Sectional Wrestling: 7 West Holmes grapplers advance to districts
A host of local boys and girls wrestlers kept their postseason dreams alive this past weekend in sectional and pre-regional tournaments across Northeast Ohio.
Here's a look at how area individuals fared this past weekend:
Another Waynedale Win: Lawson outduels Patterson but Waynedale wins Northwestern Sectional title
Boys
DIVISION I
Wadsworth Sectional
Three Wooster wrestlers — CJ Furlong, Dylan Hudson and Evan Patton — advanced out of this loaded tournament at Wadsworth. Furlong battled his way back from a championship semifinal loss in the 126-pound bracket to win a pair of matches, beating Nordonia's Shawn Zivkovitch and Solon's Hank Wagner, en route to a third-place finish. Both Hudson (157 pounds) and Patton (215) moved on with fourth-place showings in their respective weight classes. Hudson had a pin of Solon's Nick Medow in the go-to round, while picked up a 25-second pin of Massillon Jackson's Will Martinez in the consolation semis.
DIVISION II
Steubenville Sectional
A title by sophomore Louden Dixon at 144 pounds highlighted a strong day for West Holmes. The Knights, who finished fourth as a team, had six wrestlers advance to finals and one other earn a qualifying spot for this week's district at Gallia Academy.
After a thrilling overtime win over fellow state-ranked wrestler Cooper Smith of Steubenville, Dixon cruised in the final at 144 with a pin of Owen Edwards of John Glenn.
Peyton Martin (113), Grady Toye (120), Hunter McCluggage (150), Cole Porter (175) and Grant Miller (215) all were second in their respective brackets, while Dylan Sours (190) placed third overall.
DIVISION III
Beachwood Sectional
Rittman's Joey McGuire and Justin Metheney each won their respective weight classes to headline four district qualifiers out of this Cleveland-area sectional. The 138-pound McGuire, a state qualifier last winter, locked up the title with a 10-7 decision over Manchester's Phil Partin, while Metheney advanced with hard-fought 3-2 upset victory against Trinity's Cameron Carter — the 13th-ranked wrestler in D-III at 190. Hunter Shreve (165) also moved on for the Indians, along with Jakob Gibson (120) as the tandem placed third and fourth, respectively.
Rootstown Sectional
Paced by five finalists, Chippewa will be well represented this weekend at districts. Ben Pierce (113), Alberto Moreno (138), Neil Miller (175), Sam Petit (215) and Tyler Lower (285) each finished runner-up in their weight classes. Moreno dropped an overtime heartbreaker to Rootstown's Nathan Lee. Teammate Jacob Herceg (113) also qualified for district with a third-place finish.
Loudonville also had a pair of guys in finals — Issac Wittel (144) and Baylor Weiser (165) — that finished second, while Josh Serrato (138) was third and Tyler Reeder (120) placed fourth.
Norwayne had a handful of guys in sectional placement matches, led by 150-pounder Jacob Brunner and 165-pounder Alex Berry placing third. Payton Lance also moved on with a fourth-place showing at 175.
Girls
Northwest Pre-Regional
It was quite a day for the area at this Region 3 tournament. Chippewa won three weight classes as Kayla Moroschan (120), Gabi Gartin (125) and Isabella Adams (155) all took first in their respective brackets. Both Gartin and Adams were All-Ohioans last winter, while Moroschan continues her standout freshman season.
Another state qualifier from a year ago, Rittman's Merrick Gibson, was runner-up at 125, while Orrville's Trista Sprowls (105) and Ashley Fether (130) each placed third. Chippewa's Olvia Johnson (140) and Triway's Alivia Coolbaugh (190) also advanced to this weekend's Mentor Regional.
Austintown Fitch Pre-Regional
Northwestern's Kelsee Smith claimed the 170-pound championship to lead a list of six total Huskies moving on to regionals. The sophomore won her weight class with a pin of Southern's Katie Harshberger at the 4:21 mark. Teammates Kaylee Cherry and Claire Buchholz were second overall at 125 and 140, respectively, while Alexa Riffel (145) placed third. Haley Harper (105) and Peyton Pitts (155) also qualified for Northwestern.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Sectional Wrestling: 7 West Holmes grapplers advance to districts
