Carrollton, Minerva wrestlers advance to state tournament

Having sent 10 wrestlers to the Div. II District tournament at Gallia Academy High School March 6-7, Carrollton is now down to two.

Or maybe four.

The Warriors had a successful run at the district tournament as two wrestlers punched their tickets to the OHSAA Div. II State Wrestling Tournament, to be held March 13-15 at The Ohio State University’s Schottenstein Center. Plus, two more are going as alternates.

As a team, Carrollton finished eighth with 82.5 points. New Lexington snatched the team title, scoring 151.0 points, well ahead of second and third place teams, Beaver (129.5) and Claymont (125.0).

Leading the way for Carrollton at 138 pounds was Cael Lowdermilk, who placed second. The junior was unstoppable in the early going of the tournament, beginning with a 12-0 major decision over Beaver Local’s Matthew Tomaino in the first round.

Lowdermilk (29-6) then registered a 15-0 tech fall against Warren’s Dylan Legleitner in the quarterfinals before finally surrendering a point in a 12-4 major decision in the semifinals versus Gallia Academy’s Evan Warren. Lowdermilk’s impressive run ended in the finals, however, as he lost to Claymont’s DreVonn Searcy (37-4).

Carrollton’s other qualifier was Sawyer Broadwater, who placed third at 113 pounds. Broadwater tore through the first two rounds before running up against Sandy Valley’s Bodie Raymond, the eventual district champ, in the semis.

In the consolation semifinal, Broadwater worked his way into the third-place bout by dispatching Maysville’s Ziggy Sandobal 6-4. Broadwater (38-8) then topped his tourney with a 3-1 decision over Beaver Local’s John Burkett.

Carrollton’s two state alternates are Cohen Little (106) and John Childs (144). Little (34-12) pinned Kaleb Marker of Richmond Edison in the fifth-place bout at 2:10, while Childs (38-12) earned a 2-0 decision over the Wildcats’ Nolan Haught.

Also placing for the Warriors was Jaden Sutton (38-16), who came in sixth at 150 after dropping a hard-fought 4-0 decision to Miami Trace’s Will Enochs.

Carrollton Girls Wrestling

With only one placer at the Girls Mentor District tournament, the Lady Warriors may have advanced just a solitary wrestler to the state tourney, but it was a doozy as Riley Alborn won a district title at 190 pounds.

Alborn’s performance catapulted Carrollton into a tie with Keystone for 19th place with 36.5 points. Elyria won the team title with 132.5, 30 points in front of runner-up Austintown Fitch.

Alborn, a junior, was nothing short of dominant throughout the tourney; in fact, Alborn’s closest bout was her first, a 17-1 tech fall over Euclid’s Denim Wilkerson. From there on out, it was pin city for Alborn, who needed only 0:33 to defeat Brush’s Elianna Steele in the quarterfinals.

She then pinned Harvey’s Giselle Moreno in 1:38 in the semifinals, setting up a championship bout against Elyria’s Kira Maassen (34-9). It may have taken Alborn a few seconds more, but the result was the same – a pin in 2:20 as Alborn moved to 41-4 on the year and punched her ticket to Columbus.

Of Carrollton’s other three wrestlers, only Juliaunna Miller (130) won in the first round as she pinned Berea-Midpark’s Skye Sanderson in 1:32. However, Miller lost in the quarterfinals, sending her to the second consolation round, where she lost. At 100 pounds, Kristen Hawkins bounced back from her first-round loss and won her first consolation round bout before losing in the second.

Minerva Girls Wrestling

At 110 pounds, Bailey Hilliard is a state alternate after placing fifth by way of an 11-2 major decision over Canton South’s Ellie DiFiori. Hilliard tore through the first round and the quarterfinals, notching consecutive pins over Ellet’s Beautiful Williams (3:10) and Kent Roosevelt’s Penny Edwards (4:41).

Just missing out on a top-five spot at 130 pounds was Rachel Weaver, who lost by fall to Kyndall Boitnott of Claymont at 4:51.

The Lady Lions tied East Cleveland Shaw for 24th place with 28.5 points.

Minerva Boys Wrestling

Like Carrollton, the Lions competed at the Gallia Academy District tourney. And also like Carrollton, Minerva is sending two wrestlers and two alternates to Columbus for the state meet. The Lions finished in 10th place with 69.0 points, two spots behind Carrollton.

The two Lions advancing are junior Jason Sivy (37-12) at 150 pounds and junior Ethan Weaver (31-14) at 165 pounds.

Sivy was victorious in his first two bouts as he pinned his first-round opponent and then picked up a 9-6 decision in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Sivy came up against eventual district champ Marshall Laishley of Cambridge, losing a close 4-2 decision.

In the consolation semifinals, Sivy logged a 12-0 major decision against Carrollton’s Jayden Sutton, propelling him into the third-place match. There, Sivy was defeated by New Lexington’s Harrison Ratliff.

Weaver followed a similar path, winning his first two bouts by pin and decision, before losing to eventual district runner-up Malachi McCullough of Washington Court House in a 14-3 major decision.

Weaver then notched a 6-5 decision over Sheridan’s Thad Nikodym in the consolation semifinal before losing in the third-place match to Beaver Local’s Evan Ours.

The two alternates include freshman Shawn Weaver (30-16), who notched a 9-6 decision in the fifth-place bout over Beaver Local’s Jeryck Boyd at 120 pounds. He’s joined by senior Lincoln Wallace (39-12), who also finished fifth after shutting out Arian Braun of Indian Valley at 157 pounds by way of a 3-0 decision.