Area wrestlers earn state experience, podium finishes in Columbus

Indian Valley’s wrestling team made a name for itself this season, putting up solid results throughout. While the finish maybe wasn’t exactly what the Braves wanted, the fact that it happened at state takes some of that sting off.

Those efforts added up to a team total of 18.5 points, which was good for 38th place finish out of the 82 schools that scored at least one point.

Junior Bronko Braun started by losing a 9-2 decision to Caden Kaleal of Chesterland West Geauga. From there he began steamrolling the consolation bracket. Braun first beat DeClan Hutt of Cincinnati LaSalle 7-0, before delivering a 17-1 technical fall against Brady Byler of Marengo Highland to guarantee state placement. Braun wasn’t done, though. He followed that with a 33-second pin of Clyde’s Heath Norris, before stopping Rayce Watson of Jonathan Alder 12-6 to get into the third-place match, where he fell again to Kaleal, this time by a much closer count of 13-10. With his 4-2 weekend, Braun ran his season record to 41-8.

Bodie Raymond won his first-round match, pinning Westen Mast of Defiance in the second period. The sophomore 113-pounder then fell to Dominic Prosperi of Canton South in the quarterfinals. In a minor upset, Raymond lost his first consolation match 5-4 to Jordan McCullough of Madison and was eliminated. Raymond finished his year 31-8.

Senior Brock Albright lost in the first round to Anthony Bergeron of Granville at 126 pounds, then was eliminated with a tough 4-1 loss to Paul Hatgas of Cleveland Benedictine. Albright finished his season 36-10.

In other state wrestling action among area schools:

New Philadelphia: Junior Isabelle Ramirez capped an outstanding season with a fourth-place finish at the girls state tournament this past weekend at. The 190-pounder, who came in as a district fourth-placer, making her at least somewhat of an underdog early, upset Liberty-Benton’s Evie Parmalee in the first round, pinning her in 5:22 for what was just Parmalee’s second loss of the season.

Ramirez followed that with a second-round pin of Benjamin Logan’s Sophia Harris, to earn a spot in the semifinals, where she fell to Riley Alborn of Carrollton. Paired again with Parmalee in the consolation semifinals, Ramirez battled through three scoreless periods before getting a near-fall and a 7-0 sudden victory. The Quakers standout lost her last match in the third-fourth bout to Johanna Bogan of Garrett Morgan and finished her season at 44-11.

Tyler Ulmer carried the torch for the Quaker boys and came up short of placing in Division I. The 132-pound senior started his quest with a 7-1 loss to Caleb Curry of Cincinnati Elder. In the consolation bracket, Ulmer started with a 15-6 major decision over Grand Sedlick of Upper Arlington, but then dropped a 13-1 major to Josiah Simms of Lyndhurst Brush, falling one victory shy of placing. Ulmer finished a stellar season at 42-11.

Newcomerstown: Junior 285-pounder Martin Hernandez headed to state with a 16-5 record, won his first-round match but could not get the second win needed to secure a place on the podium. Hernandez stopped Alex Estrada of Canton Central Catholic in the first round, 5-3, but dropped a very tight 2-1 decision in the quarterfinals to eventual state champ Ben Kaiser of Versailles, one of three 1-point victories by Kaiser at the state tourney.

Sandy Valley: The Cardinals Owen Simpson, a 132-pound sophomore, got his state trip off to a good start, posting a 13-6 win over Zachary Schaefer of Elmwood. He couldn’t get the second victory needed to make the podium, falling to Mentor Lake Catholic’s Timmy Mazur in the quarterfinals and then to Evergreen’s AJ Gleckler in his first consolation match to bow out with a 43-7 record.

Junior Asher Crissey went to Columbus with a 38-9 record but as a longshot after being a district fourth-placer. Crissey dropped his first match by technical fall but nearly got back into things in his first consolation match. Facing Keshawn Blackwell of Indian Lake, Crissey dropped a wild match 14-13.

Tusky Valley: Senior Tori Wilson capped her season one win shy of state placement at 145 pounds in the girls tournament. Wilson, who finished her year at 32-8, won her first match at state, pinning Kate Brenneman of Archbold in 52 seconds. Looking to advance to the semifinals, Wilson dropped a tough 8-5 decision to Tara Davis of Olentangy Orange, one of the state’s biggest schools. Miller bowed out with a consolation loss to Annalise Rapp of Indian Lake.