In this file photo, Nick Miller of North Union holds JT Brown of Newark Catholic in a power half during the semifinals round of the Division III Sectional wrestling tournament at Madison Plains.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
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The Wildcats of North Union will begin grappling today for a chance to earn a berth at the state-wrestling tournament.
North Union, which advanced 10 wrestlers to the Division III District tournament at Heath High School, will have to get through 53 other schools for the opportunity.
Head coach Garret Andrews believes the chance to make it through the district meet is a real possibility.
“I think we have several who can make some noise at districts,” he said. “I think our schedule throughout the season provided each wrestler with tough challenges along the way.
“Everyone experienced adversity and what drove us every day was striving to be better than the day before and learning from mistakes,” Andrews said. “We began to embrace competition rather than fear it.”
The Wildcats are one of only three teams that have double-digit wrestlers at the district tournament. Pleasant will have 11, while Northmor advanced 12.
The fact North Union has that many gives it a competitive edge to qualify to the next round.
The top four wrestlers in each weight class. However, each new step along the post-season path will bring tougher competition.
Andrews said his squad is ready for the challenge.
“They have to want to face the best,” he said. “That’s the only way they can see how far they have come. They also have to have a mindset that they are not satisfied with how they finished last weekend (when NU won the sectional title).
“We enjoyed the moment and now we are setting our sights on something bigger,” said the coach. “We can’t look past anyone on the bracket.”
Andrews will look to some of his more experienced wrestlers – Dylan Thompson, Nick Miller and Chris Cox-Wilson – to help lead the team on and off the mat.
“My expectations for them are very high this coming weekend,” he said. “Not only will they need to perform on the mat, we will lean on them for their leadership off the mat. I think a few other wrestlers are going to come up big this weekend, like they did last weekend.”
Thompson will represent the Cats in the 220-weight class. He boasts a record of 37-6 this year and will take on Sam Hardenburg of Bishop Ready in the first round.
Miller will wrestle in the 138 class and has a record of 39-5 for the season. He will take on Collin Wiley of Caldwell.
Cox-Wilson, who is 36-8, will face off against Corey Johnston of Northridge in the 182-weight class.
The following other grapplers will also represent NU:
-113 Samantha Cox will face Austin Guthrie of Coshocton;
-120 Hayden Pacha will battle Chase Nelson of Millersport;
-126 Austin Jamison will encounter Todd Fouts of Trimble;
-132 Caleb Isler is set to tangle Nate Weaver of Mt. Gilead;
-160 Skyler Cowgill will face Forest Belli of Northridge;
-170 Chris Cox will contend with Jarret Deaton of Bridgeport;
-195 Trace Conrad will face Colten Roark of Federal Hocking.
Andrews said that leading up to the district meet has been dedicated to getting back to basics.
“We have done a number of things to prepare mentally for districts,” he said. “We devote time in practice to fix fundamental mistakes that we made in the previous tournament. We go over a lot of match situations that you see at the district level like overtime, wrestling with a lead, or wrestling with a deficit and managing the clock.”
The only thing left to do is start the meet, which will kick off today at 4 p.m. at Heath High School. The tournament will resume on Saturday at 10 a.m.