Lawson outduels Patterson but Waynedale wins Northwestern Sectional title
WEST SALEM — Kaden Lawson is usually not one to throw his opponents.
But on Saturday, wrestling for the Northwestern Division III Sectional title, the Tuslaw sophomore decided it was a good time to start.
Lawson needed two overtimes to take down fellow state-ranked wrestler Stephen Patterson of Waynedale, highlighting a day where 11 locals took home wins and a host of other area individuals punched their respective tickets to next week’s Independence District.
With the score deadlocked at 2-2 after three periods and an overtime session, Lawson turned what would’ve been a disastrous play on the edge of the mat, with Patterson in control, and threw the fellow All-Ohioan on his back for the 6-2 win.
“The adrenaline was high, but you have to stay calm in that moment,” Lawson said. “I just had to stay inside the whole match; I couldn't let him get any leverage,”
After the pairing had three highly-contested matches a year ago, Lawson knew that the first one of the current season was going to be a grind-it-out-type bout once again.
And boy, was he right, as the exchanged escapes throughout regulation in a defensive battle before Lawson’s move in the closing moments.
“Conditioning was the main part,” he said. “I needed to stay in a good stance and not let him get any easy shots. I wanted to stay with my defense and try to shoot.”
Despite the loss, Patterson and the Golden Bears wrapped up another sectional championship as a team, compiling 251 points to outlast Dalton (194) and Tuslaw (191), on the strength of five championships and three runner-up finishes as a total of nine individuals earned automatic berths to the district tournament.
And it was the lightweights that set the tone with Brock Beckler (106 pounds), Isaak Skelly (120), Riley Greathouse (126), Caden Schmeltzer (132) and Dalton Oberly (138) winning titles. Both Beckler and Schmeltzer won by technical fall, defeating Northwestern’s Reed Hamey and Tuslaw’s Ethan Haer, respectively, while Skelly, Greathouse and Oberly each pinned their way to victories.
Oberly’s 35-second takedown of Northwestern’s Blake Good was the fastest of any of the finals matches and the freshman admitted that the title bout had a different feel that any match this season.
“Oh yeah, there's always nerves,” he said. “It's just a natural thing, everyone has them. I just went out there and wanted it more. I was ready.”
For Schmeltzer, a returning state qualifier, the longer finals match with Haer was nice after a pair of pins earlier in the day.
“It was nice to burn the lungs out a little bit,” the junior said. “I was a little winded from cutting and this one helped.”
It was a bittersweet day, however, as a pair of Waynedale wrestlers — 175-pounder Jayden Schlabach and 190-pounder Alex McCartney — sustained injuries earlier in the day and couldn’t complete the tournament.
“Happy with team effort; the kids wrestled well, but it was a little disheartening because of those key injuries,” Golden Bears coach Louie Stanley said. “It's been bugging me all day, but it doesn't take away from the team and the team effort. The young guys especially did well and our leadership from Robert McCrork and Schmeltzer, two of our upperclassman, helped.”
McCrork was runner-up at 157 to reigning D-III state champ Tristin Greene of Keystone and gave him a battle, pulling as close as 8-5 late in the match before dropping a 14-10 decision.
Dalton had four individual champs, highlighted by a thrilling 1-0 victory by 285-pounder Cohen Riggenbach over Waynedale’s Brandon Walters, along with a second-place finish.
The two tangled in a low-scoring struggle for the county championship a week ago with a similar result, something that Riggenbach expected with Saturday’s finals rematch, which the Bulldogs heavyweight made sure to make his third-period escape hold up.
“He's a big boy and is well-coached,” he said. “He's not a very aggressive wrestler and neither am I, so when two defensive guys go at each other that's often the outcome you get.
“I was just excited when I got out,” Riggenbach continued. “I looked up at the clock and I think there was like a 1:07 left and I was like, 'I can do anything for a 1:07'”
Greyson Siders also won for Dalton at 165, thanks to an 18-2 tech fall of Orrville’s Paul Hostetler, while Seth Ryder took the 175 crown with a 7-2 decision over Smithville’s Karsen Moore and Jack Waldron pinned Keystone’s Jonathan Gould for the 190-pound title.
Ryder, who came in ranked behind Moore in the sectional, took control of his finals match with an escape into a takedown in the second, before reversal in the closing moments to seal the victory.
“This makes me feel (good), considering I was a No. 2 seed coming for this,” he said. “I just had to go prove myself. Nothing is personal in this sport, it's strictly business.
“He’s a great wrestler; he had a really strong start and I was a little worried at the beginning,” Ryder added. “So, it was about those ride outs; I've been practicing those all week.”
Tuslaw senior Jacob Lyons made quick work of Columbiana Crestview’s Josh Smith, pinning him 1:10 into the bout, to win his 35th match on the season.
The All-Ohioan’s victory also made history as he became the first Tuslaw wrestler to ever win four sectional championships, something that he didn’t even know about until moments before the finals.
“I had no clue until five seconds before I walked on the mat and my dad said something,” Lyons admitted. “That's obviously a really good achievement for me. I felt pretty clean all day. I rewatched my videos and I didn't see any sloppiness. It's really coming together.”
Results: Div. III Northwestern Sectional
1. Waynedale 251.0; 2. Dalton 194.0; 3. Tuslaw 191.0; 4. Keystone 144.0; 5. Orrville 128.0; 6. W.S. Northwestern 87.0; 7. Waterloo 73.0; 8. Smithville 56.5; 9. Mapleton 47.5; 10. Col. Crestview 42.0; 11. Hillsdale 19.0; 12. Richmond Hts. 8.0; 13. Brooklyn 3.0; 14. Mineral Ridge 0.0;
First Place
106: Brock Beckler (Waynedale) tech. fall Reed Hamey (W.S. Northwestern) tf16-1;
113: Kaden Lawson (Tuslaw) dec. Stephen Patterson (Waynedale) 6-2 TB;
120: Isaak Skelly (Waynedale) pin Chase Sword (Mapleton) 1:18;
126: Riley Greathouse (Waynedale) pin Rex Fryer (Waterloo) 2:34;
132: Caden Schmeltzer (Waynedale) tech. fall Ethan Haer (Tuslaw) tf16-0;
138: Dalton Oberly (Waynedale) pin Blake Good (W.S. Northwestern) 0:35;
144: Brock Durbin (Mapleton) pin Sam Ediger (Dalton) 3:16;
150: Jacob Lyons (Tuslaw) pin Josh Smith (Col. Crestview) 1:10;
157: Tristin Greene (Keystone) dec. Robert McCrork (Waynedale) 14-10;
165: Greyson Siders (Dalton) tech. fall Paul Hostetler (Orrville) tf18-2;
175: Seth Ryder (Dalton) dec. Karsen Moore (Smithville) 7-2;
190: Jack Waldron (Dalton) pin Jonathan Gould (Keystone) 1:04;
215: Jordan Folmer (Keystone) dec. Ashton Combs (Tuslaw) 7-1;
285: Cohen Riggenbach (Dalton) dec. Brandon Walters (Waynedale) 1-0;
Third Place
106: Axl Ryder (Dalton) dec. Brent Hull (Tuslaw) 9-4;
113: Landon Grimes (Orrville) dec. Jeremiah Willis (Waterloo) 9-2;
120: Chance Grim (Tuslaw) pin Trey Horst (Col. Crestview) 1:38;
126: Raymond Butzer (Tuslaw) dec. Dmitry Hruby (Keystone) 8-1;
132: Jack Morris (W.S. Northwestern) dec. Domonik Warner (Keystone) 10-5;
138: Sam Knouse (Tuslaw) pin Brayden Robinson (Waterloo) 2:47;
144: Paul Horten (Keystone) dec. Aidan King (Waterloo) 14-10;
150: Seth Kinser (Orrville) dec. Aiden Pelfrey (Dalton) 10-9;
157: Bram McCourt (Dalton) pin Lincoln Jones (Hillsdale) 1:30;
165: Liam Mitten (Waynedale) pin Ameer Avak (Richmond Hts.) 1:27;
175: Guhner Eberhardt (Tuslaw) forfeit Dante Ortiz (Keystone) Forfeit;
190: Bryce Butcher (Smithville) tech. fall Garrett Sanders (Tuslaw) tf24-9;
215: Kaden Russell (Dalton) pin Caden Holliday (W.S. Northwestern) 4:04;
285: Brenden Betts (Orrville) pin Caleb Hughes (Col. Crestview) 3:19;
Fifth Place
106: Dublin Porter (Waterloo) pin Andrew Krantz (Orrville) 0:54;
113: Jason McClure (Hillsdale) pin Garrett Wiester (Keystone) 3:41;
120: Owen Jerkins (Keystone) pin Daniel Sponseller (W.S. Northwestern) 4:10;
126: Hayden Sigler (W.S. Northwestern) pin Cale Ediger (Dalton) 0:54;
132: Kamalani Costanzo (Smithville) dec. Skiler Veemara (Orrville) 9-4;
138: Cameron Gillis (Orrville) pin D.J. Gerry (Dalton) 1:47;
144: Cole Lewis (Waynedale) forfeit Connor Chereson (Orrville) Forfeit;
150: Ethan Garrod (Waynedale) dec. Ashton Good (W.S. Northwestern) 6-4;
157: Jayden Hakin (Waterloo) pin Tyler Farrell (Orrville) 0:44;
165: Leland Colon (Keystone) forfeit Vinny Williams (Brooklyn) Forfeit;
175: Drew Caskey (Orrville) forfeit Jayden Schlabach (Waynedale) Forfeit;
190: Drayedon Williams (Orrville) forfeit Alex McCartney (Waynedale) Forfeit;
215: Gradey Posey (Waynedale) pin Brahm Hostetler (Orrville) 1:46;
285: Jake Johns (Smithville) pin Garrett Furr (Hillsdale) 3:23;
Note: Top four in weight class advanced to next week's Independence District, March 1-2.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Wrestling: Waynedale wins Northwestern Sectional
