The Mount Vernon Middle School wrestling team brought home some hardware, winning five matchups to earn the Ohio Athletic Committee’s Junior High dual state championship in the small-school division on Sunday, Feb. 28, in Canfield.
Mason Mitchell, Jake Taylor, Blake Elliott and Alex Taylor highlighted the Yellow Jackets’ effort with perfect 5-0 records on the day.
The Jackets opened the day with a 49-42 win over Delta before narrowly escaping with a 44-42 win over Beavercreek. Mount Vernon added a 69-19 win over Northridge and a 51-33 win over Wapakoneta before sealing the deal with a 49-34 victory over Wauseon.
Kayden Packard, Maverick Gregory and Kaiden Schlosser each won four matches for MV.
Also participating were Grayson Brokaw, Aden Burdulis, Kanter Harris, Preston Hempfield, Luke Mullins and Caleb Snyder. Camden Firebaugh missed out on the event because of an injury.
The state tournament caps a 27-0 season in dual competition for the Jackets, who own wins in the Highland tournament as well as an OCC title.
Six Jackets qualify for district
Colton Spurgeon took second-place in the 120-pound weight division to highlight a big day for the Mount Vernon High School wrestling team. Spurgeon was one of six to qualify for a district Divison I sectional on Saturday, Feb. 27, at Newark.
Conner Lang (132 pounds) and Gabe Shannon (138) finished third; and Zach Thomas (170), Gabe Harmon (220) and Nate Stradley (285), as top-four placers in their respective weight classes, moved on to next week’s district tournament at Hilliard Darby.
Brock Blankenhorn (106) finished fifth and will be a district alternate, and Dylan Hartman (113) was sixth to round out MV’s placers.
As a team, Mount Vernon finished with 117 points, which was good for sixth out of 11 teams, behind Dublin Coffman (277 points). There were four sectionals in Division I.
Utica’s Wygle and Centerburg’s Marshall take top honors at DIII sectional
Utica’s Brock Wygle (126) and Centerburg’s Donnell Marshall (145) each finished first in their respective weight classes at the Division III sectional at Madison Plains.
Northmor’s Marcus Cortez (132) and Mount Gilead’s Andy Williamson (182) also took home first-place finishes as 18 area wrestlers qualified for next week’s district at Coshocton.
Utica’s Wesley Wydick (113) took second, Clayton Smith (132) finished third and Austin Smith (138) was fourth; Fredericktown’s Brock Stute (132) and Gene Fitzpatrick (182) were each fourth; and Centerburg’s Ross Boyd (285) was also fourth.
Mount Gilead’s Jesus Rubio (160) and Isaiah Fisher (285) took third, and Joshua Sullivan (145) and Garrett George (195) were fourth; and Northmor’s Niko Christo (152) was second, CJ Stoney (120) was third and Gavin Whited (220) was fourth.
Northmor’s Cohan Hurst (106) finished fifth but will wrestle in the district tournament.
Utica’s Zach Cyphers (160) narrowly missed out in fifth and Dylan Cooperrider (285) placed sixth, Mount Gilead’s Justin Dendinger (220) finished fifth and Zack Davidson (152) was sixth, and Northmor’s Trenton Ramos (138) was fifth.
Mount Gilead (129) was second out of 20 teams, behind winner Pleasant (220.5). Utica (106) took third, Northmor (94) was fifth, Centerburg (45) was 16th and Fredericktown (35) was 17th.
Scots qualify five in Division II
Cody Matthews and Triston Hinkle highlighted Highland’s effort with second-place finishes in their respective weight classes at the Division II sectional at Licking Valley.
Matthews (152) and Hinkle (182) both qualified for next week’s district tournament at Wilmington.
Eli Grandstaff (170) finished third, and Caleb Wetzel (126) and Kaden Miller (132) were both fourth to qualify for the Fighting Scots as well.
Landon Pedigo (285) just missed the cut, placing fifth, and will serve as an alternate for Highland, which finished sixth (122) out of 21 teams. Jonathan Alder (196) took first.
