McClain's Davis will place at state
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
COLUMBUS — McClain's Brandon Davis rebounded from an earlier loss Friday morning and avenged a loss from districts at the same time, as the senior grappler wrestled his way past New Richmond's Nathan Dixon to place at the 76th Annual Division II State Wrestling Championships.
The MHS senior ended the day by falling in the consolation quarterfinals.
Davis (46-8) will wrestle for seventh place on Saturday, as he's currently 2-2 in the state tournament. He will face Billy Post of Conneaut. Post stands at 48-5 overall.
Davis' seventh place match will be held Saturday morning starting at 11 a.m., as he becomes the fifth McClain Tiger wrestler in school history to place at the state wrestling tournament.
Dixon won the Goshen District championship last weekend, defeating Davis by pin at 5:34, but Davis was able to gain the win at state this week.
"In the district finals, (Brandon) hit him with the same move that got him on his back," MHS head coach Shane Paul said. "I thought he had (Dixon) pinned at the district finals, but in the second period they took the down position, and Brandon put him in the same move again."
In his second 220-pound match of the day, Davis and Dixon stood and grappled for the entire 2:00 of the first period, as neither wrestler was able to gain any points.
Davis changed all of that in the second period, as he started on top, putting his opponent in a headlock while rotating him. Davis almost pinned Dixon, but the hold was called off for the safety of his opponent, but Davis did gain a 3-0 advantage with 1:10 left in the second period.
"Brandon was going to pin him again this time, but the official said the kid's face was turning a different shade, so they called the move potentially dangerous and let the kid off his back," Paul said.
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Dixon answered with two points on a reversal to make it a 3-2 score.
Davis regained the top position to control the tempo of the match, keeping his one-point lead headed into the third period.
At the start of the third period, Davis lost the top position to Dixon, as the two maneuvered around the mat. Davis stood strong, and with under a minute left in the match, Davis connected with a two-point reversal to wrap up the win at 5-2.
"I had him in a front headlock (in the second period), then threw him down to his back and got my three," Davis said. "At the end of the match, I wouldn't let him get wrist control. He wanted to control my wrists, so I kept taking them away from him, and that's all he had.
"We were at an advantage at the start of the third, and it was our choice," Paul said. "The kid was on to the move we had ... what we did was decide to take down to start the period, and I know Brandon has a lot of heart and a lot of fight in him, and the kid was going to pretty much have to break him in order to turn him, and that's not something that is easy to do.
"The situation Brandon was in where the kid was in control, Brandon and I work on that every day in practice. I spend a lot of time wrestling with him personally and put him in those exact situations, so this isn't something that was new to him. The kid got high on him when he was riding his legs and grabbing his head, Brandon was able to get a reversal and two points at the end."
Dixon won the Goshen District championship last weekend, defeating Davis by pin at 5:34.
In his consolation quarterfinal match, Davis lost to Norton's Sean Rutherford by pin fall in 39 seconds. Rutherford moves to 39-4 overall this season.
Paul spoke about Davis becoming a state placer.
"It means a lot to both of us," Paul said. "For one, as a coach, wrestling is all about the kids. For Brandon, my goal as a coach for him at the start of the year was for him to be a state qualifier. Well, Brandon exceeded those expectations, and he's going to get to stand on the podium.
"He's the hardest worker in the room, and he's put everything he has into this sport since I've seen him. As far as our program .... this has given our program some state recognition."
In his first match on Friday against the undefeated Greg Moray (35-0) of Steubenville, who placed fourth at state last year, Davis was rushed and taken to the mat by Moray, who took control and maneuvered Davis over to eventually gain the win in the first period in the championship quarterfinal round.
Moray won in the championship semifinals by a major decision over Frank Heimkreiter of Hamilton Ross at 12-2.
On Thursday in his opening round match, Davis won over Beau Swank, a junior from Bellefontaine Benjamin Logan, by pin fall at the 5:38 mark of the match.
The MHS senior ended the day by falling in the consolation quarterfinals.
Davis (46-8) will wrestle for seventh place on Saturday, as he's currently 2-2 in the state tournament. He will face Billy Post of Conneaut. Post stands at 48-5 overall.
Davis' seventh place match will be held Saturday morning starting at 11 a.m., as he becomes the fifth McClain Tiger wrestler in school history to place at the state wrestling tournament.
Dixon won the Goshen District championship last weekend, defeating Davis by pin at 5:34, but Davis was able to gain the win at state this week.
"In the district finals, (Brandon) hit him with the same move that got him on his back," MHS head coach Shane Paul said. "I thought he had (Dixon) pinned at the district finals, but in the second period they took the down position, and Brandon put him in the same move again."
In his second 220-pound match of the day, Davis and Dixon stood and grappled for the entire 2:00 of the first period, as neither wrestler was able to gain any points.
Davis changed all of that in the second period, as he started on top, putting his opponent in a headlock while rotating him. Davis almost pinned Dixon, but the hold was called off for the safety of his opponent, but Davis did gain a 3-0 advantage with 1:10 left in the second period.
"Brandon was going to pin him again this time, but the official said the kid's face was turning a different shade, so they called the move potentially dangerous and let the kid off his back," Paul said.
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Dixon answered with two points on a reversal to make it a 3-2 score.
Davis regained the top position to control the tempo of the match, keeping his one-point lead headed into the third period.
At the start of the third period, Davis lost the top position to Dixon, as the two maneuvered around the mat. Davis stood strong, and with under a minute left in the match, Davis connected with a two-point reversal to wrap up the win at 5-2.
"I had him in a front headlock (in the second period), then threw him down to his back and got my three," Davis said. "At the end of the match, I wouldn't let him get wrist control. He wanted to control my wrists, so I kept taking them away from him, and that's all he had.
"We were at an advantage at the start of the third, and it was our choice," Paul said. "The kid was on to the move we had ... what we did was decide to take down to start the period, and I know Brandon has a lot of heart and a lot of fight in him, and the kid was going to pretty much have to break him in order to turn him, and that's not something that is easy to do.
"The situation Brandon was in where the kid was in control, Brandon and I work on that every day in practice. I spend a lot of time wrestling with him personally and put him in those exact situations, so this isn't something that was new to him. The kid got high on him when he was riding his legs and grabbing his head, Brandon was able to get a reversal and two points at the end."
Dixon won the Goshen District championship last weekend, defeating Davis by pin at 5:34.
In his consolation quarterfinal match, Davis lost to Norton's Sean Rutherford by pin fall in 39 seconds. Rutherford moves to 39-4 overall this season.
Paul spoke about Davis becoming a state placer.
"It means a lot to both of us," Paul said. "For one, as a coach, wrestling is all about the kids. For Brandon, my goal as a coach for him at the start of the year was for him to be a state qualifier. Well, Brandon exceeded those expectations, and he's going to get to stand on the podium.
"He's the hardest worker in the room, and he's put everything he has into this sport since I've seen him. As far as our program .... this has given our program some state recognition."
In his first match on Friday against the undefeated Greg Moray (35-0) of Steubenville, who placed fourth at state last year, Davis was rushed and taken to the mat by Moray, who took control and maneuvered Davis over to eventually gain the win in the first period in the championship quarterfinal round.
Moray won in the championship semifinals by a major decision over Frank Heimkreiter of Hamilton Ross at 12-2.
On Thursday in his opening round match, Davis won over Beau Swank, a junior from Bellefontaine Benjamin Logan, by pin fall at the 5:38 mark of the match.