Galion freshman Harding wins title at Division II Norwalk district wrestling meet

NORWALK — The monkey is off Gradey Harding’s back.

Galion’s freshman 120-pounder earned a 3-1 overtime victory over Ontario’s Jacob Ohl in the finals of the Division II Norwalk district wrestling tournament Saturday at Norwalk High School.

Both Harding and Ohl qualified for next week’s state tournament, along with 11 other north central Ohio wrestlers in action at Norwalk. The top four finishers in each weight class earned bids to the state meet at Ohio State’s Value City Arena.

The projected Division II state champ, Ohl won the first four meetings between the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference rivals this season before Harding won by injury default in the finals of the MOAC tournament and again in last week’s Division II Clyde sectional.

Saturday’s victory was the first on-mat win over Ohl for Harding, who improved to 38-7. Ohl dipped to 39-4 with three of his four losses coming via injury default. Saturday was the first loss on the mat for last year’s 106-pound state runner-up.

“This brings my confidence up a lot,” said Harding, who reached the finals with a first-period pin of River Valley’s Aiden Jordan, a 14-9 decision over Napoleon’s Harrison Bohls and a first-period pin of Marion-Franklin’s Naszir Jackson. “My goal is to finish in the top three at state, if not higher.

“I wouldn’t be surprised at all if I wrestled him again at state.”

Ohl’s younger brother, 106-pounder Aiden Ohl, was the area’s only other district champ. The younger Ohl earned a 4-1 decision over Wauseon’s Zavian LaFountain after pinning his way to the finals.

“I don’t think I wrestled my best, but I was able to hang on at the end against a good, strong kid,” said Ohl, who improved to 43-1. “Every match next week is going to be like that. There won’t be any easy ones at state, so I’ve still got to work on getting my conditioning up.

“Winning a district championship is important because I’ll wrestle a fourth-place finisher from one of the other districts in my first-round match at state.

In addition to Jacob Ohl, north central Ohio produced four other district runners-up. Madison’s Mike Thomas was second at 126, while teammate Hunter Hutcheson was second at 190. Clear Fork’s Luke Schlosser (165) and Mansfield Senior’s Mekhi Bradley (215) also reached the second rung of the podium.

Bradley scored an early takedown against Columbus DeSales’ Max Shulaw in the finals before falling 14-3. It was the only match during the postseason that Shulaw, the projected state champ and one of the top-ranked 215-pounders in the nation, didn’t register a pin. Bradley, who improved to 34-4, reached the finals with a pair of pins and a 5-2 decision over Sandusky Perkins’ Kyle Magyar in the semifinals.

Like Bradley, Madison’s Hutcheson ran into a buzzsaw in the finals. He fell to projected state champ and Ohio University recruit Max Ray of Tiffin Columbian 13-6.

Thomas fell by pin to Wauseon’s Collin Twigg in the 126-pound championship match. Thomas reached the finals with a pair of pins and a major decision and stands at 35-9 going into the state meet.

Schlosser suffered a 17-1 technical fall in the finals at the hands of Columbus DeSales’ Andrew Barford. Schlosser reached the finals with a pin and a pair of narrow decisions to run his record to 46-6.

Clear Fork’s Peyton Hoskins was third at 126, beating Maumee’s Tommy Gast 7-0 in the consolation finals. Hoskins is 46-7.

Mason Turnbaugh took third at 138, picking up an 8-2 decision over Clyde’s C.J. Fisher in the consolation finals. Turnbaugh is 40-4 on the year.

After falling in the go-to match last year, Mansfield Senior’s Leo Hess earned his first state bid by finishing third at 175. Hess picked up a 10-1 major decision over Wauseon’s Chance Snow in the consolation finals to improve to 36-5.

Galion 285-pounder Alex Griffith pinned Clear Fork’s Eric Hicks in the consolation finals to place third. Hicks will join Griffith at next week’s state meet.

Ontario freshman Julian McGinty picked up the fourth and final state berth at 144 pounds. McGinty fell via pin to DeSales’ Aidan Rush.

Division I

Ashland’s Jon Metzger and Cayden Spotts both earned state berths at the rugged Division I Perrysburg district.

Metzger fell to Perrysburg’s Jake Wood 7-2 in the finals at 157 pounds. He was 3-1 on the weekend, running his record to 40-10.

Spotts took third at 215 pounds, beating Cleveland Heights’ Darion Thompson 3-0. Spotts fell to Brunswick’s Dominic May in the championship quarterfinals, then battled his way through the consolation bracket with four victories. He was 5-1 on the weekend, running his season record to 40-13.

Division III

Crestview’s Hayden Kuhn and Caleb Cunningham both punched their tickets to the state tournament with third-place finishes at the Division III Rossford district. Plymouth’s Colton Sparks and Bucyrus’ Grant Dowell also earned state bids.

A 144-pounder, Kuhn beat Monroeville’s Landen Roeder 4-0 in the consolation finals. The Ashland University recruit fell to eventual champ Brodie Dominique 4-0 in the winner’s bracket semifinals before stopping Mohawk’s Evan England 6-0 in the consolation semifinals to secure his third straight state berth. Kuhn was 4-1 on the weekend to improve to 38-3.

Cunningham avenged a second-round loss to Genoa’s Ethan Crawford with a 7-1 decision in the 215-pound consolation finals. Crawford pinned Cunningham in the championship quarterfinals Friday, forcing the Crestview junior to win four matches Saturday. Cunningham was 5-1 on the weekend, improving to 19-6 on the year.

Plymouth’s Sparks finished third at 190, beating Delta’s Connor Sintobin in the consolation finals. Sparks won his first match Friday before being pinned by eventual champ Abe DeLano of Ayersville in the champ8onship quarterfinals. Sparks won four matches Saturday to improve to 46-2.

Dowell finished fourth at 138 pounds, falling to Liberty Center’s Jackson Bartels 8-1 in the consolation finals. Dowell won a pair of matches Friday before falling to eventual runner-up Owen Miller of Oak Harbor 3-0 in the championship semifinals. Dowell was 3-2 on the weekend, improving to 50-5 on the season.