Cluff qualifies for state for 3rd straight year; Rawlins earns 1st state bid with district performances
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Hillsboro and McClain will each have a representative at the 2019 OHSAA Division II State Wrestling Championships, with HHS senior Lane Cluff qualifying for the third straight year and McClain sophomore Kade Rawlins earning his first trip to state.
For Hillsboro, Cluff finished as the district runner-up to qualify for state a third straight year, as he wrestled four times in the two-day event held at Wilmington High School. In his first-round 285-pound match, Cluff won by major decision over Colton McCartney of Greenville by a 17-5 score. In the quarterfinals, Cluff won by pin fall over Josh Lange of Springfield Shawnee at the 1:59 mark of the match.
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On Saturday, Cluff won his quarterfinal match by major decision over Seth Bowman of Eaton at 18-7. The championship match saw Cluff fall to Alex Coleman of Ross by pin at 1:13 to earn a second-place spot in the district tournament.
“Lane wrestled three solid matches, and we were dominating our semifinal match and then we started coasting through the match instead of finishing it. Either way, that was his second major decision of the tournament,” HHS coach Greg Rhoads said. “The final was against a kid that we have beat before but is a tough match regardless.
“Coleman is ranked second or third in the state, and he wants to stand in the middle of the mat and throw you. We didn’t really change our game plan at all, other than putting emphasis on finishing quick and staying in our stance. We were getting to his legs great, and we just got loose in a position and our head wasn’t where it was supposed to be and we got thrown. Lane is obviously disappointed, but I think our head is a little more straight this year and realizing that districts isn’t the end of the world, and we need to get ready for Thursday.”
In his bid to qualify for state, Rawlins (45-3) won his first match at the 220-pound weight class in the first round by pin over Jamen Hill of Carroll at the 4:58 mark of the match. Rawlins lost in the quarterfinals to Tytan Grote of Greenville by pin at the 2:52 mark.
From there, Rawlins had four more matches in the two-day event, including a second consolation match where he won by major decision over Anthony Barhorst of Bellbrook at 11-0. Rawlins’ third consolation match saw the sophomore win by decision against Mason Mustain of Washington by a 2-0 score.
Rawlins secured his spot at state with a consolation semifinal win by pin against Thomas Coleman of Ross at the 4:23 mark of the match. In the third-place match, Bruno Pattison of Bellefontaine won by decision over Rawlins at 5-1.
“I was really happy to have eight qualifiers to the district tournament as that’s the most we have had since I’ve been here,” McClain coach Shane Paul said. “Kade Rawlins was able to navigate what was the toughest weight class in the tournament — the 220-pound class. In round one on Friday, Kade was able to avenge a first-round loss last year to Jamen Hill of Dayton Carroll by pinning Hill in the third period. Kade was also able to avenge another loss in the tournament from last year, too.
“The match that decides whether you are a state qualifier or your season is over is the consolation semifinals. Kade matched up again this year with Thomas Coleman of Hamilton Ross. Ross entered the tournament at 40-4 and was coming off a sectional championship at Batavia last week. Last year, Coleman pinned Rawlins and ended his season. This year, Rawlins dominated Coleman with low leg attacks and finished Coleman’s senior season.”
The Indians had two more wrestlers take part and wrestle in the district tournament, where Richard Adkins wrestled a total of three times and Isaac Lewis wrestled twice at the event.
In the 160-pound matches, Adkins won by decision in the first round over Joshua Chapman of Taylor at 10-5. His quarterfinal match saw a loss, with Adkins falling to Steele Boysel of Benjamin Logan by decision at 7-2. In the second consolation round, Zac Schmidt of Eaton won over Adkins by decision at 4-2.
“Richard Adkins saw his career end on Saturday. We let the match get away from us on Saturday by giving up penalty points and couldn’t recover,” Rhoads said. “Richard had a great run, and he had improved immensely over the three years that I have coached him. He is a hard worker and a fighter, things that will pay off for him later in life. I know he is disappointed about not getting out, but I am beyond proud of him.”
Lewis at 126 pounds lost his first-round match to Riley Slade of Greenville by pin at 3:27. In the first consolation round, Blake Seaman of Clinton-Massie pinned Lewis at the 2:53 mark of the match.
“Isaac Lewis was an alternate for us and ended up getting into the tournament. He landed on a good line that I thought we had a chance to win our first one, but that didn’t happen and we ended up dropping into kid that had beaten us two or three times this year,” Rhoads said. “We wrestled a lot better against him, but we couldn’t pull it out. It gives Isaac an idea on where we need to get to get out to the state tournament.”
Besides Rawlins, McClain had seven more wrestlers battle at districts.
For MHS, Ethan Burns in the 113-pound weight class lost in the first round to Jorden Zigo of Trotwood-Madison by technical fall, 18-1. Burns bounced back in the first consolation round with a win by decision against Jordyn Dillavou of Springfield Shawnee at 8-4. In the second consolation round, Justin Mills of Valley View defeated Burns by technical fall.
McClain’s 120-pound wrestler Lucas Jansen wrestled three times at districts, beginning with a loss to Elijah Richards of New Richmond by pin Lucas Jansen at the 3:21 mark of the match. Jansen won his first consolation match by major decision against Carroll’s Nicholas Romano at 14-0. The second consolation match saw Jansen fall to Owen Hewitt of Watson by a technical fall at 15-0.
Dawson Jansen of McClain wrestled two matches at the 132-pound weight class, dropping the first-round match to Dominic Davidson of Wilmington by major decision at 12-0. Jansen came back strong in the first consolation round with a win by decision against Roman Jones of Chaminade Julienne at 13-10. In the second consolation round, Graham Carson of Miami Trace pinned Jansen at 2:40.
The 138-pound weight class saw McClain’s Jake Krafthefer wrestle twice, with a first-round loss to Blake Ballard of Tippecanoe by pin Jake Krafthefer at 4:55. In the first consolation match, Krafthefer lost by technical fall to Sam Eastes of Wilmington at 18-2.
Quinton Smith of McClain wrestled the 145-pound weight class in two matches. In the first round, D’artangan Spitler of Graham Local pinned Smith at 4:16 in the match. In the first consolation match, Robby Frederick of Clinton-Massie defeated Smith by maor. decision at 11-1.
Phil Waters wrestled two matches at districts where in the first round of the 182-pound weight class he lost to Logan Iams of Ross by decision at 8-2. In the first consolation match, Jared Kremer of Franklin gained a win by a 5-3 decision over Waters.
Kyler Trefz of McClain in the 195-pound weight class lost his first round match to Will Striet of Monroe by pin at 1:21. The first consolation round saw Austin Kimmerly of New Richmond win by decision over Trefz at 4-3.
“I was very happy that Ethan Burns, Lucas Jansen and Dawson Jansen were all able to win a match in the tournament and score points for the team,” Paul said. “Jacob Krafthefer, Quinton Smith and Phil Waters were unable to secure a district victory but will have an entire year to work hard enough to avenge losses of their own.
“Kyler Trefz was unable to get a win, but as a senior, he was able to secure his first trip to the district tournament and have a good memory for it.”
As a team, HHS placed 26th overall with 24 points, and MHS tied for 30th with a score of 21.
For Hillsboro, Cluff finished as the district runner-up to qualify for state a third straight year, as he wrestled four times in the two-day event held at Wilmington High School. In his first-round 285-pound match, Cluff won by major decision over Colton McCartney of Greenville by a 17-5 score. In the quarterfinals, Cluff won by pin fall over Josh Lange of Springfield Shawnee at the 1:59 mark of the match.
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On Saturday, Cluff won his quarterfinal match by major decision over Seth Bowman of Eaton at 18-7. The championship match saw Cluff fall to Alex Coleman of Ross by pin at 1:13 to earn a second-place spot in the district tournament.
“Lane wrestled three solid matches, and we were dominating our semifinal match and then we started coasting through the match instead of finishing it. Either way, that was his second major decision of the tournament,” HHS coach Greg Rhoads said. “The final was against a kid that we have beat before but is a tough match regardless.
“Coleman is ranked second or third in the state, and he wants to stand in the middle of the mat and throw you. We didn’t really change our game plan at all, other than putting emphasis on finishing quick and staying in our stance. We were getting to his legs great, and we just got loose in a position and our head wasn’t where it was supposed to be and we got thrown. Lane is obviously disappointed, but I think our head is a little more straight this year and realizing that districts isn’t the end of the world, and we need to get ready for Thursday.”
In his bid to qualify for state, Rawlins (45-3) won his first match at the 220-pound weight class in the first round by pin over Jamen Hill of Carroll at the 4:58 mark of the match. Rawlins lost in the quarterfinals to Tytan Grote of Greenville by pin at the 2:52 mark.
From there, Rawlins had four more matches in the two-day event, including a second consolation match where he won by major decision over Anthony Barhorst of Bellbrook at 11-0. Rawlins’ third consolation match saw the sophomore win by decision against Mason Mustain of Washington by a 2-0 score.
Rawlins secured his spot at state with a consolation semifinal win by pin against Thomas Coleman of Ross at the 4:23 mark of the match. In the third-place match, Bruno Pattison of Bellefontaine won by decision over Rawlins at 5-1.
“I was really happy to have eight qualifiers to the district tournament as that’s the most we have had since I’ve been here,” McClain coach Shane Paul said. “Kade Rawlins was able to navigate what was the toughest weight class in the tournament — the 220-pound class. In round one on Friday, Kade was able to avenge a first-round loss last year to Jamen Hill of Dayton Carroll by pinning Hill in the third period. Kade was also able to avenge another loss in the tournament from last year, too.
“The match that decides whether you are a state qualifier or your season is over is the consolation semifinals. Kade matched up again this year with Thomas Coleman of Hamilton Ross. Ross entered the tournament at 40-4 and was coming off a sectional championship at Batavia last week. Last year, Coleman pinned Rawlins and ended his season. This year, Rawlins dominated Coleman with low leg attacks and finished Coleman’s senior season.”
The Indians had two more wrestlers take part and wrestle in the district tournament, where Richard Adkins wrestled a total of three times and Isaac Lewis wrestled twice at the event.
In the 160-pound matches, Adkins won by decision in the first round over Joshua Chapman of Taylor at 10-5. His quarterfinal match saw a loss, with Adkins falling to Steele Boysel of Benjamin Logan by decision at 7-2. In the second consolation round, Zac Schmidt of Eaton won over Adkins by decision at 4-2.
“Richard Adkins saw his career end on Saturday. We let the match get away from us on Saturday by giving up penalty points and couldn’t recover,” Rhoads said. “Richard had a great run, and he had improved immensely over the three years that I have coached him. He is a hard worker and a fighter, things that will pay off for him later in life. I know he is disappointed about not getting out, but I am beyond proud of him.”
Lewis at 126 pounds lost his first-round match to Riley Slade of Greenville by pin at 3:27. In the first consolation round, Blake Seaman of Clinton-Massie pinned Lewis at the 2:53 mark of the match.
“Isaac Lewis was an alternate for us and ended up getting into the tournament. He landed on a good line that I thought we had a chance to win our first one, but that didn’t happen and we ended up dropping into kid that had beaten us two or three times this year,” Rhoads said. “We wrestled a lot better against him, but we couldn’t pull it out. It gives Isaac an idea on where we need to get to get out to the state tournament.”
Besides Rawlins, McClain had seven more wrestlers battle at districts.
For MHS, Ethan Burns in the 113-pound weight class lost in the first round to Jorden Zigo of Trotwood-Madison by technical fall, 18-1. Burns bounced back in the first consolation round with a win by decision against Jordyn Dillavou of Springfield Shawnee at 8-4. In the second consolation round, Justin Mills of Valley View defeated Burns by technical fall.
McClain’s 120-pound wrestler Lucas Jansen wrestled three times at districts, beginning with a loss to Elijah Richards of New Richmond by pin Lucas Jansen at the 3:21 mark of the match. Jansen won his first consolation match by major decision against Carroll’s Nicholas Romano at 14-0. The second consolation match saw Jansen fall to Owen Hewitt of Watson by a technical fall at 15-0.
Dawson Jansen of McClain wrestled two matches at the 132-pound weight class, dropping the first-round match to Dominic Davidson of Wilmington by major decision at 12-0. Jansen came back strong in the first consolation round with a win by decision against Roman Jones of Chaminade Julienne at 13-10. In the second consolation round, Graham Carson of Miami Trace pinned Jansen at 2:40.
The 138-pound weight class saw McClain’s Jake Krafthefer wrestle twice, with a first-round loss to Blake Ballard of Tippecanoe by pin Jake Krafthefer at 4:55. In the first consolation match, Krafthefer lost by technical fall to Sam Eastes of Wilmington at 18-2.
Quinton Smith of McClain wrestled the 145-pound weight class in two matches. In the first round, D’artangan Spitler of Graham Local pinned Smith at 4:16 in the match. In the first consolation match, Robby Frederick of Clinton-Massie defeated Smith by maor. decision at 11-1.
Phil Waters wrestled two matches at districts where in the first round of the 182-pound weight class he lost to Logan Iams of Ross by decision at 8-2. In the first consolation match, Jared Kremer of Franklin gained a win by a 5-3 decision over Waters.
Kyler Trefz of McClain in the 195-pound weight class lost his first round match to Will Striet of Monroe by pin at 1:21. The first consolation round saw Austin Kimmerly of New Richmond win by decision over Trefz at 4-3.
“I was very happy that Ethan Burns, Lucas Jansen and Dawson Jansen were all able to win a match in the tournament and score points for the team,” Paul said. “Jacob Krafthefer, Quinton Smith and Phil Waters were unable to secure a district victory but will have an entire year to work hard enough to avenge losses of their own.
“Kyler Trefz was unable to get a win, but as a senior, he was able to secure his first trip to the district tournament and have a good memory for it.”
As a team, HHS placed 26th overall with 24 points, and MHS tied for 30th with a score of 21.