A trio of Marysville High School wrestlers earned district runner-up status over the weekend. They competed during the Division I district tournament that was held at Hilliard Darby High School. In the top photo, MHS’ Erryl Will (left) has a single-leg takedown on Pickerington North’s Donavyn Watts. Josh Melms (left) hooks up with Nathan Morris of Hilliard Darby in the center photo. In the bottom photo, Colton Powers prepares to take down Corey Howelett of Westerville North. All three photos are from semifinal matches. (Journal-Tribune photos by Kevin Behrens)
Nearly half of Marysville’s district wrestling contingent has advanced on to the sport’s biggest platform.
The Monarchs sent 13 wrestlers to the Division I district tournament at Hilliard Darby High School.
Of that number, six are moving on to the final stage of the post-season… the state tournament that will be held Friday, Saturday and Sunday at The Ohio State University’s Schottenstein Center.
Josh Melms (144), Erryl Will (157) and Colton Powers (175) made it through to the state after competing for district titles. They each finished as district runners-up.
Jack Golla (150), Brady Seger (165) and Ben Bickerstaff (190) did likewise as they emerged victorious after the blood rounds (the battles for third-through sixth place).
More about Golla, Seger and Bickerstaff will appear in Tuesday’s Journal-Tribune.
The finals matches saw Melms take on Ethan Birden of district champion Dublin Coffman.
Will battled Connor Euton of Westerville North and Powers went up against Coffman’s Mitchell Broskie.
Birden tallied a 15-2 major decision over Melms.
Euton put Will to the mat for a pin in 4:41.
Broskie did likewise with Powers in 1:57.
The Monarch trio advanced to the finals earlier in the day.
Melms recorded a 5-0 semifinal verdict over Nathan Morris of Hilliard Darby.
After warding off shot attempts by Morris, Melms notched a takedown with 39 seconds left in the opening period.
The Monarch grappler took that 2-0 margin into the ensuing set.
The combatants kept up the battle through the period, with Melms still holding the same edge as the final stanza got under way.
Melms tallied another takedown and earned his final point of the match with an escape.
“It was a heavy-handed fight,” said the MHS senior. “I was able to get him out of position and he got tired.
“I got my head down and put my hips into him to prevent him from gaining control.
Melms began the tourney with a 7-0 win over Tyler Deeicks of Olentangy Liberty and came through with a 3-1 triumph over Niko Gonzalez of Olentangy Berlin.
He followed with the semifinal verdict over Morris.
Although he advanced to the finals match, Will was not entirely pleased with his semifinal victory over Donavyn Watts of Pickerington North.
“I wanted to start with a takedown during the first period and wasn’t able to do that,” the senior said after a 3-1 victory.
“I didn’t wrestle my best.”
The first period ended in a 0-0 stalemate.
An early escape in the second period resulted in a 1-0 edge for the Monarch veteran.
Will fended off several takedown attempts and the competitors fell out-of-bounds with 43.7 ticks on the second-period timer.
From the neutral position, Will tallied a takedown with 22.8 seconds left in the set.
He rode that 3-0 margin into the final period.
Watts managed an escape for his only point of the match.
Will preceded the semifinal bout with a 16-3 major decision over Idell Ferguson of Olentangy Orange and a 20-5 technical fall over Newark’s Trevor Carl.
Powers had the easiest time of the three Monarchs who competed in the semifinals.
As a matter of fact, the junior didn’t even have to break much in the way of a sweat against Corey Howlett of Westerville North.
The rivals hooked up in the match’s early seconds, but Powers was able to go up 2-0 on a takedown.
A very short time later, the official slapped his hand on the mat to signal Powers’ 45.1-second pinfall victory.
“I slipped in an underhook and went to a high crotch,” said Powers. “He couldn’t get out of it.”
“He tried to roll through it, but I locked up my cradle for the pin.
Prior to his semifinal victory, Powers pinned Big Walnut’s Austin O’Malley in 1:22 and scored a 6-1 verdict over Brayden Benson of Grove City.
“The goal going into the district finals is to win the match,” said MHS coach Shawn Andrews. “With that being said, I’m disappointed for our runners-up, not disappointed in them.
“We’re excited for the state tournament.”
The work of the three Monarch district runners-up helped the local team to a third-place finish in the tourney.
Dublin Coffman, the No. 3 team in the state, captured the championship from more than 30 other teams with 247 points.
Olentangy Liberty was the runner-up with 147 and MHS took third place with 125.5.
“No one goes into the district tournament to place third,” said Andrews. “Coffman is the top team in the district, but give Liberty credit.
“They won a lot of matches on Saturday.”