraf, who went 1-2 at last year’s state meet and compiled a 43-9 record, said that style set the tone for the match.
“After last year, I have to go out there and attack, keep my hands and my feet. I got my ties and tried to wrestle and keep that going.”
Margraf returned Saturday morning to win a close contest, 6-5, over Brookville’s Luke Dolan (51-3).
He then squared off against Joshua Greenwood of Beachwood in the semifinals. He fell behind 2-1 after two periods. An escape gave Greenwood the 3-1 lead and a 5-1 win.
Margraf then faced South Range freshman Tyson Seesholtz. He took a 1-0 lead after two periods but lost 3-1, giving up a takedown in the final seconds.
That set up a rematch for fifth place, with Dolan. This time Dolan got the upper hand and won 3-1, with Margraf scoring one point in the final period.
Margraf ends the season at 48-7.
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Two other wrestlers — Will Bischoff, 150-pounder from Seneca East, and Kael Margraf, Mohawk’s 165-pounder — had split opening days.
Bischoff lost 8-0 to Konnor Samson of West Muskingum. He then won his consolation match, scoring a 4-2 decision over Levi Collins of Waynesville.
Both lost by the slimmest of margins in heartbreaking fashion Saturday afternoon.
Bischoff took on Jacob Lyons of Tuslaw in the consolation round and lost an 8-7 decision in the closing seconds.
Kael Margraf lost by pinfall in 3:36 to Rod Owens of Alter. He rebounded to win his consolation match 6-3 over Ethan Waggoner of Richmond Edison.
Next up was Ryan Brubaker of Perry. Tied at 1-1 in the third period, he gave up a takedown with about 50 seconds left to lose a tough contest 3-1.
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Harding’s Tiger teammate Alex Griffith (285) won his opener via pin at 1:51 over New Richmond’s Billy Foster.
“I just forced him out of position and found something I could capitalize on. Wrestling is all about leverage. I’m lower than him and I had more leverage.”
Griffith said the past couple of years he’s fallen short.
“I wrestled consolations. This year, I told myself I had to come out and win. In heavyweight there’s not a lot of points scored. So, if you can get that first takedown it sets you up for the entire match.
“The goal is just scoring points in any position. I’m just going in and wrestle my match to the best of my ability. It’s all I can do. You can’t back down; if you back down you’ve already lost,” he said.
Next up for Griffith was top-ranked Elisha Baldridge of West Holmes in the quarterfinals. Baldridge (43-1) scored the pin in 3:09, knocking Griffith to the consolation bracket.
There he dropped an 8-4 decision to Jeffery Blair of Dayton Chaminade Julienne.
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Northmor’s pair of wrestlers enjoyed first-round wins in Division III.
At 120, Becker won 11-0 over Drew Matthews of Liberty Center. 138-pounder Carson Campbell also took a major decision 13-3.
But in the quarterfinal round, both Becker and Campbell lost by major decision.
Becker got beaten by Nathan Attisano of Legacy Christian 14-4. Campbell dropped a 19-7 decision to Brayden Brown of Legacy Christian.
But Becker competed in the consolation semifinals. He lost to Otsego’s Trevor Wilcox 10-6, then faced Attisano of Sunday afternoon.
He dropped a 9-3 decision to take sixth place and ends the year at 43-6. Becker placed seventh as a freshman.
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Carey’s Brock Bushong (285) and Upper Sandusky’s Caleb Clary (132) both were eliminated on Friday. Bushong fell to Daren Christine of Conneaut 16-8, then dropped a pinfall to Cohen Hickman of Greenview in 4:16.
Clary lost to Brody Saccoccia of Steubenville 3-1 before Parker Lee of Butler took a 6-2 decision.
Clary ended at 36-8 and Bushong at 34-8.
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This marked the first year that girls competed on the big stage. Several from north central Ohio took part, including:
· River Valley senior Lila Mencer at 125 scored a pin in 2:41 over Little Miami’s Savvy Jacobson, after trailing 2-0 in the first period. She got a fifth-place finish.
· Elgin freshman Hallie Winslow at 115, RV senior Shayla Pappert at 125, Ridgedale senior Nya Miller went 2-2 at 170 and placed fifth.
· Cardington sophomore Camron Sherman at 170 placed eighth and Highland junior Madalynn Morrison at 235 also wrestled. Highland freshman Emma Bolton at 190 won one match.
This was the 86th annual boys’ tournament and the inaugural girls’ tournament. Parade of Champions and all finals bouts were held Sunday afternoon and evening.