Perkins takes 2nd at district; Bellevue's Jacobs wins at 150

NORWALK — Who says you can't have a buzzer beater in wrestling? Or in this case, a title-sealing pin. In a back-and-forth team battle, Clear Fork won the Division II Norwalk district title over Perkins, 129-125.5. The Colts got the necessary winning points behind a pin in the fifth-place match by Luke Remy in the heavyweight division. It was the last match of the meet. Even after finishing as district runner-up, Perkins coach Travis Crabtree says the tradition of Perkins wrestling holds strong. "We brought 11 wrestlers into this meet," Crabtree said. "I thought our guys wrestled well, and had six guys place. I've been the head coach of this program for 25 years and we've always had a state qualifier. "I am super happy for the four guys who made it out, but it's heartbreaking for the guys who lost in the blood round." In one of the marquee matchups in the championship round, Perkins' Braxton Martin and Bellevue's Ben Jacobs did battle at 150 pounds. Last year at the OHSAA State Championships, both wrestlers finished as All-Ohioans. Martin beat Jacobs in the blood round and finished fourth while Jacobs finished sixth. Those matchups took place in the 144-pound weight class. Before wrestling at state, they also faced off in Sandusky Bay Conference and district championship matches with Jacobs winning both matches, 8-7 and 4-1. Saturday's installment of the rivalry saw Jacobs defeat Martin with a pin at 3:52. "I went into that match knowing it would be tough," Jacobs said. "He stepped a little too hard with that front foot and I was able to catch him." After Martin went 2-0 on Friday, he defeated Anthony Kleinmark of Fostoria in the championship semifinals, while Jacobs defeated Isaiah Mundy of Kenton to set up their championship bout. The top four wrestlers in each weight class qualify for the state championships, which begins Friday at the Schottenstein Center on the campus of Ohio State University. Twelve area wrestlers will head to Columbus this week. Heading into Day 2 of the district tournament, Perkins led the area with four wrestlers in the semifinals, while Bellevue entered with three. The Pirates got three of those four wrestlers into the championship bouts with Martin, Law Davlin (165) and Boden Ballinger (190) winning their semis. All three wrestlers ended up as district runners-up as Davlin lost his championship bout to Carl Gilmore of Marengo Highland, while Ballinger fell to Isaac Blevins of Kenton, 6-5. Perkins' 215-pounder DeShaun Harper also qualified for state after winning his consolation semifinal over Brayden Vance of Lexington in a pin at 3:19. Harper won his third place match over Joe Zang of Hartley in a pin at 1:26. "These guys fought hard and at the end of the day that is all we can ask," Crabtree said. "They gave everything they got to the point of exhaustion, and at the end of the day the score is the score." In the 120-pound weight class, Heath Norris of Clyde defeated Brady Byler of Marengo Highland to reach the championship bout before wrestling Aiden Ohl of Ontario. Ohl came out victorious with a 9-3 decision. In addition to Jacobs qualifying for state, Bellevue also qualified Thomas Reesman (113), Owen Sterritt (138) and Landon Lewis (126). Reesman won his third-place matchup over Westen Mast of Defiance in a pin at 1:43. Lewis and Sterritt both fell in their third-place bouts with Lewis losing to Galion's Carter Trukovich in a 19-3 tech fall. Sterritt fell to Galion's Ryder Alberty in a 9-0 major decision. Bellevue finished third in the team standings with 116.5 points. Clyde also qualified Michael Gessner at 144. Gessner fell to Kasey Clark of Highland 4-1 in his third place matchup. Norwalk got one state wrestler in Gavin Lepley, who placed fourth at 165 after losing to Keyno Mendez of Wapakoneta in a technical fall 17-1. Rounding out the area's state qualifiers was Aiden Kyser of Vermilion. Kyser defeated Ethan Lewis of Upper Sandusky in a 5-3 decision at 157. Championship matches106: Zane Russell (Wapakoneta) maj. dec. Sebastian Cain (Shelby) 10-0 113: Caleb Snyder (Clear Fork) dec. Vincent Martiah (Hartley) 6-0 120: Aiden Ohl (Ontario) dec. Heath Norris (Clyde) 9-3 126: Joe Curry (Licking Valley) dec. Carson Schehl (Hebron Lakewood) 7-0 132: Gradey Harding (Galion) maj. dec. Tyler Turnbaugh (Ontario) 13-4 138: Joseph Lugabihl (Wauseon) dec. Ayden Douglas (Licking Valley) 13-7 144: Anthony Oscar (Clear Fork) def. Drew Aigler (Columbian) default 150: Ben Jacobs (Bellevue) pin Braxden Martin (Perkins) 3:52 157: Aiden Proctor (Madison Comprehensive) maj. dec. Luke Lee (Clear Fork) 16-3 165: Cael Gilmore (Marengo Highland) dec. Law Davlin (Perkins) 8-3 175: Hayden Groll (Napoleon) dec. Wyatt Buell (Wapakoneta) 1-0 190: Isaac Blevins (Kenton) dec. Boden Ballinger (Perkins) 6-5 215: George Eggers (Napoleon) maj. dec. Tyler Doeden Kiessling (Defiance) 11-2 285: Cash Patrick (Celina) pin Jaxin Stancombe (Madison Comprehensive) 2:50 Third place matches 106: Brody Miller (Licking Valley) dec. Cayden McCullough (St. Marys Memorial) 12-5 113: Thomas Reesman (Bellevue) pin Westen Mast (Defiance) 1:43 120: Brady Byler (Marengo Highland) def. Colton Wenger (Clear Fork) default 126: Carter Trukovich (Galion) tech. fall Landen Lewis (Bellevue) 19-3 132: Carter Stuckey (Wauseon) pin Payten Staugler (Celina) 3:16 138: Ryder Alberty (Galion) maj. dec. Owen Sterritt (Bellevue) 9-0 144: Kasey Clark (Marengo Highland) dec. Michael Gessner (Clyde) 4-1 150: Gavin Miller (Ontario) tech. fall Kane Hay (Galion) 18-3 157: Aiden Kyser (Vermilion) dec. Ethan Lewis (Upper Sandusky) 5-3 165: Keyno Mendez (Wapakoneta) tech. fall Gavin Lepley (Norwalk) 17-1 175: Lakoda Leedy (Clear Fork) dec. Kahle Albright (Wauseon) 13-6 190: Thomas Zemaitis (Bowling Green) dec. Channing Miller (Wapakoneta) 10-3 215: DeShaun Harper (Perkins) pin Joe Zang (Hartley) 1:26 285: Breese Bollenbacher (Van Wert) dec. Alex Hinojosa (Defiance) 4-1