West Holmes wrestlers advance to state

West Holmes senior wrestlers Peyton Martin, Gabe Umstead and Louden Dixon and sophomore Easton Ross all punched their tickets to the Division II state tournament by finishing in the top four of their respective weight classes at the Gallia Academy District March 7.

Martin (120 pounds) scored his first district championship. Dixon (157) and Ross (215) earned district runner-up finishes. Umstead (126) pocketed a fourth-place finish. Dylan Sours (senior, heavyweight) placed sixth, is a state second alternate and picked up his 100th career win.

The Knights placed fifth in the 37-team field with 104.5 points. New Lexington (151) won the district crown.

“Man, I feel like I say this every season, but the district tournament is the craziest tournament of the year,” Knights coach Scott Vaughn said. “The emotional roller coaster that both wrestlers and coaches ride for two days is exhausting. First, I want to say how proud I am of this team. There wasn't one kid from West Holmes that didn't battle their tail off this weekend. I love that from this team. You show me heart, grit and a willingness to be coached, and I'll take you on my team any day of the week.”

Martin (4-0, one fall, state-ranked 10th) earned his second state tournament appearance with a tight 4-1 decision district title victory over Bronko Braun (junior, Indian Valley, ranked fifth).

“I am so stinking proud of this kid,” Vaughn said. “After his injury at Brecksville, he was dying to get back on the mat. It took a lot of patience for him to let his leg heal as much as it could before getting back out there. He shows his toughness at every practice and through every match. To beat a kid like Bronko is tough, but to beat him two weeks in a row is even tougher. Great tournament by Peyton.”

Dixon (3-1, one), the returning Div. II state champ at 150, was looking for his fourth straight district championship. Matching up with Jake Hughes (sophomore, Beaver Local) for the fourth time in the past two years for either the sectional or district titles, with Dixon winning the previous three matches in sudden victory or overtime, the state-ranked wrestlers battled hard for the championship, with Hughes (ranked third) topping Dixon (ranked second) by a 3-1 decision.

“Louden dominated on his way to the finals,” Vaughn said. “He faced a familiar foe in the finals (Hughes). Like I said about Peyton, it's hard to beat really good kids multiple times. These high-level matches are so tough that one wrong move could cost you the match. In this situation, a tough first-period takedown was the difference in the match. I do love Louden’s battle to try to come from behind. If he would've had another five seconds, he would've gotten a takedown. (The loss) is going to be very motivating for Louden.”

Ross (3-1, ranked 21st) became a first-time state qualifier after notching a tight 6-3 sudden victory decision win in the championship semifinals over Chase Shriner (senior, New Lexington, ranked 22nd). Ross fought hard in the championship match but came up short in a 4-3 decision loss to Eric Carr (senior, Warren, ranked ninth).

“I don't think anyone wrestled a better tournament than Easton,” Vaughn said. “Coming out of sectionals as a four, he faced a sectional champ (Barton) that had beat him earlier in the season. Easton truly dominated the entire match. In the quarters it was a back-and-forth match. Down 6-4 in the second period, he clutched up and scored the final six points to move to the semifinals. This is where I was most impressed with him.

"Easton has very high expectations for himself. As a sophomore the semis can really mess with a kid's head. He faced Shriner that he had lost to during the state duals — again, a back-and-forth match. Easton got a reversal in the third to go up 2-1 and then gave up an escape. He kept his composure and got a quick takedown to secure an OT win. In the finals he still looked hungry and put together a solid match, only losing 4-3. I am really excited to see him wrestle next weekend.”

Umstead (4-2, ranked 24th) dropped his opening-round match by a 15-7 major decision to Gunner Patton (sophomore, New Lexington, ranked 23rd), making for a long road back through the consolations. Umstead was up to the challenge and fought back through the consolation rounds with four straight wins including his state-berth-clinching 4-3 decision redemption win against Patton in the consolation semifinals. Umstead dropped his third-place match to Brock Albright (senior, Indian Valley, ranked 18th) by a 5-3 decision in a rematch of last week’s sectional title match.

“Gabe has made some incredible strides in the past three years,” Vaughn said. “He is consistently one of the hardest workers in the room and is a very coachable kid. This season I have been impressed with his mid-match adjustments. After losing his first match, we had a good feeling that he was going to get a rematch if he was able to work his way through the consis. I loved how he kept his head about himself and really dominated his way through the consis. Then he got his rematch for revenge on his round-one loss.

"He had a couple shots in the first matchup that he didn't get finished, and we felt good about Gabe getting those takedowns this time around. He put together about as perfect of a match as I've seen him wrestle in his three years at West Holmes. For his third-place match, he got a rematch of his sectional finals, where he got teched. He wrestled a much cleaner match and lost 5-3 but nearly had a takedown at the end of regulation. I am extremely happy for Gabe.”