STATE WRESTLING: Edison's Casey Barnett and Max Hermes are champions

MARION — Edison senior Casey Barnett and sophomore Max Hermes won individual state championships and the Chargers finished a close second in the team competition at Sunday's Division III state wrestling championships.Hermes (106 pounds) and Barnett (138) were joined by teammate Shadrick Slone (160) in the finals. Slone took second. Out of a total of 11 state qualifiers, four other Chargers placed. Logan Lloyd (182) finished fourth to end the season 40-6, Remington Bauer (170) and Kohen Horvath (132) both came in sixth and Marcus Medina (120) was seventh."We had a great tournament," said Edison coach Davy Hermes. "We had seven state placers and two state champions. Our goal was to win a team state title. We gave Legacy a better race than most people thought we would. Our kids wrestled their butts off, and we were back-to-back state dual team champions." Edison finished second behind favored Legacy Christian Academy, which won the title with 128 points. The Chargers had 117.5 points, followed by Delta (73.5), Miami East (65) and Mechanicsburg (51). A total of 120 schools were represented at the two-day tournament, which took place at Marion Harding High School. Barnett finished 57-1 this season and became Edison's first two-time state champion. Barnett won his first two matches by fall on Saturday and handed McNicholas' Pierce Taylor just his second loss of the season, 4-2 in overtime, in the semifinals. In the finals, Barnett fell behind 5-4 and appeared to be in real trouble, but he quickly recovered and pinned Newcomerstown's Logan Hursey at 1:44. Hursey was 48-0 when he stepped onto the mat. "I don't really quite remember what happened at first. I was in a scrambled position and (Hursey) locked up a cradle on me, and he's long like me, and he can easily get to that cradle," said Barnett. "I was in trouble, but I stayed confident. I'm comfortable in all positions."It's a surreal feeling. I already had one state title, and I wanted the win after the close semifinal match." Barnett, whose other title came as a freshman, finishes his career with a state-record 168 pins."Casey is never in trouble, he finds a way," said Davy Hermes. "He went out in the perfect way as the all-time pin leader in the state of Ohio. "He was getting taken down and put on his back (in the finals) and reversed and got the pin. He finds a way to get it done." Max Hermes, who finishes with a 55-4 record, pinned his first two opponents and beat Barnesville's Reese Stephen 4-2 to get to the finals. In the championship match, he executed an escape 15 seconds into the second period and held on for a 1-0 win over Legacy's Eli Campbell. The third period consisted of Hermes holding Campbell down from the top for nearly the entire two minutes, and he did so until the clock ran out."Win. Dominate," Hermes said of his mindset going into the tournament. "Just dominate, blow people out of the water. I felt that I was the best wrestlers in the state on my feet. I still needed to get a takedown (in the final), 1-0 is nothing to be satisfied with."I think our schedule builds us for these moments. You don't see many of our guys cracking at the district and state tournament. Last week, you saw us go 6-0 at the consolation semis (at districts)."Davy Hermes talked about his son's performance in the finals."(Max) wrestled (Campbell) at the state duals (a 4-2 victory)," said Hermes. "I said, 'We've got to get that point. Max is very good on top, he did what he needed to do (to win)." Slone, meanwhile, advanced to the finals rather easily — winning by fall, major decision (13-3) and decision (7-1) before losing to Indian Lake's Hayden Pummel, 10-0, in the finals. (Pummel finished the season with a 40-0 record.)"I thought I did pretty good," said Slone, who went 56-4. "It's not what I wanted, I wrestled hard, but sometimes things don't turn out the way you'd like. Our guys gave their all — that's all you can ask for."I put a lot of time into the offseason workouts. I wrestle all summer, in the spring and the fall. We have good coaches, and I have great drill partners in Remington, Casey and Logan."Davy Hermes had high praise for Slone."He's a warrior. Shad is the hardest-working wrestler. He goes 100 mph from 3-6 p.m. in practice. He makes everyone better -- Duke, Remington from JV to the state tournament, small Division I stuff. They don't always like going against him because he goes very hard. He has one moreyear to reach his dream, and he'll work his butt off to get there."It was the final match for three state qualifiers — Barnett, Jared Fantauzzi (113) and Gavyn Klima (195) — all of whom have meant a great deal to a program that has established itself as one of the premier units in the state. Three of Edison's state qualifiers -- including Barnett -- will graduate, but the future looks bright for the Chargers. "There will be eight returning state qualifiers and six returning state placers — it will be a solid team again next year," Davy Hermes said. "We have our JV guys, kids coming in as freshmen. We've had a 5-6 year run here where we've had really good kids. And Duke (Hermes) and Remington (Bauer) went from JV to being state qualifiers." Oak Harbor's Wyatt Miller (195) was one of the most impressive wrestlers of the entire tournament, winning four matches in convincing fashion to finish the season 48-0 and go out on top. The senior, who will wrestle next fall at Appalachian State University, where his cousin, Ian, is an assistant coach, won his first match by fall, the next two by major decision and pinned Westfall's Starr Kelly in the finals just before the first-period buzzer sounded. Miller's teammate, Cade Petersen, finished eighth at 145. Miller is yet another wrestling star in the lineage of the Miller clan, five of whom have won a total of six state titles. Tait, Wyatt's father, was a state champion; Ian won a championship; Chad, his uncle, won a title; and Ferd, another uncle, won two championships.Wyatt Miller, who had a back injury as a sophomore, won a district title last year but didn't get to wrestle at state because of the coronavirus pandemic."It's pretty cool to win the championship," Miller said. "I wanted it a little bit more because it didn't work out last year."You've got to have a good work ethic. George Bergman runs a great program; my coaches really push me at practice. If you buy in, you'll be successful." St. Mary Central Catholic's Riley Prosser won his first match by fall on Saturday at 120 before losing twice to end his season with a 32-4 record. ----- Top 10 teams 1. Legacy Christian 128; 2. Edison 117.5; 3. Delta 73.5; 4. Miami East 65; 5. Mechanicsburg 51; 6. Rootstown 46; 7. Wayne Trace 40; 8. Columbus Grove 35; 8. Waynedale 35; 10. Eastwood 34.5 First-place matches 106 -- Max Hermes (Edison) dec. Eli Campbell (Legacy Christian) 1-0113 -- Dillon Campbell (Legacy Christian) tech. fall Cooper Shore (Miami East) tf17-2120 -- Max Shore (Miami East) pin Brandon Hahn (Eastwood) 2:37126 -- Jarrett Hornish (Wayne Trace) dec. Trey Allen (Mechanicsburg) 5-4132 -- Camron Lacure (Legacy Christian) dec. Zack Mattin (Delta) 7-2138 -- Casey Barnett (Edison) pin Logan Hursey (Newcomerstown) 1:44145 -- Gavin Brown (Legacy Christian) maj. dec. Austin Shepherd (Norwayne) md11-1152 -- Brian Palmer (Buckeye Local) dec. Tate Geiser (Dalton) 5-1160 -- Hayden Pummel (Indian Lake) maj. dec. Shadrick Slone (Edison) md10-0170 -- Sevi Garza (Rittman) dec. Peyton Lemon (Waynedale) 5-2182 -- Carson Meyer (Archbold) dec. Trevor Stewart (Greenon) 3-2195 -- Wyatt Miller (Oak Harbor) pin Starr Kelly (Westfall) 2:00220 -- Austin Kohlhofer (Delta) dec. Cade Limes (Otsego) 11-4285 -- Jeff Meyer (Columbus Grove) dec. Eli Criblez (Allen East) 3-1