Tyler Connolly (left), Marysville High School’s heavyweight wrestler, is pictured during last year’s state tournament. Connolly will not be able to compete during his senior season this winter due to a shoulder injury that resulted in recent surgery. The shoulder is taped in the photo.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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The Marysville High School wrestling team will begin the upcoming 2018-19 season without an athlete who was scheduled to be one of its top returning starters.
Heavyweight Tyler Connolly will not be able to compete this season due to a shoulder injury.
Connolly’s injury first occurred during last year’s district mat tournament and was aggravated several times during the 2018 football season.
Connolly, who is set to play on the gridiron for the University of Akron, was ranked during the preseason as the top Division I heavyweight grappler who was scheduled to return for the 2018-19 campaign.
“Tyler was ranked No. 1 in the state among D-I heavyweights,” said MHS head coach Shawn Andrews. “That means we’re going to lose a lot of points this season with him not being able to compete.”
Connolly earned that preseason prediction with his work at last year’s state tournament. He placed fifth in the weight class at The Ohio State University’s Schottenstein Center during the three-day state event.
The top four placers at last year’s state tournament were all seniors.
Connolly, who was the first returning MHS grappler to have been predicted as a state champion, recently underwent surgery for a torn labrum and will be out six-to-eight months, it was reported.
Had Connolly been healthy, he would also have competed next Tuesday (Nov. 20) in the Central District All-Star match. Walker Heard (152) and Logan Painter (195) are scheduled to compete for the Monarchs.
That competition is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. at Worthington Kilbourne High School.
Andrews said it’s not certain at this time who will replace Connolly in the Monarchs’ lineup this season.
“We’ve got some younger wrestlers and we’re excited to see what they can do,” he said. “We still have a lot of weight classes still up in the air.”