The schedule of events for this weekend’s OHSAA state championships.

By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

Editor’s Notes: The top-four finishers in each weight class at district tournaments qualified for this weekend’s state tournament in the Schottenstein Center on the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus. … The state tournament begins Friday at 1 p.m. … The top-eight finishers in each weight division will make the podium and be honored as All-Ohio.

BOYS WRESTLING

AURORA

Johnny Green will feel quite at home this weekend at the Division I state tournament.

After all, the Aurora senior not only qualified for state the past three seasons, but has placed every single time, with fourth place his highest showing.

Green finished third in the 120-pound weight class in the Division I district tournament Feb. 28 and March 1 at Perrysburg.

“Four times to the state tournament is really impressive and really hard to do,” head coach Jeremy Johnson said. “I was truly proud of Johnny last weekend. He wrestled a Lakewood St. Edwards kid pretty tough in the semis, but he was able to battle back and get third. I was really impressed with his short-term memory and getting back on the horse and getting back out there to get the next best thing. I think he can definitely finish higher than fourth this weekend.”

Junior Drake Brasiel finished second at 157, and senior Cole Walton placed third at 165, both punching tickets to Columbus.

“It was a very gritty tournament for Drake. I know he wasn’t feeling the best going into the tournament. He was a little ill,” said Johnson. “I was just happy that he was able to gut through a lot of those matches, especially on Friday night. To come and make the finals on Saturday morning was huge for him. He fell a little short in the finals, but I was happy with his overall tournament.

“I was happy for Cole. It will be his second trip to the state tournament. He was a placer there last year. I know it wasn’t the district tournament he wanted, but we teach our kids to focus on the next best thing, and he was able to come back and get third. I think all three of our guys are in a great position to place.”

Junior Nick Turba (113) and sophomore Grant Eaton (138) were fifth-place alternates and made the podium.

“Nick and Grant both lost very, very close matches to go to the state tournament,” said the coach. “I know that’s going to be a very tough pill to swallow for both of them, but it also should be motivating them into the off-season.”

STREETSBORO

Streetsboro sophomore Jarreau Walker has taken the frustration from getting disqualified from the Division II state tournament last season in the 106-pound weight class due to excessive celebration after he won the district tournament and turned it into extra motivation to get down to Columbus.

The thing is, Walker is so good that he doesn’t need extra motivation.

Walker, ranked No. 1 in the state in his weight class, pinned his first opponent and tech falled his last three foes to capture the district championship at 106 Feb. 28 and March 1 at Kenston.

“It was the normal Jarreau Walker fashion,” head coach Mark Skonieczny said. “Again, he didn’t give up an offensive point. He just dominated his opponents on his feet. There are a bunch of things he’s got going for him. He’s an extremely confident kid. He believes nobody in the country can beat him, so he has that strut and that attitude when he walks out there. He’s just so quick, he’s strong for the weight class, he’s extremely talented, he’s great at all three positions, he’s great on his feet, he’s great on top. If he gets on top of you, he’s going to turn you, if you’re on your feet, he’s taking you down and if you choose top, he’s getting out from the bottom. He’s just good at all three positions.

“I’m expecting the exact same results this weekend as we got last weekend. He may be contested a little bit more because now you’re getting down to the best of the best, but it just seems like he has pulled that far away from the competition this season.”

Also advancing to the state tournament was senior Cohen Klimak, who finished third at 165. Klimak qualified for state as a freshman and sophomore at 145 but didn’t place. He didn’t make it to state last season, losing at districts in heartbreaking fashion.

“Cohen had to have the best tournament of his career to make it out. He knew that, I knew that. We talked about it,” Skonieczny said. “His second match he had the No. 3 ranked kid in the state from Parma Padua Franciscan, and he beat him 9-3. He dominated the kid. In the semis he had three opportunities on takedowns against a kid from West Geauga, and the last one he actually got the takedown as time expired, but they didn’t give it to him, and that would’ve won that match. For his third/fourth-place match, he had to wrestle Rylan Hurley from Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, who he was 0-5 against the past two seasons. Cohen won in overtime.

“I think if Cohen takes his momentum into the state tournament, I’m very confident he can make the podium this weekend. He’s hitting his peak right now, is wrestling his best, hitting his stride.”

ROOTSTOWN

Brian Youngblood’s postseasons the last three years ended in disappointment due to injuries and illnesses. This season, though, the senior Rootstown wrestler has stayed healthy, and it is paying off big time. He dominated the 175-pound weight class in winning the championship in the Division III district tournament Feb. 28 and March 1 at Independence.

“Brian is probably the best wrestler I have in the room right now to be honest,” head coach Anthony Anderson said.

That is saying a lot because five other Rovers qualified for the state tournament, including senior Nick Malek who won the title at 144 and is making a return trip to Columbus.

“It was a tough match at the end there, but Nick was able to win that one for us, so that was big,” Anderson said. “He wrestled really well. It was a hard tournament for him. He’s one of the leaders in our room and is doing all the right stuff.”

Also advancing to state were third-place finishers Mason King, a junior at 113, and Dominic Duvall, a senior at 157.

“This was huge for Mason,” said the coach. “He’s really turned it on here at the end of the season. He’s working really hard. He wrestled really, really well through the district tournament, winning a couple matches that he wasn’t supposed to win. He wrestled hard. Dominic had a good tournament. He had a big win in in overtime to punch his ticket to go to state. He wrestled really, really hard. He had a pretty big bracket to wrestle back through there. The kid has a lot of heart. These matches are coming right down to the wire with him, so we’re trying to do a few things to make that a little bit easier for him.”

Fourth-place finishers Alex Ely, a junior at 126, and Rylan Campbell, a freshman at heavyweight, also will be taking a trip to the state capital.

“I really wanted Alex to go 120 this season, but he wanted to stay at 126,” Anderson said. “I knew it would be a really tough road for him to get there, but he’s surprised me along the way. It was huge for him that he was able to get it done at 126. Rylan is the dark horse for us. He’s been injured and hasn’t really practiced much. He was a big surprise for us.”

Anderson believes his six state qualifiers are all peaking at the right time.

“Brian has the best shot,” he said, “but if they’re all wrestling the way they’re wrestling right now, they all have a good shot at placing this weekend.”

GARFIELD

Garfield sophomore Landon Andel and junior Cam Lewicki qualified for the Division III state tournament for the first time with their performances at the district tournament Feb. 28 and March 1 at Independence. Andel was runner-up in the 138-pound weight class, and Lewicki finished fourth at 113.

“Landon did well,” head coach Dan Andel said. “He made it through to the finals where he lost to Alberto Moreno, the Doylestown Chippewa kid, by two points. I think those are the only two offensive points Landon has given up in the postseason. He’s wrestling really well now and is starting to peak when he needs to. I think he has a legitimate shot of standing on the podium at state if he does what he needs to do.

“I think Cam showed up ready to wrestle,” said the elder Andel. “He had a couple tough matches. One was in the placement round where he got caught off guard. Cam had a solid performance overall. He did what he needed to do to get down to Columbus.”

Sophomore Luke Kaufman finished sixth at 126 to make the podium.

“It was a solid performance for Luke,” said the coach. “It was a tough weight class. He had a lot of hurdles to jump through to make it out. It was a big improvement from last season when he didn’t make it to the district tournament. This season he’s on the podium with one match away from making it to Columbus. Hopefully we’ll see him down there next season.”

FIELD

Field senior Carter White had a good chance of qualifying for the Division II state tournament last season in the 150-pound weight class, but injuries kept that from happening.

It was a different story this season.

“Carter has worked really hard,” head coach Dave Tenney said. “Coming into this season, he was putting in the work, his attitude was right and he got his weight right. Coming out of the sectional his mind was real good, it was really dialed in and it showed.”

White pinned his way all the way to the finals at 157 in the district tournament Feb. 28 and March 1 at Kenston. He then won in the finals 6-0 over an opponent from Salem who Carter beat three times this season.

“I think that Carter has a real good chance of being on the podium in Columbus,” said Tenney.

SOUTHEAST

Southeast head coach Shane Kuberry felt junior Dominic Kemble had a decent shot of advancing to the finals and perhaps even winning the championship of the 126-pound weight class in the Division III district tournament Feb. 28 and March 1 at Independence. It didn’t work out that way, but Kemble still managed to finish third and qualify for the state tournament.

“Dominic lost a tight quarterfinal match on Friday,” Kuberry said. “It wasn’t really what he wanted. It’s one of those things where you have expectations of being in the final and possibly winning the district, but now you’re kind of set back in the same place that you were last season (when Kemble was fourth at districts and then lost his only two matches at state).

“Dominic got refocused and stepped in on Saturday and looked like himself, performed at a high level and made his way to the consolation final which punches your ticket down to states,” said Kuberry. “I thought he looked really, really good in the third/fourth-place match. He definitely has some different goals heading down to Columbus this season.”

Meanwhile, senior Deian Longgood finished sixth at 150, missing out on the state tournament but making the podium.

“Deian is the same kid week in and week out no matter what the pressure is, no matter what the tournament is. You know you’re going to get 100 percent, max effort, from him all the time. He’s never out of matches,” Kuberry said. “He ended up winning his quarterfinal match against a kid who he wrestled in the district tournament last season in the first round; the kid beat him last season by technical fall. Deian beat him this time to make the semifinals. That just shows the growth that Deian has had from last season to this season. If I could have 10 Deians on my team, I would take it. He’s really a good kid to be a pillar for our program and a really good kid to be around. I’m sorry to see his career come to an end. I was very happy with his performance.”

CRESTWOOD

Crestwood junior Michael Berquist in the 175-pound weight division and freshman Tyler Devlin at 120 both made the podium by finishing sixth in the Division III district tournament Feb. 28 and March 1 at Independence.

MOGADORE

Mogadore junior Dylan Benedum made the podium by placing sixth in the 215-pound weight class in the Division III district tournament Feb. 28 and March 1 at Independence.

“Dylan wrestled tough, was solid,” head coach Duane Funk said. “He was beating his South Range opponent 7-0 in the quarterfinals but got caught a little bit toward the end and ended up getting pinned. Dylan was well underweight at 203, while the South Range kid was 215, but that happens. It’s part of the sport.”

WATERLOO

Waterloo’s Dublin Porter made the podium by placing sixth in the 113-pound weight division in the Division III district tournament Feb. 28 and March 1 at Coshocton.

“Dublin took a loss Friday and had to wrestle back. He won three straight and just came up a little short of his goal,” head coach John Foster said. “He is a senior and this was his first trip to districts, though, so there were a lot of nerves. I think to even battle back that far is something we are all very proud of for Dublin.”

GIRLS WRESTLING 

MOGADORE

Mogadore juniors Kai Gaetjens and Mackenzie Shellenbarger both finished fifth and are alternates for the state tournament — Gaetjens in the 130-pound weight class and Shellenbarger at 170 — in the district tournament March 2 at Mentor. Gaetjens missed out on a third trip to Columbus. Both girls made the podium.

“Kai and Mackenzie were hot and cold. Some matches they looked really good in, but some matches they didn’t wrestle to their potential,” Funk, also the girls head coach, said.

“They’re both disappointed, but they’re juniors, so they’ll have a chance to come back next season.”

KENT ROOSEVELT

Kent Roosevelt’s Penny Edwards finished fifth, winning four of six matches, in the 100- pound weight class in the district tournament March 2 at Mentor, making her an alternate for the state tournament and allowing her to stand on the podium.

“Penny has had an impressive freshman season, going 34-12,” head coach Ryan Fankhauser said. “She improves daily and has the mindset to find herself in the state championship finals one day. Her character on and off the mat is exemplary. She’s a great role model for others and is someone to build a solid girls wrestling program around. It’s been an honor to coach her.”

AURORA

Aurora freshman Giulia Zayas finished sixth in the 100-pound weight class, making the podium, in the district tournament March 2 at Mentor.