Sports Editor
From a local contingent of 43 wrestlers that qualified for this past weekend’s district tournament, just five will be in action beginning on March 3 at the Ohio High School Athletic Association State Wrestling Individual Tournament at the Jerome Schottenstein Center at The Ohio State University.
Wrestlers from Bethel-Tate, Glen Este, New Richmond and Williamsburg will represent Clermont County in the state capital, all with hopes of reaching the podium at the end of a three-day marathon.
In Division I, the Trojans of Glen Este boast a pair of state qualifiers in seniors Avery Jones and Brandon Hertel.
Jones, a 182-pounder, finished in second place at the Fairmont High School district tournament and Hertel, the Trojans’ 120-pounder, placed third.
“Hertel wrestled great,” Glen Este head coach Chris Redmond said. “He ended up beating (Mason’s Colin) Schuster in the (third place match) who he lost to the week before.
“Avery Jones beat Cole Cain (of Anderson) — who he lost to at league — (in the semifinals) and had (Jacob) Bria in the finals.
“He came back at the end of the match to tie it up and go to overtime. He ended up giving up a takedown on the edge of the mat at the end to lose, but he wrestled really well, too.”
With Hertel winning his final match of the district and Jones losing in overtime, Redmond said that the confidence that can be taken from their final matches will be an important part of performing well at the state tournament.
“It’s good to be in close matches like that,” Redmond said. “For Hertel to beat a kid like (Schuster) who is a high-caliber kid going into the state tournament, that gives him the confidence that he can win those big matches. We can keep it close and win.
“At this time of year, they either have it or they don’t. They know that every match (at state) is probably going to be a close one, so having that mental preparation is right where they need to be. I feel confident in that.”
In Division II, New Richmond’s Brandon Planck will be the lone Clermont County representative at that level. Qualifying out of the Wilmington district, Planck placed fourth, losing the 132-pound third place match Jacob Boldman of Wilmington, 6-4.
Planck won his first two matches by pin before falling to the eventual district champion, Hunter Bray of Franklin. He won his consolation semifinal match over Zane Nelson of Washington Court House by major decision, 11-2.
In Division III, Williamsburg’s Dawson Davis headlines a group that also includes a fellow Southern Buckeye Conference All-Star, Bethel-Tate’s Jeffrey Botts.
Wrestling in Hobart Arena at Troy, Davis ran through his side of the 170-pound draw to reach the championship match against Jacob Thompson of Triad. Thompson defeated Davis, 8-2.
At 195 pounds, Jeffrey Botts won his first two matches of the district tournament convincingly before falling to Jordan Leasure of Troy Christian, the eventual district champion.
Relegated to the consolation bracket, Botts won his state-qualifying match against Jeremy Heglin of Deer Park by pin 52 seconds into the third period. In the third-place match, Botts fell to Kyle Gigandet of Versailles, 4-3.
The state tournament kicks off on March 3 with weigh ins beginning at 11:15 a.m. The first session of wrestling starts at 3 p.m. with the championship preliminaries and the first round of consolation matches.
On Friday, March 4, wrestling commences at 10 a.m. and continues throughout the day with the third session beginning around 6:30 p.m.
Finally, on Saturday, March 5, sessions four and five will take place beginning at 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., respectively, with the Parade of Champions acting as the precursor to the First Place matches, which will be wrestled concurrently at 5:45 p.m.
Information concerning the district and state tournaments can be found at ohsaa.org.