5TH/7TH: Edison's Medina, Vermilion's Ficker place 5th

COLUMBUS — Edison junior Marcus Medina will have some big-time motivation heading into his senior wrestling season. Medina pinned Tuslaw's Maxwell Cooper in 3:14 to finish in fifth place Sunday in Division III at the state wrestling tournament. Medina recorded two takedowns and was in control of the match before his pin early in the third period at the Schottenstein Center. "He tried to shuck me into a body lock. I bear-hugged, squeezed to his back," Medina said. "He tried to roll through. I settled my hips down and got him in the arm and stuck him." Medina finished the season 43-9 and is a two-time All-Ohio wrestler. He finished seventh at state as a freshman before being sidelined last year with a torn meniscus. Medina went 4-2 at state and his losses were close ones: 3-2 in the second round and 3-1 in the consolation semifinals earlier Sunday. "I gotta do my stuff and control the pace," Medina said. "I had some matches I lost that could've gone my way. That motivates for next year to know what I gotta do to get to the top of the podium. That's my goal." Edison coach Davy Hermes was proud of the way Medina bounced back after a loss in the quarterfinals. "He did a great job battling back," Hermes said. "You see kids who don't reach their goals sometimes cash it in and don't perform. He wrestled hard every match and that's what I'm most concerned about. "Seventy-five percent of the matches here are probably won or lost by a point or two when you have two high-level kids going against each other. He came up on the short end of the stick twice. Hopefully it fuels him for next year. Vermilion's Ficker rallies for 5th Just like the match that ensured her a podium spot, Lauren Ficker just needed to settle in and get on top. The Vermilion junior trailed 2-0 in her fifth-place match at 105 pounds, but then she rattled off five points before getting a pin with two seconds left in the match. "At first, I thought I was not gonna win," Ficker said. "She's pretty strong. In the second period, she was starting to break, and I was like, 'OK, I've got to get on top. I've got to do what I do.' It feels amazing." Ficker's final win of her junior season, in which she finished 32-8, came over Teays Valley's Ava Miller, who was ranked No. 2 in the state in the last rankings before the postseason. Miller had been knocked into the consolation bracket by Sandusky's Nikera Johnson in the championship semifinals. "I was a little intimidated, but we're wrestling for fifth place, something's gotta be up with her," Ficker said. "So I was like, 'She's beatable, and I'm gonna beat her.'" Miller got a takedown early in the second period before Ficker earned a reversal with six seconds remaining in the second. "The moment kind of gets to her at times," Vermilion coach Brandon Gilbert said. "When she snaps out of that and forgets where she's at, then you see another wrestler. Got the reversal at the end, tied it up, and then you saw the spark in her, like 'OK, I can do this.'" Ficker went to what Gilbert called her "bread-and-butter," running her bar series, to get three points for a nearfall and finally finish off the match after 5:58. "It feels better getting a pin in the last few seconds," Ficker said. "I knew I was gonna win, but I was like, I've got to get that pin." Ficker, now a two-time state qualifier, will get another chance to make a run at the Schott as a senior. And if she can return, she'll do so as a fifth-place finisher. "I like to emphatically finish it," Gilbert said. "So the exclamation point on her day and her tournament was a nice finish." Monroeville's Evans gets redemption, places 7th Brencyn Evans wanted redemption, and he didn't waste much time getting it. Wrestling for seventh place at 157 pounds in Division III, the Monroeville sophomore was across from the wrestler who knocked him to the consolation bracket to open the tournament. This time, Evans needed less than a minute for a match-winning pin. "That was exciting, because I knew I could get back at him," Evans said. "I knew I was better than him. Getting the chance was really gratifying. It gives me a good feeling to end the tournament and the season." Evans came out on the front foot and used a barrel roll to get Centerburg's Caylan LeMaster on his back. He finished it off after 55 seconds, a stark contrast to a 6-4 loss Friday. "I kind of have a cold right now, so I wasn't feeling great the other day, either," Evans said. "He beat me 6-4, which really shouldn't have happened ever. I think I just showed that right now, that kid is not at my level." Evans had been a state alternate as a freshman, which prepared him some but not all the way for the scope of wrestling at the Schott. "I was down here and got to see everything," Evans said. "That kind of prepared me for what it's gonna be like, but it's a lot different wrestling versus just being down here." After finishing his tournament on a strong note, Evans has no doubt about where his energy will be devoted in the year to come. "I'm ready to put everything into this," Evans said. "I love this sport. To do this, it really gives me a boost to be ready to go into next year." Other placers Clyde sophomore Will Stanley finished sixth in the state at 157 pounds in Division II. He started the morning with a chance at finishing as high as third, but he took injury defaults in his two matches. Port Clinton senior Serena Lewis, in her first year as a wrestler, placed eighth in the girls division at 235 pounds. After losing her first match of the tournament, she picked up a pair of 6-0 wins to ensure All-Ohio placement. Lewis was defeated by a 4-3 decision Saturday morning.