IN CONTROL — Harrison Central’s Lucas Thomas tackles Waterford’s Judson Cooper during their Division III East District 215-pound division Saturday at Heath High School. Thomas won his third district title, going 10-0. — Kim North
HEATH — Barnesville got off to a strong start to the two-day Ohio Division III Eastern District wrestling tournament on Friday, and the No. 1-ranked Shamrocks never let up Saturday, amassing 245.5 points and winning champions in half of the 14 weight classes in dominant performance at Heath High School.
The team title was Barnesville’s fourth in a row, but veteran head coach Jason Steven is already looking ahead.
“The kids did what they needed to do early in the tournament and that got us going,” Stephen said. “They came out focused and stayed that way throughout the tournament. I’m proud of them.”
The Shamrocks’ seven individual champions were Jonathan Huntsman (113), Colt Carpenter (126), Dakota King (138), Carson Milhoan (144), Reese Steven (150), Skyler King (157) and Aidan King (165). Hines Ford (175) finished second.
“These guys have worked all season to get where they want to be,” Coach Steven said. “They deserve all the credit for what they have achieved, but the work is not done yet. We have to keep trucking and get it all together next weekend when it really counts.”.”
The three-day state tournament begins Friday at the Jerome Schottenstein Center on the Ohio State University campus and continues through the state finals Sunday night.
Easton Stephen (106) and Marshall Mead (285) finished as alternates.
Ohio State University freshmen Dakota King and Skylar King won their fourth straight championships. However, they are not related.
Dakota capped off another dominant performance with a 23-8 technical fall over Garraway’s Mitchell Tetro. King is now 52-2 this season and has 193 career wins. He had recorded three previous pins in the tournament.
Skyler pinned Union Local’s Brody Perzanowski in 2:59 minutes of their title win. It was a replay of the split final. He had three pins and a major decision in the tournament to raise his record to 50-3.
Huntsman, another senior, pinned Northmor’s Brady Carr in 2:27 for his second district title. The senior worked his way through the tournament.
Carpenter, a promising freshman, recorded a 7-1 decision over Nelsonville York’s Holden Hodgson. The freshman had three previous falls.
Harrison Central’s Thomas brothers are district champions, the third time for senior Lucas Thomas (215) and the first for junior Landen (285). Lucas recorded a 10-0 major decision over Waterford’s Judson Cooper to move to 43-0. Cooper entered 45-1.
Landen pinned Tusky Valley’s Dylan Congdon in 1:12 for his 43rd win in 46 fights.
“I’m really proud of how all three of my boys wrestled this weekend,” Harrison Central head coach Bill Bryant said. “They wrestled well all weekend.
“I thought Landon got off to a little slow start on Friday, but he came out and wrestled well today. Lucas did what was expected of him. I would absolutely say this season is a bit of a work in progress. Winning a state title has always been his goal and we felt we missed a great opportunity last season and want to take advantage of it this year.
Lucas, a freshman from Cornell University, was the state runner-up last season.
Fifth-place runners-up were Steubenville Central’s Chris Herman (126) and Harrison Central’s Hunter Bittinger (165).
