More from the state tourney in Columbus

Wickliffe 182-pounder Doug Byrne makes school history with his first-round victory, and the DeBoe twins at Mentor enjoy their experience at state.

COLUMBUS >> Doug Byrne took the scenic route to the Division III state wrestling tournament. Literally. Because of it, the senior 182-pounder might be one of the best-tested wrestlers in his weight class this weekend in Columbus.

Byrne makes up 50 percent of Wickliffe’s two-man wrestling team. He spent the season traveling to other area wrestling rooms throughout Northeastern Ohio to practice.

That put him up against fellow state-qualifiers such as Lake Catholic’s Cole Hivnor and Dorian Gridiron, CVCA’s Breslin Walker and South’s district-qualifying Justin Hendershot. With that in mind, it’s not a huge surprise that Byrne (19-5) won his first match at the state wrestling tournament on March 7.

With his second-period pin of Liberty Benton’s Nathaniel DiRe, Byrne became the first Wickliffe wrestler to win a state tournament match in more than two decades.

Byrne will wrestle Bluffton’s Deandre Nassar in the quarterfinal round on March 8.

“It feels great,” Byrne said. “I’ve been working since my freshman year to get to state.”

Which hasn’t been an easy trek, since there are so few wrestlers - two - in his school. He credited his coaches for sticking with him and the program, getting him drill partners at other schools.

“Usually I have to drive everywhere because we really don’t have a bussing thing,” he said. “(I wrestled) Hendershot, Gridiron, wrestled a little with Cole (Hivnor) and Breslin at 220 from CVCA. They’re all great guys.”

In his tournament opener, Byrne got an early lead, then went in for the kill.

“I ran his face into the mat and he turned over because, well, it was really hard on him,” Byrne said of DiRe. “I had the backs (back-points) then I went after the pin.”

Byrne is one of six area wrestlers still alive in the Division III tournament, joining Newbury’s Mitch Sanders (195) and Alex Piczer (220) and Hawken’s triumvirate of Patrick Reineke (106), Jackson Reineke (120) and William Lindsey (285).

Jackson Reineke, Piczer and Lindsey all won their first match and are still alive for a state championship. Patrick Reineke and Sanders lost their first match, but came back to win in the first round of consolation action.

Jackson Reineke (42-4) went 0-2 last year in his first state action. But the junior 120-pounder won a 5-2 decision in his opener to set up a second-round match against Allen East’s Drake Carmean.

“I get to rest up tonight,” Reineke said. “I went all out in my match. I can now rest up and focus on what I need to do tomorrow.”

Reineke gave up an early lead on what he called “a sloppy shot,” but was technically sound the rest of the match. He pushed the tempo of the match to the point that his opponent gave up a stalling point.

Lindsey (48-1) gave up a stalling point late in his opener against Shenandoah’s Easton Hitchens to send the match to overtime, but he got an escape in the second tie breaker to take the lead, then rode out Hitchens for the win.

“Cardio is something I focus on, being a big guy,” Lindsey said of his ability to ride out Hitchens. “That’s something that’ll set big guys apart from each other.

“I could have been more offensive. But I got the win and that’s all that matters.”

Patrick Reineke (41-8) got caught in a cradle in his opener and lost by pin. But the undersized freshman 106 won by 11-1 major decision in his consolation match to advance to Day 2 of the tournament.Piczer (31-13) won by pin in his state opener, setting up a match against defending state champ Hudson Jump of Grandview Heights.

Sanders (36-8) lost by pin in his opener, but then pinned Liberty-Salem’s Major Stratton to advance to the second day of action.Kirtland’s Konnor Duncan (30-15) lost both of his matches at 126 and was eliminated.