Clyde's Garit Witt pins way to state title, Oak Harbor's Brandon Garber wins gold in final 15 seconds

COLUMBUS — They're big and bad. And on Saturday night on the raised platform at Ohio State's Jerome Schottenstein Center, two of the great heavyweights of the Sandusky Bay Conference put the 2016 state wrestling individual tournament to bed with a pair of exciting wins to earn their first state titles.Some three hours after coming out for the Parade of Champions, Clyde's Garit Witt got it started with a pin 20 seconds into the second period of his Division II 220-pound match. Shortly thereafter, Oak Harbor big man Brandon Garber (285) became the first-ever heavyweight champion in school history when he snapped down and spun behind Patrick Henry's Brandon Bennett to get a tie-breaking takedown in the final 15 seconds to win 3-2 in Division III."I just stayed in good position. I didn't overthink anything … I didn't want to do any fancy moves," said Garber, who ended his year 43-1 after going two-and-out at state in 2015. "I just wanted to get that single attack to get the two and try to get the lead, but it was 1-1 at the end and I was trying to hold him down as long as I can, he shot at the end and I capitalized on it and got the two."Witt (31-2), a ball of energy — much like Friday — felt out opponent Nick Svarda, of Middletown Madison (30-3), in a slow, scoreless first period, then made an explosive shot in the opening seconds of the second to get Svarda on his back. Seconds later, the pin was called and Witt, with both arms raised, circled the mat before laying a big ole bear hug on coach Robert Blackburn."I told my coaches before the match, 'I'm pinning this kid,' in the bullpen," said Witt, who finished third a year ago. "My adrenaline was flowing. I just went out there and did what I had to do. We got the pin."Chris Moore, a wrestler at Cleveland State University, was the last Flier to win a championship back in 2012. Witt is the program's 14th title holder."He's a pretty strong kid, I couldn't really hold him down," Witt said. "Then I put him to his back. Once I had him on his back, I knew I had it. Right there, I knew he was mine."Getting the pin in the state finals … it doesn't get any better than that," he added.Going into Friday's semifinals, Blackburn called Witt "a pain in my hind end all day.""He was again today, but it was all worth it," he said. "I think he might have been a little more uptight today. It's great feelings all around. I'm really happy for him and all his accomplishments."Witt didn't get a full season of wrestling in for various reasons, only getting 29 matches in entering the tournament."That's what we work on. When you turn the knob up a little bit each day, a little more each week, this is when we want to be on top of our game," Blackburn said. "We just go harder, harder and harder to make everything come to fruition."This was also the case for Garber, who coach George Bergman and his teammates coined "FatGarber," which is his Twitter handle."There's not a single day that goes by that we're not pushing him," Bergman said. "And Brandon, to his credit, doesn't turn us off," Bergman said. "We push him, he picks it up in practice. His conditioning is what separates him. Those last two matches, those guys were ginormous. We wore them down."Garber gave up a late escape point to make the score closer. But throughout, he did all he could to see if could coax Bennett into a mistake."He's a good scrambler and at one point he got me in a front headlock and, and I was panicking … I wanted to get out of it as fast as I could," said Garber of Bennett. "I work with coach Paul (Bergman) and I'm able to capitalize on moves like the snap and spin."Luke Cramer was the last Rocket to win a state title in 2013.Barnett runner-up for second straight timeNeither effort, nor strategy were lacking for Edison's Brady Barnett in his 132-pound championship match.He took the shots he wanted to take and he was doing well in the match, despite trailing by three entering the final period. But an early third-period move by Delta's Jake Spiess made the difference.Spiess, the first-ever Delta wrestler to win three state titles, won 7-0 — topping Barnett for the second time in two weeks, after winning 6-0 in the district finals.History defined the Panthers' night. Spiess' title was one of four for the Panthers — a first for the program, now with 22 total state champions."First period I got in on a good shot and he was able to step over … his hips are strong and he was able to roll me through and came up with a takedown," Barnett said. "Second period, I rode him for about 30 seconds."Third period, though, I knew — I mean we've wrestled a bunch — he was pretty good with throws. And with those really good hips, and he jacked me up into another hook … next thing I knew I was on my back, which busted open the match," he added. "Against him, you're not coming back from down 7-0. Then he rode me out for the rest of the match."Spiess spent most the match on top of Barnett, using those hips to keep a solid position."First period, we knew we had to score takedowns because Jake is tough on top," Edison coach Davy Hermes said. "He's a three-time state champ for a reason. He just doesn't give up takedowns very easy. You're going to have to be perfect at what he does well"We didn't want to have to go down in the third period because we knew we had to get two takedowns. I think we got caught going upper body and he's good at what he does upper body."For the most part the last two Barnett-Spiess matches played out similarly, with only a few differences Saturday."One thing in the last match was I able to hit a lot of elbow passes," Barnett said. "Then in tonight's match, he was clinging ties more, so I couldn't get my ties going."I was still able to get in on two or three leg attacks, but just couldn't get the job done."It was tough to swallow another runner-up finish, but Barnett plans to use it as motivation."Yup," said Barnett asked if this only adds even more fire for his senior year. "I still wasn't able to get my goal done, so I still got to get better. Hopefully, I'll final get my title next year."One thing is for sure, he'll be among the favorites.Clyde's Garit Witt celebrates after winning a state championship at the Ohio high school state tournament in Columbus on Saturday.Edison's Brady Barnett pushes his opponent during the 132-pound state wrestling final Saturday evening at the Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus.Edison's Brady Barnett tries to escape his opponent during the 132-pound state wrestling final Saturday evening at the Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus.Wrestlers enter the arena during the Parade of Champions at the Ohio high school state wrestling tournament in Columbus on Saturday.Wrestlers shake hands before the start of the state championship finals at the Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus on Saturday.Edison's Brady Barnett reacts after losing his state championship match Saturday evening at the Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus.Oak Harbor's Brandon Garber wrestles his opponent during their 285-pound match at the state wrestling championships on Saturday in Columbus. Oak Harbor's Brandon Garber, left, grabs his opponent during their 285-pound match at the state wrestling championships on Saturday in Columbus. Oak Harbor's Brandon Garber reacts after winning a state championship during the Ohio high school state tournament on Saturday in Columbus.Oak Harbor's Brandon Garber wins his 285-pound match to earn a state championship title on Saturday in Columbus.Oak Harbor's Brandon Garber smiles after winning a state championship at the Ohio high school state tournament on Saturday in Columbus.Clyde's Garit Witt celebrates after pinning his opponent to win a state championship at the Ohio high school state tournament in Columbus on Saturday.Clyde's Garit Witt wrestles his opponent during their 220-pound match at the Ohio high school state tournament in Columbus on Saturday.Clyde coaches Bob Blackburn, left, and Bob Jennings, center, celebrate after Garit Witt won a state championship at the Ohio high school tournament in Columbus on Saturday.Service men present the colors before the singing of the National Anthem at the Ohio high school state wrestling tournament in Columbus on Saturday.Wrestlers stand on the mats during the Parade of Champions at the Ohio high school state wrestling tournament Saturday evening in Columbus.