It was a very successful weekend of wrestling for the area high schools, as wrestlers from Tippecanoe, Troy, Tecumseh, Troy Christian and Northwestern all competed in the sectional tournaments at various locations. All of the local schools saw kids advance into this weekend’s district tournament.
Tippecanoe saw four wrestlers advance to the districts this coming weekend, as they were in the same sectional bracket as Graham. While the Falcons dominated the team points with 344.5, the Red Devils finished a very respectable fourth overall with 121.5.
Earning their way to the districts were two sectional champions for the Red Devils. Jack Peura captured the 152 pound weight class and Logan Ferrell won at 285 pounds.
Peura defeated Joey Sanchez from Graham 7-3 in the finals, while Ferrell recorded a pin in 1:00 against Tyler Hamilton from Meadowdale also in the first-place match.
Caleb Blake came in second overall at 145, as the Red Devil grappler lost 15-0 to Rocky Jordan of Graham in the championship match.
Finishing third and qualifying for districts was Russell Ramsey, as the Tippecanoe 113-pound wrestler defeated Zach Baxter of Fenwick via a 44 second pin.
Placing fifth for Tipp and district alternates were Austyn Bruno (126), Mason Pence (170) and Zac Sorah (220).
*Five wrestlers from Troy have qualified for the districts, including 132 pound runner-up Kobe Scott. He lost in the finals in 38 seconds to Brady Wilson of Stebbins after a solid day in sectionals.
Meanwhile for the Trojans, four wrestlers finished in third-place including 145-pounder Frankie Quintero, who recorded a 1-0 victory over Phil Francis of Bellefontaine for third place and qualifying for districts. Shane Shoop at 152 also advanced for the Trojans, as he defeated Brandon Metz of Little Miami 3-1 for third overall.
Davin Snyder qualified at 182 with a 5-2 decision over Grant Frith of Little Miami, and Christian Nation picked up an easy win at 220, as the Trojan wrestler pinned Michael Markham of Centerville in 29 seconds.
Finishing fifth for Troy and becoming alternates were Brandon Lewis at 106 and Will Brumfield at 195.
*Tecumseh placed sixth overall at the Division One sectionals, and will be sending four wrestlers onto the districts this weekend.
Two Arrow wrestlers earned sectional championships, as Blake Biteman and Gage Whitt earned the gold last weekend at Centerville.
Biteman won a major decision over Austin Soliday of Lakota West 9-0 to win the 132 pound class, while Whitt captured the 138 division with a 9-8 thriller over Keyan Jumper of Wayne.
Qualifying as a third place finisher was Joe Campbell at 106, as he had little trouble pinning Trevor Landon of Fairborn in 2:21. Also finishing fourth was Hunter Donnen, as the Arrows 126-pound wrestler lost in the third-place match 9-2 to Cody Butts of Fairmont.
Earning an alternate spot was Caleb Young at 145, as he placed fifth overall with a pin against Caleb Ueckert of Fairmont.
*Troy Christian placed fifth overall in the Division Three sectionals at Lehman High School. The Eagles placed five grapplers into the districts including the 106-pound champion Jacob Edwards. He defeated JC Fox of Dixie in the championship round in 4:29 to advance to this week’s districts at Hobart Arena.
While he was the only sectional champ for the Eagles, Michael Sergent was runner-up at 120, as he lost to Alex Rhine of Mechanicsburg 11-7 in the finals.
Levi Sims also placed second overall as he lost in the finals to Kyle Gigandet of Versailles at 195 pounds, dropping a tough 6-5 decision.
Finishing fourth and qualifying were Drew Whaley at 113 and Seth Douglas at 285. Whaley lost in the third-place match 9-4 to Conner Ryan of Covington, while Douglas fell to Dylan Hager of National Trail 11-6.
Jordan Strine placed fifth overall for Troy Christian at 182, and will be an alternate. He defeated Daniel Everett of Miami East 12-9.
*While Northwestern finished in the middle of the pack in that same sectional at Lehman, they will send two wrestlers to the districts. Finishing third overall at 182 was Nathan Bills, as he defeated Wyatt Long of Lehman 4-2 in the third-place match. He advances to districts along with Ben Boggs at 132. He lost to Zane Strubler of Miami East 8-1 in the third-place match, but advances.
Finishing fifth for Northwestern was Jacob Lees at 120.
*The District tournaments will be held at three different venues for the area teams. Tecumseh and Troy will be wrestling at Fairmont High School, Tippecanoe heads to Wilmington High School, while Troy Christian and Northwestern sends their wrestlers to Hobart Arena.