STATE WRESTLING: St. Mary CC's Ben James among 4 from area in finals

COLUMBUS — Ben James went into overtime looking for a shot. He found it. James, a junior at St. Mary Central Catholic, scored a takedown with 16 seconds on the clock to defeat Lake Catholic's Tommy Slack 4-1 in a Division III 150-pound semifinal Saturday night at the OHSAA state wrestling championships. "He was tough in the hand fight, holding my fingers," James said. "Once I started to control the hand fight he couldn't keep up. I was faking, he was reacting real hard on taking bad shots. I capitalized on it at the end. "He was taking these half shots all match. I felt it coming. He did it, I just blocked, grabbed his foot. I knew I was getting a takedown there." James was one of four area wrestlers who advanced to Sunday night's finals. Also participating in the Parade of Champions will be Edison's Cohen Reer, Monroeville's Owen Patchen and Port Clinton's Michaela Stork. James, who is 42-3 on the season, has won three matches by a total score of 23-5 at the Schottenstein Center. He'll face Delphos St. John's Edward Kessen in the finals. Before the match, he'll walk out as part of the Parade of Champions. His older brother Luke, who won two state titles at Edison, was matside Saturday dishing out advice to his little brother. "It's gonna be amazing," Ben said. "I always matched it from the stands. Seeing my brother down there really made me want to go down there." Ben James finished third last year at state. He let out a big yell after winning an intense semifinal. "Last year I lost the first round. I never made it past the quarterfinals. Just really emotional," he said. Reer, who has been dominant at 106 pounds all season, scored a 12-1 major decision against Archbold's Brenden Bosco in the semifinals. The Edison star will take a 48-2 record into the finals against Eastwood's Gabe Brough (38-7). Brough won three major decisions to get to Sunday night. Reer has pins in 1:06 and 52 seconds to go with his win Saturday night. Monroeville's Owen Patchen thought he had a late takedown to win his Div. III 132-pound semifinal with less than a minute remaining, but didn't get the call. Unfazed, Patchen got a takedown with 23 seconds left to win 3-1. "I knew I could come back," Patchen said. "I always push the pace the pace so I get the next takedown. It was just a matter of time before I got into his legs and got a takedown. "It's natural instinct, I guess. He stopped moving, which I noticed and I got the cradle and put him to his back. It feels amazing to win that match, especially in the last couple seconds when I knew he was stalling." Patchen, a junior who already has two podium finishes to his credit, takes a 21-2 record into his final against Legacy Christian's Nathan Attisano (44-2). Patchen missed much of the season after an early-season concussion. "I didn't do the right stuff to come back," he said. "I wasn't honest with my coaches about when I wasn't feeling good and when I was. I tried to come back too early. My coaches told me to rest. I came back and I feel the best I've felt all year. "My coaches pushed me hard (when he returned to practice in February). I came back from my concussion and ran every sprint and worked hard in conditioning." Monroeville fans thought Patchen won the match earlier in the third when he tried to take control right in front of his coach. "I thought it was a takedown," Monroeville coach Jerrel Valliant said. "The referee didn't consider it a takedown. He didn't have enough coverage on the hips according to the referee. It didn't stop the way he wrestled. He was still hungry and kept pushing forward. A shot opened up and he took advantage of it." The area's fourth state finalist is PC's Stork, who pinned Antwerp's Maddilan Doster in 1:36 in a 190-pound semifinal. "She tried to throw me, tried to do some trip and I kind of muscled her head down so I got her on her back and I put my half in," Stork said. "She almost rolled out of it but I sunk my half and got her back over." Stork, who had two decisions before her pin, is in only her second season of wrestling. "I can't believe I just did that," she said. "My whole goal was place and now I'm gonna get first or second. I'm really excited for the Parade of Champions. I've seen the video of that and that was cool. "I'm so excited. I don't even care what happens tomorrow. I made it, that's what I'm happy about." Four other area semifinalists lost matches to drop into the consolation bracket. Bellevue's Ben Jacobs dropped an 11-1 major decision to West Branch's Beau Nezbeth, who is 51-1 on the season. Jacobs will take a 50-6 record into Sunday morning's Division II consolation semifinals at 150 pounds. Perkins' Law Davlin scored a takedown in the first period to lead 3-0 before falling 7-4 in overtime to Claymont's Kamden Stout, who Davlin (49-5) pinned at the buzzer in the first round last year. Port Clinton's Malakii Pinkelton led 3-0 early in his 190-pound semifinal in Division III. He was called for fleeing late in regulation, which tied his battle with Danny Hoke at 3-3. Pinkelton (50-2) was bleeding from his mouth before being pinned in the third overtime period. Clyde's Mimi Greenslade also dropped into the consolation semifinals after she was pinned in 1:19 by Olentangy Orange's Mackenzie Carter, who advanced to the state finals for the third straight year. Five area wrestlers competed in the consolation quarterfinals to wrap up a long day of competition. In Division II, Vermilion's Aiden Kyser lost a 9-3 decision at 157 and Perkins' Boden Ballinger was pinned in 1:52 at 190. Kyser and Ballinger will wrestle for seventh place Sunday morning. In Division III, Port Clinton's Gavin Cornell won 2-1 at 150 and St. Paul's Rafael Gross won an 8-0 major decision. Cornell and Gross can finish third with two more victories. Monroeville heavyweight Brycen Dunlap lost 4-2 and will wrestle for seventh place.