District wrestling tournaments began around Ohio Friday afternoon.
When the action began, 37 local wrestlers had their eyes set on a berth in the state tournament next week and 30 still have a shot after Friday’s action with five of the remaining in contention for a district title.
Division I District at Hilliard Darby
HILLIARD — Teays Valley has two wrestlers still alive in the championship bracket while the other seven Vikings need to battle back through the consolation brackets.
TV junior Josh Zimmer (120 pounds) got his tournament started with a technical fall (21-6) over Thomas Worthington’s Zach Hanna (30-15). Zimmer (31-2) came back in the quarterfinals with another tech fall. This time he beat Olentangy Liberty’s Caleb Perry (20-13) 15-0.
Aiden Kennedy (26-6) won both of his 175-pound matches by technical fall as well. The senior started with a 18-1 match against Big Walnut’s Jayson Baker (27-16) and followed it up with a 16-0 match against Alexander Troyer (25-10) from Westerville North.
Three Vikings won their opening round matches only to get sent to the consolation bracket after the second round.
Sophomore John Todhunter (26-7) started the day with a pin of Marysville’s Brian Waller (24-16) in 1:32 before losing a 6-5 decision to Mason Spence (30-10) from Westerville North.
Sophomore Carson Hix (32-9) started out his 132-pound tournament winning by technical fall (17-0) over Avidah Shaw (12-9) from Newark but was pinned in the first round of the quarterfinals by Huggy Williams (30-4) from Olentangy Liberty.
Competing at 190 pounds, sophomore Peter Graham (29-12) made quick work of Pickerington Central’s Mike Tewolde (24-17) with a 36-second pin but dropped an 11-4 decision to Wendell Daron (40-6) from Canal Winchester.
Four Vikings lost their opening matches and will be the first to wrestle Saturday when action resumes at 9 a.m.
Sophomore Trevor Bridges (25-8) was pinned in his first-round match at 106 by Westland’s Mason Akers (26-14).
Freshman Andrew Liddell (21-11) was pinned in the first round of his 150-pound match by Marysville’s Boston Burkardt (38-10).
Junior Rhett Turner (15-21) lost by technical fall (19-4) to Mount Vernon’s Mavrik Gregory (30-5) in the 157-pound bracket.
Heavyweight Tristian Graham (27-9) was pinned in the opening round of his match against Tyson Keyes (39-11) from Darby.
Division III District at Hobart Arena
TROY — Amanda-Clearcreek had two wrestlers still alive after the opening day of the Division III district wrestling tournament in Troy, while its third wrestler saw his season come to an end.
Bodie Martin (40-0), wrestling at 150 pounds, began his tournament recording a technical fall (16-1) against Antwerp senior Skyler Octaviano (28-18). He came back in the quarterfinals to win an 8-5 decision over Graham Local’s Jonas Mannier (32-9).
Reese Marshall (113 pounds) won his opener by pinning Indian Lake’s Brayden Riffle in 2:52 but was then pinned by Versailles’ Trey Huber in 1:26 to drop into the consolation bracket.
Silas Hoffman opened the 165-pound tournament losing a 13-4 major decision to Waynesville’s Levi Collins (34-5). He lost a 9-3 decision in the consolation matches to West Liberty Salem’s Silas Krabill (31-8).
Hoffman completes his sophomore season with a 32-10 record.
Wrestling resumes at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Division II District at Steubenville
STEUBENVILLE — With three rounds of wrestling complete at Steubenville High School, two area wrestlers are still in the championship bracket with 16 looking to fight their way through the consolation rounds while seven saw their seasons wrap up.
Logan Elm has two grapplers in contention for a district title.
Senior Dawsen Hudson (44-2) opened his 113-pound tournament advancing by technica fall (20-3) over Philo’s Ryan South (24-15) and then won a 1-0 decision over Jackson Scharfenberg (32-7) from Indian Creek.
Senior Gavin Hoover (49-1) opened with a tech fall (17-2) against Talon Freeze (31-12) from Washington Court House and advanced in the 132-pound bracket pinning Boston Braun (29-9) from Indian Valley in 90 seconds.
Logan Elm has six wrestlers alive in the consolation brackets, Westfall has eight and Circleville two.
CHS’ Drace Johnson (10-6) lost his opener but won his first consolation match to stay alive at 106 while heavyweight Caihden Morgan (33-8) won his opener before losing in the quarterfinals.
For the Braves, heavyweight Conner Green (36-9) won a 7-2 decision in his opener before dropping a 5-4 decision in the quarterfinal.
Five Braves lost their opening bout but kept themselves alive with a win in the consolation bracket — Blaine Holzschuh (126 pounds, 25-21), David Little (138, 36-18), Nehemiah Hess (144, 35-18), Bryson Parish (150, 26-23) and Jeffrey Thompson (215, 27-18).
For the Mustangs, Bryson Campfield (126, 32-6), Wyatt Ward (144, 20-4), Eli Wright (175, 30-8), John Holderby (190, 20-8) and Wes Moats (215, 23-9) each opened their tournaments with a win only to drop into the consolation bracket with a quarterfinal loss.
Dropping their opening matches but rebounding with a win in the first round of consolation matches for Westfall were: Dax Tanner (113, 23-13), Brady Speakman (120, 20-7) and Russ Colahan (285, 13-12).
Consolation round matches resume Saturday morning at 9 a.m. with the championship semifinals starting around 11.
Circleville freshman Kevin Downing (113, 13-10) and senior Kayden Boyer (157, 15-23) each suffered a pair of losses and had their seasons come to an end.
Logan Elm freshman Cayden McFarland (106, 21-26), senior Jude Palmer (120, 11-30), freshman Cooper Disbennett (157, 15-21) and senior Bryce Perkins (190, 35-17) had their seasons wrap up Friday.
A pair of losses for Westfall’s Eli McPeak (150, 8-12) brought his freshman season to a close.