COLUMBUS – State wrestling weekend is an emotional time for every competitor.
And there’s no day quite as emotional as Sunday with wrestlers battling for podium positioning, some for the last time ever.
Galion junior Carter Trukovich was torn after losing the Division II 126-pound state title match to Licking Valley’s Joe Curry, a four-time state placer.
“It’s a little disappointing, but it’s silver,” he said. “I’m excited to make it here, but I’m not very happy or satisfied.”
Curry won a 120-pound state title as a freshman with Bishop Watterson before bumping up to 126 the last three seasons placing fifth as a sophomore, then third last year at Licking Valley and now atop the podium again.
“He stayed super solid,” Trukovich said of Curry. “I came out there trying to score points and let it fly like I did every other match, but he kind of shut it down. Got to his baseline stuff and did a good job on capitalizing me being overly aggressive.”
Placing fifth as a freshman and missing out on the podium as a sophomore, second place is all the added fuel Trukovich needs to start working towards the ultimate glory next winter.
“I’m not where I want to be, so it’s back to the lab,” he said. “We’ll get back to work and watch film to see what holes there are and what there is to work on.”
Madison trio make history.
Trailing 1-0 late in the third period, Madison senior Jaxin Stancombe knew he had to do something to turn the tide in the Division II heavyweight third place match against Celina’s Cash Patrick.
“You get stuck in bad positions and you gotta do undesirable things,” he said.
A takedown attempt by Stancombe was immediately countered and turned into a takedown by Patrick in the final seconds giving him a 4-0 decision.
“I’ve never been one to settle,” Stancombe said after placing fourth, his highest career finish. “I want the biggest, I want the best, I want to win. I hate losing more than anything, but I supposed I can’t be too mad with how things turned out. Better than a lot of kids.”
With no plans to wrestle in college, this was his swan song and the realization was just starting to hit him again.
“Last week I was coming into practice and thought, man, it’s my last week of practice,” Stancombe said. “Then I started practicing and remembered how much it sucked and the feeling went away for quite a while. You start reminiscing on memories of your teammates, everything you’ve done.”
One thing is for sure, he’ll always have the memory of this weekend at state that also featured junior Aiden Proctor place fourth in the 157-pound class and senior Estella Koppert-Smith win her seventh place match pinning Benjamin Logan’s Bella Hughes in 1:54.
“It feels amazing to place at the state level, it feels amazing to be an All-Ohioan,” she said. “I’m so thankful to be here, so thankful for my coaches, so thankful for for God, so thankful for my family and my teammates.
“I’m thankful for the opportunities I’ve been given, and I have ended my season and my high school career on a good note. I’m thankful for that.”
It’s the first time in program history Madison has brought three wrestlers and placed all of them at state.
“It’s a good accomplishment,” Stancombe said. “It’s cool to be part of school history.”
Harding makes history, Alberty caps off career
With a dominant 13-3 majority decision over Hubbard’s Markel Hackwelder in the Division II 132-pound fifth place match, Galion’s Gradey Harding became the program’s first ever four-time state placer.
But even after capping off a historic four-year career, Harding couldn’t help but be disappointed. He didn’t come down to Columbus for fifth, he wanted gold after back-to-back state runner-up finishes.
“I worked all summer, I worked all offseason to try to get to my attacks,” he said. “I just didn’t execute down here and it’s unfortunate. But I guess it wasn’t part of God’s plan.
“I definitely needed that win, but it still hurts pretty bad.”
Equally disappointed, and a little frustrated, was classmate Ryder Alberty who lost his 144-pound third place match to Wauseon’s Joseph Lugabihl by a 1-0 decision on a judgement call.
“I lost off of apparently locking hands,” he said. “My left arm was around his chin area and my right arm was on his bicep. They called that, but it’s whatever.”
And Alberty had the added twist of needing to make weight Sunday morning after not making it Saturday night after wrestling finished.
“I was probably 12 pounds lighter than that kid,” he said. “(But) it was a great time with everyone involved down here.”
zholden@gannett.com | 419-617-6018 | Twitter/X: @Zachary_Holden
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Seven area wrestlers earn All-Ohio honors finishing on the podium
Reporting by Zachary Holden, Mansfield News Journal / Mansfield News Journal
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