Marysville’s Josh Melms attempts to work toward a pin against an opponent. The Monarchs will host the Division I regional duals tournament on Saturday. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
The Marysville High School wrestling team will host a state duals regional tournament on Saturday.
The Monarchs, who have hosted the regional duals for a number of years, will see 13 other teams compete on their mats, with action slated to begin at 9 a.m.
Dublin Coffman, an Ohio Capital Conference Central Division opponent, has been seeded No. 1 for the regional tournament.
Other seeds in order are as follows:
-Delaware Hayes, second;
-Marysville, third;
-Watkins Memorial, fourth;
-Dublin Jerome, fifth;
-Olentangy Berlin, sixth;
-Big Walnut, seventh;
-Westerville South, eighth;
-Thomas Worthington, ninth;
-New Albany, tenth;
-Gahanna: No. 11;
-Worthington Kilbourne, No. 12;
-Newark, No. 13;
-Mifflin, No. 140.
“Dublin Coffman enters as the top seed and returning regional champs and Delaware Hayes is the No. 2 seed who we opened the season against,” said MHS head coach Shawn Andrews.
The Monarchs have earned a first-round bye for the tournament.
They will take to the mat during the second round against Mifflin, which also has a first-round bye
A victory over the Cowpunchers would propel Marysville into the tournament’s quarterfinals.
Neither Gahanna nor Olentangy Berlin will compete during the first round.
Those schools will tangle in the second round and the winner will face either Marysville or Mifflin during the quarterfinals.
Should the Monarchs continue on a winning path, they would likely face Delaware Hayes during the semifinals.
If Marysville continues to survive, the championship round match would likely be against Dublin Coffman.
The Monarchs have dropped dual matches to both Delaware Hayes and Dublin Coffman this season.
The regional champion will advance to the state duals quarterfinals, which will be held on Sunday, Feb. 16 at The Ohio State University’s St. John Arena.
Andrews said the Monarchs’ focus will not change from previous matches to the regional tournament.
“Our focus as always will be on the little things,” he said. “We want to score first in our matches, win the first period in each match and earn bonus points where we can.
“Having lost to both Delaware Hayes and Dublin Coffman early in the season, we would like a chance to see those teams again,” said the Monarch coach. “Delaware Hayes is on our side of the bracket, so we are going to have to make it to the semifinals to see them.
“Coffman is on the other side of the bracket,” said Andrews. “We will have to defeat Delaware for the opportunity to wrestle them.
“At this point, we need to just focus on the first match and then ensuing matches,” he said.
Marysville’s lineup for Saturday’s action will be as follows:
-106: Ethan Skiles and Zach Pfarr;
-120: Lincoln Witt, Emilio Guerrero, Blaize Hall;
-126: Nathan Thompson;
-132: Josh Melms, Harley Crouso;
-138: Lincoln Heard, Brady Seger;
-152: Erryl Will, Riley Miller;
-160: Colton Powers, Jayden Simmons;
-170: Garrett Seger, Christian McCarney;
-182: Ben Bickerstaff, Parker Reese;
220: Joseph Palmer, Carl Grose;
-285: Zach McMinn.
The Monarchs will fill each weight class.
Some will bump up a weight class for tournament competition, according to Andrews.