To start things off, there are the team races in Division I and Division III, along with the total lack of a team race in Division II. St. Paris Graham, currently ranked No. 2 in the country, is prohibitively favored to win a 15th straight title in the individual tournament, which would be their 17th in program history. Starting with the state title won by Jim Jordan as a freshman in 1979, the Falcons have amassed 74 titles over the last 36 state tournaments. That total is second to St. Edward (102) in Ohio history, and is equivalent to the combined total of the schools ranked third and fourth.
Alex Marinelli (Photo/Rob Preston)The more openly contested team race of the two divisions with them comes in Division I, where there are four nationally ranked teams present: No. 15 St. Edward, No. 24 Brecksville (state dual meet champions), No. 26 Massillon Perry (defending individual tournament champions), and No. 37 Elyria. Also meriting attention will be Grove City Central Crossing.
St. Edward, which had won 16 of the last 17 big-school state titles prior to last year, will enter the tournament as a slight favorite with their eight state qualifiers. Five of those wrestlers could be state finalists if they hit things right this weekend: No. 19 Allan Hart (113), L.J. Bentley (126), No. 14 Hunter Ladnier (132), Jared Campbell (195), and Parker Knapp (220). If that was to happen, the Eagles would regain the state title in a rout. On the other side of the spectrum, they could easily end up with just one state finalist.
Entering with the most state qualifiers will be state dual meet champions Brecksville, which brings nine wrestlers to the competition; however, three of them finished fourth in the district tournament and have 13-plus losses headed to the state tournament. The Bees are anchored by No. 7 Austin Assad (126), who has finished 2nd-2nd-3rd in the state, but would have to beat the fourth, third, and second ranked wrestler in his weight class to win a state title.
Three wrestlers won district titles last weekend, juniors Justin Demicco (138) and Austin Hiles (152) as well as sophomore Luke Strnad (182). Three other wrestlers join Assad in having placed previously at the state tournament: senior Sonny Lucas (145), along with juniors in Jarrod Bronstrup (106) and Demicco.
Defending state champions Massillon Perry have the fourth-most state qualifiers with seven, and suffered some hard luck prior to the state series starting. The Panthers were unable to regain the services of 2013 state qualifier Austin Phillips (160), who could have won a state title in what is a rather wide open weight class; while fellow senior Zac McCauley (106), a possible mid-placer, failed to make weight for the sectional tournament.
Nonetheless, they feature three returning state runners-up in No. 19 Jake Newhouse (120), No. 9 Jose Rodriguez (126), and Nick Steed (145). However, only 2013 state champion Rodriguez is in the clear to return back to the final; Newhouse would have to clear two-time state placer Mario Guillen (Perrysburg) in the semifinal, while Steed would likely face No. 14 Kade Kowalski (Tri-Valley), a returning state champion, in that same round. Rodriguez, along with fellow seniors Jason Spencer (132) and Brady Durieux (195), enter this weekend as district champions.
The fourth of the nationally ranked teams is Elyria, which qualified eight individuals to the state tournament. While the Pioneers have a pair of projected state champions in No. 9 Ben Darmstadt (182) and No. 5 Kevin Vough (285), each is positioned to face the second-ranked wrestler in their weight class during the semifinal round; for Vough that is a showdown with another undefeated wrestler in Kameron Teacher (Central Crossing), the only weight class of the 42 to be contested with multiple undefeated wrestlers.
Another notable for Elyria is that outside of Darmstadt and Vough, who finished second and third at state last year, their other six state qualifiers are debut participants in the state tournament. Freshman Josh Breeding (106) and junior Mikah Price (152) did qualify as district champions, to join Darmstadt and Vough, but three others qualified after finishing fourth at the district.
There is more definition to the competition for the title in Division III, as it is a two-team race between No. 29 Delta and No. 31 Dayton Christian, each of whom advanced nine to the state tournament.
Delta has won state duals each of the last three years, and are the defending champions of this individual tournament. The Panthers are anchored by projected state champions Drew Mattin (106), Jake Spiess (120), and Chance Veller (285); Mattin is ranked No. 4 nationally, while Spiess won state in 2013 as a freshman. Returning state placers Dustin Marteney (138) and Jesse Beverly (160), along with Mark Francis (182), join those three as district champions; while returning state placers Ryan Patchin (170) and Devon Richards (220) give the Panthers eight with state tournament experience (seven on the podium).
Dayton Christian has finished runner-up in the state duals each of the last two years, and was runner-up to Delta in the individual tournament last year. The Warriors have three projected state champions in freshmen Tommy Hoskins (113) and David Carr (138), along with returning state champion Logan Lacure (145); Hoskins and Carr are ranked No. 13 and No. 18 nationally.
Dayton Christian also features past state finalists in Hunter Bray (126) and Andrew Hoskins (160), Michael May (120) has twice placed sixth at state, and Nick Vestal (152) has placed twice between last year at Dayton Christian and his freshman year at Lake Highland Prep in Florida. Also qualifying for state, and projected to place are freshman Ronnie Pietro (106) along with junior Josh Clary (132). Despite being lower in the national rankings, the Warriors are a slight favorite to take home the small-school state title this weekend.
From an individual standpoint, with no four-time state champion in the offing for this year's state tournament, there are two individuals that enter the weekend halfway to winning four titles. Both reside in the Division II tournament. Already mentioned is the excellent Marinelli for Graham, who is the only returning/previous state placer in his bracket at 160 pounds; while No. 12 Tyler Warner (Claymont) has the opposite of a clear path at 120 pounds.
Warner was upset in the district final this past weekend 4-1 by two-time state placer, and returning state finalist, Tariq Wilson (Steubenville). There is a history with Warner losing an initial meeting of the season to Wilson, and then flipping it subsequently; back in 2013, Wilson beat Warner in a regional match at the state duals, but Warner won the individual district finals bout. Those two wrestlers are obviously on opposite sides of the draw.
Also in the weight class is returning state champion Eli Stickley (St. Paris Graham), who is a three-time state placer and ranked No. 10 nationally; he beat Wilson in last year's 113 pound state final. The fourth key figure here is two-time state placer Seth Beard (Napoleon), who was runner-up to Warner as a freshman after beating Stickley in the semifinal, but last year finished third after losing to Wilson in the semifinal. Warner and Stickley are positioned to meet in the semifinal, their only previous meeting was a Warner win in the 2013 state dual meet final; while Wilson and Beard would have a rematch of last year's state semifinal.
Furthermore, three other individuals are well-positioned to reach a fourth straight state championship match. In the big-school division at 126 pounds, Rodriguez is in the opposite half-bracket of his three primary challengers. Assad would face two-time state placer Shakur Laney (Pickerington North), with the winner likely to face Bentley in a state semifinal showdown. For the season, Assad is 2-0 each against Rodriguez and Bentley, though all four matches have went to overtime, in contested matches; Assad did not wrestle in the district final against Rodriguez.
In Division II at 132 pounds, No. 8 Cameron Kelly (Bellbrook) seeks to bookend his career with state titles and cap off an undefeated campaign. Kelly won state as a freshman before finishing as runner-up each of the last two seasons. This season, it is a likely finals match against freshman Rocky Jordan (St. Paris Graham), who is ranked No. 19 nationally; Kelly is 3-0 against the freshman this year, including a 5-0 decision victory in this past weekend's district final.
In Division III at 132 pounds, Jarred Ganger (Covington) is a clear favorite to win his third state title, after finishing runner-up as a freshman to Matthew Kolodzik; Kolodzik left Ohio after his freshman year to compete at Blair Academy (N.J.), where he would win three consecutive National Prep titles.
Also in Division III, one can find our other potential three-time state champion in the Class of 2015, Garrett Hancock (Troy Christian) at 126 pounds. For a third straight year, Hancock does not enter the state tournament as the favorite; for a second straight year, the favorite is fellow senior Evan Cheek (Milan Edison). The wrestlers have met four times the last two seasons, with each winning two bouts (Cheek won at Marion County last year and the SMCC Duals this year, while Hancock won a state quarterfinal last year and at Marion County this year). Hancock's path to the Saturday night final is rather clear, while Cheek is looking at a semifinal clash against returning state runner-up Bray, a wrestler he has beaten twice this season.
A final item to note in this year's state tournament is the record-setting presence of freshman wrestlers. In more than twenty years of recorded data, the 59 that qualified for this year's event is the highest ever; previously the 54 involved in the 2005 tournament as the high water mark. Five of the nation's top fifteen Class of 2018 prospects are in this event: No. 4 Mitch Moore (113), No. 6 Rocky Jordan (132), and No. 14 Ryan Thomas (138) of St. Paris Graham; No. 8 David Carr (138) of Dayton Christian; and No. 12 Jaden Mattox (113) of Central Crossing. Moore and Carr are projected state champions; Jordan, Thomas, and Mattox are ranked second in their respective weight classes. While not ranked among the top 25 prospects for the grade, Tommy Hoskins (113) for Dayton Christian is ranked nationally within his weight class overall.
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