State Wrestling Wrap-Up: Chase progresses; Mencer, Miller place

COLUMBUS — The progress of Daxton Chase continues.

An eighth-place finisher as a freshman at 113 pounds, a sixth-place finisher last year at 132 pounds and now a fourth-place medalist at 144 pounds, the Pleasant junior added to his resume this weekend as part of the Division III field at the state wrestling tournament at Ohio State's Schottenstein Center.

"I’ve progressed every year. I put my soul into this sport, but it wasn’t enough again this year," he said.

It wasn't the state championship he coveted, but it was another step closer to that ultimate goal.

"We’ll be lucky if he’s not up there running stairs (tomorrow) to prep for next year," Pleasant wrestling coach Joe Robinson said. "He’ll put the time in in the offseason. He always does."

More:Final Day 2 State Wrestling Updates

Chase (50-5) easily won his first two matches of the weekend, but fell Saturday night to Archbold junior Brodie Dominique in the semifinals. Forced to wrestle Sunday morning against highly ranked Marcus Medina of Edison, he scored an escape in the final four seconds to win 3-1 and send himself to the third-place bout against a familiar foe.

Ashland Crestview senior Hayden Kuhn (43-4), who beat Chase 5-1 at Mansfield's J.C. Gorman in early January, stood in his way.

"He’s a good kid who is well coached and it’s a good program," Robinson said of Kuhn. "He closes the gap every single time. We tried to stop his offense and he did that. He did what he needed to do from his feet. We needed to generate a little more of our own evidently with that."

The first period was scoreless, and Kuhn led 1-0 after two periods. To start the third period, Chase escaped for a point to tie it up, and it stayed that way into overtime. In ultimate sudden victory, Kuhn prevailed 2-1.

"I gave it my all. I couldn’t get out of the ties. It was a good match," Chase said.

More:Final Day 1 State Wrestling Update

Added Robinson: "The game plan was there. We knew he was going to do the dump and some of the things he has tendencies with. We kept out of all those things, which allowed us to close the gap and get us that chance at the end. We had that chance and fell just a little short. We’ll use that to make us better."

Chase is the first three-time state placer at Pleasant under Robinson has a head coach. He's pointed toward being his first four-timer, too.

"This dude is one of the edgiest, grittiest guys I’ve ever coached in my life," Robinson said. "He knows how invested you have to be in this sport to get to this spot. He does that and does it with high character and with great grades and with great behavior all around. I’m tremendously proud of him. He doesn’t settle for anything less than his goals. At the same time I think he understands he’s on the right path."

Hand raised

Of the seven Marion-area wrestlers to make it to Sunday's finals, only one had a hand raised after the final match. River Valley senior Lila Mencer finished fifth in the girls 135-pound class.

And what a wild ride it was for the Viking.

On Saturday night, Mencer (35-9) was trailing 10-0 and 12-2, but somehow turned it around to score a pin.

"She was nailing me on my head. She was going heavy on the crossfaces, which happens," Mencer said of her match with 30-win Kelsey King of Lakota West. "I chose up and ended up on top. She was going for a standup and a cradle appeared. I don’t hit cradles. Never in my life have I hit a cradle, but (I thought) I know what I can do; I can hit a cradle. I did and it worked!"

On Sunday morning she was beaten 5-2, but she rallied to score an easy 10-2 victory over Rylee Gust of Springboro.

"It was a 45-minute turnaround," Mencer said. "You have to process very quickly and get your head back in the game. I do that through loud music. It blocks all the thoughts out. Loud music, dancing sometimes and warming up with the coaches because he tells me what I’m doing wrong, and I appreciate that."

She is a two-time state placer, finishing sixth as a sophomore at the girls state tourney organized by the state coaches association. This was the first year girls competed alongside the boys at the Ohio High School Athletic Association state meet.

Three-time placer

Ridgedale senior Nya Miller, like Chase and Mencer, added to her legacy. Competing in the girls 170-pound class, she took home a sixth-place medal.

"Before it even started, I kind of shut down because it was predicted I wouldn’t even place, but here I am," she said. "I’m not at the eighth-place level, but the sixth-place spot, which is better than last year. I wasn’t expected to make it."

As a freshman, Miller (24-7) was fourth in the state, and last year she was seventh. On Sunday, she faced her opening round opponent Kascidy Gerran of Olentangy Orange (37-5) who beat Miller 7-3 on Friday. In the return bout for fifth place, Gerran prevailed 3-0.

"She got some good points on me," Miller said of the final match. "I didn’t take any stupid shots. I was looking for a clearing, and she’s hard to clear. She’s long and tall and very aggressive. I tried not to do anything stupid. I had to be smart. Me being conservative ended up with me not getting any points out there or any offense. She was my first loss and my last loss, so at least I know she was a good match."

Other placers

Northmor sophomore Cowin Becker (45-7)became a two-time state placer, finishing sixth in Division III's 120 pounds. he lost two matches on Sunday, dropping a 10-6 decision to Otsego's Trevor Wilcox and the fifth-place match to Legacy Christian freshman Nathan Attisano 9-3. Becker's other state loss this weekend was to Attisano 11-1.

In the same weight class in the same division, North Union senior Trace WIlliams (44-7) lost 9-3 to Northwestern senior Trent Sigler.

Highland's Cael Gilmore became the first freshman in school history to place at state, finishing eighth in Division II's 138-pound class. His final match was a close one, losing to Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary's sophomore Braden Dunlap 5-3. The two faced one another earlier in the tourney and Gilmore lost via pin in 2:33.

Cardington sophomore Cameron Sherman took eighth in the girls 170-pound class, losing 13-6 in her last match to Audrey Garcia of Ross 13-6.

∎ Visit MarionStar.com and its app to check out how everyone did the first two days of the state wrestling tournament over the weekend at Ohio State's Schottenstein Center. Also, watch for a column Wednesday on a friendship and respect earned on the mats.

rmccurdy@gannett.com

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This article originally appeared on Marion Star: State Wrestling Wrap-Up: Chase progresses; Mencer, Miller place