No Quit: Ryan Kelley places 6th in state championships
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
COLUMBUS — If two words can describe the 2014 Division II State Championships for Hillsboro senior Ryan Kelley, they are "no quit."
In his state debut, Kelley finished 3-3 in his six matches in three days, and with those wins, he placed sixth overall at 120 pounds in the OHSAA Division II State Wrestling Championships at the Jerome Schottenstein Center in the 77th annual tournament.
Kelley (39-6) lost both of his matches on Saturday, but it wasn't because of no effort. In fact, in those two matches, one went into overtime, and the final match of his varsity career ended with his applying pressure and trying to tie the score.
The HHS senior lost the fifth-place match to Canfield senior Korey Frost by a 7-5 decision, a match where Kelley wrestled out of a few pin fall threats.
After gathering his thoughts with coach Nathan Horne and assistant coach Greg Rhoads in one of the hallways at the Schottenstein Center, Kelley was proud and pleased with his three-day tournament at state.
"It's been crazy," Kelley said of the state tournament. "There are a lot of tough kids up here, and some really tough matches. I lost a couple matches I shouldn't have, but all in all, I finished strong and got sixth place.
"You look up to the crowd and just see everybody, and it makes you want to go ten times harder. It's just crazy, and all the work to get here … it's well worth it."
In the first period against Frost in the fifth-place match, Kelley trailed 2-0 after the two minutes had expired, but in the period, he did fend off another potential takedown.
Kelley began the second period on top, but with 1:37 left in the match, Kelley trailed 5-0. The HHS senior eventually got on the board with 1:06 on the clock following a one-point penalty by Frost.
Trailing 5-1, Kelley mounted a comeback as he maneuvered around his opponent as they were on the ground for two points with 25 seconds on the clock, making it a two-point deficit (5-3) headed into the third and final two-minute period.
Kelley quickly trailed 7-3 with 1:40 left in his varsity wrestling career, but that's where the no-quit effort of Kelley kicked in.
While he easily could have just given in to his opponent, where he trailed by four points, the HHS senior fended off a pin and continued to battle, and with 23 seconds left in the match, he scored two points on a reversal for the 7-5 score.
Kelley had one final opportunity to gain two points as he tried with every last ounce of effort in the final 11 seconds, but to no avail with the sound of the whistle ending the match.
"We had a couple shots when we were down 5-3 (against Frost)," Horne said of Kelley's final two minutes. "We had a chance to tie it up there and got taken down. We had another shot right there at the end, when it was 7-5, to try to tie it up.
"Ryan got down early, and a lot of kids would've given up, but he kept wrestling and had a couple opportunities to tie it up. It just didn't fall our way."
Coach Horne also spoke about Kelley's performance the past three days.
"He wrestled tough all week … that's how it is up here," Horne said. "You win close ones, you lose close ones. He gave effort throughout the whole match, either winning or losing. He was always wrestling to win.
"He lost in overtime the match before to a kid we lost 6-0 to last week, so he had a great tournament. He placed in sixth, and he can walk away and be proud of that."
With the sixth-place finish, Kelley is just one of 13 wrestlers in the history of the school to place at the state championships.
"He's in an elite group, for sure," Horne said.
Getting to the the sixth-place finish for Kelley began on Thursday (Feb. 27) when he won his first-round match against Juwan Minnifield (28-10).
Kelley dominated his match, at times, against Minnifield, a sophomore from Sandusky Perkins, on the mat and remaining in control of the match. Kelley won the match via 13-7 decision.
In his first match on Friday (Feb. 28), Kelley lost in the quarterfinals to Dustin Warner, a senior from Uhrichville Claymont. Warner was third in the state at 113 pounds last year. Warner will wrestle in the state finals at 120 pounds.
Kelley kept his wrestling season alive in a most dominating fashion in the second consolation round of the 2014 Division II State Wrestling Championships … via pin fall.
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The HHS senior won with the pin fall victory Friday afternoon over Sal Ferrise (34-18), a senior from Akron St. Vincent St. Mary. For the HHS senior, Kelley was ahead 2-1 after the first period, gaining the advantage with around 25 seconds left in the opening period.
Kelley then took control of his opponent, keeping him on the ground and tangling him up to where he eventually maneuvered Ferrise onto his back and for the second period pin fall.
Before the pin, Kelley had built a lead of 7-1.
In his consolation quarterfinal match Friday night, Kelley (39-4) defeated Markus Cruz (44-8) by a 4-0 decision.
Kelley began his match against Cruz by gaining a 2-0 lead with 50 seconds left in the first period, as Kelley kept his opponent on the ground.
As for the second period, Kelley didn't stop, keeping Cruz on the ground. The Hillsboro senior had his opponent staring face-first at the mat for most of the second period, controlling the tempo of the contest.
The final two minutes saw Cruz start to gain some momentum, but Kelley slammed the door shut on the momentum, as Kelley fended off the attack by Cruz. As Cruz had control of one of Kelley's legs, the HHS senior forced them both out of bounds.
Kelley took a 4-0 lead with 1:04 left in the match by maneuvering around his opponent for two points and eventually the win.
Kelley lost in overtime by a 4-2 score to Graham Local sophomore Mario Kastl in the consolation semifinals early Saturday.
In Kelley's consolation semifinal match, the Hillsboro senior led 2-0 after the first period, scoring on a two-point takedown with 40 seconds left in the first period.
Kelley then controlled the remainder of the first period by tangling himself on Kastl's back.
In the second period, Kelley began on the top of his opponent and, again, controlled the pace of the match. Kelley attempted to cradle Kastl as he controlled the arm of the Graham sophomore, pulling back with all his weight.
Kastl eventually pulled out his two-point maneuver with 20 seconds left in the second period, tying the score at 2-2.
Neither wrestler was able to score in the third, as most of the two minutes were spent tangled in the middle of the mat. Kelley continued to put all his weight on Kastl, but was unable to gain any more points.
With around 40 seconds left in the 1:00 overtime, Kastl scored two points, fighting his way away from Kelley.
Coach Horne had some final comments on Kelley as the senior also finished third at the districts, second at sectionals and was the 120-pound champion in the South Central Ohio League Championships.
"He's worked hard in four years. We're going to miss him," Horne said. "He's a good senior, just a kid that you can depend on being there. We'll definitely miss him in our program, for sure."
In his state debut, Kelley finished 3-3 in his six matches in three days, and with those wins, he placed sixth overall at 120 pounds in the OHSAA Division II State Wrestling Championships at the Jerome Schottenstein Center in the 77th annual tournament.
Kelley (39-6) lost both of his matches on Saturday, but it wasn't because of no effort. In fact, in those two matches, one went into overtime, and the final match of his varsity career ended with his applying pressure and trying to tie the score.
The HHS senior lost the fifth-place match to Canfield senior Korey Frost by a 7-5 decision, a match where Kelley wrestled out of a few pin fall threats.
After gathering his thoughts with coach Nathan Horne and assistant coach Greg Rhoads in one of the hallways at the Schottenstein Center, Kelley was proud and pleased with his three-day tournament at state.
"It's been crazy," Kelley said of the state tournament. "There are a lot of tough kids up here, and some really tough matches. I lost a couple matches I shouldn't have, but all in all, I finished strong and got sixth place.
"You look up to the crowd and just see everybody, and it makes you want to go ten times harder. It's just crazy, and all the work to get here … it's well worth it."
In the first period against Frost in the fifth-place match, Kelley trailed 2-0 after the two minutes had expired, but in the period, he did fend off another potential takedown.
Kelley began the second period on top, but with 1:37 left in the match, Kelley trailed 5-0. The HHS senior eventually got on the board with 1:06 on the clock following a one-point penalty by Frost.
Trailing 5-1, Kelley mounted a comeback as he maneuvered around his opponent as they were on the ground for two points with 25 seconds on the clock, making it a two-point deficit (5-3) headed into the third and final two-minute period.
Kelley quickly trailed 7-3 with 1:40 left in his varsity wrestling career, but that's where the no-quit effort of Kelley kicked in.
While he easily could have just given in to his opponent, where he trailed by four points, the HHS senior fended off a pin and continued to battle, and with 23 seconds left in the match, he scored two points on a reversal for the 7-5 score.
Kelley had one final opportunity to gain two points as he tried with every last ounce of effort in the final 11 seconds, but to no avail with the sound of the whistle ending the match.
"We had a couple shots when we were down 5-3 (against Frost)," Horne said of Kelley's final two minutes. "We had a chance to tie it up there and got taken down. We had another shot right there at the end, when it was 7-5, to try to tie it up.
"Ryan got down early, and a lot of kids would've given up, but he kept wrestling and had a couple opportunities to tie it up. It just didn't fall our way."
Coach Horne also spoke about Kelley's performance the past three days.
"He wrestled tough all week … that's how it is up here," Horne said. "You win close ones, you lose close ones. He gave effort throughout the whole match, either winning or losing. He was always wrestling to win.
"He lost in overtime the match before to a kid we lost 6-0 to last week, so he had a great tournament. He placed in sixth, and he can walk away and be proud of that."
With the sixth-place finish, Kelley is just one of 13 wrestlers in the history of the school to place at the state championships.
"He's in an elite group, for sure," Horne said.
Getting to the the sixth-place finish for Kelley began on Thursday (Feb. 27) when he won his first-round match against Juwan Minnifield (28-10).
Kelley dominated his match, at times, against Minnifield, a sophomore from Sandusky Perkins, on the mat and remaining in control of the match. Kelley won the match via 13-7 decision.
In his first match on Friday (Feb. 28), Kelley lost in the quarterfinals to Dustin Warner, a senior from Uhrichville Claymont. Warner was third in the state at 113 pounds last year. Warner will wrestle in the state finals at 120 pounds.
Kelley kept his wrestling season alive in a most dominating fashion in the second consolation round of the 2014 Division II State Wrestling Championships … via pin fall.
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The HHS senior won with the pin fall victory Friday afternoon over Sal Ferrise (34-18), a senior from Akron St. Vincent St. Mary. For the HHS senior, Kelley was ahead 2-1 after the first period, gaining the advantage with around 25 seconds left in the opening period.
Kelley then took control of his opponent, keeping him on the ground and tangling him up to where he eventually maneuvered Ferrise onto his back and for the second period pin fall.
Before the pin, Kelley had built a lead of 7-1.
In his consolation quarterfinal match Friday night, Kelley (39-4) defeated Markus Cruz (44-8) by a 4-0 decision.
Kelley began his match against Cruz by gaining a 2-0 lead with 50 seconds left in the first period, as Kelley kept his opponent on the ground.
As for the second period, Kelley didn't stop, keeping Cruz on the ground. The Hillsboro senior had his opponent staring face-first at the mat for most of the second period, controlling the tempo of the contest.
The final two minutes saw Cruz start to gain some momentum, but Kelley slammed the door shut on the momentum, as Kelley fended off the attack by Cruz. As Cruz had control of one of Kelley's legs, the HHS senior forced them both out of bounds.
Kelley took a 4-0 lead with 1:04 left in the match by maneuvering around his opponent for two points and eventually the win.
Kelley lost in overtime by a 4-2 score to Graham Local sophomore Mario Kastl in the consolation semifinals early Saturday.
In Kelley's consolation semifinal match, the Hillsboro senior led 2-0 after the first period, scoring on a two-point takedown with 40 seconds left in the first period.
Kelley then controlled the remainder of the first period by tangling himself on Kastl's back.
In the second period, Kelley began on the top of his opponent and, again, controlled the pace of the match. Kelley attempted to cradle Kastl as he controlled the arm of the Graham sophomore, pulling back with all his weight.
Kastl eventually pulled out his two-point maneuver with 20 seconds left in the second period, tying the score at 2-2.
Neither wrestler was able to score in the third, as most of the two minutes were spent tangled in the middle of the mat. Kelley continued to put all his weight on Kastl, but was unable to gain any more points.
With around 40 seconds left in the 1:00 overtime, Kastl scored two points, fighting his way away from Kelley.
Coach Horne had some final comments on Kelley as the senior also finished third at the districts, second at sectionals and was the 120-pound champion in the South Central Ohio League Championships.
"He's worked hard in four years. We're going to miss him," Horne said. "He's a good senior, just a kid that you can depend on being there. We'll definitely miss him in our program, for sure."