DIVISION III DISTRICT Four area wrestlers to state meet

Nick Dierkes, Jake Hambrick, Tristan Thompson and Dave Dillon qualified.
MENTOR -- Four Youngstown-area wrestlers -- Nick Dierkes and Jake Hambrick of Jackson-Milton and Tristan Thompson and Dave Dillon of Brookfield -- qualified for the Division III state tournament Saturday in the district meet at Mentor High.
The foursome will compete in the state meet Friday and Saturday at Ohio State.
Dierkes kept his winning streak going, now 38 in a row, as he pinned John DeCapua of Richmond Heights in 5 minutes, 54 seconds for the 140-pound championship.
Choosing down in the second period, Dierkes got two points for an escape and had two takedowns and a 3-point near fall to build a 10-2 lead.
"I feel more comfortable wrestling on my feet, but I can work on top also," said Dierkes. "Once I got the takedowns, my confidence grew.
"Next week there is a two-time state champ in my weight class, but we'll see what happens," Dierkes added. "Winning district should give me a good draw at state."
Jackson-Milton coach Dave Tomaino said, "Nick has a great work ethic and is very focused. When he wrestles, he focuses all his energy at his opponent.
"Now we go to state with a clean slate," Tomaino added. "Everyone's record is 0-0. The pressure to qualify is off and it is time to open it up."
Hambrick (34-6, 112) decisioned Clay Lint of Cuyahoga Heights for third place.
Brookfield wrestlers
Thompson (35-4), a freshman, was handed an 11-3 loss by Brice Freeman of Burton Berkshire and placed fourth.
Teammate Dillon (31-10) also finished fourth as he was beaten by Chris Kalina of Kirtland by major decision, 11-2.
"I had to beat South Range's Levi Hively to qualify for state," Thompson said. "I beat him at sectional, but he's a good wrestler so I needed to do well in that match.
"It feels good to qualify for state, but I will have to work harder and get better for next week."
Brookfield coach Scott Thompson said, "It has been 10-15 years since our last state qualifier and we have two going. We are very fortunate and excited about that."
Hambrick lost a semifinal match 9-2 to senior Oliver Gray of Norwayne, then pinned Kevin Notte of Ledgemont in 55 seconds in a consolation semifinal.
Tristan Thompson suffered a technical fall 18-1 at the hands of freshman Darren Boing of St. Peter Chanel in a semifinal match earlier in the day, and bounced back as he eliminated Hively, 6-2 in a consolation semifinal.
Hively bounced back
Hively (31-11) split in the first two rounds, then climbed back through the consolation by winning on a technical fall, 17-2, over Jeff Balcastro of Woodridge and pinning Ray Mass of Brooklyn.
He defeated sophomore Jordan Rockmore by major decision 13-5 in a 140 consolation semifinal after losing 6-5 to DeCapua in a championship semifinal match.
The Bluejays' Mark Gibbs (21-17) was pinned by Vuk Pajanovic of Cuyahoga Heights in 3 minutes, 31 seconds in a 125-pound semifinal match and was eliminated when he was pinned by Johannes Jungschaffer of Oberlin in 3:45.
Freshman Ross Tice of Brookfield was eliminated. He was pinned by Charlie Morris of Cardinal in 1:04 in a semifinal match, then was pinned by Jeff Chase of Independence, 51 seconds, in a consolation semifinal.