Tolliver, Tissandier, Lennon advance to D2 semifinal round

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WILMINGTON — A trio of county wrestlers advanced to the semifinal round of the Division II Southwest District wrestling tournament at Wilmington’s Rodger O. Borror Middle School.

Wilmington’s RJ Tolliver and Clinton-Massie’s Ross Lennon and Anthony Tissandier all won their first two matches Friday and will compete in the semifinal round beginning Saturday morning.

Wrestling will resume 10 a.m. Saturday with the finals to be contested on two mats beginning at 4 p.m.

The top four finishers in each weight class will advance to the state tournament March 9-10-11 in Columbus.

Tolliver, at 182 pounds, opened with a pin over Zane Mancillas of Greenville then came back with a 6-4 overtime win against Nate Warniment of Indian Lake.

“He was able to score late to tie it up, then won it in overtime,” WHS coach Kelly Tolliver said of RJ, his son. “In his first match, he made no mistakes whatsoever.”

At 160 pounds, Lennon decisioned Blake Coy of Chaminade-Julienne 12-4 in his opening match then pinned Austin Hamblin of Ross in a thriller in 5:31.

Tissandier posted a pin of Antwann Martin of Alter in 4:28 at 171 pounds then had a major decision over Daniel Greiner of Batavia, 14-2.

“I expected both Ross and Anthony to make the semis,” CM head coach Spencer Running said. “They did it so convincingly, and I wasn’t expecting that. I was impressed with how they came out and wrestled.”

Running said it was a “huge advantage” to make it to the semifinal round because even with a loss in their first match, they will have the opportunity to come back and wrestle for a berth in Columbus.

The following wrestlers all lost their first match but came back to win their second match. Matt Asher of Clinton-Massie at 113, Cameron Smart of Wilmington at 113, Robbie Frederick of CM at 145, Isaac Allen of WHS at 160, Sam Brothers of CM at 220 and Conner Barton of WHS at 285.

“Coming into this week, especially with Sam and Robbie, we knew they had tough matches,” Running said. “Nice thing about their bracket, there is a path where they can make it out to state. It becomes a tougher path once you lose that first-round match but there is a path.”

Running said Asher has an opportunity for a return trip to state, but his general must improve. Asher has been battling an illness in recent days.

As for the Hurricane, coach Tolliver said several of his wrestlers have a chance to get to the consolation semifinal round, putting them one win from a berth in the state tournament.

“Cameron Smart, there can be some things develop there if he wrestles well,” Tolliver said. “I haven’t seen him wrestle any better than he did in his last match. He was on fire.”

Tolliver said Allen performed well on Friday, despite losing his second match. “That wasn’t a bad loss; he just needs to battle back,” said Tolliver.

With Barton, Tolliver said his “incredible” wrestling has continued over the last three weeks. “We see a lot of parallels with Nick Smith, from back in the ’90s,” Tolliver said.

Wilmington’s Sam Eastes and Clinton-Massie’s Blake Seaman, both freshmen, lost their two matches on Friday and were put out of the tournament.

“The other thing we are really proud of was Sam Eastes,” Tolliver said. “Sam is going to do a lot of things for us in the future. We’re looking forward to him.”

Clinton-Massie’s Zack Dillow qualified for the tournament but was ill and did not wrestle.

SUMMARY

March 3, 2017

D2 Southwest District

@Wilmington’s Rodge O. Borror Middle School

106: Sam Eastes (W) was pinned by Tanner Jordan (St Paris Graham) 0:24; was pinned by Pippy Johnson (Norwood) 4:10. Will not continue.

113: Matt Asher (CM) was dec by Colton Robins (Reading) 5-1; won by tech fall over Blake Ballard (Tippecanoe) 15-0

113: Cameron Smart (W) was tech fall by Jake Gentry (Ross) 17-1; dec Matt Huff (Franklin) 10-6

120: Blake Seaman (CM) was pinned by Wade Monebrake (Eaton) 1:11; was dec by Elijah Waters (Batavia) 4-3. Will not continue.

138: Zack Dillow (CM) did not wrestle

145: Robbie Frederick (CM) was pinned by Alex Kowal (Bishop Fenwick) 0:41; dec Jakob Nelson-Mays (Oakwood) 11-6

160: Isaac Allen (W) pinned Isaac Ilo (Eaton) 4:47; was pinned by Ryan Thomas (St Paris Graham) 1:58

160: Ross Lennon (CM) dec Blake Coy (Dayton Carroll) 12-4; pinned Austin Hamblin (Ross) 5:31

170: Anthony Tissandier (CM) pinned Antwann Martin (Kettering Alter) 4:28; dec Daniel Greiner (Batavia) 14-2

182: RJ Tolliver (W) pinned Zane Mancillas (Greenville) 1:32; dec Nate Warniment (Indian Lake) 6-4 OT

220: Sam Brothers (CM) was pinned by Wyatt Hillard (Franklin) 3:55); pinned Tyler Schmidt (Eaton) 0:30

285: Conner Barton (W) was pinned by Karson Chasteen (Ross) 0:12; dec Elijah Cochran (Chaminade-Julienne) 9-3

http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2017/03/web1_WR_cm_lennon_dist-1.jpg

Wilmington’s Isaac Allen won his first match of the day Friday at the Division II Southwest District wrestling tournament at Wilmington’s Rodger O. Borror Middle School.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2017/03/web1_WR_wil_allen_dist-1.jpgWilmington’s Isaac Allen won his first match of the day Friday at the Division II Southwest District wrestling tournament at Wilmington’s Rodger O. Borror Middle School. Elizabeth Clark | News Journal

Clinton-Massie’s Anthony Tissandier posted two impressive wins Friday at the Division II Southwest District wrestling tournament at Wilmington’s Rodger O. Borror Middle School.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2017/03/web1_WR_cm_tissandier_dist-1.jpgClinton-Massie’s Anthony Tissandier posted two impressive wins Friday at the Division II Southwest District wrestling tournament at Wilmington’s Rodger O. Borror Middle School. Elizabeth Clark | News Journal

http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2017/03/web1_WR_wil_smart_dist-1.jpgElizabeth Clark | News Journal

By Mark Huber

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