HILLIARD – Mount Vernon wrestler Colton Spurgeon’s bid for a second consecutive trip to the state meet got a little dicey.
But the junior navigated his way through the consolation bracket for a third-place finish at the Division I district tournament on Saturday and Sunday, March 6-7, at Hilliard Darby High School.
Spurgeon (120 pounds) fell by a 3-2 decision to Marion Harding’s Drake Cerny on an escape in the final seconds in his second match on Saturday.
“It didn’t affect me that much,” Spurgeon said. “I knew I could come back and beat all of (my opponents) to make it (to state). It happened last year. I lost in the semis. (I) just had to come back and keep wrestling.”
“The confidence that he has is unmatched,” Mount Vernon coach Nate Cornell said. “You either have it or you don’t, and he has it. I was upset after the match — partly because of the call, but also because he had a tough row to hoe. But Colton was ready to go. He was like, ‘Short memory; let’s go.’ He knew the road he had ahead of him (with) all those guys. He was fine. The entire time he was in that warmup room, he was tunnel-visioned and focused.”
He closed the day with 14-1 major decision over Olentangy’s Vaughn Fowler before coming back Sunday to defeat New Albany’s Colin Swincicki by a 2-1 decision and Westerville North’s Gabe Ohle by a 1-0 decision to qualify for state. Fowler and Swincicki both have wins over Spurgeon this season.
“I think I did really good — on my top game,” Spurgeon said. “(I) kept riding kids out for two minutes, not giving up any one-point escapes — just wrestling smart and keeping it close and not giving up those extra little points.”
He put the cherry on top by defeating Grove City’s Braxton Sheets by a 6-0 decision to take third place, and he did it battling a back injury.
“The run that Spurgeon had was extremely impressive,” Cornell said. “All those kids that he beat were state-ranked. He controlled them and didn’t surrender a takedown. Yeah, some of those matches were close. But Colton was always in control and there was never a doubt, and that was extremely impressive.”
Spurgeon (42-6) pinned Northland’s Emmanuel Sandoval in 43 seconds to open the tournament.
Spurgeon was one of six Yellow Jackets to compete in the district meet along with Conner Lang (132), Gabe Shannon (138), Zach Thomas (170), Gabe Harmon (220) and Nate Stradley (285).
Stradley wrestled his way to the podium after a strong first day that saw him pin Central Crossing’s Max Webb and Watkins Memorial’s Eli Doyle.
He was pinned by eventual district champion Bradley Weaver of host Darby in a championship semifinal to start the second day, and Teays Valley’s Joey Thurston pinned him in a consolation semifinal.
But Stradley (35-12) finished the tournament strong with a 3-1 decision over Hilliard Bradley’s Robert Snyder to take fifth, where he’ll be a state alternate.
“It was a good tournament overall for Nate,” Cornell said. “He went from never even qualifying for district to getting here and (finishing fifth). All those guys with the exception of Gabe Harmon … are coming back.”
Highland’s Matthews qualifies for state in DII
Highland’s Cody Matthews will get a chance to wrestle at state on his home mat. The junior took third place to lead the Fighting Scots at the Division II district tournament on Friday and Saturday, March 5-6, at Wilmington High School.
Matthews (152) pinned Hamilton Badin’s Jacob Graf to open the tournament. But St. Paris Graham Local’s Trace Braun won a 21-8 major decision in a quarterfinal to send Matthews to the consolation bracket.
There, Matthews pinned West Milton Milton-Union’s Colton Jacoby to get to Sunday, where he defeated Goshen’s Jon Woodford by an 8-3 decision to qualify for state and Cincinnati Wyoming’s Nathan Bryan by pinfall to secure third.
Caleb Wetzel (126), Kaden Miller (132), Eli Grandstaff (170) and Triston Hinkle (182) also competed for the Scots.
