District wrestling: Upsets abound in Division I

It was a wild night of upsets and records on the first night of the Division I district wrestling tournament at Trent Arena, while the D-II field at Wilmington was being shown total dominance and the team race remained in the air in D-III at Hobart Arena.

Wrestling concludes Saturday at all three sites. The top four finishers advance to the state tournament at the Schottenstein Center on March 8-10.

It was records before chaos at Trent Arena in the D-I district.

Fairfield senior Zach Shupp checked one item off his goals list from four years ago with a pin over Edgewood’s Josh Miller in the 106-pound quarterfinals.

The pin was career win 145 for Shupp, breaking the school record for career wins of 144 previously held by four-time state champ Willie Wineberg. Shupp was one of four Indians to advance to the semifinals while two more remained alive in the consolation bracket.

Butler, which overcame some upsets, advanced six to the semis and has four in the consolation bracket.

Beavercreek’s Gavin Bell (138) was one of the first upset victims, dropping his quarterfinal match 3-1 in overtime while Springfield suffered one of the major upsets of the tournament.

After Springfield’s Jacob Yost had been upset at 170 in the quarters, Springfield’s returning state placer Joe Cochran was shocked 7-1 by Harrison’s Cameron Schwerwein at 220. Cochran entered the match with a perfect 27-0 mark on the season.

Lakota West’s Joey Bradberry advanced to the semis in one of the early marquee matches of the tournament. Bradberry handed returning D-II state placer Sean Mondello of Talawanda a 4-2 defeat in the quarters.

Division II

Graham advanced all 14 wrestlers to the semis to open a 87.5 point lead on second-place Chaminade Julienne.

Graham got an early sign how the day was going to go when Tanner Braun (106) opened the tournament with a fall in nine seconds.

CJ advanced five to the semis and have eight remaining in the tournament.

One of the five pulled off the win of the night in D-II. Returning state qualifier Micah Marshall handed Goshen’s Zach Dunn a 5-1 loss in the quarters at 145. Dunn entered the match 24-0.

Ross is in third after moving three into the semis. Valley View is in fifth has two in the semis, but nine remaining in the tournament.

In another breakthrough match, Greg Campbell picked up Ponitz’s first-ever points at the tournament with a overtime pin in the first round of consolation at 152.

Division III

It will be a fight to the finish in the team race at Hobart Arena.

Troy Christian advanced six to the semis to jump into the lead Miami East is second and Versailles fourth.

The Vikings have four in the semis, including 106 Olivia Shore.

Shore recorded a 10-2 major decision in the first round before moving one match from state with a fall in 1:06.

Legacy Christian’s Tommy Hoskins had an easy go in the first two rounds, recording a technical fall and a fall, but it was not as easy as Southeastern’s Jesse Mitchell.

Mitchell moved into the semis at 160 and spent just 1:15 total on the mat in two matches.

Kellen Calhoun moved closer to becoming Bethel’s first state qualifier.

The senior recorded a pair of pins at 160 to advance to the semis.

Wrestling begins at 10 a.m. Saturday at all three sites. Finals are scheduled for 6 p.m. at Trent Arena, but will begin 45 minutes following the last consolation match at Wilmington and Hobart Arena.

About the Author