Indians advance 2 wrestlers to 2nd day of state tournament
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
COLUMBUS — A couple hours removed from getting swept in the 75th annual Division II State Wrestling Championships preliminary round, the Hillsboro Indians rallied back in a big way with junior Brandon Carter and sophomore Kordell Ford winning their second match of the evening, advancing to Friday's Day Two of the tournament in Columbus.
"It's huge getting two kids into the second round," Hillsboro wrestling head coach Nathan Horne said. "If we win (Friday), the minimum we can get is eighth. They wrestled hard, and both of them won by one point, stuck it out until the end, and that's how it is done here.
"All the matches are close matches, and they come down to the very last second … all the kids wrestled hard. We didn't have such a good round in the first round, but we knew going in it was going to be a tough round."
Wrestling in front of a packed stadium at Value City Arena, in the Jerome Schottenstein Center, Carter (35-5) won his win-or-go-home match in the 106-pound weight class with a 6-5 victory over Collin Dees (39-9) of Perry.
In the consolation round match, Carter and Dees were tied at zero after the first period, but the scoring got started in the second period, with Carter taking a 3-0 with 1:05 left in the period. Dees worked his way back, tying the match at 3-3 with seven seconds on the second period clock.
As the third period ticked away, Carter trailed 5-4, rallied his way back within one point at 5-4, and with 19 seconds remaining took a 6-5 advantage for the win.
Carter will wrestle on Friday, March 2 at 1 p.m. in the second consolation round.
Earlier in the evening, in the preliminary round, Carter lost to junior Jude Michel of Milan Edison who improved to 47-6 on the season. In that opening match, Carter trailed 6-2 after the first round, and as the final seconds ticked away, Carter's left shoulder was injured.
Following medical assistance once the first round ended, Carter was pinned with 57 seconds left on the second-round clock at 3:03.
Ford (41-4) also advanced to Friday, as he'll wrestle in the 1 p.m. bracket of the second consolation round, with his 9-7 victory over junior Jared Chambers (30-13) of Oak Harbor.
"Kordell didn't have his best match in the first round, but that happens," Horne said. "He showed grit in his second match, and we know his second match was going to be a tough one. Kordell could have closed up shop and went home, but he gutted it out, and he got a win."
In the highly competitive match, Ford went up 2-0 after the first period, followed by a 6-3 lead after the second period. The match got closer in the third period with Chambers maneuvering his way to within one point of tying the score at 6-5, but Ford regrouped and made it a 9-7 score for the win.
Ford lost a heartbreaker in his preliminary match, as he led his 160-pound match against Chagrin Falls senior Ricky Kochert, 8-1 with 58 seconds left on the clock in the second round.
As the time ticked off the clock, Ford was slowly wrestled onto his back, where Kochert gained a pin fall win at 3:59, gaining the pin fall with one second left before the second round ended.
[[In-content Ad]]HHS senior Kaleb West wrestled two matches Thursday, ending his season at 31-14 overall in the 145-pound weight class.
"Kaleb had a great career," Horne said. "He had a great district tournament last week and came in here, wrestled a three-time state placer and was in the match until the very end, but Kaleb wrestled hard."
In his preliminary match, West lost, in what was the closest prelim match for the Indians, after three rounds with Jimmy Klosz (40-4), a senior, 7-4.
West trailed 5-4 in the third period, but with seconds to go, Klosz increased his lead for the win.
In his consolation round match against sophomore Jeff Hojnacki of Cuyahoga Falls CVCA (19-10), West battled toughly, as the senior trailed by two points with 1:15 left in the second period at 6-4. With the clock ticking down to end the second period, Hojnacki pinned West at the 2:29 mark of the match.
HHS junior Conner Johnston (25-16) was pinned in the first round of his 170-pound preliminary match, at 43 seconds, by senior Brandon O'Neill (40-1) of Bellville Clear Fork.
Johnston lost his consolation bracket match as he battled back after trailing 6-3 after the first round to tie the match at 6-6 with 1:35 left in the second period. Johnston wasn't able to hang on in the final seconds of the round, losing by pin fall with six seconds on the clock.
"Conner wrestled hard as well," Horne said. "Conner has to wrestle above Kordell, so that gives him a little size disadvantage in his weight class, but he showed some guts and wrestled a good tournament."
Hillsboro sophomore Dillon Hunick (35-16) lost both his matches Thursday. In the 138-pound class, Hunick lost by pin fall in the second round to Dalton Nicely of Wauseon (44-6).
In his second match, in the consolation round, Hunick lost 17-3 to junior Michael Belknap (34-11) of Akron Archbishop, Hoban.
"Dillon, being a sophomore, it was great to see him come to this tournament," Horne said. "He's a kid that I know will work hard in the offseason and will be back here next year … I'm very confident in him."
This state trip as a whole helps the Indians, not only for the remainder of this year, but next year as well.
"This is huge psychology to know they've overcome that step that they are no longer looking to be a state qualifier," Horne said. "They know what it is like; now they are looking to be a state placer.
"It make a tremendous difference for kids who have already been here the second time around. It's huge for their motivation and huge for their experience."
"It's huge getting two kids into the second round," Hillsboro wrestling head coach Nathan Horne said. "If we win (Friday), the minimum we can get is eighth. They wrestled hard, and both of them won by one point, stuck it out until the end, and that's how it is done here.
"All the matches are close matches, and they come down to the very last second … all the kids wrestled hard. We didn't have such a good round in the first round, but we knew going in it was going to be a tough round."
Wrestling in front of a packed stadium at Value City Arena, in the Jerome Schottenstein Center, Carter (35-5) won his win-or-go-home match in the 106-pound weight class with a 6-5 victory over Collin Dees (39-9) of Perry.
In the consolation round match, Carter and Dees were tied at zero after the first period, but the scoring got started in the second period, with Carter taking a 3-0 with 1:05 left in the period. Dees worked his way back, tying the match at 3-3 with seven seconds on the second period clock.
As the third period ticked away, Carter trailed 5-4, rallied his way back within one point at 5-4, and with 19 seconds remaining took a 6-5 advantage for the win.
Carter will wrestle on Friday, March 2 at 1 p.m. in the second consolation round.
Earlier in the evening, in the preliminary round, Carter lost to junior Jude Michel of Milan Edison who improved to 47-6 on the season. In that opening match, Carter trailed 6-2 after the first round, and as the final seconds ticked away, Carter's left shoulder was injured.
Following medical assistance once the first round ended, Carter was pinned with 57 seconds left on the second-round clock at 3:03.
Ford (41-4) also advanced to Friday, as he'll wrestle in the 1 p.m. bracket of the second consolation round, with his 9-7 victory over junior Jared Chambers (30-13) of Oak Harbor.
"Kordell didn't have his best match in the first round, but that happens," Horne said. "He showed grit in his second match, and we know his second match was going to be a tough one. Kordell could have closed up shop and went home, but he gutted it out, and he got a win."
In the highly competitive match, Ford went up 2-0 after the first period, followed by a 6-3 lead after the second period. The match got closer in the third period with Chambers maneuvering his way to within one point of tying the score at 6-5, but Ford regrouped and made it a 9-7 score for the win.
Ford lost a heartbreaker in his preliminary match, as he led his 160-pound match against Chagrin Falls senior Ricky Kochert, 8-1 with 58 seconds left on the clock in the second round.
As the time ticked off the clock, Ford was slowly wrestled onto his back, where Kochert gained a pin fall win at 3:59, gaining the pin fall with one second left before the second round ended.
[[In-content Ad]]HHS senior Kaleb West wrestled two matches Thursday, ending his season at 31-14 overall in the 145-pound weight class.
"Kaleb had a great career," Horne said. "He had a great district tournament last week and came in here, wrestled a three-time state placer and was in the match until the very end, but Kaleb wrestled hard."
In his preliminary match, West lost, in what was the closest prelim match for the Indians, after three rounds with Jimmy Klosz (40-4), a senior, 7-4.
West trailed 5-4 in the third period, but with seconds to go, Klosz increased his lead for the win.
In his consolation round match against sophomore Jeff Hojnacki of Cuyahoga Falls CVCA (19-10), West battled toughly, as the senior trailed by two points with 1:15 left in the second period at 6-4. With the clock ticking down to end the second period, Hojnacki pinned West at the 2:29 mark of the match.
HHS junior Conner Johnston (25-16) was pinned in the first round of his 170-pound preliminary match, at 43 seconds, by senior Brandon O'Neill (40-1) of Bellville Clear Fork.
Johnston lost his consolation bracket match as he battled back after trailing 6-3 after the first round to tie the match at 6-6 with 1:35 left in the second period. Johnston wasn't able to hang on in the final seconds of the round, losing by pin fall with six seconds on the clock.
"Conner wrestled hard as well," Horne said. "Conner has to wrestle above Kordell, so that gives him a little size disadvantage in his weight class, but he showed some guts and wrestled a good tournament."
Hillsboro sophomore Dillon Hunick (35-16) lost both his matches Thursday. In the 138-pound class, Hunick lost by pin fall in the second round to Dalton Nicely of Wauseon (44-6).
In his second match, in the consolation round, Hunick lost 17-3 to junior Michael Belknap (34-11) of Akron Archbishop, Hoban.
"Dillon, being a sophomore, it was great to see him come to this tournament," Horne said. "He's a kid that I know will work hard in the offseason and will be back here next year … I'm very confident in him."
This state trip as a whole helps the Indians, not only for the remainder of this year, but next year as well.
"This is huge psychology to know they've overcome that step that they are no longer looking to be a state qualifier," Horne said. "They know what it is like; now they are looking to be a state placer.
"It make a tremendous difference for kids who have already been here the second time around. It's huge for their motivation and huge for their experience."