Warren’s Aden Strahler goes for the pin against Tanner Bankes of Morgan in the 175 pound championship match at the Hickory Grove Invitational at Warren High School. (Photo by Aaron Lee)

A host of local wrestlers are one meet away from securing a spot in the three-day OHSAA state wrestling tournament taking place March 8-10 at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus. On the girls side, Warren is bringing almost a full team to the regional tournament at Olentangy Orange High School this Sunday.

On Friday and Saturday, both Warren and Marietta are bringing wrestlers to the division II boys district tournament at Gallia Academy in Gallipolis. Waterford, Caldwell, Shenandoah, Monroe Central and Eastern all have grapplers in the division III district meet happening in Heath at the same time.

Out of the 14 weight classes in girls wrestling in the state of Ohio, Warren has girls competing in nine of them at the regional meet at Olentangy Orange. They are as follows: Isabella Wilson (100), Emma Grosselin (110), Kate Pierson (115), Navaeh Rockhold (130), Kendra Hescht (135), Jade Fairbanks (145), Kylee Tait (155), Maria Nutter (170) and Alivia Russell (190).

Warriors head coach Jeff Parsons said that they would have qualified all of their wrestlers if not for unforeseen circumstances, “We took 10 to sectionals or pre-regionals. We qualified 9 of the 10. The 10th girl, she got sick. She was sick for about a month beforehand and just lost too much weight and strength otherwise we would’ve gotten all 10 of them out.”

Warren’s girls team has been absolutely dominant throughout the season, only losing as a team in the state dual tournament. The Warriors are led by undefeated returning state champ and team captain Kylee Tait, who has a record of 47-0 thus far in her senior season.

Parsons is proud of the program that Warren has developed in the fledgling sport of girls wrestling as it continues to expand, “Here in Southeast Ohio, we’re about the only full team we have. The next closest would be New Lex, and then Alexander has five or six, Shenandoah has a few girls. Hayley Snyder really started it off for us, and it grew from there. Then Kylee came in and took right over with Haylee. They’ve got girls all over the state that look up to them, and across the country they’ve got girls that will reach out to them, and that’s awesome to see.”

He said of the differences between boys and girls wrestling, “Girls wrestling is quite a bit different than boys wrestling, just for the fact that the girls, they’ll go out there and beat on each other for six minutes and then come off the mat and they’re best friends. It’s different going to a girls tournament, but it is nice having the premier team in southeast Ohio right now. I’m working closely with the other coaches in southeast Ohio to try to do more in the summer and promote girls wrestling more and build our sport.”

Warren is bringing six wrestlers to the boys tournament in Gallipolis as well as three alternates. They include Drake Jenkins (113), Jacob Berg (138), Levi Strahler (150), Aden Strahler (175), Devon Legleitner (190), Kartyr Armstrong (215), Brodie Bolen (106 alternate), Remy Fairbanks (126 alternate) and Walter Curry (165 alternate).

The Warriors boys team is anchored by senior captain Aden Strahler, whose record sits at 47-2. Both losses came at the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference meet, with the first coming by way of Parkersburg South’s Gage Wright, who Parsons described as the “number one kid in the nation.” After placing seventh at the state meet last year. Strahler looks to continue to climb the podium in his last dance.

His drive has helped motivate wrestling partner Devon Legleitner, another possible state contender, ” You notice this with your weight groupings. Aidan is 175 and Devon is 190. They make real good practice partners. It’s really pushing Devon, having Aidan right there with him.”

Parsons is also looking for a big meet out of senior Kartyr Armstrong, who he said is, “wrestling really well right now.”

Marietta will bring two wrestlers to the district meet at Gallia Academy, with both Carson Chavez (144) and Teddy Bauer (285) qualifying.

The Waterford Wildcats are fresh off of a second place finish at the sectional meet in Barnesville, which is just what head coach Greg Offenberger was hoping for, “We knew we didn’t have anything for Barnesville, they’re projected to be the state champions this year, so second was pretty good for us. That’s the highest finish that we’ve had since I’ve been coaching, so we were happy with that.”

Waterford will be bringing six wrestlers to the district tournament in Heath: Briceson Cline (126), Hayden Jones (144), Trevin Zimmer (150), Colten Jones (165), Charles Sherman (190) and Judson Cooper (215).

Offenberger described the team as, “really young… Judson Cooper is our only senior this year, so we’ve got a bunch of sophomores and juniors wrestling out here. With Judson, we’re pretty much expecting him to make it to state. He’s been ranked in the top ten all year, so we’re looking for big things out of him, but all of these guys have surprised a lot of people in tournaments this year. If they have a good weekend, any one of these guys has a chance to move on.”

“I can’t say enough about Judson, he’s been a three-time district qualifier, he’s been a two-time state alternate. He’s looking to make his first trip to state as a senior and close out his career. He’s approaching 150 wins, as well, which is a huge milestone,” said Offenberger of the lone senior.

While Cooper is the most experienced Wildcat, he is not the only one who has been to the district meet. This will be the third district meet for Cline, and the second go-around for both Zimmer and Colten Jones.

In the eyes of Offenberger, what separates this team from years past is their connectedness, “This has been a great group all year. They’re a really tight-knit team. Typically when we get ready to start training for districts, the guys who don’t qualify, they’re season is kinda over, but almost all of them are still in the wrestling room right now helping these guys work out and get ready for districts. It’s been a really good team this year.”

Caldwell will be bringing four wrestlers to the district tournament: Jesse Pemberton (106), Cody Welch (113), Brody Chandler (132) and Jase Norman (285).

Shenandoah’s district team will include Tristen Rossiter (120), Davyn Kunkle (126) and Jasper Hill (165).

A pair of grapplers qualified for the Eastern Eagles. Both Landen Basham (144) and Gavan Smith (175) are set to compete this weekend.

Monroe Central’s Owen Howard (150) is also set to continue wrestling in the penultimate meet.