PERRYSBURG — Perrysburg qualified for the Division I state duals wrestling meet by routing Avon Lake, 61-7, in a district final Saturday hosted by Perrysburg High School.
The Yellow Jackets are a team geared to do well not only at the state duals meet, but also at the state individual championships in March.
“We have the six returning finalists back from last season, which is awesome, and then we have a collection of kids that are somewhat experienced but really don’t have any state experience,” Perrysburg coach Scott Burnett said.
In the regional final win over Avon Lake, Perrysburg won six matches by fall, three by technical fall and two by major decision.
In a 66-3 semifinal win over Toledo St. John’s, Perrysburg won all but one match, and five were by fall, one by major decision, and one by technical fall.
“The last couple years we’ve really gotten to the point where we can compete with anyone,” Burnett said. “Last year, we were second in the state (individual championships) and right there, knocking on the door, possibly winning.
“This year we have a team that is somewhat comparable so it’s just that they need to use that experience from last year and be a little more this year, and just love each other, push each other, believe in each other and let the kids kind of lead.
“We do our job as coaches, but ultimately our kids have to be leaders and we want to fight for each other.”
Against St. John’s Marcus Blaze recorded a fall at 120 pounds, pinning Alejandro Delao in 34 seconds. Cole Evans pinned Jack Mathias in 1:34 at 132 pounds and Diego Chavez pinned Connor King in 37 seconds at 138 pounds.
At 157, Perrysburg’s Jake Wood pinned Alex Camacho in 1:14 and at 175, Myles Takats pinned Darrel Cross in 3:08.
At 144, Perrysburg’s A.J. Parish won a 13-5 major decision against Jackson Turner, and at 165, Shane Saito won by technical fall, 17-1, against Devin Carmack.
At 113, Perrysburg’s Alex Denkins won a 4-0 decision against Max Beck, Lucas Chavez (126) defeated Mateo Mack, 7-4, and Andrew Boden (285) won 8-3 against Kayden Grzymkowski.
Ayden Dodd (106), Wynton Denkins (150) and Nick Hartzell (190) won by forfeit for the Yellow Jackets.
Caleb Bowman was St. John’s only winner, defeating Ben Sawaya at 215 pounds by an 11-6 decision.
Against Avon Lake, Alex Denkins (113) pinned Abe Gill in 1:45, Carpenter (120) pinned Nick Perry in two minutes, Marcus Blaze (126) pinned Michael Valerino in 3:26, Parish (144) pinned Brayden Patterson in 2:24, Joey Blaze (165) pinned Jack Marconi in 1:53, and Hartzell (175) pinned Jack Shepard in 3:13.
Technical falls winners included Dodd (106) against Nate Grieger, 16-1, Evans (132) against Jack Valerino, 16-1, and Wynton Denkins (150) over Gavin Andrews, 19-3.
Perrysburg’s Nathan Perry (138) won a 14-5 major decision over Brody Bauman, and Wood won by 16-2 major decision over Joe Marconi.
At 190, Perrysburg Caiden Nichols won a 7-1 decision over Josh Heath and at 285, Boden defeated Lewis Gallagher, 7-2. Clay Broadhurst was Avon Lake’s only winner at 215 pounds, defeating Sawaya, 8-1.
The state dual tournament is next Saturday, Feb. 11, starting at 11 a.m. at Lakewood St. Edward High School.
“We have a good program and we are in a super good spot this year,” Burnett said. “We have some depth, which is nice. It’s a testament to the work ethic of our kids and our program, and the buy-in that the families have in our coaching staff.”
Plus, the team has depth. So much so, that when a dual match is won, often Burnett can rest guys for the next match.
“It’s really cool to see because you can let those guys who are maybe just not the Gold team starter yet but they are right there, knocking on the door, to get experience to fight for your team, to wrestle for your team,” Burnett said.
“It’s just dividends for those kids. They’re really embracing that.”
Burnett said this is a team that has good chemistry, and it is paying off.
“It’s kind of empowering our captains and our returning finalists who love on their guys and their teammates to try to bring them along, get them wrestling really tough, aggressive, confident — that has been our approach — just loving on them.”
