5 state tournament storylines for central Ohio boys high school wrestling
Correction: An earlier version of this story had the wrong number of state qualifiers for Olentangy Liberty. The Patriots will have nine competitors in the tournament.
The boys high school wrestling season will come to a close when the 86th annual state tournament is held Friday through Sunday at Value City Arena.
For the first time, the boys tournament will be held in conjunction with the girls state tournament, which is in its first year as an official OHSAA event.
In Division I, perennial powers Dublin Coffman, Marysville and Olentangy Liberty are coming off strong performances at district and have set their sights on cracking the top 10. Northeast Ohio juggernaut Lakewood St. Edward is seeking its eighth consecutive state title and 36th overall.
In Division II, CCL programs DeSales, Hartley and Watterson, along with Jonathan Alder, have high hopes for individual titles. When it comes to the team championship, St. Paris Graham — a Champaign County school about 55 miles west of the Ohio State campus — has won 21 in a row and 23 overall.
In Division III, Newark Catholic is coming off a second-place finish at district.
Here are five storylines heading into the boys state tournament:
1. ’Rocks look to keep rolling: Dublin Coffman enters state as district champion
The team championship at district, held Friday and Saturday at Hilliard Darby, came down to the final match.
With the Shamrocks leading Liberty 236.5-233, Liberty's Luke Fleet lost 4-2 in overtime to Teays Valley’s Joey Thurston in the heavyweight final, securing the title for Coffman.
The Shamrocks qualified eight wrestlers for state, led by district champions Joey Baumann (126 pounds), Omar Ayoub (138), Ethan Birden (157) and Storm Beane (175). All four are juniors.
Ayoub (48-2) and Birden (44-2) appear to have the Shamrocks’ best chances to win state titles. Ayoub, a Nebraska commit, won the title at 126 last season after finishing second at 113 as a freshman. Birden, an Ohio State commit, finished second at 144 last season and fifth at 132 as a freshman.
“St. Ed’s a is a heavy favorite (for the team title),” Coffman coach Chance Van Gundy said. “We’re hoping to walk away with a couple of champs and several more placers and just see where that puts us from a team standpoint. This week more than last week, it’s more about the individual. Last week (at district) was truly about our team and our team came up big.”
2. Olentangy Liberty, Marysville seek state podium finishes
Liberty and Marysville wrestlers are regulars on the podium, which takes a top-eight finish, and that is likely to continue.
Liberty qualified nine wrestlers for state, including four district champions. Leading the way should be senior Dylan Russo (40-3) at 215. He's seeking a third consecutive title after winning at 215 last season and 220 in 2021.
“The key for me is believing in myself and being confident in my hard work,” Russo said.
Along with Russo, juniors Jaxson Rosselli (113, 39-3) and Tyler Deericks (150, 34-8) and freshman Huggy Williams (106, 29-6) also won district titles. Rosselli finished third at state at 113 last season and fourth at 106 in 2021.
Marysville finished third at district (127.5) and qualified six wrestlers for state, with sophomore Carson Mize (39-10) winning the title at 165. Seniors Nick Hart (144, 21-1) and Colton Powers (175, 37-6) each finished second.
Hart, a transfer from Graham, finished fourth at state at 132 in Division II in 2021. Powers finished seventh at 175 last season and eighth at 170 in 2021.
“This is always the weekend you look to validate some of your top guys, but you’ve also had some of your kids that you’ve worked with for a long time whose season ended last week or two weeks ago, so those are really important weekends for those kids, too," Marysville coach Shawn Andrews said. "I’m probably getting more sentimental. You try to enjoy every week, but this is certainly an exciting week.”
3. Dublin Scioto’s Ty Wilson seeks third Division I state title
The junior finished first at 132 last season and won at 113 as a freshman. This year, he enters state at 46-3 and as a district champion at 144.
A potential semifinal opponent could be Brecksville-Broadview Heights senior Brock Herman (42-1). Wilson handed Herman his lone loss, 5-2 in the Ironman Tournament, which was held Dec. 9 and 10 at Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit. Herman went on to finish third at 144 and Wilson placed sixth.
An Ohio State signee, Herman finished second at 126 last season at state.
“We will wrestle a stud in the semifinals most likely,” Scioto coach Adam Huddle said. “Brock Herman is on our side of the bracket. We knew coming into this year he would be in our weight class, but we’re looking forward to the rematch. He’s very good and he’s had a great season.”
4. DeSales, Hartley, Jonathan Alder, Watterson should see success in Division II
DeSales finished second (194.5) behind Wauseon High School (200.5) in the district tournament at Norwalk.
The Stallions qualified seven wrestlers for state, led by David McClelland (40-6), who finished first at district at 138 after winning last year's state title at 132.
Other district champions were senior Owen Eagan (157, 28-6), juniors Max Shulaw (215, 47-0) and Zack Lopez (150, 31-6) and sophomores Andrew Barford (165, 36-8) and Lincoln Shulaw (175, 35-6).
Last season at state, Max Shulaw finished second at 215, Eagan placed fourth at 144 and Lincoln Shulaw finished seventh at 165. Max Shulaw also was fourth at 195 in 2021.
“We have a few guys who are shooting for a title this weekend,” DeSales coach Collin Palmer said. “I don’t know if anybody has their thought process set (at) anything (other) than a state title. Anything can happen this weekend. I’ve seen a lot of big names, a lot of rankings completely unfold.”
Competing at district at Wilmington, Jonathan Alder finished second (161.5), Hartley placed third (120.5) and Watterson was fifth (111.5) behind champion Graham (270).
Hartley and Jonathan Alder both have five state qualifiers and Watterson has four.
Watterson sophomore Mitchell Younger (144, 25-2) finished first at district and is seeking his second state title after winning at the same weight last season.
For Hartley, senior Dylan Newsome (175, 39-3) will attempt to win his first state title after finishing third at 165 last season and second at 170 in 2021. He finished first at district.
Sophomore Aiden King (19-0) won a district title at 126 after placing eighth at state at 120 last season.
Jonathan Alder senior Oliver Byerly (38-4), who placed second at district at 165, finished third at state at 150 last season.
5. Newark Catholic qualifies three for state in Division III
The Green Wave are coming off a second-place finish (91) behind Barnesville (203) in the district tournament at Cadiz Harrison Central.
“For a storied program, that is our first top-two finish as a team at the district tournament, so we’re very pleased,” said fourth-year coach Jake Nelson, a former wrestler in the program who graduated in 2010.
Newark Catholic has three state qualifiers, including two senior district champions in Brendan Sheehan (165, 44-2) and Griffin Halenar (heavyweight, 37-5). Junior Brian Luft (19-3) was second at 132.
“I would love to see them each get on the podium,” said Nelson, whose program is seeking its first state champion since 1993. “We haven’t had a podium finish since 2019. We’ve qualified kids every year since then. We’ve just come up a match short here or a match short there.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Central Ohio boys wrestling: OHSAA state tournament preview
