COLUMBUS — The Schottenstein Center wasn’t an amusement park, but there were still plenty of ups and downs over the course of the weekend at the OHSAA state wrestling tournament March 13 to 15.
Elgin sophomore Cooper Schlaegel rode it all weekend in becoming Marion County’s highest placer.
“Sometimes were great, and sometimes there were a couple of lows, but at the end of the day, it’s all about fun. I had a lot of fun. I believed I wrestled pretty well. I have some areas to grow in. There’s still work to do, but it was a good weekend,” Schlaegel said after finishing fourth in Division III’s 132-pound weight class.
He started his weekend with a pin in 1:33, then outlasted Tuslaw senior Kaden Lawson for a 9-8 victory to move to the semifinals. He lost to Monroeville junior Owen Patchen 7-1, but put himself back in the third-place match with a 5-1 victory.
Unlike his freshman year when he took third at 126, he had to settle for fourth against Lake Catholic senior Timmy Mazur by technical fall.
“There were some matches where I had to tough it out a little bit. Consi semis was the big one. The semifinals match didn’t go the way I wanted, but I still found I have it in me,” he said. “That’s a big confidence booster. Any match on any given day I can go out there and put my best foot forward.”
He plans to use the disappointment of a loss in his final match to keep him moving over the next year. His coach wouldn’t expect less.
“He’s a kid that does it the right way every time,” Elgin coach Levi Pasma said. “We came up shorter than we wanted to obviously, but we’ll get there. I have no doubt. He works so hard, and he’s going to take this and let it fuel his next level. He’ll get there. I love this kid. He’s a great boy.”
Kile Sentieri makes All-Ohio podium
Marion Harding senior Kile Sentieri might have been making his first appearance in the Division I state wrestling tournament, but it didn’t look like it. He opened at 175 pounds with a 10-2 win.
“Just rest up and get plenty of sleep. Recover well. Stretch well. Drink plenty of water. Get ready to try hard and go hard and never give up,” he said of his game plan for the rest of the event.
He was pinned in 3:31 then saved his tournament with a dominating 17-4 victory over Liam Dillon of Massillon Jackson. He earned a default win to go with an 8-4 loss, then took fifth place with another medical default victory over Whitehall’s Hamde Bakeye. He finished 44-6 and a top eight All-Ohio podium finish at state.
Watch for more on Sentieri’s tournament and senior year later at MarionStar.com and its app.
Vikings each win a match
River Valley sent three wrestlers to state and all three earned a victory before falling out of the tournament. For the girls, Valerie Riegel and Kylee Sardina competed at 105 and 135 respectively, while Drew Goldberg made it in Division II’s 285 class.
Scots make the podium
For the first time Highland’s boys wrestling team ended the Division II state tournament with two on the podium. Kasey Clark made it to the final match and finished second at 144 pounds. At 165, Cael Gilmore got third for the second year in a row. Gilmore is the program’s first four-time placer, and he and Clark are the highest placers ever with runner-up honors with Gilmore getting his two years ago at 144 pounds.
Highland’s Brady Byler won a match at D-II’s 120 pounds, and Emma Bolton, a four-time girls state qualifier, became the school’s first girl to place after finishing eighth at 190.
Two from Northmor end as All-Ohioans
Northmor sent two wrestlers to state and sent two to All-Ohio honors. Senior Carson Campbell, a four-time qualifier, is now a three-time placer after taking third in Division III’s 165-pound class. Senior Ethan Amens lost his first match then rattled off three in a row to get into the medals, eventually finishing fifth at 120.
“It was a good performance. Bringing two down here and both of them on the podium pretty high. It’s 2-for-2, so it’s always a good weekend,” Northmor coach Scott Carr said.
Mount Gilead’s Rocco Castricone was making his second trip to state at 113 pounds in D-III, but lost his first two matches to end his season.
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This article originally appeared on Marion Star: OSAA state wrestling wrap-up | How did the Marion-area kids fare?
Reporting by Rob McCurdy, Marion Star / Marion Star
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