Reer, Patchen, James win titles at Div. III district

ROSSFORD — Ten area individuals, led by three district champions, qualified for the Division III state wrestling championships on Saturday at Rossford High School. Leading that contingent of locals were Edison freshman Cohen Reer, Monroeville junior Owen Patchen and St. Mary Central Catholic junior Ben James. Reer (45-2), the top-ranked wrestler in the state all season at 106 pounds, buzzed through four opponents over the two-day tournament with three technical falls and a 57-second pin in the first round. Patchen (18-2) pinned three of his four opponents at 132. In the finals, he pinned Zachary Schafer of Elmwood in 2:22. SMCC's Ben James (39-3) scored 59 points in four matches. He finished off his title at 150 with a 13-4 major decision against Genoa's Tyler Abbey. Two other area wrestlers — St. Paul's Rafael Gross (165) and Port Clinton's Malakii Pinkelton (190) — placed second to move on to state. Port Clinton ended up with four state qualifiers. Jace Cornell (157) finished third for the Redskins and PC's Elliot Laird (144) and Gavin Cornell (150) placed fourth. The Redskins finished fifth in the team standings with 81 points while Edison placed seventh (71.5). Archbold finished first with 177 points. Monroeville heavyweight Brycen Dunlap finished third with a pin in 3:00 over Archbold's Parker Bixler. Edison's Brayden Barker advanced at 120 by finishing fourth.