By: Kyle Spence
Once again, Graham dominated the state wrestling tournament, winning for the 23rd year in a row, they finished with 6 placers. Jake Landis (106) 4th, Blaine Demarco (126) 4th, Hayden Hughes (138) Champion, Brogan Tucker (144) Champion (3X), Bryce Kohler (165) runner-up, and Gunner Cramblett (175) Champion (2X). The final session saw the Falcons start with a slim lead in the team standings over Medina Buckeye; winning 3 of 4 championship bouts locked up the team title by a score of 135.5 to 125.
Triad’s Awsom Mitchell finished his junior wrestling season with a 2nd place finish at 175 pounds in division III. In his finals match he fell to returning two-time state placer Luke James of Milan Edison by a score of 11-5. Mitchell finishes the year with a 54-2 record.
Junior Owen Pummel from Indian Lake started day 3 with a 1-0 victory over Delta’s Connor Sintobin in the 190 pound consolation semi-final. The match for 3rd placed him against another area wrestler, Ronnie Thomas, Mechanicsburg. Thomas won the match with a fall in 1:30; Pummel finished in 4th place. He is now a two-time state placer for the Lakers.
Mechanicsburg’s Ronnie Thomas wrestled in the other 190 pound consolation semi-final against Blake Elliott of East Knox. Their match ended in a 3-2 decision for Thomas. With his win in the finals, he finishes in 3rd place; a place higher than he finished last season.
Benjamin Logan’s Raegan Hites (170) also wrestled in the consolation semi-finals of her respective bracket. In her bout against Lydia Heinrich of Olentangy Orange, Hites lost via fall in 1:43. In the 5th place match she took in Ross’ Audrey Garcia, and wrestled to victory with a fall in 4:23; securing 5th place. Hites becomes Benjamin Logan’s first girls’ state placer.
Urbana’s Libertie Nigh continued her dominant freshman campaign in the consolation semi-finals of the 100 pound girls bracket. She defeated Camryn Gresham of Lakota East by a 4-2 score. In the 3rd place match she wrestled Ella Thomas of Poland Seminary. Libertie won her 3rd place match by a score of 6-4; taking home 3rd place overall in the 100 pound girls division. Nigh is Urbana’s first girls state placer.