STATE WRESTLING NEWS & NOTES

Day 1 recap: Local wrestlers had a strong showing on the opening day of the Ohio High School Athletic Association State Wrestling Tournament in Columbus on Thursday with 20 of the 28 qualifiers advancing to Friday competition.

Thirteen of those earned first-round wins and are still alive for a state championship while seven showed grit by rebounding from an opening loss and claiming consolation-round victories.

Beaver bites: All three of the Lisbon Beaver wrestlers advanced to Friday led by the one-two punch of 132-pound Jason Keyes and 145-pound Daniel Hasson. Keyes used an early reversal and near-fall to take a quick 5-0 lead on his way to a painless 12-3 victory over Wauseon’s Hunter Yackee, while Hasson pinned Malachi Marlow of Western Brown in just 45 seconds.

At 195 pounds Beaver senior Josh Barber fell in the first round, but battled back to earn a 2-1 win over Cahle Puhl of Maumee in the consolation bracket.

Upset winner: Austintown Fitch junior Adam Green was the only local wrestler to win a first-round match in Division I competition Thursday, earning a 6-4 win upset win over district champ Nick D’Agostino.

The fourth seed coming out of the district, Green could have had an easier time of it had the round been five seconds shorter as D’Agostino scored a two-point reversal with two seconds left in the first period to tie the match. Green reversed his fortunes with a two-point near fall late in the second period, and then got a late escape to seal the 6-4 victory.

Tough exits: West Branch’s Mason Hughes dropped out of the tournament on Thursday, falling 6-1 in his consolation match after narrowly losing his opener by a 4-3 margin. Hughes lost to Springfield Greenon’s Corey Williams in his first-round bout, as a late escape by Williams provided the margin of victory. Hughes came up with a big takedown to knot the match at 3-all late in the third period before Williams got the match-winning escape.

Austintown Fitch’s Isiah Jackson dropped an 8-1 decision to district champ Jesse Palser in his opener, then lost a 3-2 heartbreaker in his consolation match to end his tournament.

Nothing left: The only matchup of local wrestlers in today’s first round came in the 106-pound bracket in Division II where East Liverpool’s Alex Potts squared off with Canfield’s Matthew Cardello. Potts built a 7-3 lead before Canfield’s freshman battled back with an escape and a take down to close to within 7-6 at the end of the second period.

But both wrestlers paid the price for the furious second round as both suffered stalling warnings in a scoreless third period that led to a 7-6 Potts victory.

— Eric Mauk