COLUMBUS — Logan Elm seniors Gavin Hoover and Dawsen Hudson have earned spots on the awards podium while Westfall freshman Eli Wright completed his season at the Division II state wrestling championships Saturday.
Hoover (53-2) was the first to wrestle, competing in the 132-pound championship quarterfinals against Bishop Watterson’s Thomas Lindsay.
After a scoreless first period, Lindsay took a 3-2 lead after the second as he recorded a takedown to Hoover’s two escapes. Lindsay added an escape in the third to win 4-2.
“I just wrestled bad – no other excuses, I just wrestled bad,” Hoover said.
“We knew it was going to be tough based on that kid’s record and match comparisons. It just didn’t go our way this time,” LE coach Jake Daniels said. “You’ve got to put those losses behind you because I’ve had multiple kids up here in the past that lose that match and just never recover.
“That was the big thing was making sure he knew that all the goals were still on the table. Just because he’s not in line or in contention for that championship match, it’s third or bust.”
Hoover didn’t let it weigh on his mind as he approached his consolation match with Junior Creager (26-9), a senior, from Franklin.
“You’ve got to shake off that loss – no matter how bad it hurts, you’ve just got to get ready for the next one and go place.
Following a scoreless first period, Hoover led 2-0 after the second but scored 10 points in the third to advance with a 12-1 major decision.
“In the third period, I knew he was broke,” Hoover said. “He was having his head down the whole time. He just looked defeated.”
“Everybody up here is tough,” Daniels said. “If you put it on a kid by eight, nine, 10 points, that’s a whippin’.”
Hudson (48-4) matched up against junior Colton Wenger from Clear Fork in his consolation match Saturday morning, advancing with a 6-5 decision.
A first-period takedown had Hudson up 3-0 after the first round but Wenger had one in the second to tie the match.
Wenger took the lead with an early escape in the third, but Hudson got a three-point takedown midway through the period and kept Wenger at bay, only yielding an escape point late in the period.
“It was another tough match,” Daniels said. “The big thing was his goal was to get on the podium as high as possible. Yesterday’s loss hurt, but he’s come back and won that one last night and this one was just as important.
“He went out there and set the tone, wrestled tough, got a late takedown to go ahead and wrestled great to finish.”
The wins guarantee Hoover and Dawson spots on the awards podium. Now they will wrestle to see how high they’ll be standing.
Hudson will face Wauseon’s Mykale Schneider (20-3) and Hoover will take on Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy’s Rocco Czarnecki (37-8) in the consolation quarterfinals Saturday evening. A win advances them to the consolation semifinals while a loss would drop them into the match for seventh place.
With only five state placers in school history, Daniels believes this is the first time the Braves have had two in one year.
“I’m proud of both of them,” he said. “Another achievement for the program and these young men for their hard work.”
Wright completed his freshman campaign facing Madison senior Izaiah Siler in the second round of consolation matches and lost by technical fall (19-2).
“He’s a freshman – so that’s one of the best freshman seasons we’ve had ever at Westfall – even Geiger,” coach Will Breyer said, referencing Westfall girls coach Tim Geiger who was a multiple time state placer for the Mustangs when he was in high school. “I’m glad he’s mad, that will motivate him for next year. In the end – one match from placing and he’s only 14 years old? I’m very happy with him.”
They wrestled to a 0-0 score after the first period but Siler ended the second up 9-2.
“The kid got on top and was able to turn us and that was really the match,” Breyer said. “I think we could have won on our feet if we weren’t pressured to throw the kid at the end there. When you get to that point, you’ve got to score big.”
Wright completes his season with a 35-11 record.
“Top 12 in the state as a freshman is something to be very happy about. He’s done fantastic,” Breyer said. “He’s got to go to work, got to hit the weights and, hopefully, one of these days we’re wrestling on Sunday night.”
Click here for complete results from the Division II tournament.