The four Clinton County high school wrestling teams will take the next step toward the state tournament this week at two venues as part of Southwest District tournaments.
Wilmington and Clinton-Massie will make the short trip to the Rodger O. Borror Middle School gym for the Division II Southwest District event.
Meanwhile, Blanchester and East Clinton go north to Troy’s Hobart Arena for the Division III Southwest District tournament.
St. Paris Graham, the top wrestling program in Ohio, look to continue its dominance in the district. Graham has two returning state champions from a year ago in the tournament.
Clinton-Massie has seven wrestlers competing this weekend — Matt Asher, Blake Seaman, Zack Dillow, Robbie Frederick, Ross Lennon, Anthony Tissandier and Sam Brothers.
Wilmington has five which includes Sam Eastes, Cameron Smart, Isaac Allen, RJ Tolliver and Conner Barton.
Blanchester advanced six wrestlers to this weekend — Kyle Denier, Kadin Berwanger, John Schirmer, Clayton Schirmer, Steven Latchford and James Peters.
East Clinton pushed through four wrestlers to the district, the most in school history. They are Austin Brock, Noah Morgan, Thomas Wright and John Cline.
SUMMARY
Division II Southwest District at ROB Middle School
Division II qualifiers from WHS, CMHS and their records along with other notable wrestlers in each weight class are:
106: Sam Eastes, WHS (23-16). Eastes gets Tanner Jordan of Graham in first round. Six freshmen in class, including Eastes. Trey Finnerty from Circleville is 47-2.
113: Matt Asher, CM (24-8). Cameron Smart, WHS (21-15). Nate Keaton (46-4) of Circleville 5th in state last year in bracket. Asher 8th in state last year at 113. Jake Gentry of Ross 7th in state last year at 113.
120: Blake Seaman, CM (23-11). Jordan Crace (22-0 this year) of Graham 3rd at 106 last year in this bracket.
126: No locals. Jeffrey Thomas (34-6) from Graham in this bracket, the state runnerup at 113 last year.
132: No locals. Mitch Moore (30-1) from Graham in this bracket. He was state champion at 126 last year.
138: Zack Dillow, CM (24-12). JD Stickley (37-2) from Graham in bracket and was state runnerup at 120 last year. Keegan Rawlins (44-4) from McClain has most wins.
145: Robbie Frederick, CM (24-14). Alex Kowal (44-2) from Fenwick 7th in state last year at 138. Joey Sanchez (26-4) from Graham 5th in state last year at 152.
152: No locals. Jake Henderson (40-4) from Western Brown 5th in state last year at 145. Rocky Jordan (22-0) of Graham won state title last year at 145 pounds.
160: Ross Lennon, CM (30-10). Isaac Allen, WHS (21-6). Ben Davenport (49-3) of Unioto comes in with most wins.
170: Anthony Tissandier, CM (34-5). Eric Altman (40-6) from Western Brown has most wins in bracket.
182: RJ Tolliver, WHS (38-7). Baden Pinson (24-1) of Reading has best record but Gage Braun (35-2) from Graham was 5th in state last year at 182.
195: No locals. Kavan Sarver (36-3) from Graham was 3rd in state last year at 195 pounds. Stone Day (37-1) of Valley View has top record.
220: Sam Brothers, CM (22-10). Garrett Mitchel of Circleville Logan Elm has a remarkable 51-5 record, the most wins of any wrestler in the district event.
285: Conner Barton, WHS (28-15). Barton drew Karson Chasteen (40-2) from Ross who was 8th in state last year at 220 pounds.
Division III Southwest District at Hobart Arena
106: No locals. Ethan Turner (36-1) a freshman from Troy Christian has the top record. He is one of seven freshmen in the class.
113: No locals. Jacob Edwards (36-1) from Troy Christian was state runnerup at 106 last year. Camron Neal (35-4) from Preble Shawnee was 7th in state last year at 106.
120: Kyle Denier, BHS (37-5). Tommy Hoskins (16-2) is 113 returning state champion. Graham Shore (46-0) from Miami East was 3rd in state at 113 last year.
126: Kadin Berwanger, BHS (15-17). He draws Tyler Wetzel (37-3) from Mechanicsburg who was 5th in state last year at 113. Ruger Goeltzenleuchter (39-1) from Haviland Wayne Trace was 5th in state at 120 last year, sports the best record in the bracket and longest last name in the tournament.
132: John Schirmer, BHS (29-13). Austin Brock, EC (18-13). Brock faces Alex Rhine (42-4) from Mechanicsburg in first round. Alex Isbrandt (44-5) from Miami East was 7th in state last year at 126. Michael Sergent (40-6) from Troy Christian was 7th in state last year at 120.
138: Clayton Schirmer, BHS (37-8). Chase Sumner (33-2) from Ada was 4th in state last year at 132. Isaiah Saunders of Columbus Africentric is the only winless (0-15) wrestler in the tournament.
145: No locals. Tanner Smith (46-1) from Mechanicsburg was 3rd in state last year at 138.
152: Noah Morgan, EC (31-14). Colt Yinger (23-1) from Mechanicsburg was 3rd in state last year at 145 while wrestling for Nelsonville-York.
160: Thomas Wright, EC (32-12). He wrestles Lance Miller (40-4) from Covington who has most wins in bracket. Corey Bogan (35-9) from Mechanicsburg was 8th in state last year at 152.
170: John Cline, EC (12-10). Kaleb Romero (44-0) from Mechanicsburg was state champ last year at 160 and will be going for his fourth straight state title overall this season.
182: Steven Latchford, BHS (28-16).
195: James Peters, BHS (28-13). Hudson Jump (33-0) from Grandview Heights was 7th in state last year at 182. Daniel Beemer (31-0) from Ottawa-Glandorf was 5th in state last year at 182.
220: No locals. Ben Sullivan (29-3) from National Trail was state champ last year at 220. Reece Human (23-0) from Carlisle was 4th in state last year at 220.
285: No locals. Brian Stears (36-3) from Williamsburg has just third best record in bracket — Thomas Schwieterman (37-2) from Coldwater and Cameron Coffman (41-0) from New Lebanon Dixie.
