Morrow County sent a total of 14 wrestlers on to districts during last weekend’s sectional competition.
Competing in the Division II sectional at Licking Valley High School, Highland finished sixth of 21 schools with 122 points and advanced five wrestlers. In Madison Plains’ Division III sectional, Mount Gilead finished second to Pleasant with 129 points and advanced five athletes. Northmor was fifth with 94 points and had a total of four wrestlers qualify.
Division III
Mount Gilead’s Andy Williamson (43-0) earned one of two sectional championships won by Morrow County athletes. Competing at 182 pounds, he won all three of his matches by pin, including a fall at the 3:42 mark over Elgin’s Donovan Weddell in the championship bout.
Finishing second for Mount Gilead was Garrett George (22-17) at 195 pounds. As the sixth seed, the sophomore won his first two matches by pin over the second and third seeds before falling in 3:44 to Kaleb Steinmetz of Amanda-Clearcreek.
Jesus Rubio (32-12) took third place at 160 pounds. After splitting his first two matches, he won two in a row by pinfall in the consolation bracket to place third. Isaiah Fisher (29-13) also placed third. He won his first two matches at 285 pounds by pin before being edged in the semifinals. He then picked up a decision and forfeit to earn his ticket to districts.
Joshua Sullivan (28-16) picked up three wins in five outings at 145 pounds to finish in fourth place and move on in the postseason.
Zack Davidson finished sixth at 152, going 2-3 in the meet. Justin Dendinger also went 2-3 and placed sixth while competing at 220 pounds.
Gabe Simpson went 2-2 at 126 pounds, but was unable to reach the podium. Cory Fricke had the same fate at 132, going 2-2, but not placing.
Northmor got a sectional championship from 132-pounder Marcus Cortez (26-7). As the third seed, he won by pin in his first match and then picked up three wins by decision, including a 10-7 win over second-seeded Gabe Hansen of North Union in the semifinals and a 4-3 victory in the finals against Skylar Wolf of Pleasant, who previously had upended top-seeded Clayton Smith of Utica.
Niko Christo (20-6) won his two matches to make it to the finals at 152 pounds. While he was defeated 11-5 by Pleasant’s Carter Chase, he still advanced to districts.
C.J. Stoney (20-10) moved on to the district meet at 120 pounds, splitting a pair of matches to finish third. Gavin Whited (25-11) went 3-2 with a pair of pins to claim fourth place and qualify for districts at 220 pounds.
At 106 pounds, Cohen Hurst went 1-2 to claim fifth place and become a district alternate. Trenton Ramos is the district alternate at 138 pounds. He went 2-2 in the meet.
Dylan Amens won one match at 145. Caiden Martinez competed at 160 pounds, as did Colton Brammer at 170 and Bohdi Workman at 182.
For Cardington, Ryan Drury competed at 152 pounds.
Division II
For Highland, both Cody Matthews and Triston Hinkle finished second in their sectional meet.
Matthews (39-3) picked up three straight matches via first period pin before losing by a 5-1 count to Granville’s Douglas Terry in the championship bout. At 182 pounds, Hinkle (30-7) picked up two pins and a decision in his first three matches before being edged 3-1 in the finals against Nick Youell of Watterson.
Eli Grandstaff (38-8) was third at 170 pounds. He split two matches in the championship rounds before rallying for two straight wins, including a pinfall in his third place match.
Caleb Wetzel (32-12) finished fourth at 126 pounds. He split a pair of matches in the championship bracket and then split two more in the consolations to earn a trip to districts. Also finishing fourth was Kaden Miller (35-11) at 132 pounds. He won his first two matches, but then lost in the semis before splitting a pair of matches in the consolation bracket.
Landon Pedigo will be a district alternate at 285 pounds. He went 4-2 in the meet.
Brendan Lester went 2-3 to finish sixth at 120 pounds. Chandler Stevens went 1-2 at 195 pounds, but didn’t place. Damien Daniel competed at 160 pounds, as did Ethan Taylor at 220.
