Greater Columbus high school boys wrestlers begin march toward state tournament
Featuring three returning Division II state champions and several other state qualifiers, the top three boys wrestling teams in the CCL have the talent to match or exceed what was a special 2022-23 season.
DeSales finished second (120.5), Watterson placed fourth (81.5) and Hartley was sixth (65.5) at state behind champion St. Paris Graham (157), which won its 22nd title in a row and 24th overall.
All three teams have wrestlers who figure to be competing in the state finals March 10 at Value City Arena.
Leading the way for DeSales are brothers Max and Lincoln Shulaw. Max, a senior and Virginia commit, went 51-0 last season and won the state title at 215 pounds. Lincoln, a junior, finished second at 175 and went 39-7.
“The team is doing well,” DeSales coach Collin Palmer said. “If I can keep everybody healthy, we’ll definitely be near the top by the time we get to March. ... Until one of us can knock them off, Graham is going to be the team to beat.”
Max Shulaw opened the season by finishing third at 215 in the Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit Ironman tournament last weekend. He is coming off a football season in which he was first-team all-state, all-district and all-CCL and Dispatch All-Metro as a linebacker.
“If we can keep him healthy, he should have another shot to win another (state) title,” Palmer said. “He’s doing all the right things, so we’ll see.”
The Stallions lost two-time state champion David McClelland to graduation.
Watterson is led by two returning state champions in junior Mitchell Younger (144, 29-2) and sophomore Joe Curry (120, 34-2). Junior Neal Krysty (35-3) was third at 106, and sophomore James Lindsay (29-5) was fourth at 132.
A two-time state champion, Younger has committed to North Carolina.
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Hartley should be led by senior Cooper Rathburn and junior Aiden King. Last season at state, King (22-1) finished second at 126 and Rathburn (32-7) was third at 138.
Lost to graduation was Dylan Newsome, who beat Lincoln Shulaw 6-3 for the 175 title.
“We have a great group of guys in our room, just under 30 wrestlers,” coach Kevin Petrella said. “(It’s) the most we’ve had in several years. A lot of guys are going to be able to contribute and surprise people.”
Several Division I programs also expect to make long postseason runs, including Dublin Coffman, which finished sixth (71) at state last season behind champion Lakewood St. Edward (195.5).
The Shamrocks feature seniors Omar Ayoub, Ethan Birden and Joey Baumann. Ayoub, a two-time state champion, finished first at 138 last season and went 52-2, while Birden (48-2) was first at 157 and Baumann (31-8) placed fourth at 126.
Ayoub is a Nebraska commit. Birden has committed to Ohio State.
“We have a lot of talent,” Coffman coach Chance Van Gundy said. “The team is working hard. We’re off to a good start. The culture is good. The attitude is great.”
Coffman’s main challenger in the OCC-Central and Central District should be Olentangy Liberty, which returns several key wrestlers but lost three-time state champion Dylan Russo to graduation.
“Liberty is right on our heels, just like last year,” Van Gundy said. “They could have knocked us off at district. They were up on us, and we just wrestled out of our minds. We did some remarkable things last year.”
Coffman rallied to edge the Patriots 236.5-233 for last season’s district title. The Patriots then were seventh (66) at state.
Key returnees for Liberty include sophomore Huggy Williams (106, 32-9) and seniors Jaxson Rosselli (113, 42-6) and Brady Quillin (190, 44-11). Williams finished fourth at state, while Rosselli and Quillin both placed sixth.
Rosselli has committed to Ohio State. Quillin will wrestle at Cleveland State.
“We have the ability to get better because we have a lot of kids coming back who are already solid,” Liberty coach Mark Marinelli said. “If we can get our guys to jump mentally then we can get a lot better. Physically, we’re already pretty good, but in between the ears, convincing yourself that you can compete with other people and beat them is probably what we need (the) most work on.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Central Ohio boys wrestlers begin march toward state tournament
