COLUMBUS — Clay Eagle ran into a buzz saw Friday night.
Crestview’s senior 120-pounder fell to Casstown Miami East’s Graham Shore 9-3 in the championship semifinals of the Division III state tournament but can finish no worse than sixth when action resumes Saturday morning at Ohio State’s Schottenstein Center.
The projected state champ, Shore ran his record to 52-1. The senior is a three-time state placer and finished third each of the past two years.
“He’s legit,” Crestview coach Steve Haverdill said of Shore. “We got in some good shots, but Clay just couldn’t finish them.”
Eagle (26-5) will wrestle Rayland Buckeye Local’s Brian Palmer in the consolation semifinals. A win would send Eagle into the third-place match.
“Wrestling’s not just about who’s the strongest and who’s the fastest and who’s got the best technique,” Eagle said. “If you’re not mentally tough, you’re going to drop a lot of matches.”
Like Eagle, Ashland’s Josh Bever advanced to the championship semifinals. The 220-pounder was pinned by Cincinnati Elder’s Antonio McCloud and will wrestle Springfield’s Joe Cochran in the consolation semifinals. Bever pinned Cochran, the projected Division I state champ, in the opening round.
“Rankings half the time mean squat. It’s just a number,” Bever said. “If you’re at state, you’re a competitor. I just have to focus one match at a time.”
Shelby 170-pounder Brahm Ginter picked up a pair of wins Friday and is still in the hunt for a berth in the third-place match. Ginter needed stitches after biting a hole in his lip in a 3-1 sudden victory win over Granville’s Keegan VanMeter. He came back later in the evening to pin Cincinnati Indian Hills’ John Mark Williams in the consolation quarterfinals and will wrestle Mentor Lake Catholic’s Cole Hivnor in Saturday’s consolation semifinals.
“I have no idea how the injury happened. It was in the first period,” said Ginter, who was seventh at 160 last year. “It started hurting, so I checked it and it was bleeding.
“I’m going to get back on the podium, so it’s great.”
Crestview’s Dakota Blanton will wrestle in the seventh-place match at 126 after narrowly missing podium finishes each of the past two years while wrestling for South Central. Blanton will wrestle Northmor’s Gavin Ramos.
“I came in here not nervous and I lost in the first round,” Blanton said. “Then I got nervous and I won.”
Clear Fork’s John Witschi just missed out on a podium at 170 pounds. Witschi was a state alternate after finishing fifth at the Norwalk district last week, but earned a spot at state after an injury forced out Buckeye’s Jarrod Setliff, who tore his ACL.
“I got the word that I was going to state on Tuesday,” Witschi said. “It would have been sweet if I had won one more match and placed.”
Witschi opened the tournament with an 18-2 loss to St. Paris Graham senior Rocky Jordan, who will wrestle for his third state championship Saturday.
“It was so fun to wrestle (Jordan),” Witschi said, “and I didn’t get pinned.”
Lexington 285-pounder A.J. Adams came up one win shy of a podium finish. Adams finished the season at 46-6.
“It was bittersweet,” Lex coach Andrew Heath said. “We would have liked to see him get in the top eight and get o that podium.”
