Weekend Roundup: Elgin, Pleasant wrestlers earn team sectional crowns
HEATH — Elgin won its first-ever wrestling sectional championship, taking the Division III title at Heath.
The Comets scored 214 points to beat runner-up Westfall's 181.5 points as 15 teams took part in the tournament.
Elgin saw three athletes crowned as champions and wrestlers in 11 of 14 weight classes finish in the top four to earn district bids for next week.
Winning championships for the Comets were Kaiden Luikart (44-6) at 150 pounds, Nel VanGundy (41-9) at 175 and Tyler Pasma (35-12) at 215. Four finished in third place: John Willis (23-17) at 113, Jacob Hostetler (12-9) at 126, Gavin Rhodes (26-17) at 132 and Quinten Harrison (42-8) at 157. In fourth place were Hunter Johnston (11-16) at 120, Colton Long (2012) at 138, Jarrod Johnston (28-16) at 165 and Luke Waldo (32-13) at 190.
Also winning a championship as a team was Pleasant at the Division III sectional at Ridgedale. The Spartans scored 216 points to win it, while Northmor was third with 143, North Union fourth with 137, Cardington 11th with 32, Mount Gilead 13th with 18 and the hosts 15th with four points.
Pacing the Spartans were Daxton Chase (43-3) at 144 and Sam Mentzer (24-10) at 165 as each brought home championships. Getting runner-up spots for Pleasant were Ayden O'Dell (25-13) at 106, Greyson Haycook (18-16) at 126, Skyler Wolf (23-10) at 150, Brandon Mulvaine (30-10) at 157 and Julien Griffith (20-3) at 215. Also earning district berths for Pleasant were Sean Murphy (14-20) who was fourth at 120, Landon O'Donnell (24-16) who was third at 190 and Luke Flinchbaugh (15-19) who was fourth at 285.
Northmor had three champions crowned as Ethan Amens (28-9) at 113, Cowin Becker (38-4) at 120 and Carson Campbell (38-5) at 138 all won. Others moving on for the Golden Knights are Brady Carr (25-15) who was third at 106, Thomas Keen (5-20) who was fourth at 126, Bryce Cooper (11-11) who was fourth at 144 and Ashton Clark (28-15) who was third at 175.
North Union is sending six to the district: Kannon Alvarado (26-15, third at 113), Trace Williams (39-3, second at 120), Zack Ellis (21-16, third at 132), Heath Ferguson (26-17, third at 138), Jaxon Canter (7-21, fourth at 150), Austin Cline (24-15, fourth at 165) and Tyler Cline (32-9, third at 215).
Cardington's Wyatt Denney (23-10) advanced with a runner-up finish at 165.
The Division III wrestlers will compete at Saturday's district tournament at Harrison Central in Cadiz.
In Division I, Marion Harding is sending five wrestlers to Saturday's district at Hilliard Darby. Three took home sectional runner-up awards: Samson St. Germain (31-5) at 113, David Backus (37-3) at 126 and Ridge Barkley (31-8) at 138. Benjamin Pickens (19-15) was third at 144, and Nathan Cunningham (31-10) was fourth at 132. The Presidents were fourth as a team at the Marysville sectional with 110.5 points.
At the Division II sectional at Licking Valley, Highland was third as a team with 184.5 points and River Valley fourth with 118.
Three Scots earned championships: Konner Blaney (34-12) at 106, Caleb Wetzel (41-5) at 132 and Landon Pedigo (32-10) at 285. Taking runner-up spots for Highland were Brendan Lester (30-13) at 113, Cael Gilmore (42-5) at 138 and Chandler Stevens (16-12) at 190. Also advancing for the Scots were Matthew Scarberry (18-19) who was third at 144 and Remington Baker (33-14) who was third at 150.
River Valley will be sending Gabe Thacker (23-13) who was third at 113, Aiden Jordan (6-19) who was fourth at 120, Owen Rogers (12-10) who was fourth at 132, Adison Babb (17-16) who was fourth at 138, A.J. Thorpe (10-16) who was fourth at 150, Porter Rick (31-16) who was third at 165 and Diego Sanchez (13-11) who was fourth at 175.
The Division II district is set for Saturday at Norwalk.
Boys Basketball District Sites
In a Division IV district semifinal, No. 3 seed Northmor will face No. 8 Delaware Christian Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Highland. In Division II, No. 2 River Valley will play No. 7 Granville Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Worthington Christian's Hogue Center on Lazelle Road.
Sectional Bowling
Marion Harding's boys bowlers advanced to today's Division I district tournament at HP Lanes in Columbus, finishing fourth out of 57 squads at the sectional tournament also held at HP Lanes on Saturday. Harding shot a 4,048 to easily qualify.
Cameron Rayner was eighth overall with a 193-276-172 641 series to lead the Presidents. Jayden Combs was 44th with a 588 series, while Gavin Houseworth was 50th with a 573 and Jordan Hensley 82nd with a 540. Austen Valentine and Jacob Beaschler teamed for a 527 series.
Harding's girls just missed advancing to the district as a team, finishing 18th with a 2,852 which was 79 pins from the cutoff for 16th place. Kenzi Vaught advanced to today's district meet by finishing 22nd at the sectional with a 180-193-163 536.
Also competing for the Prexies were Hannah Mullennix with a 398, Jhmia Windham, Megan Adamson and Trinity Ficklin.
Girls Swimming
Pleasant senior Jenna Hollenbaugh completed her high school career with a return trip to the state swimming championships in Canton last week. She finished 26th in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:16.47 and 28th in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:09.94. Last year she took 22nd in the 100 breaststroke in 1:09.66.
District Gymnastics
For a third straight year, Marion Harding junior Autumn Fitzgerald will be a part of the state gymnastics meet.
Saturday at Worthington Kilbourne, she earned a district runner-up award on the vault with a score of 9.4, two-tenths from champion Tayten Swain of Olentangy Berlin. She will compete this Saturday at Hilliard Bradley in state competition in the vault. The state meet starts at 11:30 a.m.
With the top eight individuals advancing to state in each apparatus, Fitzgerald could not move on in the other disciplines. She was tied for 13th on the floor exercise with a 9.1, 19th on the bars at 8.625 and tied for 38th on the beam at 8.55. She just missed advancing in the all-around, ending tied for 10th with a 35.675, behind the 35.925 that claimed the eighth and final qualifying spot.
rmccurdy@gannett.com
419-610-0998
Twitter @McMotorsport
Instagram @rob_mccurdy_star
Marion Star Best of the Week Poll Winners
In last week's Marion Star Boys Best of the Week Performer Poll, River Valley's Blake Mosher, who scored 21 points in a win over Centerburg, earned 352 of 588 votes (60 percent) to win it. Other nominees were Pleasant basketball's Trey Booker, Elgin basketball's Carson Rife, Marion Harding wrestler Samson St. Germain and North Union basketball's Max Parish.
In the girls poll, Highland bowler Elyssa Reigles, who was fifth at the Division II sectional tournament with a 575 series, received 331 of 733 votes (45 percent) to win it. Other nominees were Pleasant swimmer Jenna Hollenbaugh, River Valley bowler Alexis Manning and Elgin bowler Bethan Strong.
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Weekend Roundup: Elgin, Pleasant wrestlers earn team sectional crowns
