Indian Valley places multiple wrestlers at Bill Dies Memorial

Indian Valley’s wrestling team headed north to Akron last weekend to compete in the talent-rich Bill Dies Memorial tournament at Firestone High School. The Braves flexed their muscles a bit. 

Indian Valley totaled 125.5 points and trailed only larger schools in the 32-team field. Medina Highland won with 294.5. 

Leading the way for the Braves was sophomore Bodie Raymond, who won the championship at 113 pounds, notching a 10-0 major decision over Gaspar Raymundo Marcos in the championship bout. Raymond went 4-0 over the two days with two of his wins coming via pins.

IV Junior Bronko Braun finished third at 120. He captured his placement match with a 13-8 decision over Xavier Pollard of Louisville. Braun made it to the semifinals, where he lost to eventual champ Brandon Bickerton of Highland, a former state champion. Braun rebounded with a quick pin of Luke Stover of Norton before beating Pollard. 

At 175, sophomore Bradley Barr topped Amir Abukhali of Parma Heights Valley Forge with a 14-4 major decision to capture third place. Barr won by technical fall and a pin in his first two matches before falling 10-2 to Dominic Bates of John Glenn. Barr won a tight 7-5 decision in his consolation semifinal against Graydon Sillman of Canal Fulton Northwest before stopping Abukhali. 

Sophomore Boston Braun was a semifinalist at 138 pounds before dropping a tough 4-3 decision to top seed Desmond Childress of Copley. Braun then lost another tight one, 4-2 to Hoyt Plylypiak of Highland in the consolation semifinals. He went on to drop Parker Saley of Green in 51 seconds in the fifth-place match. 

Sophomore Brett O’Connor got a tough first-round draw at 144 and fell to Leonidis Giatis of Highland but bounced back with a pin, a technical fall and a major decision to get some key team points before bowing out against Grant Cundiff of GlenOak, who ended up placing fourth. O’Connor would have needed to win two more matches for a chance at placing but enjoyed a nice weekend with three wins in five outings.

Junior Octavius Holland also went 3-2 at 157, also coming two bouts short of a placement opportunity. Holland posted all three wins via pin to pick up a handful of extra team points. 

Senior Brogan O’Connor also notched three victories, doing so at 165 pounds. He won his opener via pin but ran into eventual champion Niko Giatis of Highland in the second round. Giatis won 3-of-4 matches via pin en route to the title but could not get O’Connor’s shoulders to the mat and wound up with a major decision. O’Connor had a pin, a major decision and a decision over his two days. 

Senior Rowan Picinia went 2-2 at 150 pounds and was the Braves’ other multi-match winner. 

In other tournament featuring area teams and athlete:

Alliance TopGun Tournament: Claymont finished fifth with 152 points. Clovis North won the team title with 290. Sandy Valley tied for 42nd with 35 points, with Newcomerstown 47th with 28. A total of 57 teams competed. 

Junior Daniel McGarr finished as runner-up at 132 pounds. He won his first three matches by pin before recording a decision in the semifinals. McGarr fell via an 8-6 decision in the final against Maddox Nauman of Olentangy Berlin.

Three consecutive pins propelled 165-pound sophomore Kamden Stout into the quarterfinals where he lost to fall to the consolation bracket. Once there he notched another pair of pins and a victory by injury default in the third-place match to grab a bronze medal. 

Junior Drevonn Searcy advanced to the semifinals at 138 before falling to Dominic Kemble of Ravenna Southeast, who went on to win. Searcy dropped his consolation semifinal match, then forfeited the fifth-sixth match to finish sixth. 

Sophomore Luke Henry won four matches at 144 pounds and wound up placing fifth. 

Junior Nile Abbuhl was a semifinalist at 150 before falling to eventual runner-up Blake Trellis of Clovis North. Abbuhl bounced back with two wins, including a 49-second pin in the third-place match.

Sophomore Nash Edwards placed eighth at 113.

For Sandy Valley, Owen Simpson, a 132-pound sophomore had as good of a weekend as you can without placing. He won 5-of-7 matches, four in the consolations. Senior Adian Douglas won three matches at 113 but did not place. Asher Crissy won three matches at 120 but did not place. 

For Newcomerstown, sophomore Chase Norman placed eighth at 106.