Coffman shows no signs of slowing into state
The boys wrestling season culminates with the state tournament Friday-sunday at Value City Arena.
Competitors advanced to state by earning top-four finishes in their weight classes at district.
In Division I district action at Hilliard Darby, Dublin Coffman (237.5) won the team title ahead of Olentangy Liberty (216.5) and Olentangy (110.5).
In Division II, Desales finished second (165.5) behind Wauseon (191.5) at Norwalk and Watterson was second (180) behind St. Paris Graham (236) at Wilmington.
In Division III at Heath, Galion Northmor finished second (104.5) behind Barnesville (245.5).
Here are some storylines entering state:
Coffman shows no signs of slowing down
Dublin Coffman enters state coming off its sixth consecutive district title.
Coffman qualified 10 wrestlers for state, including seniors and 2023 state champions Omar Ayoub (144, 36-2) and Ethan Birden (165, 43-2). Ayoub, a Nebraska commit, also won a state title two years ago. Birden will wrestle for Ohio State.
Senior Joey Baumann (138, 20-9) will compete after suffering a cut under his left eye during a district quarterfinal match against Thomas Worthington’s J.J. Dodt. Baumann, who finished fourth at state last season at 126, beat Dodt 4-3 and went on to place second at district, losing to Piontkowski in the final 8-5 on tiebreaker criteria.
Other state qualifiers are seniors Nick Lawrensen (106, 32-9), Sam Moloney (175, 31-7), Storm Beane (190, 36-8) and Charlie Mitchell (215, 34-13), sophomore Grayson Woodcock (157, 38-1) and freshmen Blaze Van Gundy (120, 37-5) and Eli Esguerra (150, 36-8).
Olentangy qualifies 5
The Braves have found their footing under first-year coach Matt White, who previously led Dublin Jerome for six seasons.
Junior Kurt Mokros (30-5) will compete in his third state tournament after finishing first at district at 113 pounds. He will be joined at state by his freshman brother, Luke (34-14), who won the district title at 106.
Senior Nolan Gregson (126, 28-12), junior Jake Piontkowski (138, 43-4) and sophomore Preston Schuler (120, 34-7) also qualified for state.
Shulaw brothers return
Desales senior Max Shulaw (215, 45-1) and his junior brother, Lincoln (190, 36-8), are expected to lead the Stallions in the Division II tournament.
Max Shulaw won the state title last season at 215 after placing second at 215 as a sophomore and fourth at 195 as a freshman.
Lincoln Shulaw finished second at 175 last season and seventh at 165 as a freshman.