State wrestling tournament breakdown

State wrestling tournament

What: 2019 State Wrestling Tournament Where: Jerome Schottenstein Center, 555 Borror Drive, Columbus

When: March 7-9 Time schedule: March 7 3 p.m. (champion preliminaries, first-round consolation); March 8 - 10 a.m. (quarterfinals, secondround consolation), 6:30 p.m. (semifinals, consolation quarterfinals); March 9 - 10 a.m. (consolations), 5:30 p.m. (championship round)

Admission: All-session tickets are $75, singlesession tickets are $15 Area first-round pairings: Division I - 132 pounds, Nate Deboe, Mentor (34-9) vs. Connor Euton, Westerville North (30-8); 138 pounds, Connor DeBoe, Mentor (21-7) vs. Mason Sparks, Marion Harding (34-6); Division II - 106 pounds, Brendan McCrone, Lake Catholic (39-8) vs. Nolan Gessler, St. Paris Graham (34-6); 113 pounds, Jake Hamulak, Chardon (29-6) vs. Caleb Hernandez, Napoleon (447); 120 pounds: Anthony Trivisonno, Lake Catholic (26-9) vs. Logan Ours, Lisbon Beaver (32-4); 126 pounds, Conor McCrone, Lake Catholic (42-6) vs. Matt Kaufmann, Fairview (36-5); 132 pounds, Derek Berdysz, Benedictine (32-10) vs. Nick Moore, St. Paris Graham (38-4); Nick Coreno, Lake Catholic (31-13) vs. Brady O’Connor, Indian Valley (42-7); 152 pounds, Dakota Ryan, Lake Catholic (29-5) vs. John McNulty, Padua (40-14); 160 pounds, Sean O’Dwyer, Lake Catholic (36-7) vs. Ben Pasiuk, Carrollton (401); 170 pounds, Cole Hivnor, Lake Catholic (34-9) vs. Trevor Stewart, Urbana (34-2); 182 pounds, Dorian Gridiron, Lake Catholic (32-11) vs. Alex Carrothers, Carrollton (32-8); 220 pounds, Charlie Taylor, Geneva (41-8) vs. Nathaniel Armstrong, Kettering Alter (20-3); Division III - 106 pounds, Patrick Reineke, Hawken (41-7) vs. Caleb Chroer, Troy Christian (32-10), 120 pounds, Jackson Reineke, Hawken (41-4) vs. Dylan Matthews, Liberty Center (37-9), 126 pounds, Konnor Duncan, Kirtland (30-13) vs. Gavin Brown, Legacy Christian (34-5); 182 pounds, Doug Byrne, Wickliffe (18-5) vs. Nathaniel DiRe, Liberty Benton (47-7); 195 pounds, Mitch Sanders, Newbury (35-7) vs. Drake Dobson, Martins Ferry (38-4); 220 pounds, Alex Piczer, Newbury (30-13) vs. Trent Vonderwell, Delphos St. John (36-12); 285 pounds, William Lindsey, Hawken (46-1) vs. Easton Hitchens, Sarahsville Shenandoah (40-10).

Division I outlook: Perhaps the lightest contingent in News-Herald wrestling history, the only two Division I qualifiers are twins Nate (132) and Connor (138) DeBoe of Mentor. Nate is the 11th-ranked 132-pounder in Division I, according to Intermat, while Connor is ranked ninth. Both were fourthplace finishers at the Mentor District, which means they wrestle champions of other districts in the first round. An upset would be huge for either or both. Teamwise, the favorites are Cincinnati LaSalle, St. Edward and Elyria. Brecksville and Wadsworth will be on the final leaderboard, too.

Division II outlook: The News-Herald area has a pair of projected state champions in Perry’s Kyle Rowan (106) and Lake Catholic’s Cole Hivnor (170). Two-time stateplacer Conor McCrone (126) was a projected state runner-up, but was upset in his second-round match last week at districts and will enter the tournament as a No. 3 seed. Lake Catholic has eight qualifiers, and if four or five get on the podium, the Cougars are going to be on the team leaderboard at the end of the tourney. One of the tougher draws belongs to Lake freshman Brendan McCrone (106), who is the fourth-ranked 106-pounder in D1. He lost to the No. 2 and No. 5 wrestlers at district (Rowan is No. 1) and enters the tournament as a No. 4 seed wrestling St. Paris Graham’s Nolan Gessler right off the bat. Geneva 220 Charlie Taylor is a pin-a-holic and faces 40-3 Nathaniel Armstrong of Kettering Alter from the get-go in what should be a high-action match. Intermat’s Josh Lowe predicts six local wrestlers to get on the podium - Rowan (first), Conor McCrone (fourth), Lake’s Nick Coreno (sixth at 132), Lake’s Dakota Ryan (seventh at 152), Hivnor (first at 170) and Taylor (eighth at 220). Teamwise, this is St. Paris Graham’s division until someone proves otherwise. Could Aurora make it close this year?

Division III outlook:

With three qualifiers - all underclassmen - Hawken leads the News-Herald contingent. District champions Jackson Reineke (120) and William Lindsey (285) have helped their cause by winning district championships. Wickliffe’s Doug Byrne (182) is a No. 2 seed despite having only a few other wrestlers in the Wickliffe room to drill with. Kirtland’s Konnor Duncan (126) was a state-qualifier last year, so experience could help him. Intermat’s Josh Lowe has Byrne slotted in as a sixth-place finisher and Lindsey as a fourth-place finisher. Teamwise, Genoa rolled in the state duals and will likely do so again in the individual tournament.