COLUMBUS — Brock Durbin will carry the flag for north central Ohio.
Mapleton’s 126-pound junior will wrestle for a state title after beating Norwalk St. Paul’s Casper Caizzo 2-0 in the winner’s bracket semifinals Saturday evening inside Ohio State’s Schottenstein Center.
Awaiting Durbin, a two-time state placer, in Sunday evening’s championship match is two-time defending state champ Dillon Campbell of Legacy Christian. Campbell advanced with a 9-1 win over Seneca East’s Nathan Parks.
“It’s great to be in this position, but I’m trying to approach it like any other match,” said Durbin, who improved to 41-1. “It feels nice to get one step closer to my end-goal, which is to win a state championship.”
Durbin is the only area wrestler who will compete for a state championship Sunday evening. Eleven others will be in action in the final consolation rounds Sunday morning.
Ontario’s Aiden Ohl, Galion’s Gradey Harding, Crestview’s Hayden Kuhn, Clear Fork’s Luke Schlosser and Mansfield Senior’s Mekhi Bradley all reached Saturday’s state semifinals before falling. They are assured of top-six finishes.
Ohl fell 4-0 to projected state champ Javaan Yarbrough of Copley in the Division II 106-pound championship semifinals. It was just his second loss of the season.
“I wrestled his match. I should have tried to wrestle my match,” said Ohl, who will be Ontario’s first freshman state placer. “I was looking … to be a champ. Maybe next year.”
Like Ohl, Galion’s Harding will become his program’s first freshman state placer. Harding was pinned in the Division II 120-pound semifinals by Butler’s Noah Moreland.
Crestview’s Kuhn fell 3-2 to Legacy Christian’s Boede Campbell in the Division III 144-pound semifinals. Kuhn nearly had a late takedown as time ran out.
“His work ethic is unbelievable. He’s a great kid and a great student,” Crestview coach Steve Haverdill said of Kuhn, the program’s first three-time state placer. “It goes back to his work ethic since he was a little kid. He does everything the right way.”
Schlosser fell to projected state champ Gunner Cramblett of St. Paris Graham 13-4 in the Division II 165-pound semifinals.
“I knew the kid was going to be tough,” Schlosser said. “I just really couldn’t get anything going.”
Mansfield Senior’s Bradley fell 4-3 to Indian Creek’s Elijah Llewellyn in the Division II 215-pound semifinals. Bradley will be Senior High’s first two-time state-placer since Jesse Palser in 2014 and 2015.
“I feel like I could have done more,” Bradley said. “He blocked me from the positions I wanted to be in.”
Six other area wrestlers are still alive in the consolation bracket. That group includes Ontario’s Jacob Ohl, Mansfield Senior’s Leo Hess, Madison’s Hunter Hutcheson, Loudonville’s Caleb Gregory, Plymouth’s Colton Sparks and Crestview’s Caleb Cunningham.
