This weekend marks the 25th time that the Value City Arena at the Jerome Schottenstein Center has hosted the OHSAA state wrestling tournament. It has the potential to be a weekend full of notable milestones, starting with the journey of Marcus Blaze (Perrysburg) and Brogan Tucker (St. Paris Graham Local) to join the list of four-time state champions – a group that currently consists of 33 boys, the first of whom was the late Mark Zimmer (Columbus St. Francis DeSales, 1976-1979).
In the case of Blaze, after competing all season at 138 pounds, he made the jump up two weight classes for the postseason. Competing in Division I at 150 pounds, Blaze is 7-0 this postseason with only one of those matches going the full six minutes, a 13-3 major decision in the district semifinal against two-time state placer Mannix Wasco (North Royalton). The Penn State signee enters the state tournament with a 39-0 record on the season, the lone undefeated wrestler in Division I, and a career record of 196-2.
In addition to Wasco, the state tournament weight class for Blaze features three other returning multi-time state placers plus an additional returning state placer. The other district champion in the half-bracket with Blaze is returning state placer Eli Esguerra (Dublin Coffman), while two-time state placers Marshall Geckler (Massillon Perry) and Londen Murphy (Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller) are the district champions in the opposite half; Murphy is a returning state runner-up. Wasco is in the same quarter as Murphy, while three-time state placer Bradley Eaton (Lakewood St. Edward) – a 2023 state runner-up who lost by technical fall to Blaze in the district final – is in the same quarter as Geckler.
Tucker enters the state tournament with a 46-1 record in Division III at 157 pounds, and has not had any of his eight postseason matches entering the state tournament go the full six minutes. This includes a district semifinal technical fall against returning state placer Quinten Harrison (Marion Elgin) and a win by forfeit in the district final over returning state placer Carson Campbell (Galion Northmor). The district champion joining Tucker, who has signed with North Carolina State, is 2023 state placer Jackson Bartels (Liberty Center); with Campbell and Harrison in the other half of the draw based on second and third-place finishes at the Troy District. Should Tucker win state this weekend, he would join seven other wrestlers to win all four of their state titles in a Graham Falcons singlet.
Fourteen wrestlers join Blaze and Tucker seeking to repeat as state champions. Five in Division I: Brandon Bickerton (Medina Highland) at 113 pounds, Grey Burnett (Perrysburg) at 120, Karson Brown (St. Edward) at 126, Cole Evans (Perrysburg) at 157, and Matt Kowalski (Springboro) at 190; six in Division II: Marius Garcia (Bexley) at 120, Blake Bartos (Medina Buckeye) and Tate Hisey (St. Mary’s Memorial) at 132, Aiden King (Columbus Bishop Hartley) at 138, Brody Saccoccia (Steubenville) at 157, and Michael Boyle (Columbus Bishop Watterson) at 215; along with three in Division III: Adam Mattin (Delta) at 126, Nathan Attisano (Xenia Legacy Christian Academy) at 132, and Luke James (Milan Edison) at 175. Brown, Evans, and Mattin are each seeking a third state title.
Four others won state titles in 2023, and seek to regain that distinction this weekend: Ethan Timar (St. Edward) at 120 in Division I, Joe Curry (Newark Licking Valley) at 126 and Mitchell Younger (Bishop Waterson) at 144 in Division II, and Abe Hermes (Milan Edison) at 138 in Division III. It should be noted that Timar lost to Burnett in a district final, Curry failed to win his district tournament, and Younger was a state champion in both 2022 and 2023.
DIVISION I
Even though St. Edward has won the tournament the last nine times it has been contested (2015-2019, 2021-2024), and 25 of the last 27, the Eagles will not enter the state tournament with the most participants. That distinction instead belongs to Massillon Perry, which advanced all 14 of their wrestlers to the state tournament out of the North Canton Hoover district.
It is the fourth such time in the now 31 years of 14 weight classes being wrestled that a team has advanced their full complement of wrestlers to the state tournament. St. Edward was the school to do it all three times prior – first in 2007 with their most recent national title team, then in 2012 with a team that finished 2nd in the country, and most recently in 2023.
Leading the way for the Panthers, who seek a first state tournament trophy since their 2014 title, which came on the heels of runner-up finishes in nine of the prior 11 seasons, are nine district champions: two-time state placers Emeric McBurney (126) and Marshall Geckler (150); returning state placers Liston Seibert (120), Landen Johnson (165), and Caige Horak (175); 2023 state placers Mason Rohr (132) and Joseph Sanderfer (144); along with now two-time state qualifiers Brennan Warwick (157) and Mike Millin (285). Returning state placer Lincoln Rohr (113) and returning state qualifier Landon Ristoff (215) were among those who finished as a runner-up at the district tournament.
For the 10th straight year, St. Edward will have 10-plus wrestlers in the state tournament, as the Eagles advanced 13 in winning the district title at Perrysburg. Most notable among the eight district champions were two-time state champion Karson Brown (126), three-time state runner-up Jarrel Miller (190), three-time state placer Adam Butler (144), two-time state placer Tyrel Miller (175), and returning state placer Aiden Peterson (215); while junior Jacob Kiehl (138), senior Jared Goldberg (157), and sophomore Frankie Piefer (165) make state tournament debuts as district champions. It should be noted that Goldberg beat two-time state champion Evans 5-2 in the district semifinal. Two-time state finalist Ethan Timar (120) and three-time state placer Bradley Eaton (150) were among four district runners-up for St. Edward, while returning state placer Khimari Manns (132) advances from a third-place finish.
Perrysburg, which has finished as runner-up at the state tournament to St. Edward in each of the last three seasons, has advanced a school-record 12 wrestlers to the state tournament. It is a group led by Blaze and three other district champions: freshman Connor Bagdonnas (106), two-time state placer Ayden Dodd (113), and returning state champion Grey Burnett (120). Among the four district runners-up for the Yellow Jackets were returning state qualifier Brody Bauman (138), along with returning state placers Kaden Soto (144) and Josh Takats (190); while returning state placer Alex Denkins (126) and two-time state champion Cole Evans (157) were among the four Perrysburg wrestlers to finish third at the district tournament.
Advancing 10 wrestlers to the state tournament in Division I were Brecksville – which finished runner-up to Massillon Perry at the district tournament – and Moeller, which won the district title at Kettering Fairmont. The other district tournament team champion – Dublin Coffman, which won the title at Hilliard Darby, has the next most state qualifiers in big-school with eight.
Competition will again be fierce in Division I with half the weight classes featuring a returning state champion and/or have seven-plus returning state medalists in their bracket. The most robust weight classes are the 120 and 126-pound weight classes that feature eight wrestlers each that have previously placed at the state tournament.
At 120 pounds, Grey Burnett beat Ethan Timar 6-0 to win the district title at Perrysburg, a result that replicated last year’s state final that Burnett won by a 3-2 score. In the opening round of the tournament, Burnett is paired with 2023 state placer Alijah Mohanna (Cincinnati La Salle), while returning state placer Blake Frantz (Wadsworth) is a possible quarterfinal opponent; then returning state placer Austin Bickerton (Medina Highland) is a possible semifinal opponent.
The district champion joining Timar in his quarter of the draw is returning state placer Kurt Mokros (Lewis Center Olentangy), while the other quarter-bracket of the bottom half features returning state placer Liston Seibert and three-time state placer Johnny Green (Aurora). Seibert beat Green last year 7-3 in the consolation semifinal at state, while Timar is 2-0 against Seibert this season, though both matches have been decided beyond regulation.
At 126, Karson Brown enters as the dominant figure, earning a pin over two-time state placer Garrison Weisner (Oregon Clay) in the district final after beating returning state placer Alex Denkins by technical fall in the quarterfinal round. In addition to those three, there are five other wrestlers that have previously placed at the state tournament.
The other two state placers in the same half as Brown meet in an opening-round bout, Mason Bauer (Ashland) and two-time state placer Emeric McBurney, a district champion. It should be noted that Bauer did beat McBurney’s teammate Lincoln Rohr last year in the opening round of state 3-1 at 106 pounds, in what also was a fourth-over-first “upset”. Two-time state placer Konner Lambers (Cincinnati Elder) is the district champion in the same quarter as Weisner; while returning state placer Blaze Van Gundy (Dublin Coffman) is joined in his quarter by returning state placers Harrison Haffner (Brecksville) and Alex Denkins, who meet in the opening round. It should be noted that Haffner does have in-season wins over both Denkins and Van Gundy.
The 144-pound weight class features seven prior state placers, a group led by Adam Butler, a three-time state placer as well as runner-up in both 2022 and 2024. Butler is joined by two-time state placer Jack Dinwiddie (Wadsworth) in his quarter of the draw, while 2023 state placer Jack DeBoe (Mentor) is in the other quarter of the top half. Joseph Sanderfer, a 2023 state placer, beat Butler last month in the OHSWCA state duals final; he is joined by two-time state placer Wyatt Brock (Harrison) and Kaden Soto, who face off in the first round, in the same quarter. Returning state placer Marshall Morency (Cincinnati Anderson) sits in the bottom half quarter-bracket opposite of Sanderfer.
Six returning state placers, along with a pair of dynamite freshmen, will make the 113-pound weight class arguably the most intriguing of the 42 to be contested this weekend in the boys’ event. Two-time state placer Rylan Seacrist (Brecksville), a 2023 state runner-up, earned his district title at Hoover with a semifinal victory in the tiebreaker over returning state champion Brandon Bickerton and then a 7-2 victory over returning state placer Lincoln Rohr in the final. The upper half of the draw is relatively barren with just freshman Connor Whitely (St. Edward), who placed at the Ironman Wrestling Tournament and two other major national-level events during the season, as a primary contender joining Seacrist. Should on-paper projections hold, Whitely – who was runner-up at district to Dodd – and Seacrist would meet in the semifinal.
In the lower half, freshman Tommy Wurster (Dublin Coffman) and two-time state placer Ayden Dodd are your district champions; Wurster does have an in-season victory over Dodd coming in the quarterfinal of the Brecksville Holiday Tournament in late December. Dodd could face Brandon Bickerton in what would be a state finals rematch in the quarterfinal, should Bickerton be able to upend returning state placer Colin Broxterman (Elder) in the opening round; Wurster is in the same quarter-bracket as returning state placers Lincoln Rohr and Demaco Kates (Cincinnati Colerain), but one should also know Rohr beat Wurster 7-5 opening weekend at the Ironman Wrestling Tournament.
As already noted, 2022 and 2024 state champion Cole Evans lost to Jared Goldberg 5-2 in the district semifinal at 157 pounds. In terms of the state tournament draw, the district champion joining Goldberg in his half-bracket is three-time state placer Holden Huhn (La Salle), also a 2022 state runner-up. Evans is in the other half-bracket, with a potential quarterfinal clash against Brennan Warwick, one that could have notable implications in the battle for a team trophy.
Finally, Jarrell Miller enters the state tournament at 190 pounds as a three-time state runner-up. Over the course of almost 90 years, no wrestler has finished second all for years of their high school career. Preliminary research shows that six wrestlers have entered their senior year state tournament as three-time state runner-up, all in the 21st century. Steven Blunk (Streetsboro, 2004), Josh Horne (Pickerington Central, 2005), Tyler Heminger (Galion Northmor, 2011), and Ben Pasiuk (Carrollton, 2019) were able to win state their senior year; Ryan Fields (Lakota West, 2008) lost in the semifinal and finished fourth; while Cole McComas (Lisbon Beaver) had his senior year state tournament cancelled in 2020.
In last year’s state final, Miller was upended by Matt Kowalski 6-1 in this same weight class. When the pair met last month, Kowalski used a pair of third-period takedowns to beat Miller 7-5. However, in the season-opening Ironman Wrestling Tournament, Miller out-placed Kowalski and had a win over an opponent that Kowalski lost to. Looking at this state tournament weight class, there is only one other returning state placer. Josh Takats lost 10-1 to Miller in the district final, and has been drawn into the same quarter of the draw as Kowalski; Jonathan Sims (Lyndhurst Brush) with a 40-1 record entering the state tournament is the other district champion in Kowalski’s half of the draw.
DIVISION II
With Graham dropping down to Division III, there will be a new state tournament team champion in this division for the first time since the year 2000. As there is no team that has qualified more than seven wrestlers to the state tournament, the team title race is relatively open and should be tightly contested.
Since 1999, the first year that the state tournament had full double-elimination and was held at the Schottenstein Center, only seven times has the winning team scored less than 110 points (five less than 100), with the two lowest winning point totals coming in 2006 by Sandusky St. Mary’s Central Catholic (89.5 in Division III) and in 1999 by Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit (81.5 in Division II).
Entering state with the most qualifiers is Wauseon. They advanced seven in winning the district tournament at Norwalk, but had just one district champion in Kale Waxler (175). Among the four district runners-up were two-time state placer Zavian LaFountain (126) and returning state placer Carter Stuckey (120), while returning state placer Jordan Cook (144) finished third at the district tournament.
Qualifying six each to state were Bishop Watterson – champions at the Wilmington district – along with Lisbon Beaver and Steubenville, who were co-champions at the Steubenville district. Bishop Watterson, whose only prior team trophy came in 1979 when they finished second place in the Class AA state tournament, has finished fourth in the standings each of the previous two seasons. They enter the state tournament as favorites with four district champions: two-time state champion Mitchell Younger (144), returning state champion Michael Boyle (215), two-time state placer James Lindsay (150), and freshman Thomas Lindsay (132). In addition, freshman Tommy Rowlands (138) lost his district final in overtime to returning state champion Aiden King.
Like Bishop Watterson and Wauseon, Lisbon Beaver advances five of their six state qualifiers as district finalists: returning state placer Justice Fisher (106) won district, as did Evan Ours (165) and Kane Curran (190); while returning state placer Robert Buchheit (138) and freshman Jake Hughes (150) placed second, Hughes losing in overtime. Steubenville advances four of their six state qualifiers as district finalists: returning state placer Cooper Smith (144) and Beau Hudson (285) won titles, with returning state champion Brody Saccoccia (157) and Ethan Llewellyn (165) placed second.
Among the teams qualifying five to state, Columbus DeSales and Kettering Archbishop Alter each had four district finalists, two champions; Wapakoneta had two champions; while Franklin and Sandusky Perkins had three runners-up. Last year’s state runner-up team, Medina Buckeye, advanced four to state (two district champion, two runner-up) in winning the title at the Kenston district; Buckeye also was champion of the OHSWCA state duals, beating Wauseon in the final last month.
The featured weight class in this division clearly comes at 157 pounds, where there are four wrestlers that return from last year’s state tournament as top three finishers. Two of those wrestlers, Cael Gilmore (Marengo Highland) and Coltyn Reedy (Thornville Sheridan) enter the state tournament with undefeated records; Gilmore is a two-time state medalist, losing to 8-3 to Tucker in last year’s state final; while Reedy bounced back to third after losing by fall to Gage Murphy (Reading) – who is also undefeated on the season competing up at 165 – in the opening round at state. Rounding out this quartet is last year’s state finalists at 150, Brody Saccoccia and Bo Hertenstein (St. Mary’s Memorial), who lost 13-9 to Saccoccia in that final.
Coming off a 6-5 district final victory over the previously undefeated Saccoccia, Reedy and Hertenstein are the district champions in the bottom half of the weight class bracket; while Gilmore, who has an in-season win by fall over Hertenstein from late December, is in the top half of the bracket with Saccoccia in the other quarter-bracket of that half.
Another weight that merits attention is 126, which feature seven wrestlers that have previously placed at the state tournament, second-most of any in Division II. Two-time state placer Gradey Harding (Galion) had the toughest path of the four district champions, as he beat 2023 state champion Joe Curry in the semifinal and then two-time state placer Zavian LaFountain in the final, both wins coming in the tiebreakers at Norwalk. Harding is joined in his quarter-bracket by returning state placer Dareyan Egner (Franklin), while returning state placer Aiden Bean (Alliance Marlington) is the other district champion in the lower half-bracket.
In the upper half, returning state placer Bronson Begley (Kettering Alter) and Travis Bucklew (McArthur Vinton County) are the district champions, Begley reversing a sectional final defeat with a 5-4 win over Egner in the Wilmington final. Begley is in the same quarter-bracket as LaFountain, while two-time state placer Curry joins Bucklew is his quarter of the draw.
It is a pair of returning state champions that anchor the 132-pound weight class, two-time state placer Blake Bartos and three-time state placer Tate Hisey. Three other returning state placers feature in the weight class. The other district champion in the top half with Bartos is two-time returning state third-place finisher Cannan Smith (Chillicothe), who could face returning state placer Carter Trukovich (Galion) in the quarterfinal. Freshman Thomas Lindsay is the state champion in the same half as Hisey, with returning state placer Gavin Hoover (Circleville Logan Elm) as his potential quarterfinal opponent.
The 215-pound weight class features sophomore Michael Boyle, who is a returning state champion. The other district champion in his half-bracket is George Eggers (Napoleon), whose 53-2 record represents the second-most wins for any wrestler entering the state tournament in any of the three boys’ divisions. District champions in the opposite half-bracket are returning state placer Jaxon Burcher (Gnadenhutten Indian Valley), and sophomore Brayton Feister (Akron Archbishop Hoban), who has yet to lose a match in high school; it should be noted that Feister’s freshman season ended with a medical forfeit in the sectional final, a situation that ended up causing him to withdraw from post-season wrestling last year.
Four additional wrestlers will enter the state tournament with undefeated records: Jarreau Walker (Streetsboro) at 106 pounds, Mitchell Younger at 144, Keyno Mendez (Wapakoneta) at 150, and Gage Murphy (Reading) at 165.
Mendez is one of five freshmen in the 150-pound weight class, which is something of an anomaly outside of the 106 or 113-pound weight classes. He could be tested in the opening round by Simon Inboden (Athens), who was a state runner-up in West Virginia last season. The other district champion in his half of the draw is returning state placer Louden Dixon (Millersburg West Holmes), whose resume this season includes a 4-2 win over Hertenstein in December. Returning runner-up James Lindsay, one of the district champions in the lower half-bracket lost in overtime to Dixon last month; while freshman Jake Hughes sits in the other quarter of the lower half coming off losses to Dixon the last two weekends in the tiebreaker and overtime respectively.
Younger is joined by seven other wrestlers that have placed previously at the state tournament, the eight at 144 is the most in this division and joint-most with a pair of Division I weight classes across all three boys’ divisions. In the opening round, he draws returning state placer Dylan Hart (Cuyahoga Falls CVCA), while returning state placer Braxden Martin (Sandusky Perkins) is a possible quarterfinal opponent. Antonio Hobbs (Cleveland Benedictine) is the other district champion in that upper half-bracket, while a match between returning state placers Jordan Cook and Harrison Ratliff (New Lexington) could determine his possible quarterfinal opponent.
All three returning state placers in the lower half of the draw sit in the bottom quarter, Cooper Smith is the district champion with Danny Beckett (Medina Buckeye) and Tucker Campbell (Franklin) drawn against one another in the first round. The other district champion in this weight class is Ben Jacobs (Bellevue).
DIVISION III
The perennial behemoth known as Graham is now in the small-school division. The Falcons entered 12 wrestlers in their post-season lineup, only two of who are seniors, and all those wrestlers have qualified for the state tournament; it should be noted that all 12 also placed in the top three of their weight class at the Wilmington District.
Six additional wrestlers joined three-time state champion Tucker as district champions: two-time state placer Jake Landis (113), returning state placer Blaine DeMarco (132), returning state qualifier Danny Hoke (215), sophomore Wyatt Kaemerer (285), along with freshmen Cole Winemiller (144) and Kyler Crooks (165). Among the other state qualifiers are freshman Jake Hoke (175), who has lost narrowly in the finals the last two weekends to a returning state runner-up, and returning state qualifier Chett Mannier (190).
In terms of teams qualifying the most to state outside of Graham, Apple Creek Waynedale leads the way with a school-record eight from their district title-winning team at Coshocton, Delta advanced seven in winning the title at Rossford, and Rootstown took six in finishing second at Independence; winning the team title at Independence was Mentor Lake Catholic, which will bring five wrestlers to the state tournament.
Five of the eight qualifiers for Waynedale were district champions, led by undefeated wrestlers in returning state placer Brock Beckler (113) and returning state qualifier Robert McCrork (190). Other champions were returning state qualifier Isaak Skelly (120), freshman Sebastian Schmeltzer (132), and sophomore Dalton Oberly (150). Rounding out the state qualifiers are two-time state placers Stephen Patterson (126) and Cade Schmeltzer (138) as well as returning state placer Riley Greathouse (144).
Four of Delta’s seven qualifiers were district champions: two-time state champion Adam Mattin, two-time state placer Connor Sintobin (190), returning state placer Landon Lintermoot (144), and 2023 state placer Tyler Barnes (120). Additional state qualifiers include returning state placer Cass Chiesa (215) along with second-time state participants Richard Flores (132) and Lane Lopez (165).
Rootstown advanced a pair of district champions in returning state qualifier Nick Malek (144) and Brian Youngblood (175), with Dominic Duvall (157) making a third state tournament appearance after placing third at district. For Lake Catholic, all five qualifiers made it to the district final. The Cougars were led by titles from freshmen Tyler Ineman (126) and Giovanni Magisrelli (132) along with returning state placer Danny Zmorowski (215), while returning state placers Chance Wuhr (106) and Tommy Slack (120) each finished as runner-up.
Eight wrestlers enter the small-school state tournament with an undefeated record, including a pair at 190 pounds, Robert McCrork two-time state placer Ronnie Thomas (Mechanicsburg). Thomas and two-time state placer Connor Sintobin are the district champions in the top half-bracket of the draw, and happen to be the lone returning medalists in that area. McCrork, who does have an in-season win over Sintobin, could face returning state placer Blake Elliott (Howard East Knox) in the quarterfinal; while returning state qualifier Johnny Bailey (Salineville Southern) is the other district champion of the bottom half. Bailey could face returning state placer Brencyn Evans (Monroeville) or three-time state qualifier Mannier in the quarterfinal.
Returning state champion Luke James (Milan Edison) at 175 pounds is one of five wrestlers in the division to have won a state title and is also undefeated on the season. His opponent in last year’s state final, Awsom Mitchell (North Lewisburg Triad) is in the other half-bracket. Two-time state placer Aiden Helmke (Defiance Tinora), who lost 5-2 to James in the district semifinal, could face Mitchell in the quarterfinal round; while returning state placer Brody Perzanowski (Belmont Union Local) could face James in the quarterfinal. Three-time state qualifier Hines Ford (Barnesville) and Brian Youngblood are the other district champions; Ford is paired with Mitchell, while Youngblood is with James, but could have the freshman Jake Hoke in the quarterfinal.
The 120 and 144-pound weight classes have the most wrestlers that have previously placed at state in a Division III bracket with six each. Just two of the district champions at 120 have previously placed, Tyler Barnes and Kaden Lawson (Tuslaw), and they are in opposite half-brackets. Barnes could face 2022 state placer Corbin Kimmel (Haviland Wayne Trace) in the quarterfinal, while Lawson could face returning state placer Xander Gfell-King (Milan Edison) in his quarterfinal. The other two district champions are returning state qualifiers Isaak Skelly and Spencer Shore (Casstown Miami East). Skelly could face returning state placer Tommy Slack (Lake Catholic), while Shore could face returning state placer Owen Patchen (Monroeville) in their respective quarterfinal matches.
Two of the district champions at 144 are returning state placers, with senior Nick Malek and freshman Cole Winemiller being the exception. However, Winemiller beat returning state placer Jordan Neal (Lima Central Catholic) 16-9 in the district semifinal on the way to his title in a bracket that featured two additional returning state placers and another returning state qualifier. The two returning placers that are in the lower half of the bracket with Malek and Winemiller are both in Malek’s quarter: Neal as an opening round opponent and then Riley Greathouse as a possible quarterfinal match.
Gunnar Gossett (Union Local) and Landon Lintermoot are the district champions in the top half of the bracket. Gossett faces fellow returning placer Antonio Salazar (Gibsonburg) in the opening round, before a possible quarterfinal against returning state qualifier Thor Etter (Paulding); while Lintermoot could face returning state runner-up Christopher Marshall (Centerburg) in the quarterfinal round.
Finally, the 113-pound weight class has the most returning top four placers of any weight class in the division, with four of the five returning placers having finished in the top four of their respective weight classes last year. This includes all four district champions: Xavier Pearson (Garfield Heights Trinty) and returning state runner-up Scotty Fuller (Genoa Area) in the top half, with undefeated Brock Beckler and two-time state placer Jake Landis in the bottom half. The fifth returning placer is Mason Hermes (Milan Edison), who is in the same quarter-bracket as Landis.