North Union wrestler Heath Ferguson has his arm raised in victory in this file photo. Ferguson won the Division III sectional championship in the 150-pound weight category.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Aleksei Pavloff)
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North Union sophomore Heath Ferguson won a Division III sectional wrestling championship during the Central District tournament at Amanda Clearcreek.
Ferguson (19-6) finished off three straight wins in the 150-pound division. He notched a late pin during the third period of his title match against Joey Wright of Westfall.
After getting a first-round bye, Ferguson opened with a victory over Josh Kean of West Jefferson in a quarterfinal match. He won by pin in 5:40.
He followed in the semifinal with a 15-4 decision over Jahki Royster of Heath.
The last North Union wrestler to win a sectional title was in 2019 when Tarren Riffle and Chris Cox-Wilson each were sectional champions.
Ferguson was one of six North Union wrestlers to qualify for the district tournament, which will be held Friday and Saturday at Heath High School.
The top four in each weight class qualified for the district meet.
Zack Ellis (120), A.J. Leeson (144), Zayne Leiter (157) and Tyler Cline (215) each finished third, while Kannon Alvarado (126) finished fourth.
In third-place matches, Ellis downed Connor Shultz of Mechanicsburg (11-5), Leeson bested Wade Neff of Mechanicsburg (pin, 3:32), Leiter pinned Isaac Bebb of Westfall (1:38) and Cline won by decision (8-2) over Reece Shriner of Heath.
Alavardo lost his third-place match (9-2) to Owen Williams of Johnstown Northridge.
Braylen Riffle also placed, finishing sixth at 132.
North Union head coach Garret Andrews has been seeing improvement in his wrestlers and it continued at the sectional.
“A lot of it has been their mindset,”he said. “They have been sharp, focused and energized.”
In the past few years North Union has competed in the Ridgedale sectional tournament.
The Wildcats selected the Amanda sectional this year.
“It was a little change of scenery and I think that helped the mentality of the wrestlers,” Andrews said. “Some of our wrestlers get an opportunity to wrestle another week.”