SHELBY, Ohio — Brahm Ginter doesn’t remember much about his first trip to the state tournament, but Shelby’s 160-pounder knew he wanted to be part of the spectacle.
It was 2011 and Ginter was 11 years old.
“I went there once to watch two of the high school wrestlers,” Ginter said after punching his ticket to state with a third-place finish at the Division II district meet at Mansfield Senior last weekend. “Everybody was really big. It seemed like a really intense environment and I said, ‘I want to be there when I get to high school.’ ”
Ginter and Shelby teammate Devin Williams are two of the area’s 15 wrestlers who will be in action beginning Thursday afternoon at Ohio State’s Schottenstein Center. A school-record six state qualifiers are from Ashland.
“It’s even more exciting this year than last year,” said Ashland’s Matthew Taylor, a district champ at 126 and a sixth-place finisher at 120 at last year’s state tournament. “We had three guys make it last year and we doubled it this year.”
Taylor will be joined by fellow district champ Sid Ohl (152), district runners-up Rickey Maffett (145) and Devin Goschinksi (182), third-place finisher Josh Bever (195) and fourth-place finisher Landon Plank (138).
Madison 132-pounder LeConte Merrell, a two-time state qualifier and seventh-place finisher last year, will be joined by fellow senior Carson Speelman. The 138-pounder was second at district, while Merrell was third.
“This is my first time qualifying for state, so it feels good,” Speelman said. “I’m going to put it all on the line. I’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
A quartet of area wrestlers will compete in the Division III tournament. Galion has a pair of qualifiers in 170-pounder Garrett Kuns and 285-pounder Mason Weldon. Loudonville 145-pounder Thomas Forbes and Mapleton 152-pounder Ian Maund will also be in action.
The area’s lone Division I qualifier is Mansfield Senior’s Brandon Myers. The senior 220-pounder was a runner-up at the Mentor district.
“I feel like I can accomplish a little bit more as long as I wrestle my match,” Myers said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
