After the Archbold Wrestling sectionals last week Antwerp and Paulding schools both sent wrestlers to compete at Bowling Green for the District match which leads to state.

Weich in started at 6 pm on Friday, February 21 for the young men that increased in the state tournament.

Kage Seals Paulding went against Brady Barnett of Edison in the 113 weight class on Friday. The match finished with a pin by Barnett, sending Seals to the Consolation round. Seals went on to pin Logan Balbaugh of Ottawa-Glandorff. Kage in his next match won a major decision over Dylan Kincade of Carey. Seals took on Martin Steinberger of Tinor and fell 10-3.

Taylor Deatrick of Paulding weighed in at the 132 weight class and started his match with a pin of Vollie Brock of Hopewell-Louden. Deatrick took on Major Moore of Willard who defeated Taylor in a decision of 10-3. Major went on to be the champion of the 132 class. Taylor moved up in the Consolation bracket starting against Kyler Dyer of Carey. Deatrick won another decision 4-2. The next match was a difficult one for Taylor as the match was very low scoring. The only point earned was by Wes Fritz who received one point for an escape in the second period and this finished the match at 0-1. Taylor then moved to compete for 5th or 6th place and he fell in a decision 4-2 to Mason Robson of Western Reserve, taking 6th place out of 18 wrestlers, and at this level that is very good.

Paulding also had Aaron Mock who wrestled at 152. He fell to Caleb Stock master at 3:36. Aaron went to Consolation to defeat Lance Butler of Cory-Rawson with a pin. Aaron then moved on to take Seth Gaghen of Woodmore but fell at 4:12.

Adam Deatrick of Paulding competed in the 170 weight class. He started against Dan Henline of Gibsonburg who he pinned at 4:24. Adam then took on Hayden Miller of St. Paul who pinned him at 2:27 sending Adam to the Consolation round. Adam pinned Nick Bene of New London in 4:51. Deatrick then pinned David Bell of Archbold in 2:12. Adam then took on Todd Miller of Delta in a match that could have been very different depending on the ref’s call. Adam was down 1-5 in this match with only 30 seconds left in the third period. At 25 seconds Adam successfully performed a reversal for two points and in the same move put Todd on his back briefly which could have added another two points to the match to tie the round. The referee didn’t see it this way and the match went to Miller 3-5. Adam then took on Devon Bergeon of Ayersville whom he fell to in in a 4-1 decision, giving Adam 6 place out of 18 wrestlers.

Dakota Valdez in the 195 weight class, also from Paulding, competed at Bowling Green on Friday and Saturday. Dakota fell in a Major decision 11-2 to Moises Lopez of Willard. He then received a bye in the consolation round. Competing against Carson Dye of St. Mary C.C., Dakota won in a major decision 12-4. He then competed against Jacob Auld of Gibsonburg and then fell in a close match 3-2.

Antwerp for the first time also sent a wrestler this District match leading to state. Justice Clark fell in a major decision 14-4 to Jesse Gross of St. Paul. Justice then went on to compete in the consolation round against Cody Ferguson of Carey. Clark fell in another major decision 10-2.

Out of 65 schools attending this tournament, Paulding placed 16.

More pictures here:

Wayne Trace’s Clemens and Showalter Advance to State Wrestling Tournament

Wayne Trace wrestling took a record eight wrestlers to the District tournament in Troy, Ohio this last weekend. 53 Schools were represented in this district from four individual sectional tournaments. In the mix were first time district qualifiers Ruger Goeltzenleuchter, Jacob Dingus, Justin Pierce, and Riley Moore. Returning district qualifiers included: George Clemens, Dustin Taylor, Matt Baxter, and Tyler Showalter.

Matt Baxter (126) would wrestle a the number one sectional qualifier, Ganger, from Covington and lose that match. He would then wrestle Hartmeir from Dixie and lose a heart breaker in sudden victory by a score of 6-4. Baxter would finish this season at 17-13.

Justin Pierce, who put together a stunning sectional tournament at LCC would also drop both of his matches at Hobart arena. He would fall to Cody Carr, Brookville, and Tyler Boggs, Williamsburg, in the 220 pound weight class and finish his season at 13-16.

Riley Moore, HWY, only wrestling in his second season ever would qualified for the district tournament as a four seed from LCC. He would fall short in his first match to Ferguson from Miami East. He would then not have enough for Greenview’s Harding and finish his season at 17-12.

Jacob Dingus (160) would drop his first contest to Alexander of Deer Park. He would then garner his first district win with a decision over Hall of Dayton Christian. Dingus would follow that up with a stunning win over Miami East’s Mack Rose (40-5) scoring a takedown in the third to get a 4-2 decision. Dropping his next consolation match to Austin Windle of Ada, Dingus would go 2-2 in the tournament and finish at 15-7 on the season.

Senior state qualifier from last year, Dustin Taylor (113) would start with a major decision over Coleman Ryan from Covington. He would then drop his next match to Christian Clary of Dayton Christian. Beating Wetzel of Mechanicsburg would et Taylor up with Fiorenza of Mariemont. Taylor could not muster another win and dropped this match 8-4. Taylor would finish districts with a 2-2 record and his senior season at 36-12.

Freshman sensation, Ruger Goeltzenleuchter (120) would be making his district debut. He would win back to back matches on Friday night over tech falling Kaden Brown, Clermont, and majoring Nathan Henry of Versailles. Ruger would face off against Aric Peters of Bethel Tate in the next championship round and fall short. Goeltzenleuchter would then drop down in the “go to” match in the consi bracket. The “go to” match is exactly that, win and your in at the Schott, lose and you are not. Wrestling hard nosed for the entire match, Goeltzenleuchter would suffer a heart breaking loss to Nick Miller of Mechanicsburg. The freshman would finish in 6th at districts and at 33-6 for the season.

106 pounder, George Clemens IV, would be making his second trip to districts. Qualifying last year for the state tournament, George would not disappoint again this year. He would pin Camron Coatney, Preble Shawnee, in just over a minute to open up his tournament. He would then face Connar Ryan of Covington and win via tech fall 17-1. This would set up a stellar match up against the number one ranked wrestler in the state, Hunter Bray (46-2) of Dayton Christian. Clemens would find himself up early in the match, but then would make a small mistake, and Bray would capitalize and win the match. Clemens would come back through the consolations and wrestle in the “go to” match against Gibbs of Clinton Massie. Clemens would garner another win and then finish his district up with a tech fall over Denier, Blanchester, to earn himself a third place finish and a golden ticket to state. His season record stands at 46-3.

Wayne Trace’s 145 pounder, Tyler Showalter would earn his second trip to districts with a sectional championship at LCC. Tyler had dropped a heart breaker last season in the “go to” match in the final seconds losing 4-3. He would start this years tournament off with two consecutive wins on Friday night by majoring Justis Brewer, Preble Shawnee, and then pinning Austin Moore, National Trail. He would then drop a match to number one state ranked Logan Lacure from Greenview. Showalter would find himself in a familiar spot, the “go to” match against Marcus Hummel of Brookville. Tears would stream down wrestler, coaches, and parents faces this time in joy rather than in defeat, as Showalter would leave no doubt, and garner a major decision, 17-9, over Hummel and earn his golden ticket to the state tournament. Unfortunately, Showalter would have to medically default his next match, but would finish the day in fourth and his record stands at 16-3.

George Clemens was very pleased with his wrestlers performance at Troy. “It is such a roller coaster of emotions at this level. Every wrestler here is the best from their area. All of them are good, beyond good and it takes a flawless match to win at this level. I feel horrible for Taylor, as he just fell a little short this year, but can always say he wrestled at the Schott. Then, Ruger, to lose such a tough and emotional match was hard to see, but he is a freshman, and I have no doubt he will be back here next year and am confident he will be at the Schott. All the first year qualifiers got a taste of what it is like and I think they will put some time in this off season to better their chances next year, and they all have that potential,” commented Clemens.

“I am so proud of George and his ability to go two years in a row now. He has the potential to be a four year qualifier. He has worked so hard in this off season, and with some luck, I feel he is very capable of being the next Raider placer at state. Tyler, wow, what to say about his effort. Missing nearly the entire season from injury, having little practice, coming back when his parents and I weren’t even sure if he should and to put this kind of effort and tournament together is amazing. He took many by surprise and his confidence is growing. He has as much of a shot as anyone in Columbus. This is four years in a row we have been fortunate enough to send wrestlers to Columbus, and the third year in a row we are sending multiple wrestlers to Columbus! As a coach, I couldn’t be more happy or proud,” stated Clemens.