In the photo above, Monarch heavyweight Zach McMinn (left) fights off a two-on-one hold against Hilliard Bradley’s Robert Snyder. McMinn won the match, 7-6. Below, Marysville’s Lincoln Heard (138) prepares to turn Olentangy Liberty’s Cole Fitzpatrick for a pin during the Division I district tournament at Hilliard Darby. (Journal-Tribune photos by Kevin Behrens)
Marysville’s varsity wrestling squad battled to a runner-up finish in the Division I district tournament.
In doing so, the Monarchs will be sending six athletes to this coming weekend’s state tournament.
Dublin Coffman won the district event with 224.5 points, followed by Marysville with 136.5.
MHS placed just ahead of Olentangy Liberty-136 points.
Westerville North (116.5) Teays Valley (106.5) rounded out the top five.
The Monarchs had three runner-up finishers, including Lincoln Heard (138), Zach McMinn (Hwt.) and Colton Powers (170).
Heard earned his third trip to the state in three years and is one of four family members who have wrestled at the OHSAA state tournament for the Monarchs. His brother Walker (2019), dad Jason (1992), and cousin Lucas Grimes (2003) also competed at the state tournament.
Heard ended with a 3-1 record and his only blemish came from a 6-3 loss to Jimmy Baumann of Coffman in the finals.
In the first round, he beat Logan Smalley of Reynoldsburg 17-9 and went on to handle Teays Valley’s Zander Graham 10-1 in the quarter finals.
This was a key match for the 138-pound senior.
The win kept him from a potential rematch in the blood round with Jacob Reed of Lancaster, who beat him last week.
Heard then punched his ticket with a pin in 5:37 over Liberty’s Cole Fitzpatrick in the semifinals.
McMinn, a Dublin Jerome transfer, is qualifying for state tourney for first time in four tries.
He started off on the right foot by beating Robert Snyder of Hilliard Bradley, 7-6, in the opening round.
That win set up a rematch with Joey Thurston of Teays Valley.
Thurston had pinned the Monarch heavyweight twice before with a double overhook throw.
The quarterfinal match was close in the third period with McMinn trailing 3-1 with 30 seconds to go.
After going out of bounds and having a chance to reset, McMinn hit a switch with a nearfall for four points to win the match, 5-3.
Knowing this match was in the cards, McMinn worked with assistant coach Austin Pfarr, who was a 2013 state champ for the Monarchs, in practice to counter the Thurston throw.
“We worked on keeping his head down and hands low to counter the tie up.” Pfarr said. “Thurston hit the throw going out of bounds and sent us flying so we dodged a bullet there.”
In the semifinals, McMinn beat Riley Ucker of Coffman, 3-2, in overtime.
He was then pinned in the finals by Bradley Weaver of Hilliard Darby in 3:19.
“Both Lincoln and Zach wrestled to their strengths,” Pfarr said, “Both seniors were focused and knew this was their last chance so they needed to win to make it to next week.”
Powers, a 170-pound sophomore, also earned his first state berth.
He started off by hammering Jaden Fields of Thomas Worthington, 11-1, in the first round.
Powers pinned Logan Moore of Westerville Central in 5:02 during round two.
The MHS grappler scored a 15-6 major decision over Nick Candido of Westerville North in the semifinals.
He fell n the finals by a score of 6-5 to Jayce Fitzpatrick of Liberty.
Also qualifying for the state tournament for the Monarchs were:
-152: Erryl Will, third;
-160: Jack Golla, third;
-195: Ben Bickerstaff-4th.
“Overall, when looking at the draws, we saw some good ones and some tough ones,” said Pfarr. “However, we realize if we wrestle like we can, then we would be OK.”
Other Monarch wrestlers who competed during the district were:
-106: Ethan Skiles 1-2;
-112: Zach Pfarr 2-2;
-120: Emilio Guerrero 0-2;
-126: Nathan Thompson 3-2;
-145: Josh Melms 2-2;
-182: Brady Seager 3-2 (6th);
-220: Stephen Garcia 0-2.
The 83rd OHSAA Division I state tournament will be held Saturday and Sunday at Hilliard Darby High School.