Northmor claimed a sectional title in wrestling on Saturday, as they topped the field in the 13-team sectional hosted by Cardington with 165 points — 31 more than second-place West Jefferson.
In winning, the Knights qualified eight wrestlers to this weekend’s Division III district meet at Heath. They had two champions in Conan Becker and Mathew Ross.
At 132 pounds, Becker cruised to the championship, topping Forest Belli of Northridge 9-3 in the finals. Ross picked up two pins in the tournament, including one in 5:17 against Caleb Reed of Pleasant in the finals.
Two more Knights placed second. At 106 pounds, Jake Neer lost a close 4-2 decision to Klay Reeves of Northridge; while at 145, Jake Farley made it to the finals, but defaulted against Brendan Fitzgerald of Grandview Heights.
Northmor’s other four qualifiers competed in the consolation finals. At 126 pounds, Aaron Kitts placed third with a 6-1 win over Cardington’s Adam Hook. Mason Burger (195) nabbed a 7-0 decision over Russ Alden of Danville to also finish third. Griffin Jenkins was fourth at 120 pounds, as was Nathan Price at 220, to also be district qualifiers.
Brad Baker (152) and Dakota Christo (182) were both fifth in their weight classes to be named district alternates, while Wyatt Collier (113) placed sixth.
The host Pirates also competed at the Cardington sectional and were able to generate a pair of district qualifiers. Hook finished fourth at 126 pounds, as did Jarrod Fair at 182.
Gabe McAvoy (285) took fifth place to be a district alternate, while Taiylor Hubley was sixth at 106 pounds to also place for the Pirates.
Mount Gilead Indians
Competing at the Division III sectional hosted by Madison Plains, Mount Gilead took third place with 132 points and was able to boast seven district qualifiers.
Two MG wrestlers were district runners-up. At 138 pounds, Brandon Strickland made the finals before losing by major decision to Nick Jewitt of Newark Catholic. Hunter Trimmer fell by pin to Amanda-Clearcreek’s Dylan Warga in the championship match at 170 pounds.
Three more Indian wrestlers finished third, while two got fourth place. At 132 pounds, Zack McCallen defeated Nathan Liesen of Newark Catholic by default, with both Frank Poppel (182) and Tyler Cooper (195) earned pinfall victories in their third-place match. Nate Weaver (120) and Jasper Miller (220) both moved on to the Troy district meet after finishing fourth in their classes.
Both Colton Clark (113) and Ryan Mowers (152) took fifth place to be district alternates, while Gabe Hedrick (126) finished sixth.
Highland Scots
Highland took part in the Division II sectional meet at Claymont High School and finished ninth with 69.5 points, claiming a trio of district competitors in the process.
Zach Baker earned a championship for the Scots, as he won the 195-pound weight class. In the finals, he earned a pin in under one minute over Alex Eckels of Granville.
Highland’s other two qualifiers wrestled in the consolation finals. Sean Dudgeon took third at 132 pounds, edging Tristian Haley of Granville 1-0; while Kaden Bunting fell by one point to take fourth at 145 pounds.
Also placing was Dakota Bunting, who will be a district alternate at 138 pounds after finishing fifth in that class.
