by JOHN HOWLEY / sportingpumpkin.com
COLUMBUS — Three local wrestlers have earned a spot on the awards podium as the second day of the state wrestling championships is halfway done.
Teays Valley senior Ava Miller still has a state title in her sights after she won her championship quarterfinal match in overtime.
Logan Elm’s Gavin Hoover and Westfall’s Gage Bolt both advanced in the consolation bracket to earn their spots on the podium.
Miller in semifinal
A senior, Miller advanced to tonight’s 110-pound semifinal after scoring about 25 seconds into overtime.
“One more, one more takedown,” Miller said she was thinking going into the extra period. “It’s go time, it’s sudden death.”
Miller (36-7) had an early lead in the matchup against Madelyn Begert (42-7) from Northwest and the match was tied up 4-4 midway through the third before going into OT at 5-5.
“Yesterday we struggled a lot in the early part of the match and decided we wanted to go hard at the end. Today it was kind of the opposite – we started off really strong and had a little period there where we really weren’t wrestling to score or wrestling to win, it was more wrestling not to lose,” TV assistant coach Chad Havens said. “When it came down to it and it mattered, the Queen does what the Queen does. She’s a three-time placer now and we’re going to go out with a bang.”
She’ll return to the mat in the championship semifinal around 5:45 against Mackenzie Carder (36-1) of Olentangy Orange.
“She’s been here so many times and been in so many high-level matches and situations, she knows what she needs to do,” Havens said of the plan to prepare for the next match. “We’ll let Ava dictate what happens.”
Bolt makes second podium
Bolt was a 4-2 winner in his second-round Division III consolation match Saturday against Tyson Seesholtz from South Range.
“It wasn’t the way I would have liked but I knew the kid was a tough opponent,” Bolt said. “He was strong and short, it’s kind of my bad side wrestling a short kid like that. It was hard to keep pressure coming into me so I could try to hit a shot.
“He ended up taking me down and I got my escape, and we went to work on our feet.”
“We knew he was going to stall; we knew he was going to back up, he had good hips and we knew he was waiting for us to make a mistake,” Westfall coach Will Breyer said. “When we shot, we had to be perfect. He’s an opportunistic wrestler and he was waiting for an opportunity to come up.”
By not giving Seesholtz an opportunity, Bolt is set for a return to the awards podium after placing sixth last year – also in the 165-pound weight class.
“It’s a great feeling knowing I’m a two-time state qualifier and state placer. That’s a big accomplishment from where we come from. Not a lot of people have done that in a very long time,” Bolt said.
Bolt joins assistant coach Tim Geiger (fourth in 1996 and 1998) and David Jones (fifth in 2004 and eighth in 2005) as the only Mustangs to place in two state tournaments.
“It’s historic,” Breyer said. “This year has been historical for us and it’s all because of him and how he led the program. Like I said about Bryce (Wickline) last night, he’s a picture of what a Westfall Mustang is.”
Bolt (36-6) will return to the mat tonight around 6:30 against Levi Collins (46-6) from Waynesville.
Hoover earns spot on podium
Logan Elm junior Gavin Hoover (49-6) opened his Saturday at the Division II state tournament facing Tate Hisey (43-2) from St. Marys Memorial in the championship quarterfinals where lost a tight 2-1 decision.
He faced Napoleon’s Roman Cordoba (53-11) in the second round of consolation matches where he came out on top of an 8-2 decision to advance to the consolation quarterfinals, earning him a spot on the awards podium.
He’s the first LE wrestler to make the podium since Micah Linton took sixth in 2016.
“I’m proud of him. He had a tight match last match going 2-1 with the projected state champ,” LE coach Jake Daniels said of battling Hisey. “He battled back and wrestled (Cordoba) tough and I’m proud of him.
“Now it’s about not being satisfied and trying to get as high up the podium as possible.”
Competing at 126 pounds, Hoover comes back tonight around 6 p.m. against Graham Local’s Blaine DeMarco (27-15).
Season complete for Hudson, Martin, Zoellick
Amanda-Clearcreek’s Bodie Martin, Logan Elm’s Dawsen Hudson and Teays Valley’s Sky Zoellick saw their seasons wrap up on Day 2 of the state championships.
Competing in Division III at 144 pounds, Martin (38-7) had his second state appearance come to an end when he was pinned in the second round of his consolation match with Jordan Neal (48-3) of Allen East.
“We got some points there and we were winning, and they rolled through and came up – it was just perfect timing for that kid,” AC coach Curtis Martin said. “He caught him with that throw and went right to his back. It was just an unfortunate way to go out.
“I’m very proud of him. He fought like crazy to even get here. He was gritty and tough, just right there at the end it didn’t work out.”
Martin and Jacob Durr represented the Aces at the state this year, with Durr being eliminated Friday night.
“I’m very proud of Jacob. He lost a heartbreaker,” Martin said. “He’s a senior and the way he wrestled at districts – he just wrestled like a champion all day long at districts to get here his senior year.
“We have a board at Amanda-Clearcreek with all our state qualifiers on it and we consider those guys to be the all-time greats. Jacob, as a senior, gets to put his name up there and I’m real proud of him.”
Competing in the Division II tournament at 113 pounds, Hudson began his Saturday losing by technical fall (16-0) to Buckeye’s Blake Bartos (46-3) in the championship quarterfinals.
Hudson (43-5) dropped into the consolation bracket against Marlington’s Aiden Bean (39-11) where he lost a 12-0 major decision.
“We tried a couple of different things. You get down and give up backs and it’s hard to come back,” LE coach Jake Daniels said “I’ll give Dawsen credit, he tried a move there at the end, it was close. He tried something, it didn’t work out but when you’re down that big you’ve got to try something, you can’t just lay on the mat.”
In the girls’ state tournament, Teays Valley freshman Sky Zoellick (39-11) saw her season come to a close.
The 140-pounder took on Marysville’s Cara Leng (39-10) and came out on the short end of a 6-0 decision.
