Ryan Kelley to place no less than 6th at state championships
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
COLUMBUS — Hillsboro senior Ryan Kelley is making the very most of his final matches as a wrestler for Hillsboro High School, as the senior grappler will finish no less than sixth place overall at the 2014 Division II State Wrestling Championships in the 120-pound weight class.
Kelley is 3-1 after two days at the state tournament with two wins and one loss on Friday.
"He's wrestled his tail off this tournament," Hillsboro head coach Nathan Horne said. "This is the first year he's qualified, and the worst we can do is sixth now. He's been wrestling great, been putting people on their backs to win. He's had an awesome tournament.
"This is the first time that in my nine years a coach that we've had two state placers in the same year. It's been a good tournament for us. Districts was a good tournament. We took four kids, placed four kids. We took two kids to the state, we've placed two kids.
"We finished well as a team, and that gives credit to the kids and how hard they've worked, and the coaching staff and so forth. It's been a good end to the year, for sure."
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.
[[In-content Ad]]
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 Kelly slammed the door shut on the momentum, as Kelley fended off the attack by Cruz, and 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 will wrestle Mario Kastl (41-5) of Graham Local at 10 a.m. Saturday in the consolation semifinals. The winner will wrestle for third place and the loser with be in the fifth place match.
Kastl is the Wilmington District champion, as he defeated Kelley 6-1 in the district tournament.
"We're looking forward to tomorrow," Horne said. "We're right in there. We think we can hang with this next kid and possibly get in for third or fourth."
Kelley won with the pin fall victory Friday afternoon over Sal Ferrise (34-18), a senior from Akron St. Vincent St. Mary.
Earlier Friday, Kelley lost in the quarterfinals to Dustin Warner, a senior from Uhrichville Claymont. Warner was third in the state at 113 pounds last year.
Kelley is 3-1 after two days at the state tournament with two wins and one loss on Friday.
"He's wrestled his tail off this tournament," Hillsboro head coach Nathan Horne said. "This is the first year he's qualified, and the worst we can do is sixth now. He's been wrestling great, been putting people on their backs to win. He's had an awesome tournament.
"This is the first time that in my nine years a coach that we've had two state placers in the same year. It's been a good tournament for us. Districts was a good tournament. We took four kids, placed four kids. We took two kids to the state, we've placed two kids.
"We finished well as a team, and that gives credit to the kids and how hard they've worked, and the coaching staff and so forth. It's been a good end to the year, for sure."
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.
[[In-content Ad]]
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 Kelly slammed the door shut on the momentum, as Kelley fended off the attack by Cruz, and 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 will wrestle Mario Kastl (41-5) of Graham Local at 10 a.m. Saturday in the consolation semifinals. The winner will wrestle for third place and the loser with be in the fifth place match.
Kastl is the Wilmington District champion, as he defeated Kelley 6-1 in the district tournament.
"We're looking forward to tomorrow," Horne said. "We're right in there. We think we can hang with this next kid and possibly get in for third or fourth."
Kelley won with the pin fall victory Friday afternoon over Sal Ferrise (34-18), a senior from Akron St. Vincent St. Mary.
Earlier Friday, Kelley lost in the quarterfinals to Dustin Warner, a senior from Uhrichville Claymont. Warner was third in the state at 113 pounds last year.