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West Branch heavyweight looking Sharp at state
Two pins on Day 2 in Columbus set up
finals rematch with defending champ
By ERIC mauk
Columbus
Having seen his uncle Nathan earn a pair of Ohio High School Athletic Association state wrestling championships, and watching his brother Connor battle to a fourth-place finish in last year’s tourney, West Branch senior Logan Sharp had no intention of coming up empty in his last journey to Columbus.
The senior pinned a pair of district champions to advance to the Division II 285-pound championship in Friday’s action at the Schottenstein Center, and will carry the family flag to today’s title bout after qualifying for the state meet a year ago, but failing to advance to the final day.
“It is exhilarating to be in the state final,” Sharp said. “After not even placing last year and then to come here and advance to the championship is a huge thrill for me.”
Sharp needed just 48 seconds to pin Joshua Kempf in Friday’s matchup, and followed that with a pin of Toledo Central Catholic’s Jquan Fisher in the semifinal. Sharp was ahead by a single point at the start of the third period, and started the final two minutes on top, where he would need to stay for to earn the win.
But after a minute of controlling Fisher and keeping him from getting off the mat, Sharp hit an armbar and turned the junior to his back, pinning him with 38 seconds left in the match.
“I expected to be able to ride him. I didn’t expect to pin him, but it worked out nicely,” Sharp said. “He gave me the opportunity to get an armbar and he couldn’t stop me. As soon as I got his hips turned, I was able to get him.”
The victory sets Sharp up for his third meeting of the year with undefeated Billy Miller of Perry, who is also the defending state champion. Sharp droppied narrow decisions in both bouts, losing 7-5 and 2-1.
“I’d rather have someone I know and have seen before in the championship match,” Sharp said of Miller. “Since he’s beaten me twice this year, maybe he’ll be a little overconfident. I’ll be ready. It’s my last high school match, I’m going to go out fighting.”
Two other local wrestlers — Girard’s Nick Cardiero and Canfield’s Korey Frost — had opportunities to earn championship berths but came up short in their semifinal matches.
Cardiero gutted out a tough win of Zach Sullivan of New Paris National Trail to advance to the Division III 170-pound state semifinal, claiming victory in what is termed an “Ultimate Tie Breaker” after the two grapplers were deadlocked after two overtime periods. Cardiero fell in the semifinal to West Salem Northwestern’s Joey Meek, nearly digging out of an early 4-1 hole before dropping a 6-4 decision.
Cardiero’s battle over Sullivan was a study in grit and determination as he rallied for three points in the final period to force a 60-second tie-breaking period. When both wrestlers narrowly missed point-scoring moves, the match went to two 30-second tiebreakers.
When the matter still wasn’t settled, the bout went to an Ultimate Tie Breaker. In the UTB, the wrestler on top needs to hold the bottom grappler for 30 seconds. If he fails, he loses.
Cardiero didn’t fail.
“You almost forget how tired you are,” Cardiero said. “I’m sure as heck not going to lose a chance to go to the state semifinal because I was tired. How stupid would that be? My conditioning was good, I just had to trust it.”
Frost advanced to the semifinal round in the Div. II 120-pound bracket with a strong 7-2 win over Lorain Clearview’s Markus Cruz, but the senior fell in the semifinal to Uhrichsville Claymont’s Dustin Warner, also 7-2. Frost’s freshman teammate Georgio Poullas continued his impressive opening run, winning twice. Ironically, the 126-pounder lost to Kollin Clark in the opening clash of the day, falling to a Claymont wrestler just as his stablemate Frost had. Poullas battled back in the evening matches, coming from behind to claim a 4-2 win over Bloom-Carroll’s Chandler Minnard.
The trio of wrestlers will have a chance to battle for third-place today as the final matches for state placers take place beginning at 10 a.m.
Other area wrestlers that will fight for placings include Poland senior Mike Audi (170), Howland’s David-Brian Whisler (152) and Boardman’s Mario Graziani (145).