CLYDE — Galion’s John Abouhassan, Devin McCarthy and Max Fisher qualified for this week’s district tournament based on their finishes Saturday in a Division II sectional wrestling tournament at Clyde High School.
The top four wrestlers in each weight class automatically qualified for the district tournament.
Abouhassan finished second at 285 pounds; McCarthy was third at 132 pounds and Fisher was fourth at 170 pounds. All will wrestle this weekend at Norwalk High School in the district tournament.
Three Galion wrestlers — Conner Ganshorn (106 pounds) Brodyn Butcher 113) and Kidron Clark (120) — finished fifth and still have a chance to get in as alternates if qualifiers in their own weight classes cannot wrestle in Norwalk.
Abouhassan, a senior, is 32-3 this year. He will take on Thomas Jolly, of Benedictine, in his opening round match at Norwalk. Jolly is 21-8.
Fisher, a junior, is 28-15. In his first match at Norwalk, he will take on Howie Perkins, a senior from Lima Shaweee who is 24-8.
McCarthy, a junior, is 35-8 this year. He will take on Noah Villereal, a freshman, from Sandusky Perkins in his first match. Villereal is 37-6.
Wrestling begins in Norwalk at 4 p.m. Friday with the first two championship rounds and the second consolation round. Saturday wrestling action begins at 9:30 a.m. ,with the finals set for about 2:30 p.m.
Abouhassan made his way to the championship match vs. Jake Bever of Ashland, where he dropped a 9-5 decision. Abouhassan (Galion) pinned Creighton Morton of Upper Sandusky in 18 seconds in his first-round match. In Round 2, he pinned Clear Fork’s Eric Hicks in 26 seconds. In the semfinals, Abouhassan pinned Brock Nunez of Bellevue at 1:48.
McCarthy, in the match for third place, earned a 10-2 major decision over Caiden Walters. McCarthy won by forfeit in first round forfeit, and then earned a 7-1 decision over Walden, who he would meet again. In the semifinal, McCarthey dropped a 14-3 major decision to Maddox Simcoe of Tiffin Columbian, sending him to the consolation bracket. In the fourth round of the consolation bracket, McCarthy pinned Jesse Keener of Ashland at 2:12, which vaulted him into the third-place match where he again beat Walters.
Fisher finished fourth in the tournament after dropping a 6-2 decision in his final match of the day to Collin Corapi of Bellevue. Fisher had a first-round bye and then earned a 9-6 decision over Cade Carroll of Clyde. In the semifinals, Joey Simcoe of Columbian, pinned fisher in 3:34. But Fisher bounced back in the semifinals of the consolation round with an 8-6 win over Brennan Strickler of Ontario. And that win put him back in the championship round to take on Corapi.
In their matches for fifth place, Ganshorn won with a bye, Butcher won with a 12-2 major decision and Clark won by pinfall at 3:44. Ian Lehman, also placed, finishing sixth for the Tigers at 145 pounds.
Clear Fork qualifiers include: Colton Campbell, champion at 113 pounds; Landon Smith, champion at 220 pounds; J.R. Carman, third at 106 pounds; and Isaiah Thomas, fourth at 126 pounds. Matt Marzetti was sixth at 160 pounds.
