PLYMOUTH — In a tournament that included two of the top four teams in the state and three projected state champions, Plymouth’s Noah Robinson stole the show.
A sophomore 215-pounder, Robinson won a sectional championship with a second-period pin of Crestview’s Caleb Cunningham in the finals of Saturday’s Division III sectional tournament at Plymouth High School.
Cunningham pinned Robinson in the first period of the Firelands Conference championship match last week at St. Paul.
“It was a mindset change,” Robinson said of the difference between this week and last. “I started thinking like every match is the last match I’m going to wrestle. Him being a really tough opponent, I know I’m the underdog and winning makes it feel so much better.”
Robinson was one of two sectional champs for the Big Red. Teammate Colton Sparks won the 190-pound title with a 4-2 win over Mohawk’s Braylan Mullholand. Sparks’ first two sectional matches ended in first-period pins. He set Plymouth’s career pins record two weeks ago at the Caleb Stockmaster Memorial Invitational in Margaretta and now has 118 career falls.
“I’ve gone six (minutes) a few times but I like getting the match over as quick as possible,” said Sparks, ranked third at 190 in Ohio high school wrestling analyst Billy Schaefer’s comprehensive 2023 Boro Fan Almanac. “It eliminates the risk of getting caught and it eliminates the risk of unfortunate injuries.
“Knowing that I can keep going three periods with someone that strong does help.”
Plymouth will send a total of seven wrestlers to next week’s district tournament at Rossford, including 132-pound runner-up Ben Trimmer. The Big Red finished fourth in the team standings with 140 points.
Monroeville won the sectional title with 178 points. Mohawk was runner-up with 175.5 points and Edison (154.5) was third.
Crestview matched Plymouth with seven district qualifiers. Senior Hayden Kuhn, who won his fourth Firelands Conference championship last week, collected his first-ever sectional title with a 5-3 win over projected state champ Marcus Medina of Edison in the 144-pound championship match.
“I try to take the same approach to every match,” said Kuhn, who is ranked third by Schaefer. “I really try not to look at the rankings a lot.”
Bucyrus 138-pounder Grant Dowell fell to projected state champ Ashton Homan of Monroeville in the finals. Dowell (47-3) didn’t make it out of the sectional last year.
“I’m just working what I know I’m good at,” Dowell said. “I go out there and wrestle every guy the same.”
