“I think everyone was mentally preparing for this.”
Those were the words of Marysville High School head wrestling coach Shawn Andrews after the Ohio High School Athletic Association officially canceled the remainder of winter sports tournaments on Thursday afternoon.
The post-season tourneys for boys and girls basketball, wrestling and ice hockey were put on hold earlier this month due to the state-wide school shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The girls hoop tournament was in the state Final Four and boys basketball was being contested at the regional level.
The Union County area had three wrestlers entered into the state tournament that was to be held at The Ohio State University’s Schottenstein Center the weekend of March 14-16.
HERD WILL CHAPMAN
Lincoln Heard and Erryl Will were scheduled to represent MHS, while Reece Chapman was to do the same for Jonathan Alder.
“We were holding out hope the winter sports tournaments could be conducted, but we weren’t holding our breath,” said Andrews. “The world has changed since the time the tournaments were postponed.
“The 2020 Summer Olympics have been postponed and so many other events have done so as well, far into the future,” said the coach.
“I hurt for all of the kids who won’t be able to compete in the remainder of the winter sports tournaments,” said Andrews. “It’s not just for the seniors, but also the underclassmen.”
The Monarch coach said he hopes all the underclassmen who qualified for the state wrestling tournament will be able to do so in 2021.
“However, you don’t know what next year is going to bring,” he said. “Nothing is guaranteed.”
Each wrestler who qualified for the state tournament will receive a tourney program, certificate and weigh-in card as souvenirs from the event.
“We are devastated the tournaments cannot be completed,” said Jerry Snodgrass, director of the OHSAA. “But our priority is the safety of our student-athletes, coaches, communities and officials.”
High school spring sports in Ohio are still in a postponed mode, according to the OHSAA.
Those sports include baseball, softball, boys and girls track and field, boys tennis and boys and girls lacrosse.