Joshua Melms of Marysville attempts to escape the grasp of Owen Perry of New Albany during the opening round of the Division I Central District wrestling meet at Hilliard Darby on Friday. Melms won by pin fall to advance in the tourney. (Journal-Tribune photo by Kevin Behrens)
The boys Division I district wrestling tournament kicked off Friday evening at Hilliard Darby High School.
The Marysville Monarchs went into the event riding a 20-year streak of finishing in the top six as a team.
MHS is currently in 10th place after the first day of competition.
With the first two rounds in the books, Marysville has tallied 23 points and is behind Dublin Coffman-75.5, Delaware Hayes-53.5, Olentangy Liberty-51, Westerville North-48.5, Lancaster-42, Dublin Scioto-41, Upper Arlington-35,Teays Valley-27.5 and Mount Vernon-25.
The Monarchs won four of the ten first-round matches.
Josh Melms (132) pinned Owen Perry of New Albany in 4:30.
Lincoln Heard followed with an 8-2 victory over Zach Miller of Olentangy Orange in the 138-pound weight class.
Jack Golla (145) toppled Scioto’s Mathew Howard, 8-2, and Erryl Will (152) claimed a 12-2 major decision over Kyle Coffey of Pickerington North.
Nate Thompson (126) of MHS was pinned by Yaniel Castillo of Columbus Walnut Ridge in 3:48.
Christian McCartney (170) dropped a 10-4 verdict to Wyatt Gregory of Mount Vernon, while Ben Bickerstaff (182) lost a major decision by a 9-0 score to Ajay Locke of Lancaster.
Joe Huber of Dublin Jerome scored a 12-4 major decision over MHS’ Joey Palmer (220).
Zach McMinn (285) lost 2-1 to Omari Green of Central Crossing after giving up a stalling call with 30 seconds left in the match.
The Monarchs also lost a potential point scorer before the tournament started when 120-pounder Lincoln Witt didn’t pass the skin check.
Picking up second-round wins and advancing to the semifinals were Heard and Will.
Heard tallied a 15-5 major decision over David Carte from Pickerington North and Will scored a 13-4 major decision over Johnny Douglas of Westland.
Melms lost to Keegan Knapp of Olentangy Orange, 9-6, while Golla fell 3-2 to Alex Schmidt of Hilliard Bradley.
Both Monarch grapplers have dropped into the consolation bracket.
MHS head coach Shawn Andrews knows his team has its work cut out for itself heading into day two.
“We lost some close matches and that makes tomorrow tougher,” he said.
The first round of consolations starts today at 9 a.m., while the semifinals are slated for 1 p.m.
The top four finishers in each weight class will qualify for the OHSAA state tournament next weekend at The Ohio State University’s Schottenstein Center.
Jack Golla of Marysville controls the leg of Matthew Howard of Dublin Scioto during the opening round of the Division I Central District wrestling meet at Hilliard Darby Friday. Golla won by a 7-2 decision. (Journal-Tribune photo by Kevin Behrens)
Joseph Palmer of Marysville attempts to roll through the grasp of Joe Huber of Dublin Jerome during the opening round of the Division I Central District wrestling meet at Hilliard Darby Friday. Palmer lost by a 12-4 major decision. (Journal-Tribune photo by Kevin Behrens)