By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

The Ohio High School Athletic Association’s 87th annual wrestling state championships begins on Friday.

In Portage County, 13 wrestlers qualified for the event, which will be hosted by Ohio State University at the Schottenstein Center.

Rootstown leads the way with five state qualifiers, with Aurora producing the second-most with four.

THE QUALIFIERS

DIVISION I

AURORA

Luke Green, 106 pounds

Johnny Green, 113 pounds

Drake Brasiel, 150 pounds

Cole Walton, 157 pounds

DIVISION II

STREETSBORO

Anthony Sindelar, 120 pounds

DIVISION III

CRESTWOOD

JP Wrobel, 126 pounds

GARFIELD
Keegan Sell, 190 pounds

ROOTSTOWN

Nick Malek, 132 pounds

Nathan Lee, 138 pounds

Tyler Paulus, 144 pounds

Dominic Duvall, 150 pounds

Tristan McKibben, 157 pounds

SOUTHEAST

Dominic Kemble, 120 pounds

FIRST-ROUND MATCHUPS

DIVISION I

106 pounds: Luke Green (Aurora, junior, 24-7) vs. Brandon Bickerton (Highland, freshman, 38-5)

113 pounds: Johnny Green (Aurora, junior, 36-7) vs. Brock Blankenhorn (Mount Vernon, senior, 33-10)

150 pounds: Drake Brasiel (Aurora, sophomore, 32-13) vs. Lucan O’Brien (St. Edward, senior, 24-6)

157 pounds: Cole Walton (Aurora, junior, 36-10) vs. Jake Wood (Perrysburg, senior, 37-10)

DIVISION II

120 pounds: Anthony Sindelar (Streetsboro, sophomore, 41-7) vs Lyric Dickerson (Miami Trace, junior, 43-6)

DIVISION III

120 pounds: Dominic Kemble (Southeast, sophomore, 34-7) vs. Tristen Rossiter (Shenandoah, senior, 44-2)

126 pounds: JP Wrobel (Crestwood, senior, 44-3) vs. Trent Rooke (Fredericktown, junior, 34-7)

132 pounds: Nick Malek (Rootstown, junior, 38-8) vs. Lane Thacker (Lakota, junior, 44-4)

138 pounds: Nathan Lee (Rootstown, junior, 33-13) vs. Jack Stubleski (Evergreen, senior, 48-5)

144 pounds: Tyler Paulus (Rootstown, senior, 31-8) vs. Jordan deal (Allen East, freshman, 46-2)

150 pounds: Dominic Duvall (Rootstown, junior, 38-7) vs. Brayden Brown (Legacy Christian, senior, 33-3)

157 pounds: Tristan McKibben (Rootstown, junior, 39-7) vs. Trenton Gatchell (Allen East, senior, 39-8)

190 pounds: Keegan Sell (Garfield, senior, 50-1) vs. Landon O’Donnell (Pleasant, senior, 34-20)

STANDOUT SPOTLIGHT

CRESTWOOD

JP WROBEL, senior

Career Record: 157-18.

Coach Dave Wrobel: “JP is peaking at the right time and seems to be extremely confident heading into the state tournament. His approach is very simple: Take it one match at a time. You can’t worry about the entire bracket — so focus on the one person in front of you and wrestle one match at a time, one period at a time. It seems like JP is embracing this postseason run, knowing that this is his last ‘go’ at it, so he’s giving it everything he’s got. That way he has no regrets in the end.”

SOUTHEAST

DOMINIC KEMBLE, sophomore

Career Record: 64-17

Coach Shane Kuberry: “Dominic is an extremely hard worker, who is always riding and always trying to get better. Dom’s success this year is a product of the work he put in during the off-season. We are most proud of him with the adversity he faced this year, how he stood up to it and fought through it. Dom is the type of kid that every single coach would love to have, and we are happy we get to be a part of his season and career.”

STREETSBORO

ANTHONY SINDELAR, sophomore

Career Record: 58-8

Coach Mark Skonieczny: “Anthony is a hard worker and dedicated to the sport and off-season wrestling helps him achieve his goals. His freshman year, he was ranked in the top eight in the state when he hurt his shoulder that required surgery and ended his season. He is a team leader, hard worker and really focuses on his condition and his technique.”