Six area wrestlers qualify for state tournament after Division III district meet
CADIZ − Saturday began a new era for Westfall.
Coach William Breyer can feel it on the horizon. He saw that shift firsthand at the Division III district meet on Saturday. Throughout Breyer's tenure with the program, Westfall has never placed higher than seventh or qualified more than two wrestlers for the state meet.
Until Saturday.
The Mustangs shattered their previous records for both placement and their number of state-qualifying wrestlers. After notching a team score of 87.5 points, the Mustangs took home third place in the Division III Southeast District Meet and had four wrestlers qualify for the state tournament.
"I've never had more than two," Breyer said. "Last year I had one. I've been here 10 years now, and the most I've ever had is two. Westfall's never had four, ever. There's never been four state qualifiers."
Of the six wrestlers from the Scioto Valley Conference that qualified outright for the state meet on Saturday, four of them came from Westfall. Tony Hoty, Gage Bolt, Bryce Wickline and Hunter Probasco all finished fourth or higher in their respective weight classes to punch their ticket to Columbus.
Hoty and Bolt both secured the highest individual placements for the Mustangs on Saturday. Hoty took home second place in the 113-pound bracket after a finals loss to Shenandoah's Tristen Rossiter. He won his first two matches of the tournament by pinfall, and a major decision victory in the semifinals propelled Hoty to his championship match against Rossiter.
Bolt only claimed one of his victories by pinfall on Saturday, but he nonetheless worked his way through the 165-pound bracket with ease. His closest win was a 10-4 decision in the first round. After that, Bolt won either by pin or by major decision. The junior only fell short of a first-place finish after a 7-6 decision loss to Brendan Sheehan from Newark Catholic in the final round.
"We've just been steadily getting better every year, and I'm really just speechless on how great they did today and this weekend," Breyer said. "They're just breaking barriers. It's almost to a point where it's just happening, and I'm speechless."
Despite a one-point decision loss in the 175-pound semifinals, Bryce Wickline recovered without much trouble. He pinned Shadyside's Jacob Brown in just 1:48, and he snatched third place after putting up a 10-2 major decision victory over Elgin's Nels VanGundy in the consolation finals.
Hunter Probasco was the final Westfall wrestler to reach the state qualifier. After falling in the 285-pound quarterfinals, Probasco won his next three consolation matches by pin and took fourth place after a loss to Marshall Bier in the consolation finals.
Aside from Westfall, two other wrestlers from around the Scioto Valley Conference punched their to the state meet. Zane Pickerrell was the lone wrestler for Zane Trace to make it to the state meet. Pickerrell cleaned up the 126-pound bracket after defeating his first three opponents by pin, and he even secured a comeback victory in the semifinals. Despite trailing Centerburg's Christopher Marshall midway through the second period, Pickerrell managed to secure a pin in 3:11 and lock in his finals spot.
The only time Pickerrell even slowed down was after he was on the cusp of a championship. He earned second place in his weight class after a 12-0 major decision loss to Drake Kanyuch from Shenandoah.
Huntington rounded out the final state qualifier in Division III. Mavrick Smith notched fourth place in the 157-pound class after recovering from a loss in the semifinals. Smith won his consolation semifinal match in an 8-3 decision, and he was only stumped after being pinned by Centerburg's Caylan LeMaster in 3:24.
Despite not locking down a guaranteed spot at the state meet, Morgan Breniser has a chance to compete for the Huntsmen in Columbus as well. Breniser placed fifth in the 175-pound bracket, which grants him the role of an alternate should any qualifying wrestler not be able to compete next weekend.
"Mavrick wrestled well all weekend, and his big goal this year has been to make it to the state tournament," Huntington coach Mark DePugh said. "Very proud of his performance. Morgan came out today and performed really well, and so state alternate. Very proud to have both of them on the podium here."
Division II Districts
Two area wrestlers secured their own paths to the state tournament after the Division II district tournament in Steubenville. Cannan Smith took second place in the 113-pound bracket over the weekend and locked in his spot in Columbus. Smith won his first three matches of the tournament by pin, and he only fell after being pinned by Mason Taylor of West Holmes in the final round.
Layton Vennon also locked down his spot in the state tournament for Unioto after earning fourth place in the 106-pound weight class. After suffering a 6-0 decision loss in the quarterfinals, Vennon won his next three matches by either pin or major decision. He was only stopped short of third place after a 9-1 major decision loss to Landon Jenkins of Carrollton in the consolation finals.
Mike Hicks of Chillicothe also managed to secure a spot as an alternate in the 144-pound weight class. Hicks took fifth place in his bracket after falling in the consolation semifinals and picking up a final win in his final match against Washington's Ian Roush.
This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Six area wrestlers qualify for state after Division III district meet
