West Holmes wrestling duo qualifies for state tourney

Competing at the Division II Gallia Academy District March 1-2, the West Holmes wrestling team had two wrestlers qualify for the Div. II state tournament.

Making it through the gauntlet were district champion Louden Dixon (sophomore, 144 pounds), who will make his second straight trip to Columbus and captured his second straight district crown, and first-time state qualifier Grant Miller (senior, 215), who snared a third-place finish. Just missing the cut was Cole Porter (junior, 175), who placed fifth and will be a state alternate for the second consecutive season.

In the team race, the Knights (84 points) placed sixth in the 39-team field. Steubenville squeaked by Carrollton 112-111.5 for the district team title.

“This may have been the deepest, talent-wise, that I have seen from this district tournament,” Knights coach Scott Vaughn said. “I wouldn’t be surprised at all if our district performs well next weekend.

“When you get to high-level wrestling, small mistakes can cost you dearly. I thought we had some mistakes that cost us. Then, on the other hand, some capitalized on other’s mistakes. I was so happy for Louden and Grant. Obviously, Louden earns his second trip in as many years. However, Grant earns his first trip. Cole put together some really nice matches but just came up short for the second year.”

Dixon, now 42-4, sewed up his state berth with a dominating 14-1 major decision victory over returning state placer Quake Beatty (senior, Indian Valley) in the championship semifinals.

Dixon then squared off with Cooper Smith (sophomore, Steubenville) for the district championship in a rematch of last week’s sectional semifinal won by Dixon 6-4 in sudden victory. The duo, both state-ranked — Dixon No. 4 and Smith No. 6 — again went to sudden victory with Dixon scoring the winning takedown to claim the title with a 3-1 win.

“Louden earned that championship this weekend,” Vaughn said. “He had, arguably, the toughest weight class at the district tournament. Louden dominated on his way to the finals. I liked seeing him carry himself with a little swagger today. He wrestled a pretty clean match versus Smith in the finals. That young man is sound technically and does not get out of position very often. Louden stayed on the offense and eventually broke through and got the takedown in sudden victory.

“I am really excited to see him wrestle at state. He is ready this year.”

Miller (5-1, four falls) went 1-1 on March 1, scoring a fall win at 3:31 over Owen Spilker (senior, Carrollton) to start his district tournament. Miller, ranked 12th in the state, was upended by 17th-ranked Kartyr Armstrong (senior, Warren) in the championship quarterfinals.

Miller was on a mission the following day, sticking Damien Robbins (senior, New Philadelphia) in a quick 21 seconds, followed by a 4-2 decision win over third-ranked Alex Tolliver (sophomore, Waverly) to put him in the go-to-state bout.

Facing Chase McFadden (senior, Buckeye Local) in a rematch of the previous week’s sectional semifinal won by Miller with a fall, Miller caught McFadden and turned him to his back, getting the pin at 4:08 to sew up his first state tournament berth.

In the third-place match, Miller overpowered Kian Barton (sophomore, John Glenn) with a fall win at 1:20 to finish his state tournament trip-clinching day and improve his record to 43-9 for the season.

“I’ve said all season that there was something different about Grant this season,” Vaughn said. “I could tell that he expected to win matches as opposed to previous years hoping he’d win. I think what I am most proud of is his comeback after his loss Friday night, losing a match he didn’t expect to lose. Grant defeated him (Armstrong) earlier in the season. He came back with a vengeance to take third. That tells me a lot about character.

“Grant is going to make some noise next weekend.”

For the second straight year, Porter will be a state alternate after finishing in fifth place. Porter (4-2, one) came up a win shy of clinching a state berth, dropping a 10-3 decision in the consolation semifinals to returning state qualifier Gabe Morgan (senior, Beaver Local), who knocked off Porter in last week’s sectional championship match.

Porter came back in the fifth-place match, scoring a quick 55-second pin of Nolan Carson (senior, New Lexington). Porter is 39-16 for the season.

Four other Knights fell from the tournament in the consolation quarterfinals — Peyton Martin (sophomore, 113), Grady Toye (senior, 126), Hunter McCluggage (junior, 150) and Dylan Sours (sophomore, 190).

The state tournament will take place March 8-10 at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus.