COLUMBUS — For Crestview’s Naomi Gearheart and Ashland’s Mason Bauer, the moment didn’t feel quite as overwhelming.
Both Gearheart and Bauer won their opening-round matches on the first day of the state wrestling tournament Friday inside Ohio State’s Schottenstein Center.
Gearheart pinned Lebanon’s Andi Addis in the second period of their 145-pound match, while Bauer needed overtime to dispose of Massillon Perry’s Emeric McBurney 8-3 in his Division I 126-pound opener.
“Last year, the lights hit me pretty hard,” said Gearheart, who placed fifth at 155 as a freshman last year. “This place doesn’t seem nearly as big and the lights don’t seem nearly as bright this year.”
Bauer agreed. The sophomore was fifth at 106 last year.
“It’s nice to come down here and get that first one out of the way,” Bauer said. “The nerves weren’t nearly as bad this year as they were last year.”
The path back to the podium was made more challenging for Bauer after he finished fourth at the rugged Perrysburg district tournament last weekend. That meant an opening-round date against McBurney, the Hoover district champ and a returning state qualifier at 126.
“I knew he was tough. He comes from a great program,” Bauer said. “He’s really technical and tough to score on.”
Ashland coach Tommy Bauer knew his son would have his hands full.
“We knew it was going to be a tough match,” Tommy Bauer said. “He made it six minutes, and that wasn’t enough so we went to overtime.”
Meanwhile, Gearheart trailed early in her match before taking control. She built a comfortable lead before pinning Addis.
“She gave up a takedown early, but she didn’t lose her composure and wrestled her match from that point on,” Crestview coach Nate Godsey said. “When she’s moving her feet, she’s on her attack.
“When she stopped moving her feet, the girl took a great shot but Naomi didn’t panic.”
Ashland 144-pounder Guardian Miller and 215-pounder Budda Martin both survived opening day in Columbus.
Miller dropped his opener 10-2 to Cincinnati Anderson’s Marshall Morency before bouncing back with a 6-0 win over Louisvilles Beau Nezbeth in the consolation round.
Martin fell to Massillon Perry’s Landon Ristoff 5-2 but rebounded with a 12-3 victory over Westerville Central’s Jack Schneider.
“Every mistake down here is magnified,” Tommy Bauer said. “We made a couple mistakes in this opening-round matches and they cost us, but those guys bounced back.”
Mapleton’s Taren Kramer dropped her opener at 140 pounds 4-2 to Waverly’s Abby Green. She came back with a second-period pin of Brush’s Olivia Fox in the consolation opener.
Ashland’s Max Ohl (113) and Mapleton’s Skyler Hopstetter (145) both dropped a pair of matches Friday.