Local wrestlers competed at the Ohio High School Athletic Association state wrestling tournament at the Ohio State University Jerome Schottenstein Center last weekend.
Utica wrestling coach Mark Rakoczy said, “This weekend was magical, and it's something every kid that puts on a singlet and competes dreams of.”
Locally, five schools were represented by 11 invited student-athletes who qualified off their sectional and district performances. A trio of wrestlers from Utica, three from Mount Vernon, a pair each from Highland and Northmor and one East Knox Bulldog all made their way to the Division 1 ,2 and 3 state tournament mats and gave it their all.
In the 106-pound weight class of Division 1, Mount Vernon’s sophomore Brock Blankenhorn, 33-13, was defeated in the first round by Brecksville’s Brett Stanley (9-6), then lost a tough consolation match decision 9-6.
At 126 pounds, Mount Vernon’s Colton Spurgeon fell short of reaching the podium by one match. Event experts posited that this class was “the toughest class in the event.” Spurgeon ended his Jackets career as a four-time district qualifier, three-time state qualifier and one-time state placer. With a season mark of 43-8, Spurgeon was defeated by Mayfield’s Vinnie D’Alessandro in Round One, then won a consolation match before being edged in the next match.
At 285 pounds, Mount Vernon senior Nate Stradley was a two-time district qualifier, one-time state qualifier and a four-year letterman in both wrestling and football. He finished his wrestling career with more than 100 wins. At this event, Stradley (35-15) lost in a 1-0 first-round decision to St. Edward’s Michael Kilbane (15-1) and was decisioned in the consolation round.
In Division 2 competition, a pair of Highland wrestlers fought the Fighting Scots’ way to 25th place among 81 scoring teams and 109 invited schools.
Highland’s Caleb Wetzel (39-15) lost in a first-round 132-pound match, then beat Claymont’s Elijah Parrish (38-14) in a consolation match and finished seventh.
Highland’s Cody Mathews (54-5) wrestled at 157 pounds and won the first round by pinning Ashland’s Jon Metzger (46-8), lost in Round Two, then won four consolation matches and finished in fourth place.
In Division 3 wrestling, Utica finished in ninth place among 83 schools, and Northmor placed 32nd.
At 113 pounds, Northmor’s Cowin Becker (46-9) defeated Nick Roberts (38-10) of Plymouth and then lost to Eli Campbell (21-6) of Legacy Christian. Becker then won two consolation matches for seventh place.
At 126 pounds, Utica’s Wesley Wydick (45-3) won three matches and got into the gold medal round before losing to undefeated champion Max Shore (30-0) of Miami East in a technical fall. Wydick defeated South Range’s Clayton Kramer, Covington’s Chase Venderhorst and Legacy Christian’s Logan Attisano to get to the final, coming home with the silver medal.
Utica’s Brock Wygle (45-10) wrestled at 138 pounds and was defeated by Monroeville’s Ashton Homan (45-6) in Round One. Wygle then won a consolation match.
At 144, Utica’s Clayton Smith (51-6) lost a first round match by a 2-1 decision to Mohawk’s Jace Margraf (42-7), then won four consolation matches for a fourth-place finish.
At 157, Northmor’s Niko Christo (45-6) won his first-round match over Legacy Christian’s Ethan Cooper (25-10), then lost to Milan Edison’s Remington Bauer (48-11). Christo then won three consolation matches to finish in fifth.
At 190 , East Knox’s Freshman Blake Elliott (30-9), who works out with the Mount Vernon team, was decisoned by Mogadore’s Tyler Knight (25-3) in a first-round match and lost a tough consolation-round contest.
