Carroll looking ahead after GCL Co-ed crown
The Carroll Patriots are excited to see what their wrestlers can do this weekend at the Division II sectional tournament. Whatever happens, it’ll be tough to top what the Patriots did at last week’s Greater Catholic League Co-Ed championships.
Carroll held off Chaminade Julienne to win the conference title by 6.5 points in an emotional victory Saturday. The day before the tournament, Ellen Grieshop, the mother of senior wrestler Matt Grieshop and freshman stat keeper Brooke Grieshop, died from injuries suffered in a car accident on Feb. 6.
“It was pretty amazing. It was a special day,” Carroll coach Jason Ashworth said. “We took a good group of guys who are close and everybody did their part.”
Carroll received individual championships from junior Nicholas Romano at 120 pounds, junior Jason King — filling in for Grieshop — at 145, senior Trenton Randall at 160, senior Patrick Keller at 195 and junior Jamen Hill at 285.
Hill wrestles at 220 pounds — that’s where he’ll be at sectionals — but was over the weight limit in that class and bumped up to heavyweight. Sophomore Hunter Fitterer moved up from the junior varsity team to fill in at 220 and finished third
Carroll doesn’t have a regular heavyweight, so getting Hill’s points there and Fitterer’s points at 220 helped decide the championship for Carroll.
“It was guys stepping it up. We called on them to get it done and they did,” Ashworth said. “I was not expecting to win at all. This is a pretty special championship.”
Carroll sees Chaminade Julienne again at the D-II sectional tournament today and Saturday at Graham High School. The sectional is broken up into two sections. Graham, CJ, Bellefontaine and Carroll are among the top teams in Graham 1. The Graham 2 section has Monroe, Eaton and Valley View and Bellbrook among the top teams.
The top four wrestlers in each weight class advance to next week’s district meet.
“I feel really close to this group,” Ashworth said. “I’m just excited to see what happens and what unfolds in the next two weeks. I’m looking forward to seeing what these guys can do.”
Title contenders: Wrestling expert Billy Schaefer, who runs the website borofanohio.net, released his list of projected qualifiers and champions for the state tournament. Among the area highlights:
Wayne junior Jacob Padilla is projected as the D-I state champion at 285. Padilla, a two-time state qualifier, finished eighth last season. He enters the sectional tournament undefeated.
Among other area wrestlers ranked among the top five in the D-I state projec- tions are Fairmont junior Nevan Snodgrass (No. 3 at 170), Centerville freshman Damion Ryan (No. 5 at 120) and Beavercreek senior Brad Smith (No. 5 at 220).
Graham is projected to win its 19th straight D-II team championship. Sophomore Alek Martin is projected as the Falcons’ sole state champ at 138, but the Falcons are projected to finish among the top five at state in six weight classes.
CJ junior Isaiah Wortham is ranked No. 2 at 126 and Eaton senior Wade Monebrake is No. 3 at 138.
In D-III, Covington sophomore Kellan Anderson is projected as the state champ at 106. Among the top five in the D-III state rankings are Miami East freshman Max Shore (No. 4 at 113), Troy Christian junior Ethan Turner (No. 2 at 126), Legacy Christian freshman Gavin Brown (No. 3 at 126), Troy Christian senior Ryan Whitten (No. 3 at 145), Troy Christian senior Nick Baker (No. 2 at 220) and Miami East senior Brendan Dalton (No. 3 at 220).
Troy Christian is projected to finish third in the team standings behind champion Genoa.