Seven Clermont County wrestlers earned spots at the state tournament with a strong performance at the state wrestling district championships last week.
Five of the wrestlers earned automatic bids to the tournament by placing in the top four of their respective class. Two other county wrestlers placed fifth, advancing to state as an alternate.
In Division II, Batavia sophomore Brandon Sauter placed third at 113 pounds. Sauter won his first two bouts before falling to St. Paris Graham’s Nolan Gessler 14-2.
In the consolation bracket, Sauter pinned Licking Valley’s A.J. Kimble in 1:57 to clinch a spot at the Schottenstein Center. He then pinned Greenville’s Drayk Kallenberger in 1:25 to place third.
Goshen senior Chase Huff placed third at 120 pounds. Huff entered the district tournament undefeated. His first loss of the season came to Hartley’s Michael Petrella in the semifinals.
In the consolation bracket, Huff defeated Wyoming’s Jacob Bryan 6-1 and Licking Valley’s Conner Roback 10-5 to place third.
Two other local wrestlers qualified at 126. Goshen senior Josh Dunn placed third, defeating Batavia freshman Nathan Kulbe 10-1 in the third-place bout.
Dunn had won his first two bouts by 19-3 and 11-1 scores. St. Paris Graham’s Nick Hart defeated Dunn 6-4 in the semifinal bout.
Kulbe won his first match 5-0. He then knocked off top-seeded Tyler Woods of Franklin 5-4 to advance to the semifinals.
Licking Valley’s Alijah Stevens bested Kulbe 10-0 in that bout.
Kulbe defeated Wilmington’s Donovan Butler 4-1 in the consolation semifinal. Dunn won his consolation semifinal match 11-3 over Woods.
Clermont’s fifth state qualifier came in Division III. Clermont Northeastern senior David Pride placed fourth at 182 pounds for the Rockets, finishing the tournament 3-2 overall.
Pride bested Brookville’s Luke Williams 6-2 in his first match. He then defeated Bath’s Zachary Simpson 5-4 to earn a spot in the semifinals.
Following a 3-2 loss to Mechanicsburg’s Jaron Patterson, Pride rebounded with a 3-1 win over Williams. Simpson defeated Pride 5-2 in the third-place match.
Two Clermont wrestlers advanced to state as alternates. West Clermont junior Ryan Walker won his first two matches in the Division I 138-pound bracket, earning a spot in the championships semifinals.
He fell to Wayne’s Austin Mullins 19-3 (tech fall) in that bout, dropping to the consolation semifinals. Walker was pinned by Colerain’s Tim Smith in 1:54 in that contest.
He won the fifth-place match by default to earn a spot in the tournament as an alternate.
Batavia freshman Tate Bein is a 106-pound alternate in Division II. Bein won his first bout, pinning Oakwood’s Parker Finney in 40 seconds. He then was pinned by top-seeded Ammaar Salaam in 2:17, dropping to the consolation bracket.
Bein pinned his next two opponents before a 9-2 loss to London’s Brady Fisher dropped him to the fifth-place match. He pinned Ross’ Jaiden Earls in 2:26 to clinch fifth place.
Several other Clermont wrestlers saw their season end in the district tournament. In Division I, Milford’s Nick Scally dropped both of his tournament matches to end his season. West Clermont’s Logan Eads won his consolation opener, pinning Trenton Edgewood’s Kyle Chasteen in 59 seconds. He dropped his next match to Butler’s Deaglen Pyle 7-1.
West Clermont’s Bryan Hertel won his first match, pinning Hamilton’s Bonifcio Gutierrez Lopez in 31 seconds. He was pinned in his next match, and his season ended with a 7-4 loss to Lebanon’s Jack McCall.
Isaiah Roberts dropped his two matches, falling to LaSalle’s Dustin Norris and Princeton’s Marquis Gamble.
Milford’s Max Ward and West Clermont’s Jake Ransbottom lost two straight matches at 132 pounds. Ward’s season ended on a 2-1 ultimate tiebreaker loss to Kings’ Dzhambulat Zam Tckhovrebov.
West Clermont’s Will Turner and Milford’s Derek Elliott both lost two consecutive matches to end their respective seasons.
Kaleb Gelter (Milford), Luis Jimenez (West Clermont), and Hayden Harvey (Milford) bowed out of districts with two losses to start the tournament. West Clermont’s Jacob DiCarlo won one of his district bouts, defeating his first consolation opponent 17-6.
In Division II, Batavia’s Bryan Sauter saw his senior season come to an end. Sauter dropped his first match, then rebounded with a 9-7 win in the consolation bracket. Trotwood Madison’s Jorden Zigo defeated Sauter 6-4 to end his season.
Batavia’s Dylan Thompson lost his opener 6-4 to Wilmington’s Dominic Davidson in overtime. Thompson then fell to Valley View’s Kevin Myers 9-5 in the first round of the consolation bracket.
Bethel-Tate sophomore Hank Williams just missed qualifying for state. Williams pinned Milton-Union’s Colten Jacobe in 5:45 to advance to the quarterfinals, where a 9-2 loss sent him to the consolation bracket.
He then defeated Tippecanoe’s Blake Ballard 11-5 before an 8-4 loss to Monroe’s Kyle Mink ended his season.
Joey Black won a 182-pound consolation bout, defeating Badin’s Kadin Starks 13-9. His season ended one round later, as Chaminade Julienne’s Nicholas Machuca pinned the Tiger wrestler in 2:42.
Jayce Glenn, Trent Grigsby and Mikey Molloy all went two and out for Bethel-Tate at the district tournament.
Goshen’s Connor Hellenthal won his first bout, pinning Carroll’s Garrett Walker in 2:15. Pins in his next two matches ended his season.
Michael Reyes won his second match for Goshen. After a 15-0 tech fall knocked him out of the championship bracket, Reyes defeated Hebron Lakewood’s Caleb Rafferty 16-3. Wilmington’s Thane McCoy ended his season with a 23-6 win.
Like Reyes, Goshen’s Jon Woodward posted a 1-2 mark at districts. Woodward’s win came in the opening round of the consolation bracket, where he dispatched Valley View’s Caleb Cox via pin in 3:57.
Goshen’s Thomas Hill dropped both of his district matches at 152 pounds by pin, as did New Richmond’s Jayden Naegele and Matt Isbell.
The third Lion to qualify for districts, Zane Naegele, defeated Licking Valley’s Lane Sheets 6-3 in the consolation opener. Logan Miracle pinned Zane in the next round to end his season.
In Division III, Williamsburg’s Dylan Rowland, Trent Kellerman and Andrew Hatter won at least one bout in the tournament. Rowland defeated Ada’s Colton Biederman 8-2 in the consolation round before falling to Reading’s Orlando Smith.
Kellerman’s win came over Springfield Shawnee’s Austin Voshall. The Wildcat sophomore would drop his next match to CNE’s Hayden Mattes 6-4.
Hatter dispatched Indian Lake’s Joseph Scarberry 12-4 before falling to Greeneview’s Cohen Hickman 5-4.
Stephanie Abrams became Williamsburg’s first female wrestler to qualify for the district tournament. Her run in district competition lasted two matches, as did Logan Mack’s.
CNE’s Makenna Perry also dropped her first two matches, as did teammate Sean Brockman. Max Anstaett won his consolation opener, pinning Tri-County North’s Peyton Giolitto in 2:48 before a 2-0 sudden victory defeat by Mechanicsburg’s Jake Thiel.
After defeating Kellerman, Mattes would drop his next match to Columbus Grove’s Ezra Jones 8-4.
Albert Corey pinned Triad’s Dalton Overfield in 1:30. His season ended one round later with a 4-1 loss to Deer Park’s Ian Goodpaster.
Jacob Groeber won two matches for the Rockets in the consolation round. He pinned Triad’s Coleman Hauck in 3:27, then defeated Wayne Trace’s Seth Meggison 6-3 on a tiebreaker. Reading’s Caden Conner ended Groeber’s season with a 5-0 win.
Zach Case won one of his 113-pound matches. He pinned Middletown Madison’s Jake Auvil in 2:54. Coldwater’s Nick Kline ended Case’s season with a pin in 4:34.
Finally, CNE’s Colby Johnson started the tournament with a pin of Parkway’s Hutch Ridenour in 3:29. He then fell to Greeneview’s Ashtan Hendricks 12-4.
In the consolation bracket, Johnson’s season came to an end with a 3-2 loss to Southeastern’s Connar Mitchell.
The 2020 Invididual Wrestling Tournament begins on Friday, March 13 at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio. The first session of wrestling begins at 3 p.m. and consists of championship preliminaries for all three divisions and the first round of consolations. Should any Clermont County wrestlers advance to day two of the tournament, wrestling would begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 14 with championship quarterfinals.