W. Branch leads D2 by large margin

By Eric Hamilton

BELOIT — If two league titles and an undefeated regular season weren’t enough, the West Branch wrestling team is in prime position to add a Division II sectional championship to its ledger.

The Warriors dominated the first day of competition at the Division II sectional tournament in their own gym, sending 11 of their 14 wrestlers to today’s semifinals and piling up 95.5 team points. That total easily put them at the top of the leaderboard after the first two rounds.

“Some people wanted to just hand us this tournament, but we aren’t going to overlook anyone,” said West Branch coach Mike Helm, who led his team to league titles in both the NBC and the EOWL. “We told the kids to wrestle every match like it was their last, because at this point in the season, it might be your last.

“We did a good job of taking it one match at a time and if we don’t do that, we’ll get stung here. Howland is a great team and Southeast is always solid, so you can’t count them out tomorrow.”

Southeast amassed 72 points and has a hold on second place in the team standings after the first day. Howland (62) is 10 points back, with Marlington (55) and Minerva (41.5) rounding out the top five.

The Tigers, who finished second to West Branch at the 2008 sectional tournament, will have seven wrestlers still in the hunt for individual sectional titles. Even if championships escape them, all they need is one win on Saturday to earn a berth at next week’s Akron Firestone district.

Howland’s group winning second-round bouts on Friday and going to the semis are J.R. Perry (103), Kyle DeScenna (112), Kai Yancey (125), Kyle Leek (140), Andy Davis (152), Bryce Tricker (160) and Cody Reesman (275).

“Our objective is just to finish in the top four and move on,” said Howland coach Brian Earich. “As long as we do that, none of the other stuff matters. We did a nice job tonight and a few things we hoped would happen did.

“The individual work each kid does pays off individually, but then that work pays off for the team. We will have a couple long faces tomorrow from a couple kids, but we’ll turn that into a positive because you get two chances to get to districts. Our kids have responded all year and I think they will again tomorrow.”

Hubbard (41) is tied with Crestwood for sixth place in the team race after advancing four wrestlers to the semifinals. That group includes Mitch Perry (112), Zach Chaney (119), Sean Perry (130) and Rob Lias (215).

Perry at 130 pulled off the most gutsy victory of the night. He laid on the mat in pain during his second round match after twisting his knee. In obvious pain, he came close to defaulting the match several times.

But he fought through the injury and ended up not only winning the bout, but winning by pinfall to move on to the semifinals where he will face No. 2-seed Jake Mellinger (West Branch).

Salem’s semifinal contingent is led by 2008 district qualifier Patrick Simpson (112). He will be joined by teammates Josh Lankford (171) and Jon Meissner (215).

Liberty’s Justin Hideg (130) Jordan Wagner (171) and Quincy Harris (189) each need one more win to advance to districts.

The top four in each weight class advance to the district tournament.

Action continued at 11 a.m. today, with the finals set for 6 p.m.