Back-to-back: Dillon Morlock breaks another record on his way to Div. II shot put title

COLUMBUS — There's a lot of pressure that comes with being a defending state champ.

Somebody forgot to tell Norwayne's Dillon Morlock.

The junior took the lead early and proceeded to break the Division II record en route to winning the shot put title Friday at the OHSAA Championships.

"I just came in with this mentality that I was just going to come here and have fun," said Morlock, who will compete in the discus competition on Saturday. "I love throwing shot, I love throwing disc, I just love to be out here throwing and having a great competition with the guys."

Don't let that relaxed attitude fool you, Morlock was on a mission.

The reigning D-III shot champ carried that momentum onto his first D-II state final as he recorded a season-best mark of 65-feet-¼ to not only win his second straight state title, but shatter previous-best division mark of Sandusky Perkins' Matthew Hoty (64-8¼), set back in 2009.

It came after his first attempt of finals sailed 63-8½ in a day that saw five of his six tries sail over 60 feet.

"It was one that, when it came off my hands, I knew that it was going to be a good one," said Morlock, whose top throw on Friday was four inches shy of his personal record. "I wasn't sure it was going to be quite that far, but I was really, really happy with it."

Despite having the lead from start-to-finish, thanks to a push of 62-1 1/2 to open the day, Morlock knew he needed one more big number in finals action.

“It definitely felt good as a cushion, but I knew, heading into finals, that I needed to hit my throw,” he said. “I just needed to do it.”

Morlock did just that and the result was standing atop the podium in back-to-back state appearances. Combine that with breaking the overall and state-meet records in D-II, the feeling of this most-recent championship was surreal.

"It feels like you would expect; it's something you can't believe until you do it," Morlock said of repeating as state champ. "It really hasn't set in and it probably won't set in for a few more weeks.

"I'll just be sitting at home, doing something, and I'm sure it will set in."

Morlock wasn’t the only local on the shot-put podium Friday as teammate Brandt Morlock and Orrville’s Talon Beichler also earned All-Ohio honors, placing fourth and eighth, respectively.

Brandt Morlock entered the finals in seventh before unleashing a personal-record toss of 56-9¼ on his fifth attempt, locking up a top-four finish in his first trip to Columbus.

"I knew I was capable of hitting a PR today, but I just had that mentality that I wanted to come out here and have fun," he said. "Being younger and an underdog being in the first flight, I did what I needed to do on the first three throws and I just built on it."

The underclassman could do nothing but sit and watch the second flight, which included Dillon and Beichler, before making the most of his finals-round tosses.

"I didn't know what to expect out of that second flight, so that had me a little riled up to just get in," Brandt Morlock said. "I started to relax, once I saw what the other guys were throwing, and it calmed me down.

"I couldn't have asked for a better day, better series. It was just great."

Beichler was in sixth heading into the finals, before both Brandt Morlock and Garrettsville Garfield's Jesse Grace unleased their best throws late in the finals.

The sophomore's fifth attempt of the day was his best as he recorded a mark of 55-3½ to maintain a spot on the podium.

"It feels good to be able to finish top-eight and get a medal, but I was hoping for higher," Beichler said. "But, hey, I'll take top-eight any day of the week, and it feels good to come down here and place."

And like all three of these local throwers, they each will have a chance to come back down next season and do it all over again.

“It's about what I thought it would be like,” Beichler said of his first trip to Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. “This means a lot knowing that I'm still young and I will be able build a lot over the next two years and place a little higher.”

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Track and Field: Norwayne's Dillon Morlock wins Div. II shot put title