If he isn’t careful, Mansfield Senior’s Jesse Palser is going to blow his cover.
A junior and two-time J.C. Gorman Invitational champ, Palser ran his record to 35-0 with a 13-6 win over Ashland’s Trent Newlan in the 170-pound finals of the Division I Mansfield Senior sectional tournament at Pete Henry Gym on Saturday evening. He was one of three Tygers to advance to next week’s district tournament Cleveland State University.
So how does an undefeated three-time district qualifier manage to remain relatively anonymous?
“He doesn’t pin a lot of guys, so he gets overlooked a little bit,” Mansfield Senior assistant coach Zach Brumfield said. “He doesn’t get the love he probably deserves.”
Palser didn’t pin either of his opponents Saturday, but was in control in both matches. He beat Perrysburg’s Chase Netwon 19-6 in his semifinal match and was never in trouble against Newlan.
“He likes to work his takedowns a lot more during the match so he has a lot of tech falls,” Senior High coach Billy Stevens said. “We actually tease him a lot about not pinning people. This week in practice we did a lot of drills on throwing just a basic half (nelson) and putting somebody on their back. Jesse hit somebody with a really nice one and everybody jumped up and went crazy.”
Palser was sectional runner-up at 160 pounds last year, falling to Amherst Steele’s Mike Wearsch 4-3.
“I think my composure was better,” Palser said. “I wasn’t too nervous. I wrestled my match. I wrestled my six minutes.
“I went out there and hand fun and what’s wrestling if you don’t have fun.”
The news wasn’t quite as good for Traevon Dickerson. Senior High’s talented 182-pounder, who won a sectional title last year, dropped an 8-0 decision to Perrysburg’s Rocco Caywood in the finals. It was the first time all season Dickerson has been shut out.
The 6-foot-2 Dickerson never looked comfortable against the slightly taller Caywood, a three-time Northern Lakes League champ.
Has Dickerson ever wrestled someone as big or as long as Caywood?
“In the OCC, but he wasn’t as strong or as technically sound as he was,” Dickerson said. “In that match I kind of sat back and waited. The approach I’ve got to take now is not wait, but make the first move.”
Going forward, Stevens would like to see Dickerson be more assertive.
“He and I talked for a few seconds and basically our conversation was, ‘You are just as good as that kid but you held back at the beginning.’
“At the district level he’s going to have to … go hard for the entire six minutes. He has to get six solid minutes in.”
Mansfield Senior’s third and final district qualifier was 106-pounder Antoine Campbell. The freshman pinned Findlay’s Joey Staschiak at the 3:27 mark. Staschiak had beaten Campbell 8-2 in the morning session.
“He wasn’t real focused,” Stevens said, “then he comes back in the consolation (bracket) and is a completely different kid.”
Division II
Lexington rolled to the Division II sectional title at Medina, piling up 239.5 points to easily outdistance runner-up Bay (154). Madison (143) was third and Clear Fork (78) tied for eighth.
The Minutemen had 11 wrestlers advance to districts and claimed five individual sectional crowns, led by junior Bailey Faust. The 195-pounder ran his record to 47-0 with a 35-second pin of Brookside’s Zach Fries in the championship match.
Lexington’s Brandon Leynaud won a sectional title at 126 pounds, improving to 42-6. The junior pinned Rocky River’s Brad Sprau at the two-minute mark.
At 145 pounds, Lexington’s Cuck Mikelait earned a 13-4 major decision over Medina Buckeye’s Art Clark. A junior, Mikelait improved to 38-9.
Lexington’s Drew Kasper was first at 182 pounds, beating Keystone’s Jacob Worthington 7-4. The junior improved to 45-4.
Lexington’s final title came from 285-pounder Zach Temple, who earned a 7-6 win over Madison’s Michael Holzworth. A junior, Temple improved to 32-12.
The Minutemen had three district runners-up in 113-pounder Jonah Schropp, 152-pounder A.J. Parr and 170-pounder Gabe Benjamin. Lex also had three third-place finishers in 138-pounder Jon Watkins, 160-pounder Jordan Dalton and 220-pounder Kendall Kuhn.
Madison had a strong showing in the light weights, led by 132-pound sectional champ Zane Speelman. The junior improved to 25-9 with a pin of Bay’s Connor Kloepfer at the 4:41 mark.
Mike Baumberger finished second at 106 pounds, while Trae Coopwood was second at 120. Carson Speelman was third at 113, while LeConte Merrell was fourth at 126. Madison’s other district qualifiers were Darrin Cox, who was fourth at 182, and Michael Holzworth, who was runner-up at 285.
Clear Fork had three wrestlers advance to next week’s districts. Drew Kinzel was runner-up at 138, while Jesse Todd was third at 120 and Austin Kinzel was third at 152.
Ontario had one wrestler advance from the Division II Bowling Green sectional. Sophomore Julian Manning was third at 126.
Division III
Plymouth and Crestview each had three wrestlers advance from the Division III Plymouth sectional.
For the Big Red, Chance Butcher led the way with a runner-up finish at 160. Sean Bolen was fourth at 195 and Trevor Arnold was third at 285.
Crestview was led by third-place finishers Logan Campbell (182) and Tyler Brown (220). Jordan Prise was fourth at 285.
Follow Curt Conrad on Twitter @curtjconrad.
“He likes to work his takedowns a lot more during the match so he has a lot of tech falls,” Senior High coach Billy Stevens said. “We actually tease him a lot about not pinning people.”
