Which Greater Columbus boys, girls wrestling teams advanced to state dual tournament?
Frank DiRenna
Five central Ohio teams will be making return trips to the Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association boys and girls state dual tournaments.
The Dublin Coffman and Olentangy Liberty boys and the Marysville and Olentangy Orange girls all advanced by winning Saturday on their home mats. Coffman and Liberty won Division I district tournaments, while Marysville and Orange won regional tournaments. Also, the Delaware Hayes girls won a regional at Findlay.
The Watterson boys team also advanced in Division II by winning its home district tournament Saturday.
The state duals are next Saturday. Coffman and Liberty will compete at Lakewood St. Edward, Watterson will compete at New Lexington and Marysville will host the girls tournament.
Dublin Coffman, Olentangy Liberty boys turn in dominating efforts
Coffman and Liberty both cruised to district titles.
After a first-round bye, top-seeded Coffman defeated eighth-seeded Gahanna Lincoln 64-15 and fourth-seeded Marysville 56-15.
Earning two pins for the Shamrocks were Nick Lawrensen (106 pounds), Zion Birden (113), Ethan Birden (165) and Charlie Mitchell (215).
“This is a good late-season test,” Coffman coach Chance Van Gundy said. “We can kind of lick our wounds. The kids are kind of banged up this time of year. A lot of it is grit.”
The Shamrocks will be making their sixth consecutive state dual tournament appearance. Last season, they finished fourth of eight teams.
Second-seeded Liberty rallied from an 11-0 deficit to beat seventh-seeded Teays Valley 62-17 and then handled sixth-seeded Lancaster 56-18 to advance to state.
Recording two pins for the Patriots were Huggy Williams (126), Lincoln Gardner (165), Broc Fitzpatrick (175) and Thomas Cook (190).
“We have all of our guys together and we’re starting to train harder,” Liberty coach Mark Marinelli said. “Our guys are getting in better shape and they’re looking good.”
Last season, the Patriots finished fifth at the state duals.
Olentangy Orange, Marysville, Delaware Hayes girls advance
Top-seeded Orange cruised to wins over eighth-seeded Whetstone (83-0) and fourth-seeded Teays Valley (57-21).
“I was really happy with how the girls competed,” coach Brian Nicola said. “We had a couple kids really step up for the team last minute. ... We’re excited to compete next week against the best around.”
Last season, Orange won its second consecutive state dual championship, beating Marysville 42-36 in the final.
Marysville was the top seed in its home regional, and it advanced by beating fourth-seeded Fremont Ross 42-38 and fifth-seeded Defiance Tinora 51-24.
Earning two pins for the Monarchs were Cami Leng (115/120), Olana Chapman (170/190) and Lori Grimes (190/170).
“We wrestled good, not great,” coach Shawn Andrews said. “Senior Olana Chapman went 2-0 and really turned things around for us in the first match versus Fremont Ross. She hasn't been able to (compete) most of the season (because of an injury), but she fought really hard and came away with two wins.”
Delaware earned its third consecutive state berth by beating second-seeded Findlay 60-24. The third-seeded Pacers beat sixth-seeded Findlay Liberty-Benton 66-18 in a semifinal.
Earning two pins for Delaware were Hailey Hatfield (115), Mary Fowler (120), Emma Fetter (135), Nelease Danzy (155/145) and Evelyn Krauss (170/155).
“Our girls had a great day, and we are excited to once again compete in the state duals,” coach Kevin Rieman said. “We feel like our girls are making progress and getting better as the year goes on, so we are excited to once again test ourselves against the best teams in the state.”
The Pacers finished fourth at state last season.
Olentangy reached the regional final at Vincent Warren, but the sixth-seeded Braves lost to the host and second-seeded Warriors 48-24.
Watterson boys earn two convincing wins
Watterson defeated seventh-seeded Reading 70-12 and third-seeded Jonathan Alder 50-28 to advance to state.
Recording two pins for the second-seeded Eagles were Neal Krysty (120), Joe Curry (126), Trey Straquadine (132), James Lindsay (138), Michael Boyle (175/165) and William Short (190).
In a Division II district tournament at DeSales, the top-seeded and host Stallions dropped a 47-28 decision to ninth-seeded Wapakoneta in a semifinal.
Wapakoneta lost to fifth-seeded Napoleon 30-19 in the final.