Three Steubenville wrestlers capture sectional titles
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STEUBENVILLE -- The Steubenville sectional wrestling tournament is traditionally one of the toughest in the state of Ohio.
Plenty of talent was once again on display during the Ohio Division II Eastern District sectional tournament Saturday inside the Crimson Center. When it was all said and done, the day belonged to West Holmes. The Knights captured the team title, while having eight wrestlers in the tournament finals.
West Holmes finished first with 240.5 points. Beaver Local placed second with 213 points, while Big Red ended up third with 190 points. The Knights collected three champions and five runners-up on the day.
"Our sectional and the Claymont sectional are tough," Big Red head coach Mike Blackburn said. "Our two sectionals always produce multiple placers at the state tournament."
The top four in each weight class automatically qualify for the district tournament this weekend.
"There was good competition here," Beaver Local head coach Johnny McComas said. "There were plenty of well-coached teams. Steubenville is a good team, and West Holmes has a really good team this year. It was good to see a lot of quality competition. Seeing good competition will help us at districts and hopefully at states.
"Our kids are practicing hard. I am happy with them."
All told, five OVAC schools competed at the tournament. St. Clairsville collected 155.5 points to finish in fourth place, Union Local placed eighth with 63 points and Meadowbrook ended up 10th with 34 points.
The Beavers recorded five champions and two runners-up.
"Our guys wrestled well," McComas said. "I am proud of the way they competed. At this point, it is about making it to the next tournament the next week. A lot of our kids did that. We wrestled well, and we beat some tough guys."
Big Red tallied three champions and three runners-up.
"We qualified 10 out of 14 weight classes," Blackburn said. "We had a good day. There were some exciting matches in the semifinals and the finals."
Big Red ended up having two kids end up in third place, while two others finished fourth.
"Looking at the pre-seedings, we thought we could get 10 kids out," Blackburn said. "Obviously, you always hope to get more."
Tyler Muldrew (138), David Tuttle (182) and Keith Bodnar (195) all tallied a sectional championship for Big Red. Muldrew edged Beaver Local's Cole McComas, 1-0, in the finals, and Bodnar defeated St. Clairsville's Reese Skaggs, 3-2, by tiebreaker.
"We had some big wins today," Blackburn said. "At 138, Tyler Muldrew defeated McComas, while Keith Bodnar defeated Reese Skaggs, who had beaten him in the OVAC Finals, so he was able to get revenge on him."
Tuttle defeated Philo's David Harper by forfeit to win his sectional title.
Also for the hosts, Anthony Hill (113), Aaron Ferguson (145) and Brandon Kinney (170) all placed second.
Spencer Ostovich (220) and Peyton Tuttle (285) both won by decision to end up in third place for the red-and-black. Ostovich defeated Skylar Anderson of West Holmes, 3-0, while Peyton Tuttle defeated Tri-Valley's Seth Schneider, 4-0. Anthony Shevlin (106) and Collin Aboott (152) finished fourth.
The Beavers had nine wrestlers advance to the district tournament.
"There were no big surprises," coach McComas said. "We have high expectations. The kids wrestled well."
Individually for Beaver Local, Logan Ours (132), Devon Salsberry (145), Skyler Lasure (152), Logan Krulik (160) and Daniel Wirth (285) all won sectional titles.
Salsberry, Lasure and Wirth all won via pinfall. Salsberry pinned Ferguson in 5:31, Lasure pinned Gavin Greer of West Holmes in 52 seconds and Wirth pinned Maysville's Gauge Samson in 34 seconds. Ours defeated West Holmes' Tucker Kaufman by major decision, 9-0, and Krulik edged Walker Uhl of West Holmes by decision, 1-0.
Beaver's Colton Dugan (113) pinned John Glenn's Caden Wilson in 2:10 to end up third, while Jaymin Salsberry (126) finished fourth.
"Our kids know that our expectations are high, and they expect that from themselves as well," coach McComas said.
Cael Woods (113), Tyler Masters (120) and Cruz Alexander (170) all won sectional championships for the Knights. Woods pinned Hill in 1:20, Masters defeated Beaver Local's Mark Emmerling by decision, 5-3, and Alexander pinned Kinney in 2:51.
"Beaver Local has really been on a roll the past couple of years," Blackburn said. "West Holmes had a full team here. Everyone on their team is really good. There was a lot of tough competition. Everyone wrestled well."
The Red Devils collected two sectional titles. First, Koen Kish (126) pinned West Holmes' Kendel Weber in 1:49, and second Derek Witsberger (220) defeated Tri-Valley's A.J. Collins by decision, 4-3.
The Colts captured one title, as Jarrett Stillion (106) defeated Jack Welsh of West Holmes by decision, 5-4.
The Jets did not have a sectional champion.
"At this point in the season, it is all about moving on to the next tournament," Coach McComas said. "I think our kids are peaking at the right time. They are working hard. They are doing everything they can do to compete at a high level."
St. Clairsville's Quintin Elerick (132) and Austin DaRe (152) ended up in third place, while Nate Witsberger (120) finished fourth.
Union Local's Claude Romshak (160) and Kohl Clark (170) each collected a third-place finish, while Nathaniel Gibson (132) finished fourth.
Big Red did not have a wrestler finish fifth or sixth.
"You always want to do better," Blackburn said. "You want to get all of your kids to the districts. We are going to keep improving. This is the fun time of the year. The kids get a chance to see what they can do. We are going to keep working. We wrestled well. Hopefully, we do well next week."
The district tournament will be held Friday and Saturday out at Claymont.
"You always come in hoping to win a sectional title," Coach McComas said. "The main thing though is to get guys to advance to the next week. I am happy with what the guys did here."
Lasure's victory against Greer in the finals gave the senior standout the 150th win of his stellar career.