Sectional Wrestling Preview: Area champs finding right mindset for postseason
After rampaging through the 144-pound bracket at the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference Wrestling Tournament on Saturday to win the title, Pleasant's Daxton Chase was ready for a break.
But being an elite wrestler, Chase's idea of a break is skewed differently from most people's thoughts of a break.
"I haven’t taken a break in a little bit, but I’ll take a break tomorrow and then I’ll be ready," Chase said. "My body is a little tired but getting a little break before sectionals will be good."
So he was going to give himself 24 hours away from the mat, but ...
"I’ve still got to work on cardio, but I don’t want to overdo myself. You don’t want to underdo it but find the happy medium," he added.
And that's how Chase is approaching the postseason in 2023. He's going to work even on his break.
The Pleasant junior knows where that "happy medium" lies for him. He's already a two-time state placer, and he has aspirations for what he hopes will be a third attempt at state in a couple weeks.
Others in the area are trying to find that sweet spot Chase knows so well.
"Keep on going," Marion Harding senior Samson St. Germain said after winning the MOAC 113-pound championship. "(Wrestling legend) Dan Gable said once you wrestle, everything else in life is easy. And that’s true. Just keep on going and don’t let things get in the way and just keep wrestling hard."
St. Germain knows how tough wrestling is. He missed his freshman year with back surgery, but has returned to the sport to become an athlete with lofty goals. He was a Division I district qualifier last year and wants more this year.
"I get nervous and stuff, but I feel good about it. I feel like I know I can wrestle good," he said.
Winning a league championship offers a mental jolt to all those wrestlers fortunate enough to have earned one.
"I feel I can get an ego boost and get some confidence and go out and wrestle good," Highland freshman Cael Gilmore said after winning the MOAC at 138 pounds. "I’ll see the Galion kid and I’ll see (Ontario's Mason) Turnbaugh again at districts. I’ve got some bragging rights and momentum."
Up first for everyone is a trip to their respective sectional tournaments where the top four in each weight class move to the district round. The top four at districts qualify for the state tourney at Ohio State's Schottenstein Center.
"I feel pretty good," Highland's Remington Baker said following his 150-pound MOAC title. "I feel I have a really good chance to do well at sectionals and districts and beyond. I’m excited for what happens next. It boosts it up a little knowing I can compete with those kids and win matches."
Highland senior Caleb Wetzel won the MOAC crown at 132 pounds and will likely see some of the same competition in two weeks at the Norwalk district in Division II.
"I’m pretty confident," he said of his postseason hopes. "My coaches put that in me. If they believe in me, then it’s like, 'All right, they know I can do it, so why shouldn’t I do it?' It gives me a lot of confidence knowing other people believe in me even if I don’t. That puts me in the right mindset every time."
And starting Saturday all wrestlers hope they find the right mindset.
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Saturday's Sectional Wrestling Tournaments
Division I at Marysville: Marion Harding. Top four wrestlers in each weight class to Hilliard Darby district.
Division II at Licking Valley: Highland, River Valley. Top four wrestlers in each weight class to Norwalk district.
Division III at Ridgedale: Cardington, Mount Gilead, Northmor, North Union, Pleasant, Ridgedale. Top four wrestlers in each weight class to Harrison Central district.
Division III at Heath: Elgin. Top four wrestlers in each weight class to Harrison Central district.
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Wrestling Preview: Area champs finding right mindset for postseason
