Shank, Cross are state alternates

By Cort Reynolds

ROSSFORD – Five members of the Bluffton High School wrestling team competed well in the Div. III district tournament at Rossford on Friday and Saturday, March 6-7.

Two Pirates finished fifth in their weight class, while another took sixth.

Archbold won the district team crown with 177 points. Delta came in second (161), while Liberty Center was a distant third (104).

Bluffton finished a solid 17^th at the 50-team tournament with 39 points.

The top four finishers in each weight class advance automatically to the state tournament at Ohio State University in Columbus on March 13-15. Those who finish fifth are alternates to State, who could fill in if injury or illness prohibits a top-four qualifier from competing.

MASON SHANK
Pirate junior Mason Shank finished fifth in the 215 lbs. class.  

He won his first round match on Friday via pin in 54 seconds to earn his 100^th career victory. In the quarterfinals, he dropped a 10-3 decision to fall into the consolation bracket second round.

In that round, he pinned his opponent in 2:07 to advance to the quarterfinals. He then captured a 6-0 decision to make it to the consolation semis. 

Shank lost a 10-0 decision to the eventual third-place finisher, senior Alex Young of Seneca East. The defeat relegated him to the fifth-place bout, where he pinned Delta senior Emilio Arroyo in 4:22 to end up 4-2 at the tournament.

Shank qualified as a state alternate with a season record of 44-8.

BRANDEN CROSS
Junior Branden Cross won his first round match Friday in the 126 lbs. bracket with a 16-4 decision. He then lost in the quarterfinals by a 6-3 decision to fall into the consolation bracket second round.

He pinned senior Brody Barton of Millbury Lake in 4:21, then won a 6-0 decision to advance to the consolation semifinals. He lost a 6-3 decision at that round. But Cross bounced back to capture the fifth-place bout with a pin in 2:34 over Woodmore senior Aiden Cordy.

Cross posted a 4-2 record at the district meet and qualified as a state alternate with a 39-11 record.

RONALD KAUFMAN
In the 120 lbs. division, second-seeded Pirate sophomore Ronald Kaufman went 2-3 after a strong start to finish sixth. 

He won his first two matches via pin and technical fall (18-2) on Friday to advance to the semifinals on Saturday. 

In the semis against senior Joseph Springer of Northwood, he lost 6-0 to fall into the consolation final four. Kaufman lost a tight 1-0 decision in the semis to narrowly miss out on automatic state qualification.

Then in the fifth-place bout, Kaufman dropped a 5-0 decision to end up sixth and finish the season with a 40-7 record.

JESUS RIVERA
Bluffton sophomore Jesus Rivera competed in the 175 lbs. class. He dropped his first round match by pin at 4:38. In the consolation first round, he fell by pin in 2:20 to be eliminated.

He finished his season with a 21-16 record.  

HEPHAESTION WEYER
Pirate sophomore Hephaestion Weyer competed in the 138 lbs. class. He lost his first-round bout in a close 5-4 decision. In the first consolation round, he was eliminated via a 12-9 decision defeat.

Weyer ended his season with a 30-18 mark.

Rossford District Placers

106 Pound Placers
1st Cohen Reer 9, Milan Edison (45-2), tf17-0
2nd Jose Figueroa 12, Willard (37-6)
3rd Gabe Brough 11, Eastwood (35-7), Dec 5-1
4th Brenden Bosco 9, Archbold (48-6)
5th Braxton Tammarine 9, Liberty Center (31-13), Dec 7-0
6th Zechariah Patterson 11, Elmwood (20-11)

113 Pound Placers
1st Hunter Meeker 9, Eastwood (41-4), Dec 9-3
2nd Braedyn Tammarine 12, Liberty Center (40-4)
3rd Jaxten DeWeese 9, Tinora (33-8), Dec 4-2
4th Wyatt Martin 11, South Central (42-8)
5th Brooks Miller 11, Archbold (42-13), Fall 1:23
6th Lucas Summerfield 11, Collins Western Reserve (42-10)

120 Pound Placers
1st Ty Bosco 9, Archbold (48-9), md9-0
2nd Joseph Springer 12, Northwood (29-8)
3rd Fisher Montgomery 9, Carey (46-5), Dec 6-2
4th Brayden Barker 9, Mil. Edison (36-16)
5th Gabe Stevens 12, Swanton (33-20), Dec 5-0
6th Ronald Kaufman 10, Bluffton (40-7)

126 Pound Placers
1st Tyler Barnes 12, Delta (40-3), Dec 4-2
2nd Scotty Fuller 12, Genoa Area (49-4)
3rd Camden Redmon 9, Bucyrus (47-3), md13-4
4th Lars Soles 12, Archbold (31-14)
5th Branden Cross 11, Bluffton (39-11), Fall 2:34
6th Aiden Cordy 12, Woodmore (38-13)

132 Pound Placers
1st Owen Patchen 11, Monroeville (18-2), Fall 2:22
2nd Zachary Schafer 11, Elmwood (33-12)
3rd Isaac Brown 9, Archbold (41-11), Fall 0:56
4th AJ Gleckler 9, Evergreen (43-16)
5th Luke Spiess 11, Delta (36-13), Fall 3:38
6th Benny Byington 11, Sandusky SMCC (27-13)

138 Pound Placers
1st Daine Bayer 11, Liberty Center (34-10), Dec 11-6
2nd Jaxson Davidson 10, Collins Western Reserve (36-6)
3rd Grady Phelps 10, Riverdale (41-4), Forfeit
4th Brayden Parrigan 11, Ashland Crestview (28-12)
5th Michael Soto 12, Genoa Area (40-7), Fall 0:58
6th Brandon Gill 10, Tinora (20-11)

144 Pound Placers
1st Owen Patrizi 12, Mohawk (42-6), tf18-3
2nd Brooks Hill 12, Van Buren (45-9)
3rd Kayden Wellman 9, Archbold (43-14), Fall 0:53
4th Elliot Laird 10, Port Clinton (32-17)
5th Nolan Rittenhouse 11, Tinora (25-9), Dec 7-1
6th Ben Trimmer 12, Plymouth (34-14)

150 Pound Placers
1st Ben James 11, Sandusky SMCC (39-3), md13-4
2nd Tyler Abbey 11, Genoa Area (47-8)
3rd Chase Godwin 12, Swanton (41-11), Dec 4-1
4th Gavin Cornell 12, Port Clinton (38-9)
5th Layne Miller 9, Archbold (42-12), Dec 15-8
6th Brody Gallagher 11, McComb (29-9)

157 Pound Placers
1st Lane Lopez 11, Delta (36-8), Dec 4-1
2nd Trace Johnson 10, Eastwood (39-8)
3rd Jace Cornell 11, Port Clinton (33-12), Fall 0:36
4th Jordan Hertel 11, Carey (48-6)
5th Greyson Fisher 11, South Central (43-9), md14-3
6th Josiah Walbom 11, Milan Edison (26-19)

165 Pound Placers
1st Gunner Taylor 10, Delta (40-7), Dec 4-3
2nd Rafael Gross 11, St. Paul (43-6)
3rd Ben Beard 12, Liberty-Benton (45-9), Dec 1-0
4th Luke Clement 12, Genoa Area (28-3)
5th Bentley Gayheart 9, Seneca East (43-8), Dec 5-2 SV
6th Ashton Stuckey 12, Archbold (42-14)

175 Pound Placers
1st Kaden Bish 11, Mohawk (45-4), Dec 4-1
2nd Marcus Nagel 10, Delta (33-3)
3rd Ethan Bowman 10, Archbold (36-14), Dec 8-4
4th Landon Rich 12, Woodmore (44-8)
5th Jack Stephens 12, Ash. Crestview (39-7), Forfeit
6th Gabrial Sarabia 11, Millbury Lake (29-6)

190 Pound Placers
1st Jackson Gayheart 11, Seneca East (46-3), Dec 6-1
2nd Malakii Pinkleton 12, Port Clinton (40-1)
3rd Trent Johnson 12, Patrick Henry (41-3), md8-0
4th Kydin Reed 11, Riverdale (35-11)
5th Deagan Schwaigger 12, Liberty Center (27-16), Dec 5-2
6th Hunter Chandley 12, New London (39-10)

215 Pound Placers
1st Bailey Jendrzejak 12, Woodmore (44-2), md17-8
2nd Hayden Butcher 11, Bucyrus (32-9)
3rd Alex Young 12, Seneca East (41-4), md11-3
4th Eli Berner 12, Ayersville (46-9)
5th Mason Shank 11, Bluffton (44-8), Fall 4:22
6th Emilio Arroyo 12, Delta (23-16)

285 Pound Placers
1st Brady Smith 12, Delta (41-4), Dec 4-1 SV
2nd Logan Sifuentes 12, Liberty Center (32-6)
3rd Brycen Dunlap 12, Monroeville (39-10), Fall 3:00
4th Parker Bixler 11, Archbold (42-12)
5th Joel Smith 10, Mil. Edison (29-13), Forfeit
6th Logan Pontious 12, Montpelier (19-6)