Graham gets up for important matches
Winter storm forces Falcons to cancel trip to DCC Super Duals.
While every Graham wrestling practice doesn’t lack in intensity, coach Jeff Jordan can tell when something big is looming on the schedule.
“Our guys love wrestling in meaningful matches,” he said. “We go intense every day in the room, but you can tell when we have a big dual or tournament coming up because there is a little extra pop in everyone’s wrestling.”
The Falcons were scheduled to compete in the DCC Super Duals at ninth-ranked Detroit Central Catholic. But the winter storm scheduled to hit the area Friday forced fifthranked Graham to stay home.
Next up is a dual at No. 8 Lakewood St. Edward before facing No. 19 Wadsworth and Richmond (Mich.). Then the state team tournament begins.
“We are still battling some injuries and a little bit of sickness. Other than that, we are strong,” Jordan said.
All in the family
Spectators at wrestling tournaments this winter are slowly starting to get to know Miami East 106-pounder Olivia Shore.
To answer the first question everyone asks: Yes, she is one of nine Shore children and is the younger sister of standout Graham Shore.
However, while locals are just starting to learn who she is, the wrestling world has known about her.
Shore is a Cadet freestyle national champ, a member of the women’s USA world team and was the folkstyle national runner-up.
Shore advanced to the finals at the Troy Invitational before falling in the finals 5-4 to Covington’s Kellan Anderson. She also placed at the prestigious Medina Invitational.
Tecumseh defends title
Northwestern had more champs, but Tecumseh had more points to defend its crown as the top team in Clark County.
The Arrows defended their Clark County Clash title with 199 points, 15.5 more than Northwestern. Springfield was third with 124.
Tecumseh got titles from Hunter Donnan (126), Cyle Wells (132) and Alec Hall (152), while Northwestern’s Jake Lees (138), Evan Hager (145), Nathan Snyder (195) and Shawn Ingle (285) won titles.
Northwestern was 2-1 against Tecumseh in the finals.
Springfield got titles from Jacob Yost (170) and Joe Cochran (220).
Shawnee had two champs in Kaleb Ream (113) and Sam Matthews (182) while Greenon (Hensley Daytona, 106), Kenton Ridge (Bryce Davis 120) and Southeastern ( Jesse Mitchell (160) each had one champ.
Round 1 to Day
Valley View senior Stone Day won round one of what could be an ongoing series with Graham’s Gage Braun in the finals at the Valley View Invitational.
Day defeated Braun 5-4 in the finals at 195. Both were state runners-up last year: Day at 195 and Braun at 182.
Day and Graham’s Kavan Sarver had five epic battles in 2017, with Day holding a 3-2 advantage. All five were decided by one point, with Sarver winning in ultimate tiebreak in the state finals.
Graham had 10 champs at Valley View to finish with 337 points. Valley View was second with 211.5, just 4.5 more than Versailles.
National Trail’s Payton Lane had the impact win of the tournament, taking the title at 132 with a 1-0 win over Graham’s Isaiah Stickley in the finals.
Titles for CJ, Brookville
Chaminade Julienne and Brookville each added to their trophy cases last Saturday.
CJ won the Bellbrook Invitational with 229 points to outdistance Wilmington by 53 points.
Bellbrook senior Ben Sherrill won the marquee match of the tournament in a battle of returning state qualifiers. He defeated Chaminade Julienne’s Micah Marshall in the finals at 145.
Brookville battled to the end with host Milton-Union to win the Bulldog Invitational. The Blue Devils finished with 233.5 points. Host Milton-Union was second with 221.5, while Mechanicsburg was third with 210.5.
Mechanicsburg and Milton-Union each had three titleists, while Brookville finished with two. Among Mechanicsburg’s titles were brothers Luke (106) and Ben (132) Stroud.
Coming up
Voting for seeds in the Ohio High School Athletic Association state team tournament takes place Wednesday. Teams are placed in brackets in their assigned region based on their seed. The first two rounds take place Jan. 24.