Trending
BELPRE – Senior Manney Tullius is the lone Golden Eagle heading to Columbus today to wrestle in the state high school meet at OSU’s Value City Arena.
Tullius, who has posted a 38-7 record so far this season, gets right into it with the action starting with the first round in the 16-competitor, 145-pound class at 3 p.m. today, wrestling Genoa Area senior Brandon Bates, who has compiled a 51-6 mark.
“But at this state level for the most part, you can pretty much throw records out the window, because you know they’re all pretty darn good to get there,” said Greg Adams, Tullius’ head wrestling coach at Belpre.
“Manney’s been on a good win streak since late December at the Medina Invitational,” said Adams, “winning tournaments at Logan Elm and Amanda Clearcreek as well in all of his dual meets.
“Then he had a bad match in the TVC (tournament finals), and it pointed out a flaw in his stance that I hadn’t picked up on. So we really worked on that, and he was able to avenge that loss in the sectional to win it and went on into the district, where he wrestled really well in finishing as runner-up.”
Looking at the 145-pound state field, Adams said that “overall, it’s pretty tough with five returning state placers in it, including one of them in Manney’s quarterfinal bracket. So he’ll have to wrestle well.”
But Adams pointed out that “Manney had a solid high-school career with over 100 wins, and has been a great leader for our team. He’s just a good athlete – his speed and quickness are up there and he’s pretty darn strong for a 145-pounder – and a good kid as well
“And he wants to place at the state tournament. If you win two matches, you’re guaranteed a place (top-8 finish).”
Tullius has been on wrestling team for all four of his years at Belpre, so he has been striving to get to the state for a while and now has. “It feels great; it’s been a long time coming,” he said.
“I think if I just go up there and wrestle like I can and perform well, I think I have a shot at placing.”
His strategy on the mat is “normally, I just try to go out there, get the first takedown and go from there. I think I’m a better wrestler on my feet than anywhere else.”