Triad’s Mitchell finishes 2nd, Area Wrestlers Bring Home Hardware

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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.