Wrestlers from several area schools earned podium finishes at the Ohio High School Athletic Association state wrestling tournament, with competitors from Claymont, New Philadelphia, Garaway, Tuslaw, Beaver, Canton South, Indian Valley, Steubenville, Hoover, Perry, Uniontown Lake and Louisville finishing among the top eight in their respective weight classes.
Girls state tournament
In the girls state tournament, New Philadelphia’s Isabelle Ramirez placed fourth at 190 pounds. Ramirez advanced to the placement round before falling to Johanna Bogan of Garrett Morgan, who secured third place with a pin in 58 seconds.
Claymont’s Laiken Warner finished eighth at 105 pounds. Warner reached the podium before dropping the seventh-place match to Layken Lively of Shenandoah, who won by pin in 1:32.
Division III boys
In the Division III boys tournament, Garaway had multiple wrestlers earn podium finishes. Bryce Books finished fourth at 106 pounds, falling in the third-place match to Trent Huber of Versailles, who won by technical fall, 20-3.
Teammate Matt Frey placed fourth at 175 pounds, losing the third-place bout to Kaden Bish of Mohawk, who secured a technical fall victory, 18-1.
Garaway also had two additional wrestlers finish in the top eight. Braylon Books placed sixth at 144 pounds after dropping the fifth-place match to Ryan Hager of Williamsburg, 15-10, while Thomas Grimm earned eighth place at 215 pounds, falling to Ayden Cordle of West Jefferson by pin in 1:45 in the seventh-place match.
Tuslaw’s Kaden Lawson reached the podium as well, finishing seventh at 132 pounds after pinning AJ Gleckler of Evergreen in 1:54.
Division II boys
Several local wrestlers also placed in the Division II boys tournament.
Canton South’s Dominic Prosperi finished third at 113 pounds, earning a technical fall victory over Caleb Snyder of Clear Fork, 20-5, in the third-place match.
Steubenville’s Cooper Smith also secured a third-place finish at 144 pounds, edging Owen Weaks of Benjamin Logan, 1-0, in the placement match.
Beaver’s Jordan Bates placed fourth at 106 pounds, falling to Mark Mobley of Columbus DeSales, 10-8, in the third-place bout.
Indian Valley’s Bronko Braun also finished fourth at 120 pounds after dropping a 13-10 decision to Caden Kaleal of West Geauga.
Claymont had two wrestlers earn All-Ohio honors. DreVonn Searcy finished seventh at 138 pounds, pinning Ryan Morgan of Alter in 2:25, while Nile Abbuhl placed seventh at 144 pounds with a 4-2 decision over Anthony Trentanelli of Perry.
Beaver added two more podium finishers. Robert Buchheit finished seventh at 150 pounds, defeating Gavin Miller of Ontario by major decision, 15-2, while Evan Ours earned seventh at 165 pounds with a 4-0 decision over Jack Berry of Franklin.
Division I boys
In the Division I tournament, several area wrestlers also reached the podium.
Hoover’s Constantinos Paxos earned a third-place finish at 106 pounds, defeating Greyson Boner of Harrison, 8-1, in the placement match.
Perry had multiple wrestlers place. Lincoln Rohr finished fourth at 126 pounds, falling to Conner Whitely of St. Edward, 4-1, in the third-place match. Teammate Seth Cavazos also placed fourth at 138 pounds after defaulting in the third-place bout to Mason Bauer of Ashland.
Uniontown Lake’s Lukas Jordan finished sixth at 157 pounds, dropping a 4-3 decision to Mavrik Gregory of Mount Vernon in the fifth-place match.
Louisville had two wrestlers reach the podium. Kaiden Barker finished sixth at 138 pounds after falling 4-2 to Gage Older of Whitmer in the fifth-place match, while Emilio Rodriguez placed eighth at 106 pounds after losing to Bennett Wachter of Elyria by technical fall, 16-1, in the seventh-place bout.
The top eight finishers in each weight class earn All-Ohio honors at the OHSAA state wrestling tournament, which featured the best wrestlers from across Ohio competing in their respective divisions.
