Five wrestlers win first-round matches at state tournament

Staff report

Columbus

Six of the area’s eight state wrestling qualifiers remained alive after the first day of competition, and five are still in the running for a state championship.

At Value City Arena on Thursday, Boardman’s 160-pound senior, Nico Graziani, improved to 41-2 with an 11-1 major-decision victory over Ethan Bond of Lancaster.

Graziani will next face Quinton Hiles (32-9), a junior from Brecksville-Broadview Heights, in the Division I quarterfinals.

His teammate, junior Nick Mancini (36-7), also advanced, winning 5-4 over Josh Wimer of Grove City Central Crossing at 106 pounds. Mancini faces Austin Assad (18-2) of Brecksville-Broadview Heights today.

In Div. II, Howland’s Gabe Stark (138) and Robby Klose (145) advanced.

Stark (36-6), a junior, defeated Joey Patterson of Dresden Tri-Valley 16-0 (technical fall) in the first round, and will face Luke Kramer (36-9) of Oak Harbor in the quarterfinals.

Klose decisioned Nick Weininger of Dover 3-2, advancing to face Blake Kastl (42-2) of St. Paris Graham.

Also in Div. II, junior Connor Sharp (31-2) of West Branch advanced with a pin in 2 minutes, 13 seconds of B.J. Hall of Circleville Logan Elm.

Next, Sharp faces Mike Brown (41-4) of Sandusky.

Two other wrestlers, Canfield’s Korey Frost (113) and Josh Henderson (106) of Beaver Local, lost two matches each and were eliminated from competition.

Frost, a sophomore, completed his season with a 31-6 record, while Henderson, a junior, finished 35-5.

In Div. III, senior Max Brooke (38-7) of South Range lost his first-round match at 160 pounds, to Austin Ripke of Archbold, a pin in 3:10.

Brooke rebounded against Logan Looser of Delphos St. John’s, winning 5-2, and will next face an opponent to be determined.