Jacob Marsh, Marysville’s 152-pounder, has his left arm locked by Massillon Perry’s David Carr on Saturday evening. Carr won the match, 8-2, to claim the Division I state championship.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
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The 2018 Division I state wrestling tournament concluded on Saturday with four Marysville High School athletes on the awards podium.
Senior Jacob Marsh stood with the second-place medal around his neck for the 152-pound weight class.
Fellow senior Tyler Bates took sixth place at 160, while juniors Tyler Connolly (285) and Walker Heard (145) respectively finished fifth and sixth.
Their efforts enabled the Monarchs to place 10th in the team standings with 44 points.
Lakewood St. Edward captured the D-I team title with 170.5.
Saturday evening’s Parade of Champions brought out all of the Divisions I, II and III athletes who would be competing for state championships shortly before 6 p.m.
Marsh was hooked up against a formidable opponent in Massillon Perry’s David Carr.
The Monarch grappler took a 44-2 record into the match, while Carr, a three-time Ohio state champion, carried a spotless mark from 38 previous bouts.
The combatants wasted no time during the opening two-minute period by going after each other from the initial whistle.
Carr tallied two points before Marsh earned one on an escape.
A takedown put Carr ahead by a 4-1 count at the end of the period.
Carr kept hooking Marsh’s arms, preventing the Monarch standout from establishing any type of offense.
Carr also did a good job pounding Marsh’s head and tying up his legs.
The only other point that Marsh was able to score was on another escape.
Carr, who has committed to wrestle at Iowa State University, tallied two additional points to lead 6-2 by the end of the second period.
Marsh, who will continue his mat career at Princeton University, attempted takedowns during the third set, but Carr was successfully able to block them.
The Perry senior added two more points on a takedown during the period to secure his fourth consecutive Ohio state title.
“A lot of guys would have just been happy to get to the state championship match,” said MHS head coach Shawn Andrews. “What sets Jacob apart from others is that in his mind, he was wrestling to win.
“Carr was in Jacob’s legs a lot, which negated his strength,” said the coach. “However, I was very pleased with Jacob’s effort.”
Bates opened Saturday’s consolation bracket with a 7-5 sudden victory setback at the hands of Nevan Snodgrass of Kettering Fairmont.
He then ended his final MHS campaign with a record of 34-17 after a 12-4 major decision loss to Najee Lockett of Cleveland St. Ignatius.
Connolly lost to Hilliard Darby’s Jacob Cover, 3-2 during his first consolation bout on Saturday.
He secured his fifth-place finish with the team’s lone win on Saturday. He earned a 3-2 ultimate tie-breaker triumph over Alec Moore-Nash of Cincinnati Elder.
Connolly’s final record for the season stands at 41-12.
Heard finished his campaign with a 33-11 mark after Saturday’s action.
He fell to Michael North of Wadsworth by a 6-5 count in his opening consolation match on Saturday.
The bout for fifth and sixth place saw Heard drop another heartbreaker, 5-4, to Josh Jaeckin of Olmsted Falls.
“At the end of the day, the state tournament was good, because you always want to get as many guys to the awards podium as you can,” said Andrews. “We got four guys up there, but as I’ve said before, coaches are always greedy… you want more.”
Andrews said the state tournament was a microcosm of the Monarchs’ season.
“Just like we had ups and downs during the season, we also had them here,” he said. “We wrestled very well the first night and later lost some matches where at times, you second-guess yourself.
“For the season as a whole, I was proud of the guys’ efforts.”