The Wayne Trace Raiders, Paulding Panthers, and the Antwerp Archers tournament season is just underway on the mats. The county teams had a great day on the mats at the Lima Central Catholic Sectional Tournament on February 22, 2025. Thirteen wrestlers placed in the top four places of their weight classes to qualify for the district meet on February 28-March 1st at the Hobart Arena in Troy, Ohio.
There was a high level of competition at the sectional tournament. Fortunately, the Paulding Panthers were able to put together an impressive performance to take third place as a team out of fifteen teams.
A trio of wrestlers were titled as Sectional Champions. Wayne Trace’s Colton Kimmel, the 113-pound sophomore, wrestled an exciting championship where he clenched the title in the final seconds of the match. The 120-pound senior from Wayne Trace, Corbin Kimmel, claimed his fourth Sectional Championship. Corbin is the third wrestler in Wayne Trace’s history to accomplish this achievement. Kamren Johnson, Antwerp’s 132-pound senior, also won his championship match. All three wrestlers earned their Sectional bracket as champions.
Paulding also had a trio of runner-up finishes at the tournament. Landon Shartzer, Thor Etter, and Avery Cooper all fell to their opponents in the final match. Additional wrestlers securing their place at Districts included third place finishes by Brady Hayes (126-pounds) of Paulding and Jarod Traxler (285-pounds) of Antwerp. Finishers in fourth place also advancing to districts included Landon Dasher (138-pounds) and Miguel Martinez (190-pounds) of Paulding, Zac Salas (144-pounds) and Skyler Octaviano (150-pounds) of Antwerp, and Blake Schultz (285-pounds) Wayne Trace.
Congratulations to all competitors and Good Luck to those advancing to the District Tournament in Troy.
