Thomas brothers shine at state wrestling
The road to Columbus is not unfamiliar to the Thomas brothers. Lucas, a senior, and Landen, a junior, have both traveled this road before. Making his third trek, Lucas (215 lbs.) made his mark on the state runner’s up level and Landon (285 lbs.) followed suit.
Starting the weekend on Friday at the Schottenstein Center by defeating Dalton’s Kaden Russell by fall, Lucas then won by decision 11-0 on day two over Delta’s Cass Chiesa. Later that day, back on the mats, Lucas forced his way to the state finals after an 8-0 major decision over Archbold’s Wyat Ripke.
Landen began his journey after defeating Cooper McKean of Black River by fall. The following day he took on Evan Smigelski of Swanton and won by fall as well. In the afternoon, Landon was back at it taking on returning state runner up Dallas McCracken of United and winning by decision to send him to the state finals.
With nearly all of Harrison County at the edge of their seats, whether in Columbus or Harrison County, the young men went to the mats again on Sunday. Lucas led for much of the match before Abe DeLano of Ayersville took the upper hand to record the fall. Landen took to the championship match against Caleb Cunningham and unfortunately, he too would suffer a loss by fall.
“I started wrestling in kindergarten,” states Lucas.
Lucas began wrestling at the age of 5 and continued through his school years apart from 2020 due to wrestling being suspended due to Covid. His career record is 163-20. He is a three-time state placer, two-time state runner up, three-time District Champ, two-time Sectional Champ, two-time OVAC Champ, and three-time finalist at OVACs. He will continue his academic and wrestling career at Clarion University in the fall.
Landon is a three-time Sectional Champ and one time District Champ. His record is currently 124-14. He is looking forward to adding to those stats his senior year. He is a two-time state placer and one time state finalist. His aim is on the State Championship next year.
“We have had a lot of opportunities. We have met a lot of people over the years. We take a lot of pride in what we do. We aren’t biased, we don’t care what school they are from or coach. It has been a lot of fun with a lot of different people. We lost one of our favorite (encouragers) to Covid, Mr. Tommy Goff. He touched a lot of lives and was like an uncle to the boys and a brother to me. We are thankful for the time we had with him. We spent a lot of time with the Warner boys from the Claymont/New Philadelphia area. Very good guys. They were very inspiring guys. They would bring good guys in to practice with. There are a lot of good people in my boys’ lives. We have wrestled in a lot of states. They are well-known boys for being small town kids. Lucas has helped his brother tremendously,” states Asst. Coach and father of the boys, Joe Thomas.
“It will be hard without my brother,” stated Landen, “but we will make it work.”
Between the Thomas boys together, they secured 44 points, which was good for sixth place out of nearly 118 teams represented.
Lucas will wrestle in the All-Star Match at Brooke High School on Wednesday, March 13.
