In this file photo Isiah Leasure, left, of Triad faces off against an opponent in the 138-pound class at the Ohio Heritage Conference Championship meet. Leasure placed third at the meet.
Division II and III wrestlers are ready to take their first steps toward a state title as they will compete in sectional matches on Saturday.
The North Union Wildcats will wrestle at Madison-Plains for their sectional in the D-III Central District, along with Fairbanks.
Jonathan Alder will head to Licking Valley for its D-II Central District sectional meet and Triad will head to Sidney Lehman Catholic for a D-III Southwest District sectional.
The Wildcats are looking to improve upon last year when they advanced Tarren Riffle (113), Hayden Pacha (120), Austin Jamison (126), Caleb Isler (138), Skyler Cowgill (170), Chris Cox-Wilson (182) and Dylan Thompson (220) past the sectionals.
The team will fill nearly every weight class as it tries to advance as many wrestlers to the district meet.
“I would like to qualify as many wrestlers as we can to districts,” said head coach Garrett Andrews. “There is going to be tough competition in every weight class, but we have had a challenging schedule this season.
“I think that has helped prepare us for the sectional tournament.”
The Wildcats will go into the sectional meet hosted by Madison-Plains as the third seed and will have to square off against teams from Madison-Plains, Newark Catholic, West Jefferson, Delaware Christian, Northridge, Elgin, Centerburg, Grandview Heights, Bishop Ready, Fairbanks and Columbus Academy.
West Jefferson will go into the sectional meet as the highest-seeded team at that location at No. 2.
The host Eagles have state tournament qualifiers returning to the mats at 126, 220 and 285 pounds.
The Wildcats are familiar with the Rough Riders as they faced them earlier in the season.
Andrews, though, said West Jeff isn’t the only team on the Wildcats’ radar.
“We faced them (West Jefferson) earlier this season in a dual and they came out ahead of us,” he said. “They are definitely the strongest team, however, there will be very good wrestlers from teams like Grandview Heights, Bishop Ready, Newark Catholic, Delaware Christian and Northridge.”
The Wildcats have a couple of state qualifiers themselves returning this season in Cox-Wilson at 182 and Thompson, 220.
North Union will also look to its 106-pounder Casey Clark and heavyweight Zach Mallard to help advance the team on to the district meet.
They each move into the post-season with winning records, according to Andrews.
Fairbanks is seeded No. 10 and will bring eight wrestlers to the competition, including its only returning district qualifier, Aidan Groves at 138.
Panther head coach James Kasser said Groves isn’t the only one he is looking to advance past the sectional.
Kasser also has high hopes for Andrew Halterman at 160, Tanner Conway at 170 and Billy Reed-Bodey at 285.
Groves will take a 14-6 record into the sectionals, while Halterman sports a 18-12 mark.
Conway has a 17-8 slate and Reed-Bodey will wrestle with a 26-5 record.
Jonathan Alder will make the trip to Licking Valley for a Division II Central District sectional meet where they will see familiar foes in London, River Valley and Bishop Hartley.
Alder head coach Tony Watson believes there is opportunity for several of his wrestlers to move to the next stage.
“I am definitely not ready to be done after this weekend and I know my upperclassmen are not either,” he said. “I truly hope my two captains – Luke Stalnaker (170) and Michael Boggs (220) – lead the way.
“Braiden Leisure (138), Brendon Liford (160) and Reece Chapman (106) all have the wrestling ability to advance.”
Watson also believes there is opportunity for Nick Finke (152) and Josh Kaiser (182) at the tournament.
“It is so hard to set a definite on anybody this time of the year,” he said. “It just comes down to ‘want to.’”
The Triad Cardinals will hang their hats on their one returning district qualifier in Coleman Hauck (138).
He currently sports a 20-9 record and coach Mike Zizzo expects him to repeat his return to the district level.
The journey, though, will be hard according to the coach.
“The strongest teams for us will be Miami East and Versailles,” said Zizzo. “They have nearly all weight classes filled. Weight classes at 132 and 138 are the most stacked at our sectional this year.”
The Cardinals will struggle to fill all the weight classes as injuries have made the way through the team, according to Zizzo.
“We are down in numbers due to injuries, but the rest of the team have the skills and abilities to move up in the brackets if they believe in themselves and work hard,” he said.
All sectional meets will start at 10 a.m.